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The educational sector is indeed one of the fastest developing industries. Over the past decades, the overall idea of education, teaching, and academic standards has been transforming at a rapid pace. Along with technological progress, the approaches to teaching and learning have gotten more modernized, interactive, effective, and much more fun!
However, even now, when it may seem like we’ve seen plenty of changes in this industry, there are still many exciting innovations introduced every year. And, at this point, we can’t even fully imagine what else the future holds.
2020’s Top 8 Innovations in Education
Today, it is neither new nor rare to observe a more diversified and open-minded approach to education. Also, the use of interactive devices and the Internet can’t surprise us anymore. And even the fact that modern students have tons of handy studying tools, software, online essay writers or tutors, virtual assistance, and all this sort of things is not new to us. But, does this mean that there are no more innovations left? No, not at all!
1. ELearning & Video Streaming
We know what you are probably thinking now – neither e-learning nor video streaming is something entirely new. That’s true.
Many online-based universities use these types of learning methods, and these schools have been around for a lot longer than you might think. The first one launched back in 1989. Then, the first accredited and fully web-based university came to fruition in 1996. Since then, the number of online institutes has grown massively. It has opened the doors to so many more people who want to kickstart their careers. In particular, it has transformed the experience for those seeking a second career. Students can take the Elmhurst University Online Accelerated BSN if they want to get into nursing, for example. It doesn’t matter where they find themselves in the world. If they want to fast-track their career with a top university, then it is completely possible these days. Take a look at the Elmhurst University website for more details. More than 2,500 colleges offer online programs of all types, making the most of these technologies to help students learn wherever they are. But, previously, these both technologies didn’t find such a wide application in education. Not everyone knew of the benefits that online learning offered, such as more flexibility and learning at their own pace. Some people believe that a school environment is the best place for students to thrive, and the opportunity to see if this was true on a large scale would have been an impossible thought. However, in 2020, due to an unprecedented global pandemic, online learning became a new big word in traditional education.
Forced to adhere to strict quarantine measures, schools across the world had to leverage the Internet medium in order not to put the entire academic program on hold. Remote learning became the new thing, and in early 2020, there were many speculations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that this would change the education system, and it is true the sector of online learning is on its rise. And this is predicted to change education forever.
The pandemic created a scenario where more than 1.2 billion kids were forced to study from home, just as many adults did when it concerned work. Despite the concerns about how online learning would affect children, studies show that online learning. Studies show that online learning turned out to be more effective in terms of knowledge retention and time-efficiency. Thus, specialists believe that these changes might be here to stay even after the pandemic.
Better online learning opportunities for all
Just like online universities are popping up everywhere, it could be possible to find online schools for children also making an appearance in the future. Seeing the success that some children had when studying online is a good enough reason to back this idea. If a child can succeed in school, love learning, and want to excel with it, then they have the opportunities for a brighter future. A love of learning throughout life will push them to be the best they can be and aid the economy. Better education means the opportunity for a better career, after all.
Plus, if there are opportunities for adults to choose where they study, why not offer the same to children? Adults that complete an online degree find themselves with more than just a certificate. During their time studying, they will have learned how to be more responsible and self-disciplined. Teaching children this at a much younger age will ensure that by the time they reach the university-age level, they are already one step ahead of the generation before them.
Of course, not all the benefits adults get from attending an online school will be the same for children. Lower costs and debt, career advancement, and more choices regarding courses won’t be applicable for them. However, studying in a more flexible environment will be.
The future of online learning
Being in an environment that suits a person is vital to getting the best out of them. For some, this could be online-based; for others, it could be back in the classroom. It might even be that a combination of online learning and face-to-face learning works. The hybrid method works for adults and could work for younger children, after all. But with students thriving in this online environment and the qualifications holding the same stance as in-person certificates, degrees, and results, if there is a bigger push in the direction of online learning, more students could find themselves succeeding rather than giving up.
2. Cloud Technology
Another big term in the industry is cloud technology. Thanks to it, different learning resources and materials are becoming available for everyone in any part of the globe. Once again, this is not a completely new concept. But, in light of the recent worldwide events, this technology is vital and trending as never.
What does this mean for schools? Well, it means schools can find the best teachers they can without worrying about how it will be possible to work with them, even if they live on the other side of the world. Take the following example. When students are learning a second language, like Spanish, you could provide them with a Spanish-based teacher. Offering them the opportunity to enhance their knowledge by listening and learning from someone who speaks completely fluently in this language could provide them with a truly unique learning experience that benefits them for years to come.
