The year that was and is:

What a year, 2018 was. Meanwhile, 2019 seems to be a promise of a fruitful year. Welcome to the countdown of the educational technology trends that took the year that was by storm and the upcoming year by surprise.

What is educational technology?

Educational Technology itself often includes practical application of tech solutions in software development to teaching and learning.

With the millennials become the largest population that is attending classes around the world. The fact they are natives to technology and use it as a communication currency inside and outside classrooms should urge school environments to use technology to make a difference in the ways students engage, learn and grow.

Below is the list of trending concepts in EdTech which blossomed from the efforts of the technological community worldwide last year.

Flipped Learning:

A new approach that was in a rage in the educational sector in 2018 was called “flipped learning”. Flipped learning, which is one of the most popular pedagogic learning subsets of blended learning, turns traditional teaching methods on its head. In a “flipped” classroom, students make use of upcoming technologies to see, hear, read and experience educational content at home through digital content and then make progress on the task at hand; it can be an assignment, a project or a worksheet which they complete at school in groups under the teacher’s supervision. Students began experimenting with different subjects and related content through active participation via flipped learning instead of engaging with educational content passively.

Artificial Intelligence:

The role of Artificial Intelligence, in the arena of education, was a big upsurge during 2018. Moving beyond gesture identification and speech recognition AI as a technology, according to a study conducted by Technavio, was predicted to show exponential progression in the education sector; a staggering 45% growth by 2021 at that. AI’s influence on education in USA was being anticipated to gross a whopping USD 85 million by the year 2022. AI was gathering buzz for doing much more. Aspects like grading, automating administrative tasks, curating educational and safe content for classroom lessons and customizing teachers’ needs and efforts in class.

Collaborative learning:

Collaborative learning was a trending phenomenon in 2018 for all the right reasons. What more that it is here to stay even in 2019. With the market exploding with collaborative learning tools, students, teachers, were beginning to form stronger bonds within classrooms. Collaboration aids humans to solve complex problems together. Collaborative learning technology has tools for brain storming, mind mapping and group participation help classrooms to connect with one another. Product lines like eins.ai eradicate any sort of time, space and demographic hurdles which prevent quality learning experience.

Cybersecurity:

As new technology emerged in the EdTech scenario, cybersecurity remained a pressing concern even in the year that was. A study found that 32 million educational accounts were compromised in 2017. Test scores, faculty and student information, financial documents, and other important credentials were compromised. Identity theft is a risk that looms over institutional infrastructures due to such phishing and ransomware attacks. Cybersecurity in institutions was expected to own up to a more rampant, updated, and diligent approach toward creating a safe and productive environment in institutions. The institutes can opt for various cybersecurity measures like antivirus, firewall, and the best vpn for usa (or for other locations). Moreover, by harnessing the power of Augmented Intelligence, administrators and faculty were able to focus on the betterment of pupils and their holistic development. The upcoming trends this year are going to revolutionise the educational sector and show how education, as a concept is going to change all over the globe.

With a brand-new OS launch, fresh digital courseware and analytical tools for teachers and administrators, 2019 is going to be a year of progress:

Learning OS:

A customised, educational-purpose-only, Operating System which can run on existing system just to get rid of the exasperating practice of making do with a personal computer in a smart classroom setup. This year will see the launch of the world’s first intelligent learning operating system. Introducing einsOS; innovated by Cybernetyx is the first of its kind. While it can run on any system, Spark products is a perfect fit for the OS which comes bundled with applications like einAcademy, einsClass, einsAssess, einsManage, einsConnect and einsAnalytics. Each of these apps aimed to solve challenges that students, teachers, admins and parents around the world are facing today. Be it an attendance database or an assignment grading application, einsOS has all the answers. The OS aims to empower education via augmented learning.

Digital Courseware:

A report by the National Association of College Stores highlights that schools and colleges are spending a fortune on digital content. Students are more comfortable digital course materials. With personal devices becoming a prevalent phenomenon in schools and colleges, digital natives scour the internet for information for assignments. The very premise of smart classrooms is incomplete without online content. However, security and expense has always been a challenge that prevents institutions from subscribing to online portals and novel EdTech. Digital content market is said to be valued at USD 549 billion by 2019. EdTech this year, however seem more promising than ever as the possibility of free and secure curate digital content will have a positive impact on the future of education.

Institutional Tools:

Institution administration specific tools creates opportunities for admins to learn how the faculty is performing and whether or not the technology and devices they’ve installed in their institutions are providing desired results. Similar learning and teaching tools like Spark devices and content resources like MyCloud and einsAcademy help teachers and students create customisable and enriching smart classrooms. Combine these tools, which are wifi enabled and have inbuilt safety algorithms, with mobile technology like a smartphone or a tablet, and students will have a powerful learning environment this 2019 – anytime, anywhere. Learning AnalyticsAnother emerging trend in the educational technology industry this year is the use of learning analytics. By employing the existing and new data effectively, this EdTech improves the monitoring of the student performance and behaviour. Investing in aspects like cloud technology, biometrics, digital applications and such, opportunities for teachers to make lesson plans, manage attendance, grade assignments, track progress and create student friendly environments will be easier. Learning analytics is here to transform the learning process and take care of the most time-consuming tasks, thereby leaving more time for what institutions are for: teaching.

How will these trends improve education?

Experts predict the marriage between education and technology to be a positive step towards better teaching and learning process. Curated content with seamless analytics will eventually redefine the way we perceive and experience the learning process.