By Nilesh Gaikwad, Country Manager, EDHEC Business school

 

 

 

 

The past few years have seen a rapid increase in usage of the digital media. This has led to an aggregation of large quantities of data. Any organization that can make sense of this data, will lead the way. Now wonder it has been rightly declared that ‘Data is the new oil’. Two sectors that have taken up the mantle of digitization are – Education & Learning & Development;never mind the need and costs associated with the structural changes involved. Thanks to digitization, there can be a greater scrutiny not only on the achievements of assesse but also on the efforts of the facilitators. This article we will discuss thepositive effects of data-driven learning within a classroom as well as an organization.

 

When things go digital, everything that can be measured and stored for future analysis, shall be measured. With an improved adoption of technology, learning outcomes are getting re-written. Real-time changes to a Learning programme is a possibility. Learners are offered flexible alternatives to undergo training sessions at their convenience. Information gathered through previous teachings is offering pupils much more than the traditional style of learning. Consider this scenario, a user’s entire digital footprint is being used to not only draw their profile but also to predict their behavior vis-à-vis particular service.

 

Inward Learning

The rigid approach to learning from yesteryears served well in an offline& slow evolving society. But the invasion of digital media within our lives has forced the scores of today’s students to become agile learners. While the responsibility of minimal teaching still remains with the authorities, the extent of learning though resides with the pupils. With a gateway to infinite information –Google, at their beck and call, today’s pupils are more curious and hurried in their learning approach. Thus accomplishing two tasks – learning as well as managing their knowledge growth. At EDHEC, students are encouraged to take interest and research further into the fields that are taught. It is this interest that spawns into careers.In the professional world, employee skilling / re-skilling hasbecome the topmost priority for organizations.

 

Real-time Knowledge

Learning Management Systems & MOOCs are helping students and other knowledge seekersstudy any topics (especially technology-related) in real-time, thus providing an umbrella of relevant referencing material. As most of these courses are developing as we speak, the course material gets updated on a real-time basis and can be edited to suit the requirements of the audience.Today’s world has realized that the next big thing to impact businesses are Big Data and Blockchain. Considering that these topics are still a work in progress, having real-time idea of these topics ensures the pupils continue to hold an upper hand within their domains. Working in such exciting fields has its own advantages for researchers trying to be first across the finish line.Technical experts are the need of the hour within the fields of Analytics & Big Data. And we foresee a huge growth in terms of leveraging acquired knowledge.

 

Knowledge-Bank

Classrooms have moved from schools into our homes. With use of a simple smartphone, anyone can record a lecture or create an impromptu video. Thus the resistance to becoming a subject-matter-expert has diminished. These videos can either be posted on a private server or on the open web. Collaborations between experts from different continents have become possible, company meetings with attendees from different time zones is a regular phenomenon. Effective data versioning and storage are of utmost importance. Performance Data is being generated at every level – be it individual / employer or government. This data can be used to re-calibrate the teaching approach and make students aware of their progress. Additionally, researchers can use this information to draw trends and predictive analysis of the status in upcoming years.

 

The points discussed above prove that data-driven knowledge is the next big thing. The balance between classroom learning and self-learning is tilting towards the latter. Students & Professionals should prepare themselves for this shift. The traditional way of learning will leave one laggard and there is a need for an urgency in learning.

 

Author is Nilesh Gaikwad – Country Manager at EDHEC Business School, France and can be reached out at nilesh.gaikwad@edhec.edu