Have you ever wondered if the educational system in place today is the best for learners? Do you think it will still be valid for 5-10 years? 🧐
When you consider how far education has come in such a short amount of time and where we are going, the future of education is exciting! Through the years, we have seen trends that have long been a staple of education but only recently have some of these concepts caught fire in the wake of innovations and digital learning.
Every day, millions of individuals of all ages search online for instructional advice on various subjects. In recent times, there has been an increase in network capacity, and schools are better able to integrate modern technology like the internet or math tutor at home.
Students will learn more about the subject they are studying due to the internet and technology. Suggesting that students will have more decision-making power about their education in the future. Our educational system will continue to alter to keep up with the evolving needs of the 21st century as our world adapts to welcome technological futures.
In this article, we've highlighted some elearning quotes and why it's important to pay attention to trends redefining the future of online learning.
And to spice things up 🤓, we added a list of education influencers offering their strong opinions and insightful perspectives on the future of education technology.
These perspectives are helpful to millions of people who are looking for a specific course or making investments in their career choices. Stay with us as we go! 🚀
1️. Increase In Digital Footprints
The most important lesson we have taken away from the pandemic and the years leading up to it is that children need improved access to technology and educational opportunities to improve their lives.
Consequently, the future of education after covid will be shaped by the demand for better digital tools required for social gatherings.
Experts believe that by 2050, 90% of people worldwide will have access to broadband internet. This will significantly affect future learning as almost 9 billion people could potentially participate in futuristic learning. There will undoubtedly be changes beyond academics in the digital footprints that schools, from elementary to college, will offer.
Less time will be spent in physical classrooms, and more will be spent online in the future of education. This will inevitably lead to a shift in the delivery of services like textbooks, tech support, course materials, and career counseling from physical to digital.
Alain Chuard on how Prisma influences digital transformation in education 💡
Prisma is reimagining education for the future by making it more globally, technologically, and personally connected.🌝
Alain is the founder and CEO of Prisma, a networked learning network that completely replaces traditional education. Prisma developed its learning framework rather than converting the main curriculum for use online. Prisma introduced the first Connected Learning Network in the world—a brand-new category in education.
Prisma's learning model is not a school in the traditional sense; rather, they're a locally-based, globally connected at-home learning network that provides kids with the skills they need to start living their best lives right away.
The team of educators, businesspeople, and technologists at Prisma is expanding quickly. Together, they've created a successful charter school from the bottom up, redefined education at the Harvard Creative Computing Lab, explored moonshots at Google, taught hundreds of children, and created prosperous technology firms.
2️. Game-Based Learning
Contrary to popular belief that playing video games is bad for you and a waste of time, the truth is that they teach vital life skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, social awareness, teamwork, and collaboration.
In fact, gaming is one of the most innovative trends shaping the future of education technology. According to forecasts, by 2026, the global market for game-based learning will have grown to USD 29.7 bn, a CAGR of 21.9%. In 2021, the market for ed-tech games predicted to facilitate learning was worth $11.0 billion.
The idea behind game-based learning is that it helps students learn more effectively when they are working toward particular objectives while also having fun. When learning in a classroom or online, the same techniques that are used in gaming are utilized.
Teachers have gamified their courses by incorporating these gaming features into non-gaming scenarios to influence and encourage pupils. Gamified education engages college students in teamwork and friendly competition. Play has benefits for adults as well as young children.
Sophie Deen's perspectives on game-based learning 💡
Prepare children for whatever the future may bring: fake news, identity theft, mass surveillance, and really annoying siblings. 😅
Bright Little Labs is a children's media firm founded by Sophie Deen that creates ethically produced, educationally beneficial children's books, apps, and games. Detective Dot and the CIA (Children's Intelligence Agency), their main narrative app, teaches coding through stories with a focus on getting girls and underrepresented groups interested in STEM and coding.
Sophia believes it is crucial to instill in children the habit of questioning everything, challenging what they are taught and the information they receive.
On the future of technology in education, Sophia opines that children should be taught more about the world they live in during the next 100 years of education. Not just the area in which they were raised but also how they relate to other regions of the globe and how all decisions and actions immediately impact the environment.
