These days we make decisions with a click of a button. In our cosy home, we can book a ride, order food, or buy groceries – countless applications make our lives easier.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution was a game changer with the introduction of disruptive technologies.
Gone are the days when we sweated in the sun or got drenched in the rain while waiting hours to get a taxi. We love this comfort as it is easy, fast and, more importantly, effortless.
The advancement of disruptive technologies continued in 2016 with the creation of Sophia, the social humanoid robot. Saudi Arabia even gave her citizenship.
Sophia can imitate human gestures, facial expressions and hold a simple conversation.
We became more advanced technologically by creating Chatgpt, which can answer challenging questions and provide creative solutions to our queries.
Disruptive technology has infiltrated the education sector with the emergence of Education 4.0, which introduced new and relevant teaching and learning methods.
In response to Education 4.0, the higher learning institute encourages educators to integrate technology into their teaching methodologies.
Buzzwords like blended learning flipped classroom, and collaborative learning became common among educationists and scholars.
It was deemed a more suitable teaching methodology for the new generation of tech-savvy learners.
However, in an era of Sophia and ChatGPT, which could readily replace humans, two questions to ponder are: Can technology replace educators? If so, would teaching and learning by an AI or a humanoid be effective?
I am a traditional educator – colourful marker pens, mahjong papers, pins, and sticky notes are my favourite teaching tools in the classroom.
I let my students move around and play as I want them to experience fun learning.
However, it does not mean that I do not integrate technology. My teaching method has always been a blended flipped classroom, but I do not make technology the centre of teaching.
Instead, I believe in experiential learning. My focus is on the heart, then the mind.
I want my students to experience their learning process so that they not only remember the fun they had in class but also memorise and retain the concepts taught.
The unexpected arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic forced educators to employ virtual teaching and learning by integrating various technological tools and platforms to ensure effective learning.
Online classes and distance learning were no longer trends but a reality, prompting educators to embrace the digital transformation of teaching and learning.
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the technological revolution resulting in unforeseeable changes to humankind.
Unfortunately, these technological advances dehumanised education by minimising human interaction and creating a shift in decision-making from people to technology.
These days, you can use technology to learn basic skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic. So the relevance of educators is questioned. This question bothered me for some time.
As a passionate educator, I do not want to lose my job to a machine. I began my quest to find the answer to the question when I stumbled upon an advert for an airline company – Without the heart, it is just a machine.
It was a tagline of Southwest Airlines. It is impressive how the company appreciates human qualities – interaction being the core value.
The ultimate message the airline company wants to deliver to its customers is that human connection is ultimately precious.
Then it dawned on me that robots can never replace educators!
Although technology offers a vast possibility for teaching and learning innovation due to its advantages being efficient, flexible, cost-effective and easy to use, it should not be at the centre of education.
The focus should be on the dynamic relationship between educator and learner.
Solely focusing on technology creates a gap because it is impossible for educators to build a meaningful connection with their learners through a computer screen.
Students need real connections for meaningful learning. We need to harness the irreplaceable human qualities of educators.
Educators can relate to, empathise with, and build good character in our students. Therefore, educators remain relevant no matter how advanced we have moved as a community.
The rapid growth of technologies and the overdependence on technology has prompted scholars to propose concepts such as Society 5.0 to serve as a guide to the social development of the individual-technology relationship in promoting improvement to the quality of life of all people in a sustainable world.
It proposes to balance economic advancement and societal problems by integrating cyberspace and physical space to create a human-centred society.
The education sector should evolve towards Education 5.0 to ensure a more caring and inclusive version of education inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals.
It should focus on the relationship and interaction between learners and their educators, creating a link between digital and technological knowledge and social and emotional skills, preparing learners for lifelong learning and laying the foundation for a wide range of skills far beyond the digital.
Education 5.0 adds a more humane perspective to teaching and learning.
It does not mean educators should be complacent and opt not to integrate technology into their teaching and learning.
To stay relevant in the education sector, educators should be creative and competent in utilising various technological tools to ensure our teaching methodologies are applicable to the current generation of learners.
We need to build on the relationship with our students, communicate and connect with our students, as there is a need for humanistic teaching to be in our teaching and learning approaches.
Humanisation is not a novel concept. Paolo Freire, author of ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, addressed it in 1968.
According to Friere, to humanise is to become more human.
Too much focus on technology dehumanises students as it only gives importance to learner-text/screen interaction, while less priority is on human interaction.
The lack of human interaction creates isolation among learners resulting in a lack of motivation to learn.
Over time, students will begin to feel that classes are bland and uninspiring, making them withdrawn and disinterested in participating.
Nonetheless, some critics may claim that integrating technology in the classroom cannot build authentic connections.
These critics fail to realise that connection is made possible through technology.
A clear example is social media, which connects us to the world. We can apply the same concept to teaching and learning.
Educators must build connections and relationships with their students to boost their motivation to learn with technology.
Alicia Philip is a lecturer with the College of Continuing Education, Universiti Tenaga Nasional.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
