Key points:

• Adopting collaborative edtech tools creates a dynamic classroom environment
• Students often are more engaged when teachers take on a guiding role rather than a purely instructive one

What’s been lacking in education up to now? From secondary schools to master’s degrees, educators often adopt a unidirectional approach, where information flows solely from teacher to student. However, it is imperative for students to actively become part of the teaching process, and teachers must cultivate an environment conducive to peer-to-peer learning.

Edtech tools for teachers made mainstream during the pandemic have undeniably enhanced student collaboration and facilitated the creation of more modern learning classrooms. The projected growth of the edtech industry to $605.8 billion by 2027 is a testament to that.

But I’m not referring to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, quizzes, or virtual breakout rooms. The discussion extends far beyond these well-known online learning tools. There are some emerging peer-learning and social-learning edtech tools that can further transform every facet of the classroom experience, particularly heightening engagement. Let’s see how.

What is student engagement?

Student engagement refers to learners’ level of involvement, motivation, and commitment. And high levels of active participation directly correlate with positive academic outcomes.

During the spring of 2020, the global education community faced tremendous disruption as it transitioned to emergency remote teaching in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfamiliar with the challenges of integrating edtech into instruction within a remote environment, elementary science teachers struggled to apply best practices—such as three-dimensional instruction, collaborative learning, and hands-on experimentation—into instruction.

While teachers in my region have traditionally met technology integration with trepidation, during the pandemic they embraced edtech and learned to rely on it as a mechanism to engage students in the learning process. Today, edtech is as much a part of the fabric of instruction as pencils and paper.

During emergency teaching, the innovative educators I work with sought to implement any edtech tool that purported to help keep students engaged in learning. But, as the pandemic recedes into the rearview mirror, educators have become choosier about the edtech they use. 

More edtech is not the answer.  In fact, adding a technological feature to a lesson simply for the sake of using technology can be counterproductive regarding student comprehension of the essential learning objectives. When integrating technology programs, teachers must consider the students’ working memory and the role of cognitive load to avoid pitfalls that could impede the learning of the desired content.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

Before the pandemic, U.S. history teacher Travis Malekpour hesitated assigning his students work in the classroom that required a computer. He knew not every student had a laptop or tablet.

Three years later, Malekpour, who teaches in Queens, doesn’t think twice about assigning and grading in-class work that requires a device. 

After COVID shuttered campuses in March 2020, forcing schools to pivot to remote learning, the city spent more than $360 million to buy 725,000 iPads and Chromebooks. That seismic shift made devices more accessible to students than ever before — and has now pushed some teachers to fold technology more often into their lesson plans. 

“Having students who now have tablets and laptops they bring to school definitely changes the game a little bit,” Malekpour said. 

The city’s education department has embraced some virtual education models, including a hybrid high school program that mixes virtual instruction with in-person activities. They’ve also used federal relief dollars to fund virtual courses for students at small schools that can’t provide such classes. More recently, schools began using computer programs to prepare students for upcoming state English and math tests, angering some educators and families who want children to be interacting directly with instructors, Gothamist reported. 

Before the pandemic, the trend for more personalized, learner-centric experiences in education already existed—the resulting lockdowns merely accelerated digital transformation, which continues to gain momentum across industries.

Dubbed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” our entire world is rapidly digitizing, which means jobs—and the knowledge and skills they require—are changing faster than ever. As a result, the half-life of the newest technology is shrinking rapidly, and the skills gap is widening with potentially detrimental effects.

Today’s workers must continuously learn and evolve throughout their careers, making the need for upskilling and reskilling more vital. While technology continues to advance, a single degree or credential will not sustain the average worker, as today’s younger generations switch jobs and industries far more than their parents and grandparents did.

Edtech companies can position themselves to successfully provide breakthrough education solutions as people of all ages and skill levels take charge of their own lifelong learning. The market is ready for a leader who can capitalize on this opportunity.

Seeking demand and becoming more adaptable and flexible

Today’s learners are overwhelmed as they navigate apps, videos, IoT devices, and real-time online lessons–many of which they have never used before.

K-12 schools are facing a host of new challenges coming out of the pandemic, but many educators and school leaders believe technology holds the key to solving even the most entrenched problems, according to new data from Promethean.

The annual State of Technology in Education report, a survey of 1,700 U.S. educators, offers a snapshot of current trends, as well as a glimpse at what the future holds.

