EdTech trends to look out in 2023

Technology is becoming ever-more core to the educational experience, with teachers and students alike relying on rich media, deep data and analytics and cloud delivery to drive better educational outcomes.

The question now is how EdTech providers worldwide respond to the needs of students and educators in building products that drive change. It is important to identify the underlying trends in the market, given that many past efforts to transform the education system have failed. Globally, students cannot afford to be let down by their technology partners any longer.

As Gartner noted in its report on the current global trends in education: “This year, the ‘hybrid world’ trend is refined to the more specific ‘digital learning environments,’ reflecting the need to think in multiple dimensions about how, when and where learning takes place. These changes include not only new additions to classroom technologies, but also those that enable this level of flexibility required to deliver instruction under nearly any conditions.”

Student centric learning:

Technology’s most significant impact has been the creation of personalized learning pathways. There is a growing global demand for tools that empower students to learn for themselves in collaborative and flexible ways. Students have shown keenness for individual attention from teachers, who can tap into real-time data to track their problems and learning progress. Data-rich models can help students develop holistically.  Asynchronous learning is on-trend, allowing students greater freedom and flexibility in learning.

AI enabled learning to increase:

Research suggests that the gross value of Augmented Reality (AR) in education could reach $5.3 billion by 2023 and it might touch $640 million for head-mounted Virtual Reality (VR) tools used in education. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be harnessed to provide more personalized and interactive learning experiences. AI has the potential to enable hyper-personalized journeys.

IoT to create student centered curriculum:

Personalized education is becoming more widespread since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to make teaching more experiential; IoT in education can help in creating student-centered curriculums that allows teachers to have deeper insights into what’s working and what isn’t working in the classroom.

Use Of VR to learn third language:

Learning a second or even a third language is becoming commonplace in many schools, but the process, whether it be through a course or an app, can seem daunting. Instead of fumbling their way through online courses and “realistic” speaking websites, students can use VR goggles and become immersed in the world of the language they are learning. VR goggles allow students to interact with animated figures and speak in the target language. Students can also virtually travel to countries where the language they are learning is the dominant language and be immersed in the culture of that country.

SEL or Social and Emotional learning:

Supporting students’ SEL is important to support their mental well-being, catch up on learning loss, return to school, and adapt to new circumstances. SEL has specific benefits for disadvantaged learners, who didn’t have much support during institutions closures. Technology can support various strategies to address such inequalities.

Also, there is now increased stress on other aspects of pupil’s development beyond numeracy and literacy. Multilingual content can make students from different cultures and emotional backgrounds feel valued. It can teach kids about the importance of diversity. Soft skills like communication, listening, problem-solving and more are important for learners to succeed in the future.

Ed Tech firms must ensure that tools are easy-to-use, and that content authoring solutions power content creators to develop accessible and inclusive learning materials.

The article has been written by Brijesh Kohli, Director, Xebia Academy