澳门跑狗论坛

Educational technology can help students develop important social and emotional skills and character traits, but the market for such tools is currently underdeveloped, concludes a new report from the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group.

The report, titled 鈥�New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through Technology,鈥� identifies two main areas for growth: Products that target core academic subjects, which the groups contend can do a better job of incorporating features that support development of everything from communication skills to cultural awareness, and newer technologies, such as wearable devices and virtual reality systems, which the groups believe warrant additional investment.

Ed-tech industry leaders agreed that social-emotional learning represents a potential 鈥済rowth market,鈥� fueled in part by recent attention from the federal government.

The National Education Technology Plan places a heavy emphasis on developing 鈥渘on-cognitive competencies"鈥攕uch as the ability to interact well with peers, resolve disputes, and persist through challenging problems鈥攖hrough digital games and other classroom technologies.

鈥淥ur expectation of what schools are trying to accomplish is expanding,鈥� said Joseph South, the director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education.

鈥淭echnology can be a tool for changing students from consumers to creators of information, and that role puts them in a position where they can start to develop nonacademic skills they will need to succeed in college, careers, and life.鈥�

Defining the Concept

The general principle behind social-emotional learning is that students will benefit from developing the ability to understand and regulate their own emotions, form strong and supportive relationships, solve problems, and set and achieve goals. Some research has shown that students perform better academically and have improved life outcomes when they receive explicit instruction around these areas.

But defining exactly what social-emotional learning means can be tricky.

Many K-12 educators and policymakers follow the model outlined by the nonprofit Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, which includes five 鈥渃ore competencies:" self-management, self-awareness, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness.

For many in the field, though, the notion of social-emotional learning overlaps with such ideas as 鈥渘oncognitive skills鈥� and character development.

And the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group put their own twist on the subject, describing social-emotional learning as covering a set of 10 鈥渃ompetencies and character traits.鈥� The groups believe that the approach is most effective when introduced via direct instruction in the preschool years, and when embedded through schools鈥� core curricula in the elementary and secondary years. Technology can help, the groups write, because it 鈥渃an personalize learning, engage the disengaged, complement what happens in the classroom, extend education outside the classroom, and provide access to learning to students.鈥�

Some efforts have been made to bring the various notions together, and many districts are trying to incorporate some version of the concepts into their curricula and school-improvement strategies.

Shortage of Products

Confusion still abounds, though: The World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group surveyed 2,000 parents and educators in five countries (China, Kenya, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and found that social-emotional learning is widely recognized, but poorly understood.

鈥淧arents and educators across the world primarily see [social-emotional learning] as a means of achieving better classroom discipline today, not as a way to ensure better academic and economic outcomes over the long term,鈥� the groups鈥� report reads.

That lack of understanding is one reason why technology tools related to social-emotional learning have been slow to take off, the groups contend.

Another challenge is that K-12 school systems don鈥檛 generally have dedicated revenue streams that can be tapped to purchase social-emotional learning products, said Karen Billings, the vice president of the education technology network for the Software & Information Industry Association, a Washington trade group.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a chicken-and-egg problem,鈥� Billings said. 鈥淚f a lot of companies were coming to schools and saying we鈥檝e got these tools to help you, you might see [more demand.] But if companies aren鈥檛 directly hearing about that demand, they probably aren鈥檛 developing those tools.鈥�

And a third barrier is a shortage of venture capital. According to the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group, just 5 percent of investment funds made available to the ed-tech sector between 2011 and 2015 went to companies that include social-emotional learning elements in their products.

The area that is most immediately ripe for growth, the groups believe, is in adding new SEL- focused features into existing tools. Their report includes a list of 55 such features, including strategies for structuring student interactions, approaches for encouraging students to adopt different perspectives, and strategies that help students develop 鈥済rit.鈥�

Futuristic technologies such as wearable devices that track students鈥� emotional states and physiological reactions to stress, for example, or virtual reality systems that can simulate physical environments and 鈥渇oster greater self-awareness and spur creativity,鈥� are also important for 鈥渆xpanding the realm of the possible,鈥� the report says.

In both cases, Billings said, there鈥檚 an opportunity for ed-tech companies.

鈥淚t will be a relatively small market for a while,鈥� Billings said. 鈥淏ut the companies acting more quickly are probably going to be the ones who are going to get the market share.鈥�

For some parents and educators, though, the notion that children will learn about emotions and social skills from technology is counterintuitive, if not anathema. Concerns about screen time, data privacy, and a focus on technology instead of smaller class sizes and more human interaction are common.

Skepticism About Digital Tools

South, of the U.S. Education Department, said that perspective is understandable, particularly in response to the 鈥渢here鈥檚 an app for that鈥� approach to addressing social-emotional learning.

鈥淭here is no doubt in my mind if you put a kid in the corner with a screen, it鈥檚 probably going to diminish their social-emotional IQ,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut ed tech can also be a way for students to access peers, experiences, experts, and audiences they couldn鈥檛 otherwise access. When technology is a means of connecting students to larger communities, it increases the potential for interactions that will develop the skills we鈥檙e looking for.鈥�

Of particular interest, South said, are virtual environments (including simulations and digital role-playing games) that allow students to experiment, fail, and try again in a low-stakes environment.

Also encouraging, he said, are platforms and tools that allow students to communicate, write collaboratively, and work together on projects.

The World Economic Forum-Boston Consulting Group report suggests that policymakers, investors, researchers, educators, and parents all play a role in promoting social-emotional learning.

鈥淧olicymakers, in particular, must stand at the forefront of setting the agenda for policy change, prioritizing efforts that foster SEL and related assessments and measurements in education, as well as providing funding and other resources for the research and adoption of SEL and related ed tech,鈥� the groups write.

Their report is the second in a series on ways to address the 鈥�21st century skills gap鈥� through technology.