According to survey findings, educators put social-emotional learning (SEL) as one of their school’s top priorities, likely due to students still dealing with the fallout from pandemic disruptions. Two-thirds of respondents said their school is implementing SEL measures to tackle these issues, and 70 percent said technology is a good tool for providing the experiential learning and connections that students need to thrive.

The report also sheds light on the growing problem of staff shortages, which have plagued many schools as teachers quit, retire, or decide to change careers.

Nearly every student has a device and internet access, but that doesn’t mean in-person instruction will magically improve. How can we use technology to maximize learning in the classroom, and how can we create the most efficient use of screen time while making teachers’ workloads more manageable?

Join Erica Hartman, a former district chief technology officer, during an eSchool News webinar to find out how to engage students, measure progress, manage online learning, and save valuable time with GoGuardian Teacher and Edulastic. Discover how they can support you in creating an ecosystem of actionable data, intentional feedback, and an instructional workflow for seamless differentiation.

Learn about classroom technology that helps:

• Maximize in-person instruction
• Manage online learning and measure progress
• Create the most efficient use of screen time
• Make teachers’ workloads more manageable
• Increase student engagement

Register today!

The pandemic made it clear that education must innovate and evolve to meet the diverse needs of students. Sora Schools, an online, project-based middle school and high school, along with a wide network of innovators and education experts, collaborated to round up what are the biggest forces shaping education in 2023. 

Sora launched a new research and analytics group, the Sora Learning Lab, to uncover important insights from parents, students and educators, and to help influence the future of school in a positive way.

As a result of its research, Sora identified eight key trends in education today.

• Schools are finally being called to task on students’ mental health.
• AI is completely rattling traditional school and reframing curricular opportunities.
• Families are embracing alternative school options like never before.
• Creative thinking (not technical skills) will be the future’s most valuable ability.
• Teachers are facing an identity shift – from teaching to “coaching”.
• Gaming is now and will continue to be integral in education.
• Grading is entirely outdated, with mastery-based assessments taking center-stage.
• Online education is providing students with access to world-class private school education – at affordable prices.

Mental Health

• The Sora study found that 74% of parents are concerned their school is not doing enough to support student mental health.
  • There is an ongoing mental health crisis in the US currently, but schools are ill-equipped to handle students in crisis.
  • At Sora, a student’s purpose and meaning are at the center of their curriculum, giving the student ownership over what they are learning. When students are passionate about their school experience it enhances their well-being.
  • Sora advisors are equipped with a toolset to help them identify and address when a student needs support.

AI Will Transform Education

• Parents want schools to embrace new technology and cultural shifts. The Sora Learning Lab study found that up to 90% of parents believe at least one or more aspect of traditional schools are outdated.
  • With the introduction of powerful and accessible new artificial intelligence tools, a profound societal impact is on the horizon, similar in scale to the introduction of the calculator or the world wide web.
  • At Sora, instead of fighting against technology, the focus is on creating curricula that respect student interest. This is curricula that students WANT to do themselves for the sake of understanding more about the world.
  • When students are engaged in their learning and not just focused on getting an A, they will be persuaded to do the work themselves and not rely on AI.
  • It is clear that the traditional school model needs to be adapted and innovated.

The 2023 TCEA Convention & Exposition offered the opportunity for educators to connect in person and share insights and innovations around teaching and learning.

Held in in San Antonio this year, TCEA 2023 was “the intersection of passion and possibility, curiosity and discovery, education and technology. And it’s the kind of learning that will change the story of education.”

Conferences gave educators–including administrators, classroom teachers, IT leaders, curriculum directors–to attend sessions targeted to their interests and their individual school or district needs. Content touched on social media in the classroom, IT challenges, innovative edtech tools, and more.

Here’s a sample of some of the newest products and announcements from the conference:

Beanstack unveiled a brand-new admin experience to make it easier than ever for you to grow your school’s culture of reading. Teachers and media specialists can easily monitor weekly reading progress, log for classes, access student information, and create classroom challenges in our revamped admin dashboard. With this suite of updates, you can target reading recognition or support for individual students and provide curriculum-aligned reading motivation to your classes.

