There are many educational practices out there.
Recognizing the complexity, communities proposed a methodology called Design-Based Research (DBR). In contrast to traditional studies conducted in controlled laboratory settings, DBR contextualizes academic research by placing researchers alongside students and teachers as collaborators. Through an iterative design and feedback process in the field, DBR aims to yield authentic and useful knowledge in classroom practices.
As such, education scholars are working hard to streamline best practices, make tactics actionable, and keep things up-to-date. And, especially in the Global North, teachers are very much aware of what is desired in theory.
To the best of my knowledge, the following components signify modern pedagogy.
- Digital tools, as society actively invests in infrastructure development and skill training projects. It is now necessary to respond to the technological advancement in classrooms.
- Cultural understanding to overcome realistic constraints, acknowledge local contexts, and develop long-lasting, tool-agnostic skills in the information age. In fact, digitization may be optional in certain situations to achieve an educational goal.
- Agency for what Brazilian educator Paulo Freire called critical consciousness and problem-posing education, which center learners and encourage them to participate in educational projects actively. It is also the key to bridge the missing link in the digital divide.
The incompleteness of computer education in low-income countries can be explained by the lack of cultural understanding and learners' agency, for example.
In the meantime, during the COVID-19 pandemic, digitally unprepared populations were unable to continue their learning journey as the rest of the world shifted to online, even though this constraint unlocked another avenue for low-tech innovations.
Therefore, education will have a net-positive impact, as long as we digitize tools (e.g., tablets, videos, learning management systems), make topics relevant to students' daily lives, and incorporate participatory and interactive exercises into the classroom (e.g., games, group discussions).
Most futuristic narratives stop here. But, really?
I recently had the opportunity to participate in such a pedagogically correct classroom for my French learning, and honestly, it didn't work for me.
Best practices are not for everyone
Well, my classmates and our teacher are great. They are very nice and kind people, and the level of the class seems well-aligned with my beginner French. Yet, three foundational challenges make my learning experience suboptimal.
First, digital tools make courses highly predictable.
Our teacher actively uses technology. For example, we have a Moodle-based online portal for content management, with numerous graphics and quizzes to help learning. Classes can also be done online via Microsoft Teams whenever necessary. Moreover, the teacher works effectively with ChatGPT to generate exercises and key vocabulary lists from lengthy transcripts.
This is not only oppressive for people with technological challenges but also negligent for tech-savvy individuals. Students are travelling more than an hour daily to physically attend this digitized classroom ("costs"), but, if the class relies mostly on the tools they can independently work on anyway, expected returns are frustratingly low. Every day, before leaving my apartment, I already have a very clear idea of how today's class will go, and I couldn't stop thinking, "What else could I have done if I didn't go to the class today?"
Second, there is a chance of contextual mismatch.
The content of our French class is primarily designed for newcomers to Canada, and we learn a lot of vocabulary and expressions in realistic scenarios (e.g., Canadian community service and healthcare). It is a good example of cultural adaptation of learning experiences. This also serves well for the government-funded program.
That said, learners are not equally "new" to the country, and each of us has our own needs and seeds, as well as varying understanding of the context we're currently in. I personally found the situational aspect of the course boring and demotivating. Instead, learning how to order a coffee at a cafe and listening to current affairs in French stimulate me more than following one-size-fits-all curricula.
Third, not all personalities enjoy participation-driven exercises.
Our class often provides us opportunities to learn from games and interactive feedback. I sometimes feel uncomfortable with them because it seems that participation is "forced" in the environment, as if being told, "If you don't speak up, you are bad." Some will like it, while others won't.
Additionally, when there is a greater degree of agency among participants, the room can easily become competitive; those who are willing to cooperate will receive better recognition from teachers ("stakeholders"), and we unconsciously play this attention-seeking game while losing the original joy and excitement. (That's why I have avoided uncertain interpersonal activities, such as team sports, social media, and networking events, for most of my adulthood.)
Ultimately, learning shouldn't be for short-term efficiency, usefulness, pleasure, or achievements.
One day, our teacher corrected my French, "J'étudie le français" (I study French), to "J'apprends le français" (I learn French), noting that the verb étudier [to study] implies I consider the topic as an academic subject, whereas apprendre [to learn] more broadly speaks about the effort of acquiring knowledge and skills. The teacher asked me, "Which one is yours?"
Unlike studying for tangible milestones, learning needs to be a sustainable journey that continues for years or even a lifetime. For instance, it doesn't make sense if I become B1 or something in French in the next few months, then forget everything after the course.
Overall, the French class has undoubtedly been one of the most well-developed in-class experiences I've ever had. However, by squeezing everyone into the same room and asking them to follow a prescribed format at a fixed pace, the one-to-many education setup has posed its structural limitations.
Thus, as far as a group of students is concerned, pedagogical correctness doesn't guarantee whether an educational program works for a certain person or not.
Because you ≠ me
There is no silver bullet.
Even if everyone followed best practices with good intentions at a micro level, gaps and inequalities will emerge as soon as multiple agents start interacting with each other and forming a system. No two people are the same!
Thus, it'd be essential to provide options when it comes to teaching and learning. I didn't find modern pedagogy helpful in my French classroom, but the same format can work perfectly for other subjects. Or I may enjoy receiving one-way lectures at school and reflecting independently, and deeply, at home. Meanwhile, you may need a personal tutor rather than a group teacher.
This is the personalization and inclusion problem. In his 2017 interview (around 37'15), computer scientist Joseph Konstan raised education as one of the most underdeveloped domains in recommender system applications; even though teaching methods and practices have been diversified, many classrooms still progress sequentially without much customization, and this naturally excludes those who cannot follow the "normal" route.
It's not to say which teaching method is better or worse. Rather, since everything can potentially work, we need first to understand learners' context at the right granularity. And a tailored learning path needs to be co-developed with them.
This article is part of the series: Altruistic Byte: Real-World Insights for Tech-Driven ChangeSupport
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See also
- March 1, 2026
- Who is Digitally Prepared?
- February 1, 2026
- The AI Divide
- January 1, 2026
- Why Offline Learning Still Matters in 2026
Author: Takuya Kitazawa
I am a product builder, mentor, and advocate for sustainable technology development with a decade of experience in AI/ML products, data systems, and digital transformation. Based in Canada and originally from Japan, I have lived and worked globally, including part-time residence in Malawi, Africa. See CV for more information, or contact at [email protected].
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