I partly attended the zoom event because this connects to education as my research topic, and I heard the presentation about the future of open learning on February 7th. Unfortunately, there was no time to have a conversation with guest speakers directly, and the time was very short, so I could not get much information, but it was a good opportunity to learn a new thing from a MIT student.
The presenter explained the importance of technology has the possibility to reduce unequal in the education field and improve that. They believe openness in education makes learning more meaningful, so they make an effort to promote open software and share their ideas and information with anyone, even a refugee. In addition, they consider long-term benefits in education will be offered by distributing education to everyone first. Diversity in technology is also needed for the current world.
I felt this MIT program that digitals allow inequality in education help has the power to reduce children who cannot access to technology in this world. Nowadays, not only children but also many workers are forced to receive education and do jobs by digitals due to Coronavirus, and actually, 1 billion students t get behind to study because of lack of technology. Therefore, I believe this MIT’s open learning program has the effect of solving such an unfair education situation. Furthermore, more technical skills are required to work in society, so being familiar with digital devices is helpful for the student’s future.
After I attended this zoom session, I thought students who live in poverty need to learn writing and reading skills first because illiterate children cannot also understand the letters on the screen, so it is a little challenging to reduce inequality by digitals.
I recommend this kind of zoom session for people interested in the topics and familiar with some technical words since the speakers often talk fast and from high institutions.
Reira Kataoka