Innovation in Education and How it Works Around the Globe

Innovation in education can be found in services, programmes and partnerships. Educational institutions around the world are working on constant improvements for their students. However, not all innovation is tangible when it comes to education. There is also philosophical innovation, like the forest model for example. Read about it down below. We took a walk around the globe and found the best innovation in education, yet!

United Arab Emirates : 3D Learning

Anything you can do, Dubai can do bigger. Therefore, the newest innovation is the 3D Learning. Sounds fun right? Sitting in a huge classroom, wearing 3D glasses and watching the hologram of the human brain or even better, the planets in the solar system. For some of us this might sound like a plot of a futuristic movie, but for GEMS Modern Academy in Dubai, this is reality. Classrooms are connected by a high speed fiber optic network and science lessons are delivered on a 3D platform. Besides attracting students to this specific Academy, this tool helps them grasp complex information that are harder to understand by just reading. Furthermore, this kind of innovation gives other world-wide-known universities a run for their money. Would you have chosen the same educational institution if you knew this was a possibility?

England: Digital innovation

Being innovative doesn’t only mean inventing. It means changing and improving. It also means adapting to changes in your environment. When Essa Academy, outside Manchester faced the fact they’re failing, the decision makers decided to go a step further with innovation. Going digital was the road they took. Today, going digital in educational institutions still is innovation. It is mostly the western world that has taken the trend in.

So, all students at Essa Academy are given an iPad and the classes are organized through Apple’s iTunes U. That gives them a chance to keep all their digital materials organized in once place. Besides being equipped with digital solutions, students can even design their own digital courses. Paper only comes around when there’s an exam coming up, but that will surely be changed soon, too.

South Korea: Robots teachers as the newest innovation

Engkey is not your typical teacher with a bun and glasses. Engkey is an egg shaped robot teacher with a humanoid face. She is controlled by a native English-speaker, whose face is projected on Engkey’s shoulder-screen. Besides teaching the South Korean kids to speak English, these kind of robots can also teach them how to dance. Furthermore, if students need help checking into a class or have an inquiry about their mood, another kind of robot teacher is there.

“Children feel the robot is their friend,” said Bum-Jae You, head of the Cognitive Robotics Center at KIST. “Robots are very helpful to enhance the concentration capability of children in class.” This kind of an innovation in educational environment has raised some questions regarding the real teachers and their role in the system. However, South Korea believes in a great outcome.

Denmark: Back to basics

While some countries took the digital road, Denmark took a walk back to the past. Is this an innovation? Well as mentioned above, being innovative doesn’t necessarily mean inventing. It means reacting to your surroundings and doing what is best for your business or cause. Therefore, what is called the forest kindergarten model benefits kids in another way than Ipads do. It was popularized in Northern Europe in the 1960s and it gives children unstructured playtime in a natural setting. Scandinavians, being on the top when it comes to innovation, know what they’re doing. This approach might just be the secret to their success. It is considered that the free play develops children’s natural curiosity and prepares them for learning better than the traditional, indoor way does.

Nothing is black and white when it comes to innovation in education. It is interesting to see the variety of options different countries use. You might expect the newest modern technology playing an important factor in the western Europe, but then there`s something as simple as the forest model is. On the other side, South Korea and United Arab Emirates run away far from the nature. Assuring creative working spaces for people plays a big part in the world of innovation. When the surroundings are there, ideas are going to come as well. But, what to do as the next step? How to organize ideas?

Read more about it in our previous posts such as Idea management will take you further or How can your team benefit from using an idea management platform?