Top 6 EdTech Innovation Trends that are Revolutionizing Learning (2024)
Learners today engage in education in a very different way than they did, even five years back. For instance, physical textbooks have been replaced by online learning modules. Classroom-style lectures have given way to self-learning.
The profile of learners has also expanded from school and college students of a certain age group to learners of all ages and profiles. Yet another shift is that learning is no longer restricted to specific times of the day. It can be aligned to based on a learner’s routine and done at any time of the day.
EdTech innovation has fuelled these shifts, bringing more flexibility, diversity, and versatility to learning opportunities. To this end, this blog explores the latest trends in EdTech innovation and its benefits for today’s learners.
What is EdTech?
EdTech, simply put, is the process of leveraging technology to enhance the learning experience. This technology can range from computer hardware, software, UX/ UI, and harnessing digital publishing ecosystems to create and distribute educational content as well as track its effectiveness.
EdTech had its genesis as early as 1954, when BF Skinner, a psychology professor at Harvard University, began experimenting with machines to enhance the educational experience. He would use teaching machines during his class, Natural Sciences 114, which taught behaviorism.
According to a survey, 62% of his students claimed that the usage of devices made the coursework easy to understand. Enrollment for the course went up by 70% within a year!
Today, EdTech has gone mainstream, with the pandemic accelerating its growth. During this time, EdTech platforms, schools and universities, gaming companies, and other stakeholders in education and learning have invested in leveraging technology to bridge learning gaps.
By 2027, global EdTech and smart classrooms are projected to grow from a $125.3 billion industry in 2022 to $232.9 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2%.
Top 6 EdTech Innovation Trends
1. Learn Anytime from Anywhere
Cloud-based learning enables learners to plug into the learning experience at any time of the day at their convenience. They are also able to access learning materials offline, which is a great option for learners with low internet bandwidth, logging in from remote locations.
At the same time, they have the option of connecting with peer learners and facilitators as and when they need support. Hence, self-learning is as much an option as learning in groups and with teaching support. All learners need to get started is a device and an internet connection.
2. Enhanced Quality of Learning Resources
EdTech innovation is also enabling learning resources to be designed in a creative, versatile, inclusive manner.
Content can be presented in the form of videos, audiobooks and clips, podcasts, eBooks, quizzes, polls, games, and other interactive formats. This enables learners to engage in the format of their preference and opens up opportunities for those with learning limitations as well.
Today, content creators are also prioritizing formats like ePUB over PDF because they enable eBooks to be presented with video, audio, and interactive content.
On-demand content can be integrated with formats such as live interactive sessions with facilitators and peer learners, expert sessions streamed from anywhere, and peer-to-peer collaborative projects.
3. Scaling Learning Opportunities
Classroom-based learning comes with physical limitations, allowing only a specific number of students to attend a seminar, lecture, class, or educational institution.
With EdTech innovations, there is no limit to how many learners can attend a lecture and access learning resources.
Companies are also able to roll out learning modules, tools, resources, and guest lectures to a growing workforce that might be remote or onsite, with no constraints. This has especially disrupted the limitations on premium education. Earlier, only a limited number of students could attend an ivy league institution in a year.
They also had to physically be present at the institution. But today, learners can access quality education from anywhere, at a fraction of the cost, making education an inclusive opportunity.
4. Encouraging Self-Learning
Traditional education requires that all learners learn at the same pace. However, research indicates that this approach is flawed.
A study on the effectiveness of self-paced learning indicates that a group of self-paced learners outperformed a group that was allocated specific study times.
EdTech innovations enable learners to access learning at their own pace, thus encouraging self-learning. This brings more accountability into the journey.
Learning platforms are also incentivizing learners via digital rewards for achieving milestones. The interactive nature of learning ensures that learners are on track with their learning goals and outcomes.
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5. Effective Learning Management Tools
Learning management systems today offer superior tools to teachers, human resource professionals, and admins to keep track of learner progress and engage with all stakeholders in a streamlined manner.
Admins can track learning progress via actionable analytics and effectively communicate with learners, parents, workforces, and individual learners via in-built communication tools.
Digital interfaces have also streamlined all manual efforts and repetitive activities via automation and AI-enabled tools such as chatbots.
6. Going Global
Today, educational institutions, workforces, and other pools of independent learners can build a global footprint due to the access delivered by EdTech innovation.
For instance, the pandemic has spearheaded the rise of virtual schools that have no physical presence. Students are enrolled online, attend classes, collaborate with peers on projects, and engage with teachers completely online. This option creates access to quality education for students whose parents have transferable jobs, students with special needs, as well those who want to learn with an international curriculum.
Similarly, companies can design and deploy online training to global workforces with a shorter turnaround time. Learning programs can encourage cross-cultural collaborations, stream international guest lectures, and harness global learning opportunities.
In Conclusion
Today, the way we learn has undergone a 360-degree paradigm shift. Learners want to access learning in the palm of their hands. They want to be able to do it anytime, from anywhere, via their smartphones. The one-size-fits-all learning model does not work anymore.
Hence, curators of learning content need the best tools at their disposal to build such high-value, accessible content. Cloud-based digital publishing ecosystems like KITABOO enable educational content creators to harness EdTech innovations to create and distribute content to diverse audiences based on unique learning needs.To know more, please write to us at contact@kitaboo.com
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