BenQ plans to eliminate digital integration hurdles in the classroom with its teacher-focused smart boards. BenQ demonstrated the ease and intuitiveness of its germ-resistant BenQ Board RM03 and RP03 Series, highlighting Tap and Teach technology, secure single sign-on, EZWrite software, InstaShare wireless screen sharing, and other features. BenQ also showcased its family of BlueCore laser education projectors and InstaShow WDC20E education wireless presentation system (WPS).

Boxlight presented its family of brands – Mimio, MimioSTEM, Clevertouch® Technologies, and FrontRow. Each brand featured solutions including interactive technology, comprehensive STEM curriculum, 3D printing for schools and makerspaces, audio for campus and classroom, and school safety solutions. Of interest is Attention! – a technology solution that enhances campus communication via both audio and visual means. Attention! technology works in combination with the FrontRow Conductor system, the CleverLive cloud management platform, and either the MimioPro 4 or IMPACT Max (Clevertouch Technologies) interactive displays to provide schools with a comprehensive and effective communication solution. Administrators can share general school and event information, updates to schedules and meetings, and broadcast emergency alerts.  

Epson announced the expansion of its PowerLite^® and BrightLink^® laser projector lines. Adding 12 new lamp-free laser displays, powered by Epson’s proprietary 3-chip 3LCD technology, the new models deliver big, bright images, along with convenient collaboration tools, easy setup and ultra-wide options to ensure all participants can see, interact and be seen. Sitting a few inches from the wall, the new PowerLite EB-810E Ultra is Epson’s first ultra-short throw solution for classrooms and meeting rooms to leverage Epson’s 4K Enhancement technology. Epson is making it even easier for educators to get connected with its new browser-based BrightLink GoBoard^TM 780Fi ultra-short throw interactive laser display.

Jabra demonstrated the PanaCast 50, offering state-of-the-art Panoramic-4K video technology. PanaCast 50’s 180-degree view shows all areas of a classroom and lets educators focus on specific areas within the classroom–for instance, if students are testing in one area and need closer monitoring. PanaCast 50 uses 8 microphones with features to focus on speech and not background noise. The technology allows teachers to broadcast their lessons to other schools, districts, or homes. It also allows for video interaction with parents, district leaders, and others. With PanaCast 50, educators can leverage the tools they used during COVID in a new way.

Hate it or love – technology in education is here to stay. Parents can feel it, and the numbers back them up. Edtech is booming, with 40 times more venture capital invested in the sector in 2021 than in 2010.

There is no question that edtech has brought new ways to support the learning process and was used extensively by schools to connect remotely to students who could not attend classes in-person during the worst parts of the pandemic. At the same it can also serve as a huge distraction and sometimes to the detriment of student’s growth and development. The data on this is clear. Remote learning during the pandemic led to significant learning loss among students and was a primary driver of the U.S.’ growing achievement gap – meaning that economically disadvantaged students and students of color were hit the hardest.

The conversation has quickly shifted from whether technology should be used in learning to how we can use it to improve learning and ensure that all students have access to high-quality educational experiences. Here are four areas we can start:

Rapidly Train Our Teachers to Harness Tech

Amid historic challenges, with no roadmap and often no experience in remote learning, educators worked tirelessly to keep students learning during the height of the pandemic. But despite their best efforts, online learning failed to live up to in-person education, with students whose schools met mostly in person performing significantly better on math and reading tests compared to their peers who received instruction online. 

But it’s not the fault of teachers – they weren’t trained for remote instruction. We can’t wait for the next pandemic. We must develop a teaching force skilled in online and blended instruction – and we need to start today. That starts by rapidly adapting curriculums in teaching colleges and providing extra training for experienced teachers to help them get ahead of the technology curve, regardless of whether one anticipates another crisis that dictates remote learning.

This would be a fantastic opportunity for private corporations with extensive IT infrastructures to partner with their local communities to accelerate digital transformations in the public schools. The good news is that corporate leaders don’t need to look far for inspiration, as some companies have already gotten started, including Microsoft’s partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council to deliver technology for education projects, or Google’s push to expand technological access for underserves communities.

Teach Digital Literacy to Parents

A key to help students wade-through reliable, educational material from everything else — including frivolity, misinformation, and conspiracy theories — is teaching them digital literacy. They need to be able to identify sources and find corroborating information.

For example, a recent AP story titled Students Turn to TikTok to Fill Education Gaps, suggests that TikTok is a trend that may be driving the future of education. Since 2020, the social media app has invested millions of dollars and teamed with experts, public figures, and educational institutions to post more learning material under the hashtag #LeanOnTikTok.

