2023 was always going to be an exciting one in the Edtech space!
With the emergence of AI tools applicable in this industry, the landscape was already getting set for the surge that was sure to happen. For instance, ChatGPT, an AI-powered application, was already experiencing increasing usage by students and educators worldwide by the beginning of 2023. According to Forbes, 48% of student respondents to a survey admitted to having used ChatGPT to do their assignments. Five percent of Educators on the same survey admitted to having used ChatGPT to teach a class.
Besides the increasing usage of AI, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) were also experiencing growth in the educational space. To improve students’ learning experience, educators have started investing in VRs & ARs to help their students better understand the concepts being taught. Business Insider reports that the global VR market, valued at $3.42 billion in 2022, is expected to hit $4.40 billion in 2023 and as high as $28.70 billion in 2023.
Major Edtech conferences in 2023 were also going to play a role in influencing the trends in the edtech space. The points of emphasis, reports, and recommendations emerging from these conferences influence things.
Workee experts have compiled major trends to look out for in the Edtech space in 2023. And as a bonus, we have also included edtech conferences you must not miss!
Let’s get going!
What is EDTECH?
The word Edtech was coined from two words: education and technology. It was coined to mean using technological tools in the educational space to improve student’s learning experience and make the work of educators easier. The goal is to leverage technological advancements to make education more engaging, efficient, and accessible to students and educators worldwide.
Edtech trends to look out for in 2023
Here are edtech trends that reshaped and redefined the learning industry in 2023
1. Increasing usage of VR & AR in Education
The advancements in VR and AR have led to their increased adoption in the education technology industry. Without question, they improve the learning experience, depth of understanding, and the general performance of students exposed to these facilities. Before we go any further, what are VRs and ARs?
VR, also known as virtual reality, involves wearing a headset that typically includes a screen and motion sensors. These sensors track your head movements and, in some cases, hand movements. As you move your head and interact with objects in the virtual world, the VR system updates the display to make it appear as if you’re inside a 3D computer-generated environment.
On the other hand, AR, which refers to Augmented reality, is a technology that overlays digital information, such as images, videos, or 3D objects, onto the real world through a device like a smartphone or smart glasses. AR enhances your perception of the physical environment by adding computer-generated elements. This allows users to interact with both the physical and digital worlds simultaneously.
AR and VR have been integrated into several educational projects that have become game-changers. This probably explains the increasing success that startups in this niche are receiving. For instance, Osso VR, Strivr, zSpace, Neo Bear, etc., all offer AR/VR services and have enjoyed massive growth in the recent past because of the increasing value AR and VR are bringing to educational technology.
We expect the AR and VR trends to gain more traction in the edtech space in 2023 and see new companies emerge with unique solutions to enhance student learning further.
2. Increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
When ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, few would have guessed the amount of traffic they would get within a few days. It was so massive that the server was overwhelmed several times and could not keep up with all the users who logged in. To put things in perspective, it took ChatGPT just five days to hit a million users. Before then, the fastest app to hit a million users was Instagram, and it took 75 days! ChatGPT has over a billion monthly users from different age distributions and parts of the world.
While we understand that there are several AI tools besides ChatGPT, we used its numbers to demonstrate the increasing acceptance AI tools are currently enjoying. What’s more, the edtech space seems to be one of the places these AI tools are enjoying lots of usage. Several statistics have confirmed that an increasing number of students and teachers utilize AI for academic purposes.
In 2023, we expect many more people in the edtech space to embrace AI for academic purposes. We also have new innovative AI tools that will be more effective for different aspects of education to emerge. These are edtech trends in 2023 to look out for.
Read the full article on our blog- https://workee.net/blog/edtech-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2023
