Education Technology, often called EdTech or EduTech, could very well be the element that revolutionizes the depth and reach of global education dissemination. One may feel that technology already plays a major role in imparting education, but the truth is that we have barely scratched the surface! This is, particularly, true for a geography as disparate and dispersed as India. EdTech carries the potential to take quality education into every nook and corner. Let us take a look at some of the key changes that we can expect EdTech to make, in the coming years.
Adaptive learning rather than standardized
Each student has a different level of cognitive ability and a different level of aptitude for each subject. This means that each student will have their own, unique learning requirements. While educators are aware of this fact, practically speaking, they cannot create different learning modules for every student. This means that all students get the same training, regardless of what their individual needs are. Well-designed EdTech solutions can judge each student’s response to training and then mold the training to address their individual needs.
Greater utilization of videos
One of the simplest elements of EdTech is the production and usage of video lectures. The informal usage of such videos is quite common but it will not be long before such videos are formally included into the curriculums of institutions devoted to higher, advanced, and specialized education. Try to imagine the world’s best specialists recording videos that will help students, worldwide, for years to come. The classroom teachers will then discuss the takeaways of the videos and answer queries. The efficiency of this model is rapidly becoming apparent to institutions, across the world.
Educators to spend more time on core work
EdTech solutions have already, reduced the amount of time that educators have to spend on chores. In the future, day to day tasks such as record keeping shall be fully automated. One key area where the greatest change shall be observable is grading. Objective grading has already been automated and through the deployment of artificial intelligence with cognitive abilities, designed for grading, subjective grading shall be too.
Analytics based career decisions
Well-designed algorithms, when given the proper input, can provide useful deductions regarding the skills and interests of any individual. Such deductions can be mapped against the aptitude and inclinations needed for different careers, to identify the level of sync, between an individual and their career choices. The near future will see extensive use of such EdTech career guidance solutions.
Learning enabled by collaborative tools
One must be well aware, at this point, as to how technology may be used for collaborating for socialization. Soon, such collaboration will also be made possible for the purpose of education, through specially designed tools.
Classrooms will not disappear but they will change
Unlike some technology enthusiasts, I do not believe that EdTech will render classrooms obsolete. EdTech is a useful aid to traditional institutions but it will not replace them. There are many crucial life skills that one can only learn by working with teachers, seniors, and peers in an institutional setting. In fact, it is only when the institutions embrace EdTech that it will reach its full potential. This is what shall be best for the technology, the institutes and, most of all, the students.
Mayank Srivastava
About the Author: Mayank Srivastava is the Founder of Experts’ Global, one of the world’s leading EdTech firms in the field of GMAT prep and MBA admission consulting.
