How Digital Cognitive Solutions Can Shape the Future of Education
Digital Cognitive Solutions? In the classroom? Do kids really need so much technology just to learn about reading, writing, and math? Many of us who are old enough to be parents ourselves likely remember going to school in the days of overhead projectors, typewriters, and *gasp* CHALKBOARDS!! And if we all turned out just fine without all this high-tech teaching equipment, is it really necessary for students today?
The pace of change has accelerated dramatically over the past half century. The technology of today would be almost unrecognizable to someone from even the early ‘90s. And teachers and schools are doing everything they can to keep up and prepare their students for the ‘real world’ they will enter once they finish school. A world which likely will be much different than today.
While schools around the world are incorporating modern technologies into the classroom such as ‘smart boards,’ computers and tablets, and even fitness trackers, to help students become “technologically literate,” many educators are beginning to question how to prepare students for a future that will continue to change in unprecedented and unpredictable ways.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the answer to this problem will require a unique approach to education that not only uses modern technology and tools, but which also combines traditional education methods for teaching core subjects such as math, history, and literature, with inter-disciplinary teaching methods to help students develop skills that will help them succeed in the dynamic environments in which they will likely find themselves once they move beyond the classroom.
What is Inter-disciplinary Education?
Whereas many traditional methods of teaching focused on showing students how to solve specific problems such as how to find the circumference of a circle, or how to master a defined block of knowledge such as the literature of Shakespeare or the history of ancient Rome, an inter-disciplinary approach to education focuses on the skills that are needed for problem-solving, critical thinking, and cognitive flexibility.
By focusing on these skills, educators are able to help teach students how to solve problems for themselves, how to explore unique solutions, and how to uncover answers on their own.
Many pioneering schools have come up with unique methods for how to best meet this new challenge. Many have built on established education styles such as those found in Montessori schools, others have looked to completely redefine how a school should look and feel and the role school should play in the students’ lives.
Some schools have chosen to upend the traditional curriculum and incorporate subjects teaching students how to start a business, how to build robots, and even how to run a farm.
What Role do Digital Cognitive Tools Such as CogniFit have in this New Education Paradigm?
The core cognitive abilities trained by CogniFit solutions play a key role in many of the skills needed for a successful interdisciplinary education. Skills like short-term memory, focus, planning, shifting, and more are vital in helping an individual adapt to unique and novel situations. They help us to solve problems and overcome obstacles.
As we wrote about in a recent article, a study from earlier this year found that students who trained with CogniFit over an eight-week period had improved academic performance compared to the control group. While there is still plenty of research to be done, these findings point to how beneficial brain-based learning tools such as this can be for the modern classroom.
This platform provides an easy-to-use tool for teachers to help evaluate and train the cognitive abilities most important for their students’ success in school and beyond.
You can read about our Education Platform for Schools and Teachers to learn more about how CogniFit is creating digital cognitive solutions for the classroom.
