The Future of Classroom and Remote Education: 7 Trends You Need to Know
As the world becomes more technologically driven, remote education is becoming more accessible. For teachers looking to become involved in a modern, tech-driven classroom, AI-powered teaching is one of the trends to keep an eye on as the future of distance education unfolds.
Outline:
- Extended, not virtual, reality is the future of edtech
- Classrooms will always exist — and they'll be more connected than ever
- The future of education is online and on-demand
- It's not about replacing teachers — it's about helping them do their jobs better
- Personalized Learning with AI
- Gamify your lessons
- Use AI for planning
- Summary
The classroom is in the process of transformation. Technology has advanced to the point where it is now possible to deliver high-quality education remotely in real-time. According to The State of Technology in Education 2021 Report, 86% of educators say tech should be a core part of learning. At this point, there are so many different types of remote and online tools available that it can be difficult to keep track of them all. As such, we wanted to take some time today to look at 7 trends that will shape the future of educational technology. We are also working on a list of educators’ tools sorted by category and lesson types. Our mission is to guide teachers in these times and give them more freedom to teach.
Extended, not virtual, reality is the future of edtech
A lot has been written about virtual reality (VR), but there has been less focus on extended (or augmented) reality (XR). Yet XR is a far more promising technology when it comes to application in education. Why? Because it can deliver information directly to students where they need it most — in their own environments. The result is that XR makes it possible for educators to teach students remotely and at scale without sacrificing quality.
While most teachers are unable to take their students to the scientific camp at the North Pole or the Frida Kahlo museum in Mexico City, Google Expeditions can help them provide their students with unforgettable experiences.
Technology in both the classroom and at-home learning environments are evolving at a rapid pace. As more and more tools become available for educators, learning professionals will have to choose the best tools for their needs. XR offers the advantage of making the most of what technology delivers today, without allowing it to be overwhelmed by what's on the horizon tomorrow.
And because XR can be used as an educational tool in both a classroom and at-home environment, it gives students the ability to learn from their own homes as well as from an organized classroom setting. By presenting different types of information directly to students where they need it most, XR is quickly becoming one of the most valuable tools in the world of education.
Classrooms will always exist — and they'll be more connected than ever
A lot has been said about how technology is bringing about changes in how students learn and how teachers teach. While that's true, it's important to remember one thing: that there's value in face-to-face interaction in a class setting. For a lot of reasons, including increased access to new resources and opportunities for collaboration, traditional classrooms aren't going anywhere. In fact, classrooms are likely to become even more connected in years to come.
The way people learn has changed over time, but there is more than one method that continues to deliver results. There are certain advantages that come with an in-person class setting — namely a greater degree of engagement and collaboration between students — but many of those advantages can also be found online depending on what methods teachers take with their curriculum. Take a look at some of the tools that increase student engagement: Flipgrid, Padlet, Peardeck, and 27 more.
The future of education is online and on-demand
The future of remote learning isn't necessarily online learning — though that will be part of its appeal. Likewise, it's not about trying to recreate all elements of an in-person class setting online (though some schools have tried). Instead, it's about taking advantage of what technology delivers today and adapting it for use in educational environments so instructors and students can get better results than ever before.
The larger point here is that modern tools like Google Classroom enable educators and students alike to fine-tune their educational experiences so they're as convenient as possible without sacrificing quality or efficiency. The beauty of this approach is that all parties involved are able to customize their own learning experiences based on their individual needs and goals so they can achieve success without being held back by imperfect methods or technologies. This is truly the future of education.
It's not about replacing teachers — it's about helping them do their jobs better
In terms of what this means for teaching professionals looking ahead over the next several years, one issue in educators' minds will be how AI will reshape the landscape when it comes to helping them do their jobs better.
To understand how AI can help educators, we need to look at Natural Language Generation. Big tech companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook) invest billions of dollars into new AI algorithms. There is much time, money, and effort invested in training massive language models to produce text like humans. In the months following the release of GPT-3, enthusiasts created an array of tools. The majority of these tools are used for marketing. Despite its potential, this technology has not yet reached its peak in education.
According to the “Personalized Education in the AI Era” report: “The role of AI should be to a) take away repetitive tasks that can be automated and b) assist educators by providing feedback extracted from data during the process of material generation in a human-in-the-loop manner.”
Personalized learning with AI
Personalization is the key to creating successful learning outcomes. AI allows for more personalized learning to take place between student and teacher as well as between different students.
Learning through traditional methods is usually based on a teacher's curriculum. This approach is not effective since it does not always closely match a student's specific needs when it comes to learning. This also leads to overcrowded classrooms with every child being taught in an unnatural way. One way to do this is to implement chatbots. They are able to reply to a student in a second. Data needs to be centrally gathered so AI can train and provide meaningful answers. There are even hardware robots for kids that provide one-to-one tutoring like Roybi.
AI tools allow students to focus on what they have problems with and where they are lacking real-world skills. This type of education will be able to even out people's talents and knowledge gaps by providing personalized solutions that each student needs in order for them to excel in life and reach their potential.
Gamify your lessons
Instead of being taught by the same boring methods every day, students can play games and learn at the same time. Old-fashioned games are often adapted by teachers for classroom use.
Since bingo, dice, Connect Four, Scrabble, and other games have been around for decades, they are easily adapted for the classroom. Students are attracted to platforms like Kahoot, Quizlet, and Blooket because they offer games. AI may work as an automated game developer, which creates an immersive environment for students to develop their skills within.
Game lessons can be used to develop language and logical thinking in children since it is the way children learn best. Playing a game requires the player to solve a series of tasks which makes it an ideal educational tool.
Players can be assigned specific missions and subtasks to learn from along with a goal to achieve and will have to complete it independently while still being under the watchful eye of administrators.
Use AI for planning
Keep in mind that while services such as Google Classroom are beneficial for organizing the classroom, student engagement, or games, when it comes to lesson creation (and ideation) there are services such as Magic Educator that can help.
While teachers are in charge of students’ development and classroom administration in an educational setting, they still need to spend a lot of time on lesson planning. This process is difficult enough without the added burden of sifting through hundreds of Internet sites for class material. Fortunately, AI is here to solve this problem.
Are you a classroom teacher looking for materials to help your students succeed? Have you ever wanted to try something new or different in your classroom, but simply didn't have the time? If yes, then Magic Educator is for you.
The smartest lesson plan maker in the history of education! For the first time, teachers can get all of their planning done in minutes while maximizing every second of teaching time. Our tool uses AI to intelligently search the best educational content and generate assignments for every subject and grade level, customized to your school's curriculum.
By using AI to create materials, it makes it easier than ever for educators alike to get the results they need with the same convenience as using any other cloud service.
Summary
As the future approaches, it is important to look at the latest trends when it comes to educational technology. Students can now remotely access all types of distance learning, which makes it possible for more people to get involved. By adding AI to the mix, we are moving towards a more personalized approach. This, in turn, helps students learn and develop their skills as they play games. All these latest trends will pave the way for a more effective and engaging way to learn.
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