Education technology has the opportunity to improve learning outcomes for hundreds of millions of children and adults worldwide.

There is no doubt that education technology is an important and rapidly evolving entity in the digital age and that it has a dramatic impact on the quality of learning.

The biggest trends in education are the technology solutions that empower teaching and learning. Discover which learning tools are quickly growing in popularity.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is likely to dominate a lot of headlines in the coming year. It has found millions of use cases across multiple sectors. One of the commonly used features is of facial recognition. It has been proving helpful to secure campus infrastructure from unauthorized access for any big or small organization.

Facial recognition is one of the forms of AI where the institution can easily track attendance of the candidates or employees based on capturing their photos every day.

Education sector has got many useful implementations of AI. There are many use cases in terms of exam security such as identification of cheating during online exams, AI-powered auto proctoring, chatbots. Technology enables exams to be conducted without the physical presence of humans in the traditional process of physical observation.

There are many ways in which AI based auto proctoring can be used to invigilate online exams. Some of the features powered by AI are as mentioned below.

– The feature of video proctoring enables the remote invigilator to watch the candidate during the exam with the help of webcam

– Audio proctoring feature captures even the slightest sound coming from candidate’s background with the help of speakers and microphones

– Facial recognition features is useful for verifying the identity of the candidates before the exam

– The feature of object detection helps to detect any suspicious object or movements by the candidates during the exam.

AI can also help evaluate performance of the student or group of students. The entire information about student exam performance can be analyzed using various data analytics algorithms. It can provide useful insight into student performance and it can help reduce bias from the personalized feedback to the students.

2. Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming a cost-effective tool to experience active learning rather than a passive form of learning. VR creates a simulated environment which is similar to the real environment. It brings things in front of you as if you are standing just next to it.

Imagine a biology student who can see a 3-dimensional skeleton in front of him in the 3 D format. Students can wear glasses to see it and experience it. The entire structure of the bones can be easily learned in a quick time using VR.

VR technology is becoming cheap day by day. There are a lot of games which are being developed on the concept of VR. Millions are playing those games with great passion. Time has come to develop games which focus on education.

It would be a sort of edutainment where learning and entertainment can happen at the same time. The knowledge acquisition process can be improved drastically using VR for higher education.

Better content using VR is the need of an hour and coming year 2022 would see more innovative educational content being developed in the form of 3 dimensional VR.

The above graph would tell you where the education delivery process is moving with technology adoption. Technology is helping to gain knowledge retention process for students. Virtual reality-based education should be on top of the agenda for higher education institutions.

Virtual reality can help with the better understanding of the concept, topics or subjects instead of reading about it. Education based on VR would also lead to better knowledge retention by the students.

Regarding L&D departments, the possible applications may include:

• Trainee engagement
  Could it be more intriguing when you can apply your theories into practice right away after the lessons? The vision resembles the Ready Player One excitement that VR/AR can put in next-level interaction, and involvement can only lead to better engagement which, in turn, should lead to greater effectiveness and positive outcomes.
• Quality efficiency
  Using VR/AR as an aid, trainers can train more efficiently and trainees can learn quicker. A highly efficient training environment for all parties involved saves both time and money.
• Risk reduction
  Whether it’s performing surgery, experimenting with the new launch of a car’s latest version, or learning to use a new piece of software, VR/AR reduces the risk of mistakes or oversights because it provides a “real world” training environment with the undo function that lowers the risk to the least damage.

3. Blockchain Technology

Of course, speaking of current educational technology trends, blockchain can not be left behind. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that allows transactions to take place without the need for an intermediary. As a result, it is a democratic technology since it allows anyone to make a digital transaction. This technology, which was formerly associated with the bitcoin industry, is now on the verge of becoming mainstream. The reasons why blockchain will be adopted in the next year boils down to these three below:

