"Education can't be just about handing in assignments you've got absolutely no interest in"

 

Xavier Pascual was once a student on the UOC's Master's Degree in Education and ICT (E-learning) and, since completing the programme, has become one of its course instructors. He is also the founder of a start-up called BeChallenge, a platform aimed at using active methodologies to enhance creativity through critical thinking. The platform received support from Hubbik, the UOC's platform for fostering entrepreneurship; landed a top spot at the UOC's annual entrepreneurship event, SpinUOC; participated in EduTECH Emprèn, a programme which seeks to accelerate education projects, and took part at the UOC stand at 4 Years From Now (4YFN), a trade fair for start-ups included in the Mobile World Congress (MWC). If that weren't enough, Pascual was also one of the organizers of the EdTech BCN conference, a Tech Spirit event put together as a last resort following the cancellation of the MWC and, by extension, the 4YFN event. In his interview, Pasucal shed some light on what it was like to organize the event in just four days and gave us the scoop on the main issues that were put up for debate during the process. The goal of educational technology is twofold: stimulate students and assist them in setting forth on their own learning pathways. In the eyes of this educator, entrepreneur and event organizer, Catalonia has surfaced as a global leader in the current climate, marked by educational transformation.

 

No, we had four days to sort it out, but managed to book 30 speakers and attract 375 registered attendees. The community in Barcelona is so strong that when a landmark event like the MWC or 4YFN is cancelled, people find themselves missing that chance to meet up with other professionals, strengthen synergies and share their projects.

I find it fascinating that we were able to gather so many people at these conferences to delve into a matter as specific as the overlap between technology and education. I don't know if there's a precedent for this sort of achievement, but it says a lot about the community. Tech Spirit called on the community and without them asking us to do so directly, we made the proposal. There's a certain proactivity and drive to stay strong, push forward and show others what can be done. Thanks to that, there's now an example to follow in Europe as well.

Our focus is on the current state of the EdTech industry and the future we expect to see, and this doesn't mean simply creating more technology. According to current studies, the sector will have staggering potential for growth in the years to come. As part of the industry, it's important that we have a clear understanding of the direction we're headed in and solid reasoning behind our decisions. Is our ultimate aim to fill classrooms with tech? Or is our goal to help usher in educational transformation? The latter is the goal EdTech should have, keeping its sights set on helping professors to take the transformation process in their stride. Technology should make people's lives better. In EdTech, technology should be harnessed to improve the lives of students and teachers and heighten educational quality, not merely to show off colourful online environments, touchscreens and avatars. EdTech should steer clear of that route, striving rather to help improve the lives of students and build educational technology on the foundation of solid pedagogical science.

Let's first address what's happened. Digitization is what's happened. We've transposed what we once did on paper to online environments, a switch that is commonly considered of value. But in and of itself, this switch adds no real value. It's a ruse to attract students, a source of superficial attraction that does nothing to favour learning. If students are given tablets to tap away at mindlessly, the attraction will not last long, and that's not what education is about. So, we have to ensure that EdTech takes things further, much further. Stimuli are buried in students' interests. If you're prompted to do something you've got absolutely no interest in, you'll do it because it's being asked of you, but that's not learning. That's just turning in assignments. We cannot allow this to be the backbone of education. It's for this reason that so many people find themselves stuck, clueless as to what to do with their lives. They turned in their assignments without ever really understanding the purpose of them, or what their real interests and motivations were. Stimuli awaken emotions that ignite motivation, spurring people to learn. And learning is deep when this sort of stimulus is present.

That's true. When it comes to personalizing learning, there's one thing you have to bear in mind. When searching for this interest, honing in as much as possible on students' interests, we set challenges because they open our eyes and provide us with an opportunity for everyone, within a certain subject area, to find where their interests lie. From the onset, I set a challenge they want to overcome. Then I help them to work on the areas that will imbue them with the knowledge they'll need to effectively tackle the challenge. For teaching staff, that is a challenge in itself. Professors have to be experts in helping their students, in advising and guiding them, and in designing learning opportunities. We're not witnessing a simple change, but rather a total transformation. We're engaged in the EdTech industry because we believe we can add value to this transformation. This is the true challenge for teaching professionals: tailoring education to the greatest extent possible to students' interests.

It's a complex matter. The element that connects us all is our calling to do the things we do. What drives a teaching professional? If you're planning to leave your comfort zone, you should first check whether it's really worth it. If the current is so strong that you've got no other direction to go in, you have to decide whether to get on board or jump ship and find your own way. This acts as a filter for education; coincidence is filtered by an underlying element: our calling to build up students' lives and guide them on their learning pathways. Once the filtering process is complete, aiding professors revolves around training. They may feel a calling, but that doesn't mean they know what to do with it. It's not that simple. Only recently have university faculties of education begun to teach professionals how to design learning environments. In short, we also have to lend our hand in this transformation process. And by "we" I mean everyone from EdTech companies to public institutions. It requires a shared effort from all the relevant industries.

It's my belief (and this seems obvious to me) that the private sector gets things done more quickly and efficiently, because there aren't so many cooks in the kitchen. I think the public sector needs to forge alliances with private stakeholders who are willing to help drive the educational transformation. To a certain extent, this is already so. Catalonia is a world leader, an up-and-coming powerhouse in the educational transformation movement we are witnessing. We must stick to the principles of public-private collaboration. In doing so, we will help to enhance our ability to guide the transformation process, which is not going to be a short-term process, taking place rather in the medium and long term.

The success of our event should give the Government of Catalonia and the governing board of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) association some things to think about. Let them not forget about EdTech. There are many areas of knowledge, but this one in particular is of vital importance and relevance because it's the one that helps us to build, to aid teachers in making the process of educational transformation a reality. We're sparking debate and reflection on what we want. This is no simple trade fair. We want to stay critical, so our goal is to have the opportunities to hold this type of debate. At 4YFN we don't even fall into a specific category. We're considered an "other", which may be taken as a belittlement of our industry's great untapped potential, both for society and the market.