Follow AAE on:

Subscribe to RSS Feed:

A Peek Ahead: The Top 5 EdTech Trends for 2016
posted by: Melissa | February 12, 2016, 08:13 PM   

 

2016 will certainly bring new developments for technology in schools Below, we’ve listed off the top five tech trends to keep an eye out for this year:

 

1) iOS 9.3: Apple’s newest mobile operating system is all about schools and education. They’ve added several new features that are just for teachers, including easing the ability to share iPads between students, a new app that allows teachers to guide students through a lesson, a school manager portal for school I.T. professionals, and the ability for a school to assign an apple ID to student. All of these improvements are designed to help weave iPad use seamlessly into everyday classroom use.

2) Virtual Reality: Virtual Reality (VR) may have just hit the commercial market, but it’s already making its way into classrooms via Google Expeditions and other efforts. It’s not a surprise why. This technology has the ability to expose students to experiences that very few of them would get in real life. Teachers can plan VR field trips to the bottom of the ocean, Mars, or even a time long ago.

3) OERs: OERs, or Open Education Resources, are becoming more mainstream as teachers and schools look for ways around the shortcomings of traditional classroom materials. They may require more vetting than traditional textbooks, but the ability to personalize and differentiate more than makes up for that fact in many educator’s minds.

4) 3D Printing: 3D printing allows students to bring their creativity to life, along with teaching valuable design and computing skills. Due to the success of these programs, 3D printing and the maker movement that accompanies it are making inroads at schools. Many libraries have begun to purchase printers and materials to make their own makerspaces.

5) Student Data Privacy: Student privacy is a real challenge in 2016. With many assessments and learning programs now being done online, along with the encroachment of commercial tech companies into the education sphere, schools, teachers, and parents are all rightly concerned over what is being done with all that metadata and how they can keep their student’s identities from being compromised.

 

What do you see being implemented in your school?

Share below.

 

Comments (0)Add Comment

Submit a comment
 (not published)
smaller | bigger

security code
Write the displayed characters


busy