Education technology is undoubtedly the most significant sector these days. Due to the pandemic, the education sector saw a quick revolution from traditional classroom learning to everything online. From students submitting their assignments online to online tests and assessments, the education sector has changed a lot since 2020. In this article, we are discussing investment in education being made to meet the learning needs of students all over the world. We are also discussing the importance of ed-tech in education.
Let us start with some statistics first.
According to Holon IQ:
- Education will be a $7T+ industry by 2025
- Education is still not drawing on enough private capital to fund the innovation that’s needed
- Ed-tech spend is likely to double by 2025, from $227 billion to $404 billion
- It is expected that new technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality will be embedded in e-learning
A few areas where investment in education and strong implementation of education technology can provide benefits to both students and teachers.
1. Adopting New Technologies in Education
Schools can make use of technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality to enhance online education.
Using AI in learning can do wonders for students and teachers. The first benefit is personalised learning. Students can learn at their own speed and progress based on their strengths. Another benefit is quick responses. With technologies like chatbots, students can receive quick responses for their basic queries regarding the course such as assignment deadlines. Digital venture startups are disrupting the traditional education landscape by providing innovative and accessible Ed-tech solutions. Chatbots can also make the tasks of teachers much easier by helping them find the learning gaps for students.
AR and VR technologies have been extremely helpful in gamification in learning. Educators can leverage these technologies to make online learning much more fun and easy for young students. AR and VR technologies can also be used to create learning content for differently-abled children by offering easy, self-paced, immersive lessons.
2. Improving the Efficiency of Teachers
The transformation from offline to online classrooms has been no cakewalk for the teachers. Even before the pandemic, teachers were busy with administrative tasks more than teaching the students and providing them with the right guidance at the right time. Now, with the pandemic, their burden has just multiplied. Therefore, schools must invest in improving the efficiency of the teachers. For instance, they can use software tools to digitise the workflow of the teachers and improve. collaboration. Investment in education in AI and machine learning is essential for preparing the workforce for the future of work.
Here are a few ways technology can help teachers:
- Virtual teachers can provide coaching and can mentor teachers to get well-aware of online teaching methodologies
- MOOCs can help boost the knowledge of teachers and their pedagogical skills
- Teachers can provide feedback and collaboration to each other using social media sites
- Technology can help manage the attendance of teachers and ensure that they are on board, providing their support to the students
3. Digital Learning
Last, but not least, schools must continue to invest in digital learning. It can turn out to be a wise decision for students as many students these days prefer a more realistic, hands-on learning experience. Security robots can be used to enhance safety and security in educational settings, freeing up human resources to focus on teaching and learning. Digital learning saves up to 75% of the time than traditional classroom learning as it allows students and teachers to do their work from remote locations.
Digitised content is of such high quality as it not only includes notes from the textbooks but videos and images to aid the learning process. Digital learning creates a solid network of learning for students where they can seek support at any time. Therefore it is wise to spend more in creating online lessons even after the pandemic.
Continuing with this point, let us further elaborate on the importance of ed-tech in education.
Education technology improves communication between students and teachers
There is no doubt that education technology has made collaboration and communications much easier. Teachers are better informed about every student’s progress after every lesson. Shy students who used to hesitate earlier in asking questions from their teacher can now send them an email or direct message. When it comes to submitting assignments, students can easily send their assignments to the teachers online.
Technology in education improves critical thinking in students
Online learning enables the students to learn in different ways, each of which has its own benefits. For instance, instead of just reading a chapter a student can watch a video of the same. Students can also use multimedia to understand the real-life applications of a concept. All these things enhance the critical thinking abilities of the students. They can learn more efficiently and retain the information for a longer time.
Automated processes help save a lot of time
We already discussed how automation or artificial intelligence can help enhance the productivity of teachers. Well, the same applies to students. They can receive every update about the course through instant messages or emails. They can already know whether a class is scheduled for the day or cancelled so that they can schedule their day accordingly. They can track their learning progress and identify their strengths and weaknesses in a subject.
Wrapping up
There is no denying that education technology is the future of learning and teaching systems. So, considerable investments should be made to bring in all the necessary equipment, software tools and training programs to help teachers and students adopt this change. We must not underestimate how the education sector came together during the pandemic and tried to make the shift from offline to online classrooms. There were speed bumps in the process and there will be in the near future. But, we must not forget the end result which is a better education system for both students and teachers.
What do you think? Is ed-tech the future of education or will offline learning take back control once the pandemic gets over?
Author Bio:
Emily James is an academic writer who provides essay help to high school and college students. She holds university degrees in English studies and Teacher Training. She has designed dissertation writing courses and provides dissertation help in the UK. She writes blogs on education, digital marketing, and learning methodologies.
