Educational Technology 

1. eLearning

Distance learning became the top 2020 educational technology trend overnight because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 and school closures. This led to a rising demand for online educational platforms. eLearning is education or training delivered electronically. It can be slide-based online activities, or it can also be an online course that helps a business train employees in necessary skills.

With eLearning, educational content is delivered to learners through computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Not only saving time but opening many doors for interactive learning. Rather than being in a passive experience, learners can choose what they need to learn quickly and easily, wherever they are. They also learn through interacting directly with on-screen information through, for instance, dragging content from one place to the next. Moreover, the decision-making scenarios in eLearning also encourage learners to make their own choices on what they will learn next.

In eLearning, learners just soak in knowledge through reading or viewing content, it changes the way education is delivered. Also, many eLearning courses include animation, podcasts, and videos that create a multimodal and practical learning experience.

The last point is, although eLearning has been around for a long time, it is staying green and continuously developing. Educators are using the advantages of technology to make learning more effective. That’s why more and more online and blended learning courses are produced nowadays.

Variety is the outstanding feature of online learning platforms. You can teach your students in real time (synchronous) via live stream or group meetings using Zoom or Microsoft Teams, or you can use recorded (asynchronous) methodologies with a wide range of media and digital functions available to enrich lessons. A good online learning platform can also be combined with a Learning Management System (LMS) so you can keep track of your students’ learning outcomes.

2. Video-Assisted Learning

In recent years, video-assisted learning has become more and more popular as classroom displays. The “video day” is no longer a television on a trolley being wheeled into a class. With the internet and digital devices, every day can be a “video day.”

This trend is also booming in distance learning conditions, which students learn through computer screens. Videos, especially animated videos, are extremely beneficial to enrich lessons and make content comprehensible. It improves students’ outcomes and reduces teachers’ workload.

3. Blockchain Technology

The Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) from blockchain brings so many benefits to education, especially data storage. Every time new data is added, it adds another “block” to the system, so the storage is technically limitless. Simultaneously, the data will be encrypted and distributed across multiple computers in the system. It makes transacting data decentralized and transparent.

Blockchain technology is used in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and portfolios to verify skills and knowledge. The DLT systems will answer the problems of authentication, scale, and cost for eLearning agencies. Moreover, it can help student applicants publish their accomplishments during the job-seeking phase.

4. Big Data Will Get Bigger

To cater to learners’ needs, the learning experience needs to be personalized. And with COVID-19 and online learning booming, we now have bigger data than ever before. Instructional Designers have relevant information about learners’ experiences to customize and present the course in a suitable format. Some information you should look for is the course’s topic, learner enrollment, learner performance (time per course, completion, test result), and learner feedback (rating, survey).

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI now is the "in thing" in the US EdTech market. People have predicted that through 2021, AI could become the primary trend and grow by more than 45%. So why is the trend booming in one of the world’s largest markets for EdTech? First and foremost, AI can automate basic activities in education, like grading. It’s now possible for teachers to automate grading of the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. Thus, automated grading of students’ writing may not be far behind.

Furthermore, both learners and educators could benefit from AI. For example, students could get help from AI tutors when teachers are too busy to take care of everyone. Also, AI-driven programs can give both learners and educators helpful feedback. That’s why some schools use AI systems to monitor student progress and to alert teachers when there might be an issue with students’ performances. Therefore, it’s not too far fetched that AI is a powerful assistant for in-class teaching. Meanwhile, why don’t you help your learners get more out of the educational experience via AI?

6. Learning Analytics

The current landscape of learning analytics has dramatically expanded, especially for higher education. Learning analytics allows educators to measure and report student learning just by the web. From that, it’s possible for them to better understand and optimize learning.

When teachers read insights from students’ learning processes, they can improve the knowledge and skill acquisition of their students accordingly. For instance, teachers are able to see what type of information (text, images, infographics, or videos) that students enjoy most and use it more in their following lessons. Also, teachers are able to notice what pieces of knowledge weren’t effectively delivered and enhance them next time. Moreover, learning analytics helps educators identify blocks of students who may have academic or behavioral challenges. From that, teachers could develop a way to help students reach their full potential.

7. Gamification

If you are looking for a way to turn learning into a more fun and engaging process, gamification is the most suitable educational technology trend. There is no reason for students not to be actively involved in classroom games. Students can learn and practice while they are joining in on exciting game activities. Gaming elements help create a funny and positive learning environment for learners.

The adoption of gamification is most popular in the K-12 education sector. It’s because kids are quickly engaged in gaming videos or getting higher scores in a game. However, it doesn’t mean that higher education or corporate training doesn't need fun elements to improve the engagement level of learners.

8. Immersive Learning With VR And AR

The class learning experience has undergone a tremendous change since Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) came to education. The rise in demand for experiential learning pushes forward the development of learning with VR and AR.

Learning has become much more interactive than traditional methods. While VR provides a constructed reality, AR gives an enhanced view of a real image. Thus, they help explain complex concepts that plain images or even a lab’s hands-on experiments couldn’t show students. For example, VR is pretty helpful when you are attending a medical training course. In detail, VR creates a chance for students to experience real-world surgeries in a low-risk environment.

9. STEAM

STEAM-based programs are the new EdTech improvement over the STEM programs. This new trend of EdTech applies meaningful Science, Technology, Engineering, Art (the new element), and Math content to solve real-world problems through hands-on learning activities and creative design.

Concerning the advantages of STEAM, the first thing is that it helps students become increasingly curious about the world around them. Moreover, it also creates a safe environment for the learners to express and experience their ideas while thinking outside the box. The comfort of hands-on learning also helps students collaborate better with others.

10. Social Media In Learning

Have you ever thought that social media would be a part of the learning process? When every student, both young and mature, spends so much time on social media, why don’t we turn it into a powerful tool to enhance learning?

It’s how the idea to use social media for teaching came about. Many educational institutes have started using social media as a communication tool in which students can interact with others easily. Students can share study materials, discuss with others in a group, or easily comment on someone else’s post. Even an animated learning video could go viral on social media. And TedEd is the typical example of this trend! This organization creates lessons worth sharing and posts them on YouTube where people can easily access, find, and share the educational videos with their friends.

Social media is here to stay and build a culture of collaboration and sharing, leading to an improved learning experience.