Do we learn differently from how we did twenty years ago? Will we learn in the same way twenty years from today? How can teaching adapt to these changes?
None of these questions has an easy answer. However, one thing is certain: the development of technologies like internet and AI provides teachers (and students) with new powerful tools. If you are a digital native like me, there is no way you did not use Wikipedia to study for a test at least once. And maybe you are one of those pioneers who has already started playing with ChatGPT, hopefully not during an exam. In my teaching, I constantly squeeze my brain to make the content and format of my lectures relevant, not only for today's challenges, but for tomorrow's.
However, we have not (yet) become super-cyborgs that wirelessly upload new knowledge and skills into our brains. And honestly said, the human essence of learning is what makes teaching so fun! Emotions, non-linear thinking, disorienting dilemmas and ethical considerations do not only add flavour to the concepts learnt, but also scaffold and influence knowledge at a deeper level. Most durable skills, among which critical thinking, emerge from this level.
Sounds complex? Maybe you start to see why I am so excited about it!
Of course, structure and continuity are also fundamental for solid learning. We would not want to waste decades of rich educational research, would we? Being proven effective, I employ evidence-based teaching techniques grounded in constructivism, such as constructive alignment, active learning and self-reflection.