Top 5 education technology trends boosting the learning experience in 2021

 

 

The education technology space is seeing tremendous opportunity ever since the pandemic. 68% of educators feel that student engagement and motivation have been a key challenge throughout 2020 amid school closures. The global ed-tech market is slated to reach USD 182 million by 2025. With traditional approaches to education disrupted globally, the industry is witnessing a monumental rise in technology-assisted remote learning. In 2021 and beyond, education technology (ed-tech) will be all about creating personalized and immersive learning experiences for students across age groups. 

Today, Edtech companies are eager to make informed, strategic moves into the future. To support their goals in 2021, we’ve rounded up 5 key education technology trends that will set the pace for growth, in and outside classrooms.

 

 

1. Immersive learning environments will aid edutainment and personalization

 

Augmented and Virtual Reality in the global education market will grow from USD 9.3 billion in 2018 to USD 19.6 billion in 2023. Moreover, in the absence of access to physical classrooms and guided practical science activities, educators are constantly looking for ways to reduce the drudgery of learning. As one of the key education technology trends, they are adopting immersive learning technologies to increase student engagement. AR/VR can bring complex subject matters to life via simulations and provide students with a personalized learning experience in the form of virtual tours. 

With institutions exploring hybrid learning models, edutainment in classrooms through gamification and other interactive tools is picking up momentum. Creative problem-solving approaches are helping students retain what they’ve learned for the long term. In the future, it will also help them curb burnouts and low motivation due to shifts in learning environments. 

Students have varying attention spans and comprehension levels. To cater to all students effectively, education technology such as immersive learning can help make lessons fun and personalized. For instance, ed-tech platform Duolingo offers gamified language learning for students 18 years old and above. It provides easy-to-follow lessons on a range of real-world and fictional languages. Furthermore, with daily goals set, students can easily track their learning progress.

 

 

2. Cloud-based platforms will prioritize student convenience

 

Technology is enabling students across the globe to enroll in courses offered by overseas universities. Right from educational material to exams and certifications, everything is powered virtually. Another key education technology trend, the digital classroom is already seeing success through cloud-based platforms like Amazon Web Services, Slide Rocket, and Ratatype to name a few.  

These platforms digitize the entire teaching-learning process. All sorts of study resources are accessible via digital libraries to both students and educators. Thus, this enables a whole suite of educational functions online.

Whether it is tutoring, test preparation, or any other focus area, cloud-based platforms provide institutions and education startups like Classplus and Toprankers with the technological stability to meet usage demand seamlessly and securely. More institutions will continue to migrate their on-premise infrastructure to the cloud. Why? It is a cost-efficient, secure, fast, and scalable solution. 

 

 

3. Student data analytics will help improve personal growth and academic performance 

 

The global student information management market will reach a whopping USD 14.66 billion by 2026. Student data capturing and analysis is becoming a popular education technology trend amongst educators and institutions as it enables the assessment of student behavior and performance in a timely and systematic manner. 

In fact, data analytics has become crucial to track and understand a student’s response and performance, based on varied learning formats, while also predicting the ideal approach for each student. Armed with such insights from the learning management system, educators can direct feedback to:

• deliver tailored learning support to students
• promote student collaboration based on interest areas
• encourage skill development to facilitate personal growth, and 
• bridge gaps between current and desired performance. 

To illustrate, public education institutions in Virginia leveraged data analytics to identify which families did not have access to the internet and supplied them with Wi-Fi hotspots when the pandemic hit. They also analyzed student behavior and motivation to help them meet optimum engagement levels in their individualized education programs (IEP).

 

 

4. IoT enabled education technology will help students collaborate online more effectively 

 

The rise of mobile technology and the internet of things (IoT) is allowing educational institutions to improve campus safety, track key resources such as students and staff, and enhance access to information. In fact, the global IoT education market is expected to reach USD 11.3 billion by 2023.

Students are using IoT to improve collaboration amongst themselves on assignments and presentations. Since remote learning has given rise to regular usage of smart devices, this education technology is making it easier for students to automate tasks such as note-taking, schedule checking, and research. 

In 2021, the surge in connected technology will enable them to use smartboards and wearable devices for seamless communication. Modern interactive whiteboards support the presentation of multimedia lessons, projects, and presentations while also facilitating collaborative problem-solving activities.

Furthermore, IoT technology can help educators and parents keep track of the student’s progress. Edtech platform ClassDojo, for instance, allows parents to follow student schoolwork via multimedia in 180 countries. In the US alone, 95% of all K-8 schools have incorporated this platform.

 

 

5. Chatbots as an information guide and tutors of the future

 

AI-powered chatbots are emerging as an intelligent tutoring system. Based on a student’s response and browsing behavior the technology can analyze how well they are absorbing new lessons. Chatbots are also being employed for: 

• Resolving admission-related queries
• Automating inquiry management and resolution
• Offering a conversational approach for sharing academic resources

AI-powered chatbots are highly effective in ensuring prolonged learning durations given their highly interactive capabilities. To illustrate, Norway-based tech platform EdTech Foundry launched Differ, a chatbot designed to assist students in higher education. The chatbot can respond to administrative as well as syllabi-related student inquiries, and provide further reading assistance based on their coursework. Differ has resulted in five times higher student engagement as compared to a human teacher.

 

 

As educational players compete to make the learning experience more relevant and empowering, uncovering hidden gaps and whitespaces and integrating them into the final offering, will be key to sustained growth. In addition, the speed at which this industry is witnessing disruption requires decisions makers to have access to accurate and actionable data to think on their feet.

Whether it’s investing in emerging technologies or innovative market positioning strategies, success will go to those who have done their research well. Gain an in-depth view of the market, the e-learning technologies ripe for disruption, and more with Netscribes education insight solutions. To know how we can help outpace your rivals and offer unparalleled student experiences, contact us.