Ana Lorena Fabrega is using Synthesis to build a gamified future for kids 💡
Picture a digital playground where kids can learn to make responsible choices and hone their instincts, cognitive tools, and teamwork abilities to handle complexity while having the time of their lives.🤩
To look for alternatives to conventional education, Ana Lorena retired from teaching in 2019. Fabrega took on the role of Chief Evangelist at Synthesis in 2020, an online initiative partially started by Elon Musk. Synthesis is a website for kids' enrichment that teaches through games and simulations. According to Synthesis, the future belongs to those willing to think unconventionally and approach issues in novel ways.
Synthesis students gain knowledge of mental models, judgment, and game theory by participating in challenging and group games. Fabrega believed that education shouldn't revolve around passing exams.
It ought to emphasize independent study and exploratory learning. Another option had to exist. Synthesis is scaling up the most innovative Ad Astra ideas using a game-based learning strategy.
3️. Cohort learning
Cohort-based learning is just a term that identifies a learning model in which a group of people start a course and end the course simultaneously and, therefore, can build a community together while learning something.
Cohort-based learning is an idea that has been around for a few years and is steadily gaining traction. Today, because of the rise of zoom and slack, people are much more likely to want to have more engaging online learning.
Cohort learning seems to be a common evolution, and within two years, every online course will probably have some community component.
Suppose there is anything to be learned about the advantages of cohort learning. In that case, it is this: Completion rates for online courses focusing on smaller groups emphasizing direct interaction and collaboration with professors and peers exceed 85%.
Wes Kao's thoughts on cohorts 💡
In online ed, content is no longer king —cohorts are! 👑
Ok! That's not some made-up online learning quote... It's a real article (one that we found very illuminating) in which Wes Kao discusses cohort learning.
Wes is one of Maven's co-founders, a cohort-based education platform. She's helping Maven develop a platform to assist anyone in creating cohort-based courses and delivering a top-notch student experience at scale.
The platform incorporates both live and asynchronous elements to engage students instead of relying just on impersonal, small-group workshops or impersonal, mass online courses, which would require more instructors and support personnel.
Wes's customary online presence includes a constant stream of tweets devoted to the subject of learning. A tweet, in particular, helps us get a handle on Wes's ideas about learning in cohorts: She explains why she believes that cohort-based courses are the wave of the future in education.
Currently, many experts and producers lack the resources (staff, money, time) necessary to produce a cohort-based course of the highest caliber.
Thus, Maven is creating a platform that lets the top teachers in the world create much more engaging, interactive courses than MOOCs. Cohort-based courses are the team's goal, inspired by the simplicity and power of prosumer solutions like Shopify & Substack.
4️. Use of Al and automation
Ever read that automation is the future — of not just education but everything else? Never mind, we made it up. 😅
But seriously, we'll need more automation in future online learning. Education is one of the areas where A.I. and automation are making a massive impact. Over half of Learning Management Systems (LMS) will be AI-enabled in the near future, and 86% of teachers believe that A.I. should play a significant role in the classroom.
It is important to understand that A.I. is not a threat to teachers, nor is it there to replace teachers but to deliver better education and make the whole learning experience better for both the kids and the teachers.
The use of A.I. and automation in education has helped us to rethink our whole education system and how it is delivered. In recent times, we are seeing a hybrid model that ensures we get the best out of our artificially intelligent enabled systems and our teachers as well. Using A.I. and automation in learning gives a more differentiated and individualized learning experience.
Richard Culatta trusts A.I.'s ability to impact the future of education 💡
Educators hold the key to ensuring that today's students are well-equipped to succeed in a world where A.I. plays a pivotal role in nearly every aspect of daily life and professional endeavor 😎
Richard serves as the CEO of ISTE, a group of international educators that support the transformation of teaching and learning through technology. As ISTE's CEO, Richard Culatta brings the organization a wealth of experience in educational policy, teacher preparation, educational technology, and innovation.
According to EdTech specialist Richard Culatta, technology may be a potent tool for education, resolving humanity's most difficult issues and fostering interconnectedness. Culatta put a special emphasis on building partnerships to increase opportunities for students.
