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This blog is dedicated to the topics of Course materials, Innovation, and Technology in Education. it is intended as an information source for the college store industry, or anyone interested in how course materials are changing. Suggestions for discussion topics or news stories are welcome.

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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Ed Tech Will Continue to Grow in 2015

Educational technology has become very big business, according to a market study from Futuresource Consulting. The firm reported that classroom tech spending reached $13 billion in the United States last year, up 11% since 2012, and predicted it will continue growing over the next three years.

“Despite a lull in some technology markets, education technology continues to perform, even with pressure being applied to education budgets across the world,” said Colin Messenger, senior market analyst for Futuresource. “Our annual strategic report also shows that there’s growth aplenty to come, with the total value expected to reach $19 billion by 2018.”

All that spending is an opportunity for ed-tech developers. Optimized distribution tools and video streaming for flipped classrooms, device-agnostic services, more mobile learning applications, and better personalized blended-learning experiences are just a few, according to Harman Singh, CEO of the education platform WizIQ, in a column for InformationWeek.

“Different approaches to learning, such as project-based learning, maker education, game-based learning, and more will continue to be explored as part of personalized blended-learning models,” Singh wrote. “Accordingly, such innovations will push ed-tech vendors to deliver more than technology or content, but will require them to demonstrate how their product or service improves learning outcomes.”