Technology has impacted every aspect of our lives over the last few years – our personal, professional and social lives changing the way our day to day interactions take place. Technology has played a major role in the education sector with how our schools operate and ways in which kids are learning. Seeing how fast technology has evolved over the last decade, organizations that are into building products and applications for education sector can be sure of one thing – they are yet to see the best of it.
While nobody can be 100% on the mark about the future, these are the technology trends in education that will have the biggest impact on teachers and students as well as the software development/ independent software vendors who are delivering their products to the education space.
VR/Augmented reality
While many classrooms have VR headsets and are experimenting more – the true extent of what we can do with augmented reality was seen when a student learns about the ocean – not through notes and videos but by being virtually transported under the sea to discover everything yourself. VR and augmented reality has the potential to completely transform the way that we learn. Though almost 77% of 350 higher education and K-12 schools had not used VR in the classroom, and the top reasons for not utilizing the technology, according to 43% of the respondents, were the high cost of equipment and the difficulty in implementation.
However, the future of VR in the education sector isn’t bleak at all. The creative use of VR technology as a storytelling tool is also expected to further engage young learners. Organizations that are into education software can help innovate the way schools teach in classroom and allow students to visualize concepts that were confined to the pictures in a textbook
Student privacy
The latest educational technology is highly effective at creating a more personalized education system through data collection. However, it can also be used for more nefarious purposes. Public data breaches represent a real threat to students and their families, so it’s little wonder that data mining can be a frightening concept. How do we balance the promise of data with the challenges it represents? Student privacy and security will be top of the agenda for educational software companies all over the world.
AI and the Internet of Things (IoT)
Our world is running on artificial intelligence. Siri manages our calendars. Facebook suggests our friends. Computers trade our stocks. We have cars that park themselves, and air traffic control is almost fully automated. Virtually every field has benefited from advances in artificial intelligence, from the military to medicine to manufacturing.
Artificial intelligence could play a role in the growing field of learning analytics, evaluating the quality of curricular materials, and in adaptive learning and recommendation engines. Interactive boards and other interactive devices are becoming more common in classrooms around the world. Education software companies have understood perfectly that Artificial Intelligence has proven its role as a game changing factor in the education space, causing transformations unimaginable in the past.
Digital literacy
As the importance of being tech-savvy starts to sink in at schools around the world, there has been a huge effort to incorporate digital literacy into curriculum from the younger grades. Digital Literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills. A computing education also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.
Gamification
“Fun” or “game” is the reason why developers, teachers and other personnel are constantly looking for ways to use new technology in education.
Gamification allow students to learn subjects such as algebra through programs with game-like features, such as completing missions. Kids love playing games and there is no doubt about it so why not educate them in a Gamified way. Games are loved and enjoyed by all kids, so mode of education in the form of games is a great way to teach kids while keeping them engaged and interested in their course of study. Education software vendors have developed a lot of gamification platforms, apps and tools on the market. But a real gamified learning experience is grounded in education and those organizations that realize the revenue potential and fundamental concepts simply won’t distract.
Conclusion
The education sector is becoming more integrated with the digital world and schools are constantly looking for products and tools that will make this easier to achieve.