Many
K-12 pupils are now accustomed to using their own computing device in school
every day and more are learning from course materials created or customized by
their teachers rather than standard textbooks.
Those
are two of the edtech trends identified in EdSurge’s annual Edtech Outlook report on emerging innovations.
About
60% of K-12 kids now go to schools with a 1:1 ratio of pupils to devices, most
often some sort of tablet or netbook. That has changed the mix of learning
materials available to teachers, who no longer have to rely on traditional
textbooks. In many cases, teachers are heading to online educational
marketplaces to download free or low-cost materials to fit their particular
lesson plans, instead of molding lessons around the textbook.
“[Publishers’]
slow transition to digital has cost them significant market share as
lower-cost, more nimble startups have undercut their performance,” said the
report. Teachers are also turning to artificial-intelligence apps to complement
classroom lessons and help provide better assessment of students’ skills.
However, Edtech Outlook noted another trend that’s preventing schools from capitalizing fully on digital technologies at this time: limited bandwidth. Only an estimated 15% of K-12 schools have sufficient bandwidth to allow classes to stream content on their devices.
However, Edtech Outlook noted another trend that’s preventing schools from capitalizing fully on digital technologies at this time: limited bandwidth. Only an estimated 15% of K-12 schools have sufficient bandwidth to allow classes to stream content on their devices.
