The global education industry is set to experience strong expansion. There are few sectors in which standards and methods change and evolve as frequently as in education. The increasing influence of technology in education has gradually evolved realm of unconstrained learning. Technology has helped us explore new dimensions to achieve our objectives more effectively and efficiently. With the emerging trends in the education industry, teachers or professors might need to update their professional learning and development approach. Here are some of the important trends of 2018 that will be reshaping the education sector in the coming months.
Virtual Reality immerses the user in a virtual or imaginary environment. With the use of Virtual reality, the teaching process will be more interactive and fun than the traditional methods of blackboards and charts. Immersive educational environments will provide students with a life-like experience in subjects as diverse as history and chemistry. The impact on learning outcomes could be tremendous. Teachers, who earlier had the print or digital images/animations for teaching support, now can leverage these high-fidelity educational experiences to achieve better learning outcomes. Students learning about the Tundra region in geography can be visually transported to that region using a VR headset.
Artificial intelligence (AI) allows personalisation of the learning experience and has the potential to solve a crucial challenge in classroom learning - how to engage learners of different abilities in the same classroom! The traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach to education is now becoming a thing of the past. AI now empowers students to learn at a pace and in a manner best suited to their needs and can become an important tool to ensure more uniform learning. These Adaptive learning systems use machine learning along with natural processing and speech recognition technologies to help personalize the presentation of learning material based on their learning speed, interest and problem areas.
It is common knowledge how much children today love to play video games. Instead of traditional education methods like step-by-step or rote learning, incorporating gaming elements in education gives way to interactive learning and reduces a child’s stress considerably. Compared to the traditional classroom learning, gamification cuts down boredom and can motivate students to understand better and do well in their exams. Gamification is definitely one of the exciting trends to watch out for in the education sector.
Digital literacy is not a new concept, but it has emerged because of the blue whale challenge. There is an alarming need to include a digital curriculum in schools as the blue whale challenge has resulted in many suicides and injuries. Students must be taught the distinction between the good and the bad on the internet. Everybody who utilises digital media leaves a digital footprint behind. It can also hamper a student’s career prospects, as employers hunt for any negative footprints while conducting background checks.
