The Future of Education: A technology perspective

Striving through social unrest and coronavirus, the past academic year has been both challenging and rewarding. Tough times teach us the best lessons and 2020 has taught us the importance of resilience, adaptability and flexibility in the face of adversity.

For the first time, online education is rolled out across the city on a mass scale. Having experienced remote learning, we’ve seen the value in face-to-face interactions and delved into the possibilities of virtual connections. We took this opportunity to challenge ourselves to imagine how schools would look like 20 years from now. Introducing ‘The Future of Education’ series, where we asked teachers, technology professionals, students and parents to share their thoughts, concerns and experiences of adapting to this new era of learning.

In our second instalment, we chat with a senior executive from Google on how the tech giant is designing new online education tools to make remote learning more accessible and how it is promoting internet safety.

Leonie Valentine, Managing Director of Sales & Operations, Google Hong Kong

In April 2020, as the world was going through its worst wave of Covid-19, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation estimated that 91.3 per cent of the world’s students were affected by school closures. Google wanted to help.

“Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, Google has been looking at ways to better support remote teaching and reimagine the learning environment,” says Leonie Valentine. Google found that there are more than 140 million people using G Suite for Education in June 2020. The free suite of tools boasts learning tools designed for the classroom that fosters collaborative mindsets.

Read more: Microsoft Hong Kong gives schools free access to Office 365 Education

“Bringing attention to safer internet practices is more important than ever,” Valentine says.

Internet safety and proper usage of technology are common concerns when it comes to young kids. In light of the increase in young users, Google Hong Kong launched two programmes focused on internet safety. Through its interactive programme called Be Internet Awesome, kids can learn the fundamentals of digital citizenship and explore the online world confidently.

So what does this mean for the future of learning? Just as working from home is made possible, education can be taken under the roof and substitute lessons in classrooms. “While it may be too early to predict what the future holds, it’s clear that deeper integration of technology and digital learning could help make education more accessible and equitable long beyond Covid-19,” Valentine says.