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On August 6, 1991, the World Wide Web became available to the general public, forever altering the way ideas travel. Despite the historical importance of in-person dialogues and interactions for the transmission of information, mass communication has become a major means to learn in higher education and beyond. Professors should be judicious in their use of technology as it becomes more prevalent in our lives, striving to strike a balance between technology and personal methods.
Many programmes use digital tools and instructional technology like Smartboards, which have been proved to increase attitudes and learning (Sad, 2012). Let’s look at the multi-layered relationship for both using educational technology and ethical considerations—in particular, how students perceive knowledge in the Age Of Information through these devices and how effective educators can consider virtues that are beginning to form, or not formulating, through these communication technologies.
What are the Benefits of Confucian Education in Higher Education?
Confucian education has high aspirations as a framework because it engages learners in understanding classic canons with historical foundations and practicing classical virtues for future social growth. This might look like combining classic ideas with current ways in higher education courses, such as online TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) presentations, which deliver short, impactful speeches to promote the dissemination of ideas.
As part of the process of students learning and collaborating with their higher education communities, allow them to construct their own TED speeches. Indeed, one of the most prominent goals of Confucian education—one that is still relevant today—is to produce educated people who can appreciate cultures and ethics rather than just having topic competence in fields like commerce and social sciences. Confucius, for example, taught his students four kinds of behavior while running his own school: respecting culture, behaving properly, doing one’s best, and keeping one’s word. The mixture of these disciplines resonates with the concept of educating a modern full person to a considerable extent.
Using Confucian Tradition and Modern Technology to Teach
The extensive use of technology meshes well with Confucianism’s goal of “instructing students regardless of social strata.” Take, for example, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). MOOCs have emerged as a major force in higher education in recent years, with these free online classes aiming to democratize education. Many professors and professionals use this method to get high-quality professional development credits. With over 500 courses and over 5 million students, MOOCs have a huge global following and initial curiosity, despite the fact that the average retention rate for these classes is only about 4%.
MOOCs, as a thriving advanced technology, allow people of all social statuses to share ideas and knowledge while also trying to improve lifelong learning skills by providing convenient access to foreign learning resources. Many classes are theoretically available with the only requirement being access to the internet (Yuan & Powell, 2013). Many people are able to increase their education and, as a result, better their work prospects, thanks to open online learning tools. Overall, openness and popularity have been characteristics of MOOCs and other online tools.
Second, using educational technology to attain academic achievement for our students—not to mention the greater good—is consistent with Confucius’s philosophy of building peace in the face of variety. Finding ways to include students can take the form of collaborative classroom activities or encouraging students to attend conferences and other events as a class activity. Another viewpoint is that, by removing social stratification barriers, educational technologies such as MOOCs, Quizlet, edWeb, Google Suite, and other free educational tools promote networking/sharing across national borders and connect a diverse group of learners from around the world.
Collaboration for Evidence-Based Learning Retention
Confucius’ teaching pedagogy, which aims for a collaborative teaching-learning interaction, is another proof piece for successful learning in higher education. “Only learning can make us aware of our flaws; only teaching can make us aware of our confusion,” he claimed. Acknowledging our flaws allows us to reflect on ourselves, and knowing our perplexity allows us to grow. As a result, teaching and learning must complement one another.” Confucius’ idea has been echoed by TED Talks, MOOCs, and other online sharing systems where professors can use the resources as guest lectures because these methods work to improve cross-cultural relationships—leading to cooperation and evidence-based learning retention for both students and teachers.
To sum up, this study of technology and Confucian ideals has ramifications for students and long-term repercussions for higher learning in the Information Age. Because of the availability and popularity of internet/smartphone usage, educational technology with critical consciousness, in particular, can become a bridge to disseminating information in equitable ways. The bridge between our forefathers’ beliefs, such as Confucian philosophy, and future advances is built so that we can teach students to think about the moral implications before leaping off a cliff into new technologies and cultures.
Higher education combined with current technology creates an exciting environment in which a worldwide community can honor Confucian virtues’ primary principles of reducing isolation and increasing global peace. Higher education can be the beginning in the ripple effect of fostering justice and prudence because many individuals desire to be linked to others, especially through phones, social media, and communication gadgets. In the Information Age and beyond, caring human connections provide the foundation for social and educational achievement.
Also read: Teaching and Learning Without Grading
FAQs:
Q1. What are the qualities of Confucius?
Answer. The qualities of loyalty (“zhong”), trustworthiness (“xin”), righteousness (“yi”),benevolence (“ren”), filial piety (“xiao”),attachment (“ai”), harmony (“he”), peace (“ping”), propriety (“li”), wisdom (“zhi”), integrity (“lian”), and shame (“chi”) are covered in this study.
Q2. What are Confucianism’s fundamental beliefs and what role does education have in Confucianism?
Answer. Confucianism’s Fundamental Beliefs Xin – Honesty, and dependability. Chung – State loyalty and so on Li – encompasses things like ritual, decorum, and etiquette. Hsiao – family love, parents’ love for their children, and children’s affection for their parents.
Character development is the major goal of Confucian education. Learning to be human is the goal of education as character development. While Confucians promote personal character development, they prioritize the family, community, and world over the individual.
Q3. What is Confucianism’s position on education?
Answer. In Confucianism, learner-centered education is favored so that humans might be prepared and empowered to realize and broaden dao. The pedagogies, resources, activities, and learning environments are all tailored to generate junzi who are full of ren and behave in a way that is consistent with li.
