Educational Technology: Trends, Extrapolations, and Future Scenarios

This report presents a futures study on educational technology, identifying key trends such as flipped learning, virtual education, media literacy, wearable technology, gamification, and the integration of AI and big data analytics. The study extrapolates these trends to project a future scenario for education, emphasizing customization, student ownership, improved curriculum, innovative learning environments, and enhanced interconnectivity. The report also examines the application of these trends, highlighting how they can meet the needs of students for personalization, ownership, and real-world experiences. The analysis includes data-driven insights and references to support the identified trends and future projections, offering a comprehensive view of the evolving landscape of educational technology and its potential impact on the future of learning. The assignment fulfills the requirements of a futures study, including trend identification, extrapolation, scenario development, and insights into EdTech application.

Running head: TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
Discussion............................................................................................................................3
Recent trends in educational technology.........................................................................3
Flipped learning...........................................................................................................3
Virtual education.........................................................................................................4
Media and digital literacy courses...............................................................................4
Wearable technology...................................................................................................4
Curriculum that is focused on games...........................................................................4
Better connections between the teachers and the parents............................................4
The role of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual reality or augmented reality................5
Role of big data analytics in education........................................................................5
Use of the social media................................................................................................5
Extrapolation of the trends...............................................................................................5
Scenario describing education in 20 years’ time.............................................................6
Customization and Personalization..............................................................................6
Student’s ownership.....................................................................................................6
Improved curriculum...................................................................................................6
Innovative learning environment and spaces...............................................................7
Interconnectivity..........................................................................................................7

2TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Real world application and project based learning......................................................7
Application of the recent trends.......................................................................................7
Meeting the customization and personalization needs of the students........................7
Meeting the needs for students ownership...................................................................7
Engaging curriculum with scope for gamification......................................................8
Innovative learning environment and spaces...............................................................8
Improving interconnectivity........................................................................................8
Providing real world experiences................................................................................8
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................8
References..........................................................................................................................10

3TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
Educational technology refers to use of software, hardware and theoretic of education for
facilitating learning and also for the purpose of improving performance with the help of the use,
creation and appropriate management of all the technological resources and process. Technology
can be used for the purpose of improving learning and teaching and it can also make education
fun for students (Bulman & Fairlie, 2016). Moreover use of technology in education for children
can have a number of benefits such as it can help in cooperative learning through better
interaction between the teachers and the students (Cloete, 2017). Moreover with the help of
technology in education the relationship between the students and their teachers can be
improved, there can be better engagement of the students, more knowledge retention and it also
supports self-learning (De Bruyckere, Kirschner & Hulshof, 2016). The organization selected for
the purpose of this study is school. The main aim of the paper is to identify some of the latest
trends in educational technology and the way the same will be applicable in future. The paper
will discuss about the recent trends in technology in the education field, extrapolation of the
trends, education scenario in 20 years of time and the way the latest technologies can be applied
to the education
Discussion
Recent trends in educational technology
Flipped learning
Flipped learning includes making use of technology in education by carrying out the
learning process at home with the help of various videos and digital content and completing the

4TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
homework at school under the close supervision of the teachers. Therefore this method will turn
the traditional method of learning upside down (Jääskelä, Häkkinen & Rasku-Puttonen, 2017).
Virtual education
It includes carrying out the learning process outside the school building. With the help of
virtual learning, students can carry out their learning according to themselves and therefore take
control of their own education.
Media and digital literacy courses
Since the students are becoming technologically developed and they spend a lot of time
online therefore there needs to be certain curriculum for helping the students with different
technological tools available to them (Kayımbaşıoğlu, Oktekin & Hacı, 2016).
Wearable technology
Wearable technology can not only help in monitoring the students location within the
school but it can also help in facilitating paperless transactions.
Curriculum that is focused on games
Schools are already adopting gamification into the student’s curriculum for engaging
them. Moreover these curriculums can help in developing the problem solving and critical
thinking ability of the students (Lai & Bower, 2019).
Better connections between the teachers and the parents
With the help of ED Tech in classrooms, the communication between the parents and the
teachers improves. Teachers can track the students’ performance and also inform about the same
to the parents.

5TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
The role of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual reality or augmented reality
With the help of artificial intelligence, the students can take the advantage of virtual
teaching assistants and mentors who can help them with the studies (Scherer, Siddiq & Tondeur,
2019). Moreover the virtual reality is a technology that is used by companies for the purpose of
improving the students learning.
Role of big data analytics in education
Big data analytics can help the teachers learn more about the students and also the way
they learn.
Use of the social media
Students of the preset generation make use of social media a lot. It can also be sued by
them for creating learning groups and committees where they can ask question related to their
students and share educational material (Mishra & Henriksen, 2018).
Extrapolation of the trends
With the help of flipped learning concept, students can learn at their pace in their homes
whenever and wherever they want to. Virtual education can help the students remain in
connection with their teachers on a real time basis with the help of video conferencing. Moreover
the student can learn even outside their schools (Selwyn, 2016). Schools can organize different
types of courses for improving the media and digital literacy of the students which can help the
students in harnessing the technological tools. With the help of wearable technologies, teacher
will be able to keep a tack of the students within schools that can also help in ensuring that the
students are safe within the school campus because there can be a number of visits visiting the
campus. With the help of games based curriculum such as simulation games students can learn

6TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
about real life experiences and teachers will be able to engage them in their lessons. The students
performance can improve because of better interaction between the teacher and parents by
incorporating Ed Tech in classrooms. Schools can take advantage of automated grading systems
with the help of AI. And big data analytics can be used by teachers for collecting information
about students. However there can be certain drawbacks of these technologies such as students
may not prefers studying and may skip their classes in case of virtual education and flipping
classes and there can be trust issues among students due to wearable technologies.
Scenario describing education in 20 years’ time
Customization and Personalization
Students in 20 years’ time from now will look for personalization and customization
option in their education and learning process. Therefore future educators need to understand the
fact that students may demand for a flexible learning environment unlike now. Moreover
students will want to complete their courses according to their convenience through a more
personalized approach.
Figure 1: Increasing demand for online classes

7TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Source: (Huh & Roh, 2019)
Therefore from the above graph, it has been understood that the demand for virtual
education has increased and the same is expected to grow in future due to the needs of the
students for customization and personalization.
Student’s ownership
Moreover students will also want a more interactive educations system where they can
voice their choices other than simply listening to their lecturers. Student ownership can help in
improving the learning and thinking process of the students.

8TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Figure 2: Statics showing the increasing need of students to go completely online
Source: (Martín-Gutiérrez et al., 2017)
Therefore from the above statics it has been understood that in order to gain ownership
over their studies, students are showing an increasing demand for going completely online.
Improved curriculum
Schools need to redesign and rethink their present curriculums. Because 20 years from
now students will demand those skills that will help them in facing the technological changes
and changes taking placed in the economy, therefore schools need to provide improved
curriculums different from the traditional curriculum.
Innovative learning environment and spaces
Schools will also have to redesign and rethink about their learning environment of
schools. The learning environment of the students’ needs to include different innovations and
creative thinking.

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Figure 3: Increasing demand for virtual classrooms globally
Source: (González, 2019)
Interconnectivity
20 years from now, students will want the teachers to play a mentoring role unlike the
role played by them in the present situation.
Real world application and project based learning
20 years from now students will demand for a more practical experience or real world
experience that will help them in their careers (Wells, 2019).
Application of the recent trends
Meeting the customization and personalization needs of the students
In order to meet the need of the students for personalization and customization, the
teachers can make use of big data analytics for understanding the learning process of the students
and provide them more flexible environment for study. Moreover the Concept of flipped learning
concept can be used for helping them to learn according to their convenience.
Meeting the needs for students ownership
In order to provide students with ownership and control over their learning and education
process, students can be provided virtual learning classes. This will help them in choosing what
they want to learn, when they want to learn, how they will learn and also understand the projects
they want to participate.

10TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Engaging curriculum with scope for gamification
In order to meet the needs of the students for better curriculum, gamification can be
added to the curriculum to the students which can help them in improving their critical thinking
and problem solving abilities.
Innovative learning environment and spaces
Schools can make use of Artificial intelligence and Virtual reality in order to provide a
more innovative environment to the students where they can learn and grow (Tondeur et al.,
2017). Moreover the students can be provided with virtual mentor and assistant teachers in the
absence of their teachers or during their leisure time.
Improving interconnectivity
In order to improve the communication between the teachers and the students, it is
necessary to make use of social media platforms for being connected with the students outside
their physical school environment also (Raja & Nagasubramani, 2018). Moreover by having
more information about the students with the help of big data analytics, teachers can understand
the needs of the students and develop between relationship with them.
Providing real world experiences
Students can be engaged in simulation games for the purpose of providing them with real
life experiences and helping them in learning faster and better.
Conclusion
Therefore from the above discussion, it can be concluded that technology plays a very
important role in education of children in school because it can help in changing and improving
the entire learning and educational process. Moreover with the change in the technological

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paradigm, the needs of the students are expected to change such as they may prefer customized
learning 20 years from now and therefore it is important for schools and teachers to understand
the same and make use of technology in education for meeting the changed needs. Moreover
from the paper some of the major technological trends in education have been understood such
as- the concept of flipped learning, virtual education, wearable technology and similar others.
From the paper, the scenario of students education and schools have been understood for the
future and the way the identified technologies will help in meeting the expected technological
changes that will be taking place 20 years from now.