• Employee attraction with incentivization
  Organizations will find it easier to lure employees to training seminars and encourage them to train not just during work hours, but also during their own time if they provide a financial incentive, especially one that suits the interests of a tech-savvy generation. For example, organizations may use blockchain to make incentive points valuable in the real world for digital transactions.
• Data storage
  The distributed ledger technology (DLT) from blockchain brings so many benefits, especially data storage. The benefits of this storage type include the fact that data cannot be modified and that it can save up to 90% on the cost of centralized cloud storage. Consequently, training materials can be added without the fear of running out of storage.
• Keeping up with the qualifications
  Employers may also utilize blockchain to track their workers’ qualifications and certifications. This will be more efficient than using a paper-based system or digitizing each employee’s statistics. For each employee, tamper-proof blocks are constructed that are visible to both the employee and the company. Due to the multilingual nature of the data in the blockchain, there is no chance of missing out on document translation. They can ensure that the learner’s qualifications are validated because they have access to the employees’ records.

4. Big Data

A less unpredictable but more recently impactful tool is none other than Big Data. Big Data is the collection of data that is increasing at an unprecedented rate worldwide. Using cutting-edge technology analysis, Big Data allows you to store, process, analyze, and make massive volumes of data. Some big names that are using Big Data to exploit the best out of their customers are Google, Amazon, American Express, and Netflix. According to Severity, Netflix is reshaping the film industry and generating more and more registered users by using Big Data to discover insights into customer behavior on the platform. Now, back to employees’ training. Big Data can help:

• Improve productivity, especially in new hires
  Big Data may be used to drive onboarding and other operations. Reliable data and data mining tools can assist you in identifying trends and patterns that indicate the most beneficial components of your training programs for diverse job categories. By speeding up the process and enhancing outcomes, Big Data assists your firm in gaining additional benefits.
• Business intelligence
  Big Data clearly provides opportunities for HR and department managers to have a comprehensive view of the process as a tool for analyzing the quality of new recruit training. This allows them to customize programs to meet the needs of each individual. Candidates who are experiencing difficulties with a certain component of their training, for example, can be swiftly identified and assigned for further coaching. In addition, managers who analyze training data may be able to come up with creative strategies based on what has worked in the past.

5. Internet of Things (IoT)

Internet of Things refers to small objects which can be connected through internet to transfer or collect data. These objects can work on their own without human intervention. IoT is helping many sectors for automation and control. It is likely to be used in higher education as well. Many use cases like face detection, monitoring student vehicles, analysis of machine performance, etc. can be done using IoT.

Devices needed for IoT is also becoming cost-effective. IoT is being used in many different sectors such as Health, agriculture, manufacturing units, wearable such as smart watches, etc. Many industry-driven use cases are driving the need for skilled professionals in this sector.

Digital attendance management using biometric, student location tracking, the school bus tracking, etc. can be easily managed with the help of IoT technology. IoT devices and technology is useful to keep a tab on the usage of electricity in the campuses. IoT can detect the presence or absence of humans in the class and can switch on / off the electricity/ lights accordingly.

IoT can help higher education institution to have a secure campus environment with advanced face recognition techniques. IoT can also help to track the total time taken by the students for completing a particular assignment. Assignment timing pattern can provide useful insights into overall hours put by the students for completing it and it can be compared with class performance.

6. Innovative eLearning Platforms

In 2021, there’s probably no bigger education trend than eLearning.

It’s fair to say that eLearning has been in the picture for a while, however, the trends in education are constantly evolving and becoming more and more popular. The classes for an online degree are no longer tedious video lectures, but they include peer communication and effective interaction.

Various educational institutions are now trying to increase student engagement through remote learning platforms. Not just innovation, an education institution curriculum should also follow the latest education trends happening in the outside world.

It’s also extremely scalable, allowing the best educators to reach many students at the same time (or at different times, in the case of on-demand pre-recorded courses). The homeschooling startups we just covered are following the eLearning trend for K-12. But tools that aren’t built for online learning are also being used en masse to teach courses live. An example of this is via Zoom.

Additionally, a whole host of service providers have stepped in to serve different segments of this growing sub-industry. So it’s safe to assume a good portion of them will continue to offer online learning post-pandemic as well.

