For my last EDIT 763 mission and week of graduate school, I investigated trends and developments in educational technology within the past five years. Read the highlights of my investigation below or my full report here.
When I first read each report, I considered whether I had heard of the technology or development and whether the report was accurate for short, mid, and long term predictions. I also consider the difference between developments in Higher Education and PK-12 learning environments.
The 2016 report was mostly accurate. I did not find the long-term predictions, which technically should be mainstream in 2021, to be as accurate: redesigned learning spaces, rethinking how schools work, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and wearable tech. These still seem to be pipe dreams to me, or maybe I am not as aware of their persistence in education. These trends have not reached my schools.
The 2017 report was more accurate with the exception of redesigning learning spaces and the Internet of Things development. Just because I have not seen those trends within my content area or schools, however, does not mean that they are not a trend in other locations. I really appreciated the focus on adaptive, mobile, collaborative, blended, and data-driven learning.
The 2021 report seemed accurate within all the domains mentioned. I appreciate that the report indicates that many of the key technologies and practices were impacted by the pandemic; items like quality online learning and open educational resources were thrust into implementation overdrive due to the shift to emergency remote learning. I still do not see a shift towards AI, and perhaps the percentage of reports on this (7%) reflects the fact that the tech is just getting started in teaching and learning (EDUCAUSE, 2021).
I was highly involved in participating or learning about some trends due to being a teacher thrust into emergency remote learning and a teacher-designer-learner in the DDLS/BOLS concentrations at GMU. Of particular note:
Quality online learning: Hmm...this sounds familiar. We spent a whole 5 week course, EDIT 762, learning about indicators of quality in blended and online learning. This makes me wonder if my faculty mentor’s research contributed towards this trend in the 2021 EDUCAUSE report.
Measuring learning (EDUCAUSE, 2017), learning analytics (EDUCAUSE, 2021), and data-driven insights (The Ed Tech Advocate, 2020): “Data-driven” anything is a huge focus within personalized learning, which I have learned about through EDIT 760 and participated in through school-based PL cohorts.
Hybrid/blended learning: My learning and practice of hybrid and blended learning was enhanced by circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was a distance learning teacher from March 2020 to February 2021 and became a hybrid learning teacher as students shifted back to schools after February 2021. As I learned about all of these concepts in the BOLS certificate program, I was able to notice and apply my learnings in the authentic context of my professional practice.
The redesign of online learning domains within next-generation learning management systems (LMSs) will be one of the hottest trends for 2022 in K12 online and blended learning. The virtual learning spaces and capabilities that have become more prominent due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been tested and now their use needs to be refined. We know that we can use a LMS, such as Schoology, to house content and learning activities. As we continue to develop key practices within these key technologies, we should consider: How can we offer quality blended and online learning opportunities for all learners? How can we personalize representation, engagement, and expression? How can we utilize formative assessment opportunities within the LMS to drive customization and presentation of content to students based on mastery or demonstration of progress? PK-12 educators will elevate their practice beyond using the LMS to house learning resources and activities. Online and in-person interactions will drive development of course structure and learning opportunities to maximize student agency, self-regulation, mastery, and reflection.
Team Bittersweet collaboratively created this cumulative representation of knowledge about tools for blended and online learning. The documents features information about benefits and limitations, applications to classroom practice, and additional resources for various digital tools to support blended and online learning. I can take this reference with me to any department meeting, new teacher mentorship, or administrative support session to support my assertions about choosing and using a particular tool. Check it out below!