LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Education is changing, and learning through experience is helping reinforce the lessons students are learning in the classroom.
The Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges held their annual conference at Rhodes State College.
The Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges held their annual conference at Rhodes State College, and they brought in educator and author Candy Van Buskirk to talk about the changing dynamic of education. She says that student engagement has declined, and students respond more favorably to hands-on learning. With two-year colleges helping train the next generation of the workforce, helping students get real-world experiences is key.
They brought in educator and author Candy Van Buskirk to talk about the changing dynamic of education.
"Everyone knows we need a shift in education; what is that shift? I believe and I have researched that that shift is to be experiential learning. Students can have hands-on, real-world applicable learning opportunities, and when students have the ability to learn knowledge that applies to the bigger picture, that is a deeper level of learning," says Candy Van Buskirk, assistant superintendent at the Career Academy Network of Public Schools in South Bend, Indiana.
The theme for this year's conference was Rocket Education: Ignite, Launch, Soar as higher education continues to evolve to meet the needs of the students.
With two-year colleges helping train the next generation of the workforce, helping students get real-world experiences is key.
"We chose our theme for the conference; we are really hyped about the theme because it really aligns with the mission at our own institution as well as what we feel is the theme for higher education right now, and really trying to take it to the next level and launch our practice to methods that will help our students to soar and succeed," says Andrea Liles, Rhodes State College.
"I have been on the board of the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges for several years, now more than ever in this post-COVID era, and with artificial intelligence coming on, teachers really need to be equipped with tools they need to help lead this next generation into where we are going educationally," says Nora Beerline, Rhodes State College.
Also during the conference, the educators learned more about AI, student engagement, and using a digital culture.
