The New Media Consortium advised that wearable
technology was becoming “increasingly relevant” in education when its 2015
Horizon Report, released in February. The International Data Corp. (IDC)
followed by reporting that shipments of wearable devices have grown for eight consecutive quarters.
IDC reported a growth in shipments for the first quarter
of 2015 of 11.4 million units, a 200% increase over the same quarter in 2014. That
doesn’t include the Apple Watch, which has sold around 2.8 million units since its release in April.
“What remains to be seen is how Apple’s arrival will
change the landscape,” Ramon Llamas, IDC research manager, told Campus
Technology. “The Apple Watch will likely become the device that other wearables
will be measured against, fairly or not. This will force the competition to up
their game in order to stay on the leading edge of the market.”
Authors of the Horizon report expect that
experimentation with wearable devices will be high in education circles,
especially with college-aged students. The study found that 71% of students in
the survey wanted to use wearables. In addition, two Nebraska universities are
working on curricula that would help students in grades 4-6 use wearable technology to
learn more about engineering.
The quarterly report said Fitbit topped the market with
3.9 million devices shipped in the first quarter, grabbing 34% of the total
market. The Chinese firm Xiaomi was second with 2.8 million units shipped,
mostly in China, followed by Garmin (700,000 devices shipped), Samsung (600,000
units), and Jawbone (500,000 units).
