Over the past few years, the speed of digitalization in the educational sector has grown exponentially. The COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the growth and use of EdTech, which had its first significant boom in 2015. Due to the pandemic, the global education systems entirely relied on technological advancements to keep the world advancing. The global EdTech sector, valued at 106.46 billion in 2021, is expected to increase at a CAGR of over 16% from 2020 to 2030.
Technology in education has taken off with increased internet usage and the increasing use of smart gadgets for learning. Classrooms are growing smarter as Learning Management Systems (LMS) gain increasing acceptance in the educational sector. Below are several technological developments that will impact higher education in the future, ranging from interactive learning to AI-driven instructors.
Using Technology for Students’ Mental Health Awareness
The rate of indications of sadness, anxiety, disordered eating, and other psychological issues among students has increased recently. The need for counseling services has also been steadily rising at the same time. Several individuals have described these patterns as a crisis in mental health. This is why Dell Medical Center is teaming up with Austin Community College District to start a pilot program for increasing mental health awareness. The program focuses on offering mental health services to over 200 students.
Protecting student mental health requires taking appropriate action before the situation escalates. Innovative treatment options and lowering obstacles to mental health services are priorities. It is possible to achieve this through tech-enabled mental health programs, particularly those provided online and smart applications.
Teletherapy for Mental Health
Teletherapy is one such technological development in education that’s become the norm for those needing mental health treatments. This trend of getting online therapy is highly effective for students who cannot commute to a therapy office. It is also effective for those having symptoms or sentiments that are difficult to communicate with a counselor in a face-to-face session.
While teletherapy is beneficial, there must be a much more proactive approach. Having essential data that can help analyze students’ mental health conditions can help in such a situation. Colleges and universities must adopt a Learner Information Management System (LIMS) to help centralize all such data.
They can leverage Cocolevio’s LIMS system to gather and analyze valuable data. The LIMS system can store various information, such as the student’s compliance, academic performance, MSPE letter, etc. It also has a built-in AI tool to analyze all this data from a centralized dashboard to get insights into each student’s mental state. Using this data, professors, and staff can help offer mental health services to students.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence in research and development has made it particularly useful in the higher education sector. It comprises Artificial Intelligence employed in various administrative tools & assessment and evaluation procedures. It includes student data management, library facilities, assistance for people with disabilities, etc.
AI-based technology in education is also increasingly used to give teachers simple and trustworthy solutions to make learning more enjoyable, adaptive, and personalized. Thus, Artificial Intelligence is one of the key developments in the educational sector. It is a trend that will persist and gain more traction in the upcoming years.
AI has several benefits. Hence, every business needs to have an AI strategy. However, creating an AI strategy and implementing it is more complex. Most new AI-based projects fail due to a lack of expertise. Hence, it is best to seek help from an AI consulting firm. Such AI software companies can help you better understand use cases where AI can be a potential solution. They can also help you develop the right tools for successful AI implementation.
The Potential of the Internet of Things (IoT)
The education industry is gradually adopting the Internet of Things (IoT). The market of IoT use in the education sector was valued at $6.05 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach a whopping $20.86 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 20.06%. It is a new technological framework that links numerous environmental elements via software programming and electronics. It is designed to exchange and gather information without human involvement.
The education sector uses IoT for facial recognition software, vehicular tracking for students, distress alarms, etc. By using smart gadgets that connect to campus WiFi networks to receive and provide instructions, institutions now choose a satisfactory quality of individualized learning for their students.
Institutional administration has become more streamlined, technologically based, and reliable thanks to such technology trends in education.
Cost-effectiveness in the Internet of Things has also become a reality. IoT helps monitor students’ whereabouts in real-time, trace school buses, keep a keen eye on power usage, manage attendance electronically, etc. An average school invests roughly $200,000 on print and paper each year, almost 10% of its budget. Institutions can now eliminate this expense through IoT as everything is easily accessible online.
Technologies for Immersive Learning and Virtual Reality Laboratories
Virtual reality (VR) offers the most realistic and exciting learning environment. Advanced science experiments can be carried out by students in the virtual reality science labs, all through their Personal computers. With the help of the VR labs, students can interact directly with objects and learn the science underlying them. It is more effective than merely reading about such objects in their textbooks.
Through VR technology in education, students can participate in previously too expensive, risky, or complex experiments to be conducted in a standard laboratory setting. Putting on a Virtual Reality headset is all it takes to take students to a new realm of education.
They can also learn about anything they want if they wish to learn about the workings of the human mind, the pyramids of Egypt, or a straightforward chemistry experiment. Many such VR-based education solutions are already available for colleges and universities.
The benefits of VR in education raise the bar even further by providing a unique educational experience to students while also making learning engaging and fun. It will improve the standard of higher education across a wide range of subject areas. It includes designing, software, technology, innovation, chemistry, physics, and applied sciences.
Wellness Tracking
All colleges and universities face the need to promote wellness in a meaningful way that is easily accessible to their students. And they use learner information management software to manage students’ wellness tracking and data.
Features of such software allow learners to:
- Contribute information about their sleep and exercise, weight, etc.
- Integrate their fitness and wellness information in one place.
- Self-report their current state of mind and attitude via the LIMS application, which pings them for status updates on progress. Mindset survey results will be imported as an assessment.
Wellness tracking software for schools provides a way for you to track the health of your students – but more than that, it can give you valuable insights into how the educational environment affects their overall well-being. A health and wellness tracking system can help you identify areas where your students are struggling in a way that isn’t just through numbers and charts but through direct feedback.
Conclusion
Advancements in technology in education can significantly benefit the higher education sector. The technological trends will help the institutions develop their brand value and awareness.
It will also guarantee that students have a better educational experience. Therefore, the still uncertain year 2022 can see a growth in the number of educational institutions employing the aforementioned technological trends.
If you are looking to implement a technology solution for your educational institution, it is advised to seek help from a technology consulting company before moving forward. Complex technologies require years of experience to ensure your solution is successful. You can consult with Cocolevio’s expert and build a custom solution.
