62 predictions about edtech, equity, and learning in 2022
As we wrapped up 2020, we thought for positive that 2021 would possibly convey us a reprieve from pandemic learning. Well, it did–nevertheless it additionally didn’t. Virtual and hybrid learning continued into the spring, however then school rooms welcomed again college students for full-time in-person learning in the autumn. Many silver linings emerged and digital learning cemented itself as a “must have” in faculties. Equity remained entrance and heart, too, elevating problems with inequitable know-how entry, together with racial and socioeconomic disparities and discrimination.
2021 introduced with it new COVID-19 variants, the dreaded college COVID quarantine, and renewed calls to help the nation’s educators, who’ve labored tirelessly (and consistently) to help college students’ learning, social and emotional wants, and extra.
And now, we head into our third yr of learning throughout a worldwide pandemic. We requested edtech executives, stakeholders, and specialists to share a few of their ideas and predictions about the place they assume edtech is headed in 2022.
Here’s what they needed to say:
The demand for on-line learning will proceed to develop in 2022 and probably result in the creation of digital faculties, which might introduce new AR and VR learning processes. Teachers might want to study and refine their on-line educating abilities and discover new alternatives for working from house, permitting them a greater work-life steadiness. This will assist them give attention to the standard of their classes with out the heavy monetary pressure that many lecturers cope with at the moment. Learners may have the pliability to observe on-campus classes and use on-line classes to cowl subjects they couldn’t absolutely grasp the primary time round. More importantly, college students may have higher entry to classes designed particularly for his or her learning type. This will inevitably end result in elevated comprehension and productiveness in scholar learning. To cope with the challenges of at the moment and tomorrow, we have to equip the following era with the abilities and data essential to adapt and overcome these challenges.
—Suren Aloyan, Co-Founder & CEO, PopUp EduTech, Inc., Founding President, Dasaran
This college yr, one of many greatest challenges for varsity directors has been attempting to work by way of the continued challenges of the pandemic. This contains navigating the customarily politicized points associated to immunizations, the excessive scholar absence fee attributable to quarantines or mother and father wanting to maintain their kids house, and the unfavourable influence the pandemic had on scholar and employees psychological well being. Many college students are exhibiting new behavioral points reminiscent of entering into fights or partaking in bullying, and many lecturers are simply attempting to get by way of the day. Although there was lots of give attention to psychological wellbeing, we have to do extra. We want to take a position in assets that may assist us get higher at discovering the foundation trigger of those points as an alternative of simply treating the signs.
–Dr. Maria Armstrong, Executive Director, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents
I imagine using esports to show each Okay–12 tutorial and social-emotional abilities and the design of esports environments to help ability improvement outcomes will proceed to develop at an exponential fee over the following a number of years. Currently, the esports ecosystem is projected to surpass $1.8 billion by 2022. Schools, media, and buyers are all keeping track of the expansion. In reality, analysis exhibits that 80 p.c of esports groups are comprised of scholars who’ve by no means earlier than participated in extracurricular actions. Much like participation in an athletic group, esports gamers discover ways to work collectively as an efficient group by speaking and collaborating with one another. I imagine the alignment of esports to the event of upper order pondering abilities and social emotional learning with a path towards faculty scholarships mixed with the excessive curiosity of adolescents for gaming actions ensures that esports will proceed to develop for a while into the long run.
–Remco Bergsma, CEO, MiEN Company
COVID pressured lecturers and college students to depend on digital learning greater than ever, however they got here away with totally different classes from the expertise. Even lecturers who had been tech-shy discovered wonderful instruments to assist create and ship partaking courses, whereas many college students discovered they missed college and interacting with their classmates. After on-line classes, I don’t see lecturers returning to binders of lesson concepts collected over years, however I do see lecturers and college students pushing again on the concept digital is the answer—so hands-on learning, collaboration, and teamwork will take heart stage for the following yr or two. However, ultimately, as post-stimulus prices start to hit faculties, digital, with its decrease prices and larger margins, shall be the place districts and publishers come collectively to ship partaking schooling with tighter budgets.
— Catherine Cahn, CEO, Twig Education
Edtech corporations that fail to prioritize accessibility shall be left behind. Now greater than ever, college students and lecturers are seeing the actual worth edtech instruments can convey to the classroom. As these instruments develop into extra built-in into the classroom, lecturers will need to make sure that all college students, together with these with disabilities or language boundaries, are being supported. This signifies that lecturers will favor to make use of instruments from edtech corporations that prioritize accessibility. Companies that don’t prioritize accessibility shall be left behind as accessibility will develop into a significant factor for edtech instruments in 2022 and past.
–Jason Carroll, Chief Product Officer, Texthelp
Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