“Parents and educators should take time to learn more about TikTok to understand the platform and how to reach kids where they are. The videos made by good-faith actors that pique students’ interest can be as educational as anything else they come across in a library or lecture — if they have the background knowledge to put them in context,” says Vanessa Dennen, a professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies in the Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems at Florida State University, who was quoted in the AP story.

Close the Digital Gap for Students

As technology becomes more ingrained in education, the digital divide is becoming an ever-larger driver of educational inequity.

Consider this: 1 in 4 U.S. students are unable to access school online, and 42 million Americans don’t have the means to purchase internet access.  We can’t expect students to succeed if they don’t have the tools to do it. To address this glaring crisis, we need nothing short of a large-scale public-private mobilization to provide the infrastructure, the funding, and the hardware (wi-fi routers, laptops, hotspots) to students in low-income communities.

It’s a daunting issue – but one that we can solve. Just look at what the city of Oakland, California has been able to accomplish recently.  

When the pandemic hit and the need to get students online in their homes became urgent, city leaders, including Mayor Libby Schaaf quickly partnered with the Oakland Public Education Fund, the nonprofit Tech Exchange, Oakland Promise and other community-based organizations to close the digital divide. Everyone from corporate leaders like former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to organization like the Oakland branch of the NAACP joined the effort. The result? As of February 2022, the city had provided nearly 36,000 laptops and more than 11,500 hot spots to low-income public-school students, closing the digital divide for nearly all its students. In Oakland, 98 percent of all students now have a computer and internet service.

The city used the crisis as an opportunity to address a moral wrong that needed to be changed forever, not just during the pandemic. While some students remain unconnected, Oakland’s effort has emerged as an example of how to tackle a citywide digital divide.

Connect Online Lessons to Real Life

In today’s world of ubiquitous technology, it’s not just about controlling screen-time. It’s about making the time they spend online, useful, impactful, and engaging, and most importantly, connecting the lessons that students learn through online instruction and bringing them to life for them in 3D.

Ask any educator or parent who has taken their students on an impactful field trip – the experience can be life-changing. During the pandemic, we lost some of that connection, but it’s coming back in full steam, with pent-up demand for student travel, enrichment programs, and summer camps.

It’s one thing to learn about U.S. history in a textbook or online classroom, but it’s entirely another to visit the Statue of Liberty or the Lincoln Memorial and walk in the footsteps of those who changed history. These types of experiences allow students to put the virtual in perspective, while participating in the experience with others who can share their passion and excitement. Sure, they can share it afterwards on social media and spread the word. But being in the moment is what makes all the difference.

Of course, not every family or school district has the means to afford field trips and educational travel. This is a serious issue that without a doubt contributes to the education gap for students in low-income communities and must be addressed through increased educational funding and continued collaboration between the private and public sector. At the same time, there are many ways to secure funding for educational travel, including through corporate sponsors, fundraising drives, and government grants like New York State’s Connect Kids field trip grant program.  

The timing has never been better for using technology to enable and improve learning at all levels, in all places, and for people of all backgrounds.

For all the possibilities of technology-enabled learning, it also creates challenges we will face as we embrace the change necessary to realize its potential. We must continue to find new and creative ways to solve the problem of connectivity in learners’ homes so that the learning made possible in connected schools does not end when students leave for the day, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the homework gap.

As a parent and grandparent, having tried, mostly in vain, to control time on devices, my current strategy is now to provide real-time, fun learning experiences for my kids and grandchildren. I take them to nearby children’s museums, parks, and local theaters. The best part is that they’ve learned to enjoy it, and they spend less time in front of screens as a result.

At the end of the day, technology will continue to evolve and will support both teaching and learning, but it will remain limited in its utility without a connection to the 3D world around us.

Related:
37 predictions about edtech’s impact in 2023

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• Teachers are burning out. Can AI help?
• Using AI to improve accessibility
• AI in the classroom: Supporting innovative teaching and increased productivity

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• 37 predictions about edtech’s impact in 2023
• New school year shows continued signs of academic rebounding
• Digital Safety for Students: Keeping Student Data Private and Access Secure

When I started as a school counselor more than 15 years ago, technology in the classroom looked much different than it does today. Only a handful of students had their own personal device and the concept of one-to-one models, meaning every student is given a school-issued laptop or tablet, had not yet taken hold. At that time, students were accessing the internet or using digital tools sparingly throughout the school day, and typically only in tech-focused classes. Today, most teens have access to a smartphone and more than 80 percent of K-12 students use a school-issued device as part of their learning. Students are clearly more connected than ever, both inside and outside of the classroom.

