The emergence of education is related to the apparition of the human being. We don’t know the birthday of the very first human being but we know The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education.
The evolution of education is marked by the past, present and future of the humankind. There are few main steps from this evolution that are worthy to be analysed even in a short presentation. This will give us a better imagine of “how we are” and “what our values are”.
Each step of the evolution has a generic name and the investigation is based on few criteria: the description, the main characteristic, the means of recording information, the provider, the beneficiary, the place and the time.
Education 1.0
The description: The birth of the humankind brought to the light the necessity of learning. The experience and knowledge accumulated by someone during its lifetime could be transmitted only orally to another person. A system of initiation between a master and its disciple was born. Only very few persons had the luck to be selected in order to be taught few basic things. The process was long-drawn with a master requiring the total fidelity of its disciple. The given information was very poor and uncontrollable based on the trust on master’s discernment. The places of teaching were situated in remote areas and considered sacred places.
The main characteristic: superstition
The means of recording information: the memory of the human being
The provider: human being
The beneficiary: very few people
The place: different isolated housing
The time: sporadic time
Education 2.0
The description: The appearance of the writing systems (logographic, syllabic, alphabetic, featural and ideographic) opened the portal to a new dawn in human history. The information could be kept and transmitted unaltered from generation to generation. Only the very few initiated in the mysteries of writing were able to access various pieces of information. In this way, their universe of knowledge grew continuously and they were able to progress in every aspect of individual and social life.
The main characteristic: superstition or informative
The means of recording information: stones, leather, bones, wood or clay tablets
The provider: human being or various scripts
The beneficiary: few people
The place: different isolated housing
The time: sporadic and scheduled time
Education 3.0
The description: A turning point in human history was the introduction of the compulsory education. The system allowed the apparition of different specialisations with a great impact on different areas of knowledge. Discoveries could be shared at mass level. Everybody was able to benefit from it and to actively contribute to the well-being of all.
The main characteristic: informative
The means of recording information: books, flyers, magazines, journals, drawings, movies, slideshow, vinyl discs, audio cassettes, software, CDs, DVDs or 3D models
The provider: human being or recorded information
The beneficiary: everybody
The place: different specialised institutions
The time: scheduled time
Education 4.0
The description: The apparition of computing machines offered the possibility to automatically process the information. Also, the rapid feed-back offered by computers to different problems was utilised in the human learning process. A specialised software could guide the operator to different learning paths accordingly to the human responses. In this way the learning process was optimised for each student. The concept of “universities coming to people, not people to universities” was implemented by the apparition of the distance education. Online courses and degrees could be offered to everybody enrolled in this system.
The main characteristic: interactive
The means of recording information: databases on CDs, DVDs or sites
The provider: specialised software
The beneficiary: everybody
The place: anywhere
The time: anytime
Education 5.0
The description: Each human being it’s unique because of its capacity and specific rhythm of learning. So, an individualised system of learning will be provided for each student using devices based on Artificial Intelligence. Virtual teachers will be used to educate individuals on each level based on a flexible schedule.
The main characteristic: individualised
The means of recording information: databases on cloud
The provider: Artificial Intelligence
The beneficiary: everybody
The place: anywhere
The time: anytime
Education 6.0
The description: Sharing learning experiences will be something common in the future. Based on individual experiences, students will be able to study together for a specific project and to fulfil various learning tasks. The Artificial Intelligence devices will be able to incorporate in real time the learning needs of each student and to remodel the structure of the project such that the group activity will be optimised each moment. Student’s abilities will be used at maximum capacity in the team’s effort to fulfil the designed objectives.
The main characteristic: cooperative
The means of recording information: shared databases on cloud
The provider: Artificial Intelligence
The beneficiary: everybody
The place: anywhere
The time: anytime
Education 7.0
The description: The development of technology will lead to the apparition of the neural interface. This will integrate an artificial learning system with the human’s brains. The human being will be permanently connected at internet as a biological component. The person will be able to instantly access the pieces of information needed, to learn, to experience, to solve problems and to work in a team project.
The main characteristic: integrative, embedded
The means of recording information: shared databases on brains and cloud
The provider: Artificial Intelligence, neural interface and brains
The beneficiary: everybody
The place: anywhere
The time: anytime
Education 8.0
The description: The advancement of genetic engineering will influence the personal development of the human being. The apparition of the holistic system will be inevitable. As a consequence, the direct communication among human brains and other beings, human brains and various devices will be possible.
The main characteristic: holistic
The means of recording information: shared databases on brains and cloud
The provider: brains ability
The beneficiary: everybody
The place: anywhere
The time: anytime
Conclusions
Wherever you go, the education is following you.
The International Teachers Day is held on October 5. In the light of this investigation, we should establish an International Virtual Teachers Day and an International Inner Teachers Day in order to be prepared for the future.