Culatta oversaw various initiatives to boost individualized learning, increase connectivity to schools nationwide, and create the National Education Technology Plan while serving as the head of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology.
He also started a campaign to make Rhode Island the first state to provide computer science in every K–12 institution.
He recently released the book "Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World," and he is a well-known speaker on innovation in education and technology.
He provides a reassuringly upbeat framework for preparing students and teachers for the digital age. He expresses his views on appropriate device usage and the digital god on Twitter.
5️. Collaborate learning
The future of the educational workforce will be collaborative. Collaborative learning is a student-centered type of learning where small groups are often given more openly complex tasks, and the teacher is just a facilitator.
Collaborative learning is now one of the most important ways students learn and grow. Although individual work can be a great way to master content, collaborative work empowers and enables a student to cultivate certain resilience.
Collaborative learning is based on a small group of active student participation over passive lecture-based teaching. The underlying premise of collaborative learning and why it is a major trend now is that in this model, knowledge is constructed, discovered, and transformed by students. Also, learning is conceived of as something a learner does, not something done to learn, thus pushing students to conclude.
Vlad Stan says social learning, mentorship, and meta-skills are crucial for the future 💡
Learners can stretch their legs and collaborate with other makers in a variety of learning experiences 👍
Vlad is a seasoned businessman and the co-founder of Kubrio. The platform is run by a group of innovative families and dedicated educators working together to improve the future of student-centered education. Each child will gain the tools they need to become an independent, motivated learner through the platform's Coach-led pods model.
The daily check-ins with smaller groups that Kubrio promotes are central to this student-focused method of teaching. Students can feel comfortable sharing their ideas, collaborating on projects, and making global friends in their pods.
6️. Rise of educational communities
Another big trend in the future of higher education is communities. Learning can be tough, especially when it is typically something people are used to doing in some form of isolation. However, educational communities are on the rise, and being part of one is a huge saving grace! Educational communities provide students from diverse backgrounds with a pathway into different fields.
Programs like this help incoming students transition with personalized courses, advising, and activities that build a community from within. Educational communities are important because you can have camaraderie and evidence that other people are having the same issue or are struggling just as much. And then what is very important is that they help and encourage each other to persist and get that degree.
Tom Ross believes communities mature like relationships 💡
Communities mature like relationships. Perhaps they're more 'exciting' and busy in the initial phases, but the deep connections and sustainable cadence that sets in later is so satisfying! 😎
Is establishing a community vital to your business?
If that's the case, you're in for a treat today, as we have an expert in this area to speak to you.
Tom Ross is Design Cuts's founder and chief executive officer, an extraordinary community of 750,000 creatives, and the highest-rated design marketplace. In his spare time, he is known as "the community building guy" and is devoted to teaching fellow entrepreneurs how to construct highly engaged online communities.
He is a marketing whiz who assists business owners (and creative entrepreneurs like us) in building engaged communities.
Steven W. Anderson believes that social media integration in education is crucial! 💡
Alone we are smart, but together we are brilliant. We can use our collective wisdom to do great things when we are connected.
A former teacher, Steven W. Anderson is a father, learning evangelist, author, speaker, and public speaker. Steven now works as the director of instructional technology and as a consultant with educators globally after having a fruitful career in public education.
He has experience integrating educational technology, utilizing social media for learning, and fostering strong home-school connections. He is a professional learning consultant, author, and co-founder/CEO of Web20Classroom LLC.
Steven works with educators to enhance learning for all kids. He is highly sought after for his abilities to assist educators and school leaders in better understanding technology and social media through his hilarious approach to learning.
Anderson frequently visits schools and districts across the nation to speak about employing highly efficient technology in the classroom and providing great educational opportunities for students by implementing good teaching methods.
He has spoken as a keynoter and presented at several conferences on educational technology. In addition, he was a key contributor to the establishment of #edchat, a weekly Twitter discussion about education that attracts more than 500 users each week.
