Transformation of Education System over the last 2 decades

A weekend well spend in our engineering college (NITW, Warangal) with our 97 batchmates, our gurus / professors and the current / next generation engineering graduates.

So much has changed over the last 2 decades and there are many more changes and disruptions ahead in the education system…?Here’s some which we witness and some which we foresee ...

Democratization of the IP held by first benchers

During our golden analog days (~1997s), there were no smart screens, digital whiteboard, online classes, print facilities, etc. The lectures were driven and delivered by professors in classroom using chalk and board.

The key recipient of the information were the first benchers. Typically, they were our most attentive and studious batchmates. They use to understand, analyze and transcribe the lecture into their private notes (IP) within the short span of time before the information gets erased from the board. The value of these private notes use to peak off a day before the exam.

Fortunately, today, the stress is low. We can replay the recorded lectures. We do not need to transcript the lecture in real time. Instead it is more focused on redlining and highlighting the key clarifications and take ways.

Savior of last bencher's creativity

Everyone has different interests. Everyone is not equally interested in academics. Many batchmates with lesser academic interest preferred the last bench. It was a creative and safe heaven for them. But, these batchmates had their own challenges. They had to master the art of multitasking. They continued to live their passion while keeping their ears wide open to the ongoing lectures. They tried their best to maintain regular eye contacts with the lecturers while concurrently exploring their non-academic interests.

Today's educational system is transformed in alignment to the behavior of the last benchers. The hybrid model (online as well as classroom) grants flexibility to students to use their time more effectively. They can pursue and chase their dreams while doing the best trade off between passion and academics.

Collaborative left & right brain cells

In past, the syllabus and textbooks defined the scope for the examination.

We had to learn the art of moving all contents from textbooks into the left brain's memory cells for storage.

On the other hand, the experimental or project based learnings were limited. Hence our right brain's creative cells were not well utilized and explored.

Today's education system is beyond syllabus and textbooks. It offers a good blend of theoretical and practical sessions.

They are more case study and project oriented where the take ways are well defined and also the students learn from each other.

It enables better collaboration between the left (memory) and right (creative) brain cells and offers a better mental health.

Internship to entrepreneurship

During our days, internships were encouraged but were difficult to get. Paid internships were rare. Most of us use to pursue for vocational training and internships during the 3rd year of our engineering. It helped us to get industry exposure and relate it back to our studies. It was extremely useful for campus placement.

Today, there is push for re-orientation of the existing engineering and post graduation programs to equip students with entrepreneurial skills. Education institutions are setting up innovation labs, creating co-working space for college startups, introducing entrepreneurial lectures/ sessions as part of the curriculum, collaborating with industry on research projects, etc.

Good to see and hear the shift and the transformation. Entrepreneurial activities are important for the economical growth of the society and the country. It helps to create employment opportunities and promote better standards of living.

Join, leave & restart at any semester

As we all know, some of the most successful entrepreneurs in globe are college drop outs. If so, then why not to formalize the process? The same is with our batch. The exam rating has no correlation to their successful career.

Hope to see an education system where the students can join and complete the 1st semester, take break per their other priorities and then re-join the next batch for the 2nd semester. Probably, in near future, the education system may provide such the flexibility to pace the learning process with other priorities of life.

Rapid democratization of STEM skills

In our days, every parent wanted their kids to be either an engineer or a doctor. The parent's 'want' was implicitly pressurized via society. For some, the fear of science and complex non-linear equations regularly haunted them during the 4 years of engineering. Memorizing and vomiting during the exams were the easiest escape routes.

But, today, the STEM skills are democratized through the emerging digital technologies, especially immersive learning, virtual laboratories, story-based teaching, game oriented teaching, etc. It is available to all especially in the urban areas.

Probably, this is the reason why India contributes to 30% of world's STEM graduates and ranks 3rd in the unicorn list.

Pre-polishing of the raw diamonds?

Management subjects / sessions were almost none during our days. We entered the corporate world as raw diamonds. The corporate had to invest on us to fill the expectation gap since corporate roles are beyond R&D and Engineering.

Things are changing. Many institutes have incorporated the basic management courses as part of the 4-year engineering curriculum. Many may do it in future.

An exposure to management during the engineering tenure provides a holistic view of various corporate roles, responsibilities and a career path to choose for the engineering graduates.

Thought Leadership

The frequency of thought leadership events are much higher than two decades back.

There is much deeper and broader collaboration between the education institutions and the industries. The educational institutes have much better infrastructure to host large technology events.

Collective thinking & network of minds

In education, there are 3 key entities involved - Teacher (Institutions), Content (Textbooks) and the Student. Earlier the education was tightly coupled with syllabus and textbooks. We have to join an institute, register for a course and then the content was then delivered by a lecturer in classroom.

Today, the content is freely available and delivered over web / internet. For example, there are videos/ articles/ books for all topics. For any given topic, there are many different videos/ articles/ books available in the web from different lecturers with different case studies and different style of teaching. The content is also available in different languages. Sometimes the teaching is more effective in the local language which are supported and available online.

If so, why do people join institutes and pay fee ? It is about the learning experience. Education Institutes provides an environment for collective thinking and an extensive network of minds.

Today’s or the future educational institutions may not be gauged on the curriculum, content and the??delivery of the content.

It may be based on the learning experience offered and the breath and depth of the network gained.?

Educational institutions bring like minds together and then during the 4 year tenure, trust is added as the reinforcement. This looks difficult to digitalize.

It creates memories to cherish. Here's a billion dollar picture to frame and keep at our desk.