Top 3 Trends-School’s out, what Edtech trends are in?
June 2023
With the ISTE Live 23 event quickly approaching on June 25-28, we’re turning our attention to the ever-evolving U.S. Edtech market. Here are the latest trends and noteworthy developments that deserve your attention.
Top 3 trends you’ll see at ISTE Live 23
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Top 3 Trends
1. Chat GPT
ChatGPT continues to improve and be accepted as a tool that can augment and improve education.
As an increasingly accepted and improving tool in education, ChatGPT offers a range of benefits. Teachers are utilizing ChatGPT to generate content and assessments, while students can leverage its capabilities as a limited tutor to address specific doubts. However, caution should be exercised as ChatGPT responses may not always be accurate, depending on the topic and the model’s training.
The highs
- ChatGPT is being used by teachers as an aid for generating content and assessments.
- Students can use ChatGPT as a tutor in a limited scope – addressing specific doubts. However, they need to be aware that ChatGPT responses are not always accurate – the responses could be incorrect depending on the topic and how current ChatGPT’s training is.
The lows
- ChatGPT is being used by teachers as an aid for generating content and assessments.
- Students can use ChatGPT as a tutor in a limited scope – addressing specific doubts. However, they need to be aware that ChatGPT responses are not always accurate – the responses could be incorrect depending on the topic and how current ChatGPT’s training is.
2. High dosage, high impact tutoring
A trend that’s accelerated by the learning loss experienced by students post-pandemic.
High dosage, high impact tutoring has emerged as a powerful response to address the learning loss experienced by students after the pandemic. Schools are leveraging online synchronous tutoring sessions, supported by seamless collaboration tools, to help students catch up and compensate for limited online teaching experience among staff, with the aim of ensuring meaningful engagement and academic progress.
The highs
- Schools are using online synchronous (live) tutoring to help students catch up and compensate for their own staff’s limited online teaching experience. Sessions can take place during or after the school day, including weekends. EduCere is an example of a virtual education program for K-12 that’s currently providing opportunities to schools, students, and educators in the US.
- Seamless collaboration tools with no lag and high interactivity features are key to ensuring high-quality and meaningful engagement between students and teachers.
The lows
- The return on investment is often unclear, forcing school leaders to make decisions based on best guesses.
- Unless the school has a clear and multi-pronged strategy for interfacing with families, getting students to utilize the tutoring services can be difficult.
3. Increased integration of digital tools in the classroom
One-to-one computing saw a giant leap forward across the U.S.
The integration of digital tools in classrooms has experienced significant growth, driven by the widespread implementation of one-to-one computing in the US. Teachers and students are adept at utilizing digital tools, exploring innovative methods like digital whiteboards, messaging for student engagement, virtual simulators, and digital content through learning management systems. Evaluating the effectiveness of these tools and avoiding redundancy is crucial for schools to ensure alignment with their goals.
The highs
- Teachers and students have become very savvy in using digital tools.
- Teachers continue to innovate their teaching methods and are looking at a variety of different ways to become more effective – digital whiteboards, sending digital messages to individual students in class to control student focus and engagement, virtual simulators and digital content through LMS.
- One approach is using a smart board with a digital whiteboard feature, enabling the teacher to display and discuss a concept on the board while allowing students to annotate the content on display for the rest of the class to see. Edtech startup Pagecall’s interactive whiteboard is a good example of a solution that offers all these features.
The lows
- Not all digital tools are created equal – evaluation by teachers, curriculum specialists and IT is necessary to ensure alignment with school goals.
- Supporting a myriad of solutions can be overwhelming, so schools should avoid having multiple tools serve the same purpose.
–– For regional insights from a global perspective, EDT&Partners remains dedicated to providing you with the latest insights. Join us at ISTELive 23 to explore these trends further and stay ahead of the curve.
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