For his work with #edchat, Anderson received awards from Edublogs in 2009 and 2011, the Twitterer of the Year Award from Twitter, the Microsoft Heroes of Education Award, and the 2013 Bammy Award, regarded as the equivalent of the Educational Emmy internationally.
Saku Tuominen on HundrED's community-building mission💡
We believe change in education can only come from a co-created vision for the future, involving all stakeholders. 💪
We believe change in education can only come from a co-created vision for the future involving all stakeholders.
A serial entrepreneur, novelist, and public speaker, Saku Tuominen founded HundrED, a non-profit organization that seeks and disseminates innovative educational ideas to improve K–12 education worldwide.
His expertise is creativity and innovation; he has taught at Aalto University in Helsinki and numerous other organizations. He has also authored ten books on Italian cuisine, the future of the office, good living, and human belief systems.
Dedicated to education innovation, HundrED is a global organization with a clear objective of finding effective and scalable educational innovations, promoting their adoption, and helping to make them happen.
7️. Rise of student-led (personalized) learning
Many institutions are now focusing on student-led learning due to the many positive results garnered from this learning model. Student-led learning provides:
- Students with opportunities for self-direction.
- A powerful sense of ownership.
- The ability to explore meaningful and relevant topics in their lives.
In student-led learning, the teacher is a guide and facilitator, walking around to ask reflective questions or guiding students to ask their questions.
The teachers may also be providing demonstrations or pulling up information to support students in their explorations.
With the student-led learning model, there are many opportunities for students to explore their world and take ownership of their learning future.
Salman Khan
Supplementing traditional classroom education with the technology being developed by his Academy can increase the efficacy of teachers by freeing them from traditional lectures and allowing them to devote more time to individualized instruction for each student. 👌
Khan Salman is one of the influential forces shaping the future of education in America. The American educator is also the founder of Khan Academy. With free online educational resources accessible to students anywhere, the Khan Academy is redefining how students learn.
The academy boasts a self-paced guided learning experience with over 100,000 practice questions and 5,000 instructional films covering everything from elementary math to college-level physics and economics.
With more than 300 million courses provided and more than a billion exercises completed, it is the most popular library of educational lessons worldwide; more than 1.8 billion people have watched his online educational videos. Each month, over 10 million unique students use it.
Additionally, Khan Academy is being used by over 200,000 educators worldwide to help students become more knowledgeable about a variety of subjects and to free up class time for engaging in project-based learning.
A series of tutorials created by Khan Academy has emerged, intending to pique students' interest in STEM fields.
Khan has received recognition as one of TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World."
He has also been the subject of a 60 Minutes profile and graced Forbes Magazine's cover. Twitter shares his thoughts on how he has transformed education through the academy, closing the digital divide, and modernizing education.
Thomas C. Murray is advancing the Future Ready Schools initiative
Future Ready Schools helps innovative educators ensure that each student graduates with an understanding of their passions, aptitudes, and opportunities in today's workforce. 🧐
Tom is the Project Director for Future Ready Schools, a Project of the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, D.C.
He has worked and testified before the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate, the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, state departments of education, businesses, and school districts across the nation.
The goal is to implement student-centered, personalized learning. He is a part of the leadership of Future Ready Schools and Digital Learning Day. A frequent conference keynote speaker, Murray was awarded the "2017 Education Thought Leader of the Year," one of the "20 to Watch" by NSBA, and the "Education Policy Person of the Year" by the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015.
Tom is devoted to the effective application of digital learning and the development of professional learners.
8️. The increased popularity of MOOCs
Online courses at the college level that are free are known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs have been steadily gaining popularity and are a great fit for the futuristic educational model.
They are provided by websites like edX, Udacity, Khan Academy, and Coursera, among other online learning environments. MOOCs' popularity has greatly increased worldwide; 92 million students registered for Coursera classes by 2021, up from 21 million in 2016.
People who live in locations with poor or nonexistent infrastructure, such as those with few or no schools, roads, or buses, can benefit greatly from MOOCs' extraordinary learning opportunities.
Think about being able to enroll in a variety of interactive, free college courses to broaden your knowledge or, even better, to gain skills that will help you escape poverty and earn more money.