3. AR & VR
This year, AR and VR are also leaving a large footprint on the industry. These innovative technologies are probably the most exciting trends we’ve seen in the education field in a while.
Bringing the concepts of augmented and virtual reality into the classrooms has many benefits. First of all, it is fun and exciting. It has been proven that students of different ages get more involved in a class when such technologies are used. AR and VR offer an exciting, immersing experience for learners.
One of the most recent and exciting examples of the use of these technologies for learning is a remote VR math lesson held by one teacher using a trending game – Half-Life: Alyx. Such an unusual, gamified learning experience surely brings benefits.
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4. Artificial Intelligence
There’s been a lot of discussions concerning this technology. It is clear as day that AI is the future of education. Thus, this point can’t be avoided when speaking of innovations.
Currently, AI finds applications at schools mostly for boosting personalization and automating different processes. These processes include admin tasks. If teachers don’t have to spend as much time completing the admin side of teaching, such as grading homework and tests, then they can put in more time to helping each individual succeed with learning. Letting the AI technology automate these admin processes increases the one-on-one time a teacher can feel confident they can give each student, but it also helps on a much wider scale than just the classroom. It can also help with the admission process. However, we believe that it can have many other roles in this field once it is fully implemented. It is currently unknown how long it will take for schools to take full advantage of AI technology in and out of the classroom. But what is known is that it could truly benefit those in the education system, including the teachers, other faculty, and, of course, the students.
5. Robotics
Another extremely thrilling innovation is the introduction of robotics in the curriculum. Such an approach turns out to be extremely beneficial for students in the STEM division.
Specialists claim that robotics have the potential to increase the engagement and motivation of students. At the same time, it boosts information retention. Finally, having an opportunity to design robots increases students’ creativity and critical thinking.
6. Biometrics
The use of biometric technologies in educational facilities is just gaining momentum. This innovation has the potential to improve discipline and streamline education. Basically, biometric systems that can be leveraged by schools can consist of the following features:
- Facial recognition;
- Voice recognition;
- Fingerprints;
- Eye-tracking.
All these tools will come in handy in many situations. Firstly, it is a new, modern way to track attendance.
For any student, attending school every day that is possible for them is a must. Therefore, schools need to seek ways to easily keep a record of how often students have been attending. Without biometrics, this task is incredibly difficult to manage efficiently. With it, students simply need to scan their fingerprints on the sensor in each classroom they enter.
This is a solution that schools for older children should be implementing rather than under the age of 10.
Also, these tools can be used to maintain discipline and prevent cheating. And there are many other potential uses!
7. 3D Printing
3D printers caused a big bang in many different industries. Now, this technology is taking schools by storm. Although it is not yet widely adopted, 3D printing expands the horizons for teaching and studying. With its help, teachers can convey materials through real 3D models. This is not only interesting and engaging for students. In fact, physical 3D models can make it much easier to explain and understand complex topics and concepts. So it is another exciting innovation.
As students learn in different ways, if schools can take advantage of the 3D printing technologies available, they can tailor lessons to as many students as possible. For instance, if you are a science teacher and you are explaining how the brain works, you can start the lesson off with an overview in presentation form, appealing to auditory learners. Then, using your 3D model of a brain, you can provide a more visual and kinesthetic learning method to those that learn better from looking and touching. To end the lesson, you could set a reading/writing task to ensure those who learn best by writing and reading back notes can come away from the lesson with new knowledge.
The first and latter teaching and learning methods are possible to do with minimal tech, but it would be a lot harder to appeal to visual and kinesthetic learners without technology like 3D printing. As 3D printing continues to improve, it will only further benefit learners who retain information by handling models. It also makes a lesson more interesting for everyone.
8. Social Media
Last but not least, it’s needless to say how much young people love social media. On average, people in the US spend about 2 hours on social media every day. Respectively, such information channels have a significant impact on us, and especially on young minds. Thus, it seems quite logical to start using this to the benefit of education.
In 2020, the impact and possible benefits of social media are finally recognized. Teachers and school authorities are taking steps to adopt such channels and make them a part of the curriculum. For those that have aspirational dreams of working in marketing, this enables them to get a head start on finding their dream job.
