Ed-Tech trends in Education

 Ed-Tech trends in Education

Digital technology has revolutionized the whole world especially in the field of education. 

It has served us as a major source of education during the unexpected pandemic years and ever since then it has been a boon to us. Usage of digital technologies in education has enhanced the student outcomes and enabled us to have access to endless educational resources which might have not been possible otherwise. Most of the organizations are taking this opportunity to digitalize education by developing a multitude of technologies that can create and implement a more interesting teaching-learning process. I have summarized some of the technology trends that are expected to have a major impact on education and the factors to be considered during implementation in this summary.

Trending technologies:

• Gamification of learning

• Personalized learning process

• AR and VR Technologies in classroom

• E-Learning

• AI tutoring

• Microlearning

• Cloud streaming apps

• Online Homeschooling

Gamification of learning: It incorporates the elements from gaming into education making the learning more fun. This technology focuses on methods of engagement and interaction with the learners making it an enjoyable experience. Teaching along with these gaming elements helps the teacher to be more creative and facilitates visual learning. This in turn  paves way to develop critical thinking skills and motivates the students to participate in class discussions. Apart from the teaching factor it mainly provides room for self learning and enables the learner to see their progress with interactive assessments. 

Applications : Kahoot, Blooket, Minecraft and Archy learning are some examples of organizations that aid in gamification of learning.

Incorporating extended learning tools like AR and VR makes this gamification learning a more interactive experience. This particular sector of digital technology is sure to have a wide scope in future.

Personalized learning process: This process involves gathering information about the learner’s interests, abilities and learning styles. It uses data analytics and machine learning technology to devise individualized student-centered learning plans. Big data applications allow the teacher to gain insights into a student's performance, progress, achievements and behavior which in turn allows to generate a personalized learning program for the students. From administration’s perspective total enrollment, drop out and student achievement rates can be analyzed to optimize the curriculum.

 

AR and VR Technologies in classroom: Introducing Augmented reality and virtual reality enhances the teaching and learning experience by providing a completely immersive and interactive learning environment. This allows students to experience a more meaningful and memorable engagement throughout the learning process. For example, AR based applications lets the students explore the human body. VR can bring a whole historical event to life using 3D simulations.

This technology also paves way for a more inclusive learning enabling the students with disabilities to experience virtual trips, autistic learners to develop social skills and students with intellectual disabilities to learn life skills such as dressing up, sorting thrash and much more.

E-Learning: This technology allows teachers and learners to avail education from any part of the world as long as digital devices such as a laptop, computer or mobile with internet facilities are available. The advantages of convenience, flexibility, cost-effectiveness and non requirement of infrastructure supports have made e-learning a more successful mode of education. It also encompasses online learning communities which provide learners with the similar goals and interests to interact and share their knowledge through online platforms. 

Applications: Discord, slack and tribe.

AI Powered tutoring: The features of Artificial intelligence have taken education to the next level of advancement. This online program facilitates the students with one on one assistance in a personalized setting to learn at their own pace. It provides automated grading and also enables the teachers to track student progress and provide personalized feedback.

Microlearning: This technology focuses on breaking down lessons into smaller sizes of information in just 10 minutes. As microlearning technology is compatible with mobile devices it engages students who struggle with shorter attention spans by delivering effective lessons with digestible content. It is an effective tool not only for mainstream students but also for students with special needs. This also provides an opportunity to learn on the go making it fit into their busy schedules. These features are similar to shorts on social media which keeps the user aware of the message to be conveyed within a short period of time.

Cloud streaming apps: These platforms provide the user to access applications like adobe, Microsoft office and Autodesk securely within a browser on devices, particularly Chromebooks. This offers safety, convenience and accessibility to the data at any time anywhere thereby eliminating the demand for expansive local storage or hardware.

Online homeschooling: As homeschooling is still a major method of learning it might be more effective if blended with online learning tools. This allows the learner to participate in online classes, workshops and develop their social skills. It provides an opportunity for building relationships where homeschooling communities can come together.

Factors to be considered while implementing digital technology in education are as follows:

• Improvising cybersecurity and online data:

With the advancement of technology in education security becomes an area of concern. Due to online learning and virtual classrooms our private data is susceptible to hacking and cyber crimes. So it is mandatory that we regularly update the security protocols and policies or move to cloud storage to stay secure and safe from cyberattacks.

• Harnessing digital learning tools: 

There are various digital learning tools that were developed during the pandemic period and are still continuing to grow as per the requirements of the educational system. This technology has given us the potential to create stronger learning communities by enabling the learners to communicate with experts all over the world and develop an open platform for parent - teacher conferences. Hence it is important that we learn to harness the usage of these tools effectively in and out of the classroom.

• Sustainable technology management:

Financial factors should be taken into consideration while implementing technology in a school or any organization. As the demand for digital tools in education is rising, so is the demand for funds. Federal pandemic relief funds might have initiated the schools to expand their technical infrastructure massively, however to maintain them a sustainable source of funding should be maintained. Organizations could also consider low-cost cloud solutions and planning for replacement and upgrade cycles. These could prevent the downfall of technology of that organization in future.

• Professional development amongst users:

It is a huge challenge for us to stay updated with these continuously evolving technologies. Most of the educators remain tech fatigue due to the lack of professional development in technology. These tools can only be used effectively to its fuller extent if we are trained to use them in the right way. Hence it is essential to undergo professional training to master the use of these digital tools rather than just emergency PD’s. 

• 5G Networks:

Better and faster connectivity is required to access the online educational resources effectively. The rise of 5G networks has enabled us to transfer information faster which has facilitated a more immersive and interactive learning experience to the user.

In my opinion this is one of the best decades with amazing technology in the field of education.

It has allowed us to explore new possibilities and achieve more enhanced learning outcomes. These emerging trends can be challenging but harnessed in a right way this is definitely a boon to our society.

References: 

Edmentum. (2024, August 19). Top EdTech trends shaping education in 2024-2025. https://www.edmentum.com/intl/articles/edtech-trends/

Pang, A. (2021, June 2). 6 trends in higher education technology. EdTech Magazine. https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2021/06/6-emerging-technology-trends-higher-education

Bhagwat, M. (2024, February 26). These 5 key trends will shape the EdTech market up to 2030. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/these-are-the-4-key-trends-that-will-shape-the-edtech-market-into-2030/