Jelmer Evers uses massive open online courses to facilitate relationship-building among K-12 students 💡
Jelmer is an author, a history teacher, and a two-time Global Teacher Prize nominee. He became a reformer of the Dutch educational system and had been establishing a worldwide teacher leadership network to give his learners a well-rounded education. His method of instruction encourages students to take responsibility for their education and helps them establish a unique learning environment.
Thousands of pupils across the globe have used his assessment tools, resulting in a highly networked K12 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Jelmer uses social media and gamification extensively in his history lessons, focusing mostly on interdisciplinary issues where students learn subject material and skills while investigating real-world problems.
In 2012, he received a nomination for Dutch Teacher of the Year. Jelmer is the author of two books, "The Alternative," which is among the most widely read books on education in the Netherlands, and "Flip the System," which presents a cutting-edge replacement for the established test-based accountability system.
More than 400 million students have benefited from Jo Boaler Mooc's approach to mathematics💡
"Our main goal is to inspire, educate and empower teachers of mathematics, transforming the latest research on maths into accessible and practical forms."
Co-founder of YouCubed and Stanford University Professor of Mathematics Education, Dr. Jo Boaler, is a pioneer in the field. Her books significantly enhanced teaching for a lot of math instructors. Along with being the creator of the first MOOC on mathematics teaching and learning, she also works as an analyst for the OECD's PISA testing program.
As a researcher, educator, and evangelist, Boaler is a leading proponent of a fundamentally different approach to education. The process of arriving at an answer can be just as significant as the solution.
Her method is one where grasping the connections between "math facts" is more important than memorization of the facts themselves. Her book, Experiencing School Mathematics, was named the "Outstanding Book of the Year" in Britain's education category.
She has held positions as the Marie Curie Professor of Mathematics Education in England, a mathematics teacher in London comprehensive schools, and a lecturer and researcher at King's College, London, among others. Her Ph.D. won the national prize for educational research in the country.
EducateMe Shares Tips on How to Prepare for the Future of Education Technology
As an instructor that wishes to reach your students effectively, you cannot afford to lag behind the most current developments in the classroom. It would help if you found the appropriate mix between downtime and information overload to stay current on new digital tools and trends.
Here are a few of the simplest and most useful ways that educators may keep up with the times.
Participate in social media communities designed for educators.
The future of education will be highly social. Hence, social media groups can help educators stay updated on the newest information by connecting them with peers worldwide. Many people in today's mobile-first society get their news from social media feeds.
Compared to a physical conference, the online format may not provide the same level of immersion, but it also makes it much easier to make new relationships. You may quickly learn about the most recent educational developments by just picking up your smartphone and scrolling through your newsfeed.
Thanks to the online format, it is simple to cross-reference new claims with reliable sources that can either validate or refute them. Regardless of whether these assertions are credibly supported, it is nevertheless insightful to see how issues concerning education are discussed.
Look into the options for professional development.
We strongly believe that online learning is the future of education. As an educator wanting to stay in the loop, you may need to boost your knowledge and readiness so that you're able to integrate new techniques into your curriculum. Teachers are lucky to have free access to materials that can ensure they never miss a beat.
You can enhance your professional development by taking a few quick courses or attending online seminars that touch on ed tech and other developments in education. You'll be able to be the most effective teacher possible because of your drive to stay on top of ed tech advancements.
Keep abreast of developments in educational technology
A certain amount of adaptation is required of all educators working with young pupils in a more automated society since technology development is rapidly changing the nature of education as we know it.
Fortunately, it's not essential to go to great lengths just to be informed—there is more reading material on the effects of technology on teaching than anyone could read, even with a full month of paid time off.
For instructors to rapidly receive the latest information on popular technical resources impacting education worldwide, visiting websites that cover emergent technological advancements can be a very simple solution.
Conclusion
Education has remained relevant over the past 400 years despite its adversaries and critics. Students will actively and passionately engage in learning in the future, employing various technological tools to improve their educational experiences. According to Malcolm x, education is the passport to the future. Thus, preparation for education's bright future must commence immediately.
We hope you learned something new and were inspired by this write-up.