7. Chatbots

Chatbots are something that is taking off since the last 12 months or so. Many new and exciting technology providers have come up with simple, intuitive workflow based chatbot development where you can easily configure the machine to chat with real humans in a live chat environment.

Chatbots can resolve queries of website, mobile app visitor on an instant basis. They are used in almost every application or website as a part of customer care or quick help. Chatbots are integrated with frequently asked questions, articles, and blogs relation to the education institution. It can help students resolve their typical queries on 24 X 7 bases.

Chatbots have several applications in a higher education institution for automation of prospective student who might struggle with queries related scholarships, education loans, admission process, admission criteria related queries, fee-related queries. Entire human intervention can be eliminated with the help of chatbots.

As a higher education institution, you might be getting thousands of queries from prospective students about the admission process, fee-related queries, merit list, college or exam schedules, syllabus, etc. Currently, you may require resources to handle phone and email queries. Setting up a help desk or appointing people to address these queries might not always prove useful as there is a possibility of few queries remaining unanswered or the students returning with incomplete unsatisfactory answers.

Chatbots can help to resolve those queries virtually on an instant basis. Chatbots can also help you save a huge administration cost of resolving those queries over phone calls or emails.

Here is a list of few things which can be simplified with the help of chatbots.

1. Student Query Resolution during Admission

2. Automated Enquiry Management and Resolution

3. Lead Generation for Education Courses

8. Podcasting

A podcast is an audio recording which can be downloaded and listened to using any device such as mobile phones, personal computers, etc. Podcasting is likely to be a new radio of Millennial. The podcasting industry is flourishing and many new podcasting channels are coming up on various entities like Apple or Google podcasts. Many educational channels are also active on the podcast. It is becoming a new way of acquiring knowledge and learning.

Currently, majority of the podcasts are available for free. But there is scope for a paid podcast where exclusive podcast episode would be shared with paid subscribers. Let us have a look at the advantages of podcasting.

9. Gamification

Gamification in education is nothing new.

For ages, teachers have been offering students prizes for reading books, achieving good grades or otherwise being a good pupil.

But in the digital era, game mechanics can be used in even more ways.

In fact, many educational tools are simply games.

Minecraft is probably the most common example.

he process of gamification is one of the new trends in education. More and more educators are now choosing to gamify their lessons. This is handy in getting students engaged and deriving maximum interest and excitement towards learning.

A great example of this is Moonpreneur’s Moon preneur – business strategy board game, one of the rising education trends. Moon preneur is an educational board game that has helped hundreds of children, young adults, and adults gain financial literacy and stimulate an entrepreneurial mindset in a fun way.

This educational and fun board game makes learning financial concepts entertaining for children, who otherwise, don’t get a chance to indulge in it.

10. Google Everything

Google has planted roots in the education system.

Thanks to their low cost and ease of use (and maintenance), Chromebooks have become the standard student-learning device.

And there’s no more natural pair to Chromebooks than G Suite for Education.

This suite of tools includes favorites like Google Docs, Sheets, Gmail and Forms – each of which can be used by faculty or students. (And a free version is available.)

Also included in G Suite for Education are Google Classroom and Google Assignments.

Google Classroom offers a digital space for students and teachers to interact, assign and turn in homework, and more.

While Google Assignments is a tool to help teachers create and grade coursework more quickly.

Finally, Google also offers their Google Cloud Platform to schools and universities, offering cloud storage and computing power for research and other uses.

Conclusion

There you have it: eight of the most interesting education technology trends of 2022. 

It high time, higher education institutions start focusing on changing trends and start adapting to new technologies to make education interesting, relevant and practical. Higher education institution can improve their brand image with quick adoption of the latest trends in technology. Adaption of innovative trends will not only help the educational institutions to improve the quality of education but also help the students to grasp better, recall quickly and retain the knowledge for longer duration.

Step by step approach of adopting those technologies can help a long way for improving higher education integration with the industry-relevant knowledge base. These trends in education technology will disrupt the higher education in a positive way by improving it and making it much better than it already is. Higher education can help prepare students for a bright future which in turn will brighten the future of the society.