Five Tech Trends that could Supercharge Education in 2016

Tomorrow’s technologies already are making headway into education. Other are poised for mass distribution this year. The future is here as the technologies of tomorrow are being tested I chosen classrooms at present, laying the seeds for how students could learn in the future. Technology analysts have been busy predicting the top technology trends that could supercharge education this year. Some of these technologies have made headway into education with a promise of ground-shaking change.

Check out five of the technology trends that could affect classrooms in K-12 and Higher education:

IoT or the Internet of Things

The amount of connected techs people use every day continues to multiply. Furthermore, they could continue to grow, unlocking new connectivity uses, altering how people’s lives are networked with technology. For a glimpse of how the future would be, look no further than how organizations are gearing up to invest in the Internet of Things. It is projected by International Data Corporation that spending of IoT would leap from the $655.8 billion in 2014 to $1.7 trillion by the year 2020, the same year that Gartner Inc. predicts that 26 billion devices would be connected to the internet.

Nowadays, the Internet of Things apps for education still are being explored, with some classrooms dabbling in gesture-based controls that feed data to internet-connected devices. Nonetheless, the potential for the tech looms across a wide range of apps. In a post-mobile world, the focus changes to the mobile user surrounded by tons of devices that extend well beyond the traditional mobiles.

Virtual Reality or VR adds new dimension to learning

Virtual Reality or VR is shaping up to become one of the biggest tech turf wars this year. Several companies globally have staked millions of dollars in developing their tech brand, such as Samsung, Google, Sony and Facebook-backed Oculus. This year most of these VR craze iterations are set to go to market. During the ISTE in 2015, representatives from Samsung’s Gear VR and Google Cardboard were on hand to demonstrate how VR could change the way that students learn. Virtual reality enables stunts to test the waters of various careers, educational experiences that can change the trajectory of their students as well as their lives.

The immersive power of this tech also has caught the eye of the managing director of strategy for global education at Dell, Jon Phillips. He told EdTech that experiential learning could teach complicated problems in a different manner compared to the traditional methods at present. Already, Google is on the case with its Expeditions Pioneer program bringing smart-phone powered Google Cardboard devices to classrooms all over the country as a way of introducing students to Virtual Reality Tech. Expedition is about a social Virtual Reality experience rather than one wherein each user is confined to his own virtual world.

3D Printing on track for growth

3d printers already have broken through in the education field, aiding learners bring ideas to life or be hands on in concepts, which only lived in textbooks in the past. But this year proves to be a transformative one for the technology as devices have become more affordable and the hindrance to entry continues to drop. 3D printing power in education is not merely a replica of ideas but also building new ones.

Definitely, the support is there. A community of programmers, tinkerers and students are fostering makerspaces, local laboratories armed with 3D printers across the country. Spaces such as these are inspiring students to develop new skills in engineering that can be the bedrock for an industry that is still being pioneered.

Technology gets smarter and more interactive

As engine4rs refine machine-learning methodologies the tasks that devices could perform are getting more sophisticated. Truly, the gadgets are on the cusp of being true thinking machines. At the same time this sophistication enables smaller devices to perform extraordinary things. In the coming years, several innovations are on the horizon that can alter technology’ tradition role in education. Watson, IBM’s cognitive-computing platform recently has been used in revolutionizing how higher education research is done. The results of the research methods could be seen already. In the year 2014, the company released the Watson Discovery Advisor that tailor’s the unique abilities of Watson to help researchers who are struggling to parse huge amounts of data.

Other analysts see robotics serving more hands-on role in the learning space. Robotic toys could change the way special-education students learn in the classroom setting. The future would see a rise in robotic toys that will serve as playmates and counselors to children who have learning disabilities such as Autism. Studies showed that Al Toys are very effective in getting withdrawn kids to engage in playful personal interactions. Soon, special education departments would have whole classrooms of intelligent toys to play with.

Wearables court mainstream status

The present star of the IoT concept, wearable technology, still has plenty to prove to educators. It is predicted that it would be widespread in classrooms in four years, but already there are examples of the technology making waves in the education environment. Wearable tech indeed has been pushing the boundaries of what students could create, even spurring wearable-themed school contests and events.

Not only do wearables assist students, they also provide a lot of benefits to educators as well. From pinging the GPS locations of students during field trips to recording point-of-view lessons, teachers have more choices in monitoring and engaging with students.

Ritesh Mehta is the Sales Director at TatvaSoft Australia, a Software & mobile app development company. For Over 15 years, he has been professionally active in financial management, software development.