Trends in education tech have gained huge momentum over the past 12 months. As we all know, the world of education technology is always evolving. From augmented and virtual reality for immersive learning to interactive hardware, students and teachers have benefitted hugely from digital tools and tech. These have become GoTo Options for encouraging student engagement, especially with those less interested in the topic, because they enhance motivation, an integral element of achieving learning outcomes. So as we approach 2024, let’s take a look at a few of the trends in education tech that we are expecting to grow in momentum.
Game-based education
Gamification and digital games, essentially make learning fun and more engaging, will continue to advance and become even more prevalent in the classroom. This is becoming a proven strategy for encouraging engagement from students, who may otherwise be disinterested in the subject they are learning. Motivation being the primary goal and an integral element of achieving learning outcomes. Using gaming mechanics, teachers have discovered creative ways to encourage active learning. It is said that the motivation for students to achieve badges, points or places on a leaderboard, has improved focus and completion of learning tasks. This is set to be one of the major trends in education tech for 2024 and beyond but will require continuous advancement from educators and developers.
Emerging tech
Emerging technologies such as augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are becoming more prevalent in the education sector. Some educators fear the technology because of the risk of student plagiarism or potential for cheating on assignments. However, there are many benefits of the technologies including the ability for teachers to combine presentation with VR activities as part of their teaching methods, creating more engaging immersive content and thus making the learning experience more diverse. This emerging tech is also allowing the student to experience a subject rather than just learn the facts, which vastly improves their understanding. AI can adapt content to suit the learning needs of individual students rather than using one single method to teach all students. As such, we believe these emerging technnologies are among the most exciting trends in education technology.
Interactive learning
Collaborative technologies such as interactive screens and touchscreen panels are a wonderful platform for engaging the student in the content of the lesson, more effectively than the lecture-style lessons of years gone-by. Interactive learning environments encourage greater engagement, collaboration and as a result, greater knowledge retention. Interactive classroom technology has evolved significantly over the last few years so that now, the screens allow for streaming educational videos directly from the web, a wireless laptop or from its built-in PC. Sharing educational content by mirroring from a laptop or alternative device or allowing each student to engage in class quizzes from their chromebooks, are just a few of the wonderful features of interactive technology. The combination of technology and educational software has revolutionized how lessons are delivered and experienced, making the learning process more interactive and enjoyable for students. So embracing interactive technology to make learning more suited to the digital native students of today, is most certainly one of the ongoing trends of education technology set to continue in 2024.
In summary
Whilst these trends are indeed exciting, they will only continue to evolve with the input of the educator. On the whole, most teachers are embracing technology but it is understandable that there is some resistance around some of the AI-based technologies, maybe because alot about it is unknown. There is also a lot of debate over whether the existing education structure is as effective as it once was, in the fast-changing world of today. If modernising our education system is priorotised, then the continuing trends in education technology, which we have been seeing, will be more important than ever.
