The educational problem beyond the CNTE

Beyond the CNTE and the Educational Reform, education is undergoing a transformation worldwide, thanks to new exponential technologies. Learn about the most extraordinary cases.

It is clear that in Mexico we are currently experiencing a crucial moment in the educational issue, however, what many are unaware of, beyond the CNTE and the Educational Reform, is that education is undergoing a transformation worldwide thanks to new exponential technologies.

For example, with Khan Academy, a child can now complete practically all of elementary and secondary school online, for free, with YouTube videos, access to mentors, and interactive games that assess their progress. This non-profit organization has provided over 260 million lessons to children and young people worldwide, receiving million-dollar donations from Bill Gates, Google, and even the Carlos Slim Foundation, which has supported the translation of content into Spanish. Additionally, with the exponential decline in prices, year after year, of computers, tablets, and smartphones, and the support of organizations like One Laptop Per Child, it will become increasingly easier for all children, even in very low-income communities, to have access to quality education through the Internet. Perhaps this sounds somewhat dreamy, utopian, and exaggerated, but it is important not to forget that the current global education system is over 300 years old and is considered by many experts to be obsolete for the 21st century.

It has been shown in several studies (for example, in Dale's Cone of Experience) that one of the worst ways to learn is by reading and listening, as it is a passive role that minimizes retention. Compared to new techniques presented in Khan Academy, which allow learning through play, making education more efficient. At the university level, we also face radical changes, since practically everything taught at a university can be found online for free, on websites like Wikipedia. Additionally, many of the most renowned universities, such as MIT and Stanford, are uploading some of their courses to the Internet completely free. On the other hand, with Coursera, it is now possible to take courses from the best universities in the world, completely free, and even obtain a certificate with academic value after completing assignments and exams.

Another example of the educational revolution is the way we learn languages. For instance, with the Duolingo application, we can learn several languages completely free while playing, and at the same time, helping to translate the Internet. Or the company Open English, which has raised over $55 million in capital, with more than 65,000 active students in 2012, and has shaken up traditional academies by proving to be more efficient in teaching English.

All these are examples of how education is revolutionizing worldwide with much more efficient, cheaper, and scalable techniques for educating than current ones, where education adapts to the student and learning happens through play. Therefore, the problem of education in Mexico is something much more serious than an Educational Reform to evaluate teachers. The issue to analyze is: What will happen to teachers in a 21st-century education? Will their role change?