Students at the Morant Bay Primary School in St Thomas. Student-centred teaching is being suggested as the best way to impart knowledge. - File

Buenos Aires, Argentina:

A MICROSOFT education specialist is arguing that personalised learning could be the answer to problems in education systems across the world.

Edgar Ferrer Gil, who leads the technological solutions for the education division of Microsoft, told The Sunday Gleaner that this new approach to education offers great potential for developing countries to grow their economies and for a greater portion of their population to be educated.

"I think it is time for policy-makers worldwide to seriously examine what can be done to support education in a more personal way. Far too many students merely pass through the educational system.

"Education ministries should treat students as best customers or else they will go to other vendors," Ferrer said.

pressing the point

Ferrer was one of several Microsoft executives attending the second renewal of the Latin America Innovative Educators Forum here.

In pressing his point for a new approach, Ferrer said that it could significantly reduce the number of illiterates in countries.

Personalised education refers to providing learning experiences tailored to each student's interests and learning styles.

It places the student at the centre of the process of self-managed learning. Students are given choices within a larger topic or curriculum theme, or as promoted by an approach known as problem-based learning.

A key component in this approach to education is the use of technology.

Under the transformation of education programme, Jamaica has already incorporated technology into the education system.

As recent as June, Education Minister Andrew Holness announced plans for the roll-out of the Jamaica Schools Administrative System software in more than 600 schools.

He argued that this would equip administrators with the tools to make informed decisions regarding effective management of, and timely performance measurements at all levels within these institutions.

At that time, Holness lamented what he said was the failure of administrators of several schools to adequately use the technology at their disposal to inform manage-ment decisions.

That is a point which would get support from Ferrer, who said it was not just having the technology that would revolutionise education systems across the world, but rather how that technology was used.

"It is about planning and focusing on the outcomes that you want to achieve. If you are going to incorporate technology in a school environment it has to be thoroughly planned. There has to be a very clear motive of why you are investing every dollar that is being invested and making sure that it is providing the services and the outcome that has been defined," the Microsoft education point man argued.

line of sight

He added: "The entire government would have to decide where it is that they are going to take the nation. You would have to have a clear line of sight from the economic plan to the investment that they will do in education, and it has to be tied to a policy and a finite scale."

While some private institutions across the world have adopted the approach of personalised education there has not been any real buy in of the concept from governments.

However, Ferrer has maintained that "It is time for a rethink, for us to examine whether it is curriculum change, environment change or whether it is implementation of technology that is needed."

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com