The future of learning: It’s not textbooks

IHAVE been quietly observing my grandkids as they trailblaze their way through the new era of blended learning during the pandemic. The elder child, Bea, is the docile student type, closely toeing the traditional line. She’s conscientious in doing her homework, going through the required reading of books, and trudging through fillin-the-blanks type of tasks. However, from time to time, she just skips going through her textbooks and turns to search apps to get the information she needs faster.

Alexa, the younger one, is more restless and seems averse to doing traditional academic tasks. She can’t sit still and walks around with her portable tablet during class hours. Although her Dad has bought the required printed books for her to read, she barely touched them.

In fact, I notice that Alexa is much more interested in watching snappy educational videos on Youtube, like Bright Side and Ted ED, and more absorbed when she is playing video games that pose mental challenges. She’s showing uncanny hand-mind coordination skills. We bought her a Rubik’s Cube and she solved it one day. Now she can do it in minutes. Did she develop this by playing video games? I wonder.

Does Alexa embody the traits of the new generation? According to sociologists, those born between 2011 and 2025 are a whole new tribe called Generation Alpha. According to records, 2.5 million of them are born throughout the world each week. Think about this: while born and shaped fully in the 21st century, they are a generation that in record numbers will still be living in the 22nd century!

Bea, Alexa and many Alphans of school age like them are growing up in a world of iphones and Youtube—there are now 100 hours of Youtube videos uploaded every minute—and in this environment they are more influenced by images and moving visuals carried on digital platforms, where content is shared and made available instantly and globally.

They spend hours and hours of screen time. For them, the glass screen has become their source of knowledge and entertainment. Unlike the medium of paper, which is static and textual, this communication tool is a kinesthetic, visual, interactive, connective and portable format.

No wonder they think that traditional teaching and learning methods “suck.” That’s because our present methods still focus too much on textbooks and tests and memorization. While there is a place for textbook learning, this new generation doesn’t want to read textbooks.

So, are we all doing it wrong? Are we still force-feeding them textbooks when their minds are naturally configured to the digital and the visual? Like forcing square pegs into round holes?

Now is the time to rethink, reimagine and redesign our educational approach for Generation Alpha. We should explore the feasibility of employing technology-driven media that they are most familiar with.

I propose the employment of anime and video gaming.

Both anime and video gaming are the bread and butter of children’s entertainment. Why shouldn’t such a large industry be used for bettering the world? After all, these forms of past time are not only pure entertainment, but according to media content analysts, encourage teamwork, social skills, and a wealth of knowledge too. It’s time to harness their usefulness and make them serve our education system.

Animes are the Japanese equivalent of old style Western “cartoons.” Japanese animes have a certain look and technique that made them highly appealing, such as extraordinary plots, storylines, action/ fight scenes, romance sequences and iconic characters.

Anime’s way of storytelling can also help shape character, and teachers would do well to employ them in inculcating good manners and right conduct, as well as imparting historical and cultural lessons. In such subjects as history, literature, and social studies, anime is an ideal educational medium because of its intrinsic power for storytelling.

Similarly, our educational media technology experts should pay more serious attention to the educational possibilities of the video gaming, another favorite in entertainment. The technology of video gaming has become more sophisticated. Graphics have become more lifelike; stories have become richer, and more involved. Because a good video game provides a choice of scenarios that the game player must go through with consequences, playing it can help young students learn how to think rather than merely seek a right answer.

Happily, some schools abroad are now exploring video gaming as a learning tool. They are finding out that multiplayer, cooperative games can help students learn subjects such as English through context, play and social interactions.

I also read an article about a local enterprising video game developer that is making a subject like history come alive through a “Filipino fighting game” called Bayani: Fighting Game, alternatively known as Bayani: Kanino Ka Kakampi? Weaving together our rich heritage with awesome fictional narrative, Bayani brings history to life in an entertaining way while educating the young gamer on the history of the Philippines.

I’m not saying we should eradicate textbooks altogether because they will still be essential for laying the basic foundation of literacy and comprehension. Besides, let’s face it, we are still very, very early in the technology that will make full digital education possible. We have not built up the set of tools, educational structures, and the proper use of technology to fully unlock its true potential.

Still, we cannot turn back the clock. Even now, the pandemic is forcing us to shift to digital platforms not only in the area of leisure and entertainment but also at work and in school. Whether we like it or not, we will be here to stay within the digital realm even after the pandemic.

More and more educational content will have to be transposed to digital formats to facilitate elearning among schoolchildren. The role of animes and video gaming as educational media have become more timely now and compellingly relevant.

In the near future, I hope to see educational animes or video games in a virtual classroom whip up much excitement in the classroom in the same way a new anime episode or a new video game can get today’s young people so excited it is becomes viral in a snap.