Member Article

New report examines the future of education technology

Polycom has released a report that examines trends in education technology as witnessed by 1,800 education professionals. In the ‘Education in 2025 – Technology Innovation’ study, respondents see the education sector moving toward an environment that is easily accessible, through technology and appropriate resources, to facilitate a more personalised learning experience.

“It’s very clear that education professionals are demanding a new approach – however, academic institutions are falling short when it comes to maximising the potential of the technology available today, and this is the gap that we urgently need to close,” said Elliot Gowans, VP EMEA at D2L Corporation. “Pedagogy is evolving and continues to be influenced by advances in technology, so the vision for 2025 is spot on – however, we should be closer to this goal than we are at the moment. Today’s learners live in an ‘always on’ digital age, where everything is immediate and personalised – from live streaming music to watching Netflix on demand. Education should be no different, and academic institutions must start looking at ways to deliver compelling, personalised learning experiences that truly engage students on their time, in formats that they choose. It is important that these steps are taken now to ensure that students can take advantage of this in years to come.”

Interestingly, 53 percent of respondents said real-time video collaboration and mobile devices will be the primary ways students engage with content by 2025, and 30 percent believe making education accessible to anyone who wants to learn is most important for the future of education.

The majority of respondents (34 percent) believe the primary focus should be on improving the quality of teacher-learning, followed by personalising the student-learning experience (17%) and taking advantage of new technology (13%).

“Technology nowadays can complement traditional learning and enable students to learn at their own pace, on any device, whenever they want,” continued Gowans. “It allows the model of education to be tailored towards each learner’s needs, and teachers too can benefit from the automation of repetitive or administrative tasks. It’s imperative we ensure pupils and students all have access to the technologies that can dramatically transform their overall learning experience.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Desire2Learn (D2L) .