This increased access to technology in school has had both positive and negative impacts on students. For some, the internet has proven to be an incredibly engaging and useful learning tool, while for others, the constant stream of information can be overwhelming. Because of this, it is important for educators to help students use technology in a purposeful way that supports learning.

While it might seem counterintuitive, technology and certain digital tools can actually help provide students with a sense of calm while enhancing in-the-moment thinking.

Here are five ways I have seen technology serve as a remedy for brain overload:

1. Mental health check-ins to start class

The short time between class periods is often hectic, with many students physically moving to different classrooms or mentally preparing to dive into a new subject. Hallway passing time can also be filled with stressful social interactions or glances at social media.

Well-being check-ins at the beginning of class can be a great way to help students regain focus and center their thoughts. Simple online tools that let you survey your class – like Pear Deck, Google Forms, or Kahoot – can be used to support these emotional checks. Asking questions along the lines of “How are you feeling today?” or “What color would best describe your mood today and why?” and allowing students to respond anonymously can be a game changer in the classroom.

2. Mindfulness apps

Helping students practice mindfulness, or the ability to be present in the moment and aware of thoughts, feelings, and sensations, can greatly benefit mental health far beyond the classroom. In addition to non-tech strategies like paper mood boards, mindfulness dice, or breathing exercises, there are free digital tools and apps like Calm, Headspace, and more that can guide students through mindfulness exercises in both a group or individual setting.

Related:
How to identify student anxiety in the classroom
Teachers can’t keep up with the need for SEL

3. Private, digital feedback

Some students are not comfortable raising their hands in class or asking for feedback in a group setting. Leveraging solutions that have chat features or allow for real-time digital feedback on student work is a great way to engage students who prefer more private communication.

There are also certain classroom discussions where anonymity is key. If there is a conversation of a sensitive nature, where not even the teacher needs to know whose answer is whose, anonymous feedback will help educators facilitate an honest, open discourse. This way, students will feel more comfortable sharing their responses knowing that they are anonymous. Try utilizing digital tools that support this kind of safe engagement.

4. Audio & visual tools

Classroom environments can directly impact students’ ability to learn. Adding calming music, videos, or lighting can help put students at ease and create a more peaceful learning space. Music has shown to help improve focus, and there are endless playlists with classroom-appropriate songs available through services like Spotify or YouTube. Projecting videos of a fireplace, waves on a beach, or slow-moving clouds to the front of the classroom during work time can also help create a more relaxing atmosphere.

5. Digital guardrails

When students are using their school-issued devices, it can be helpful to set thoughtful guardrails or parameters around which web pages they can or cannot access during class. Certain filtering solutions or classroom management products can help narrow or broaden internet access depending on what is needed for the day’s lesson. This helps students focus on the task at hand and reduces information overload or distractions.

For today’s students who often find themselves overloaded, a calming learning environment can serve as a much-needed moment of stillness. As classroom technology continues to evolve, educators and school mental health professionals can use strategies like the above to help students navigate their digital world with purpose.

As we close the door on 2022, we approach 2023 with clear-cut priorities for edtech and education as a whole. Education and student well-being are stretched thin, and lingering learning gaps, exacerbated by the pandemic, present hurdles for all students–especially underrepresented students groups who were already at a disadvantage.

Digital learning cemented itself as a “must have” in schools this year, and equity remained front and center, too, continuing conversations around inequitable technology access, along with racial and socioeconomic disparities and discrimination.

We’re headed into a fourth year of learning in the pandemic’s shadow. While massive COVID quarantines and school closures have diminished, we’re still grappling with the impact of learning during a global pandemic. This begs the question: What’s next for education?

We asked edtech executives, stakeholders, and experts to share some of their thoughts and predictions about where they think edtech is headed in 2023.

Here’s what they had to say:

In the coming year, K-12 leaders will begin finalizing how they can maximize any remaining ESSER funds ahead of the deadline in 2024 and we can expect clean air solutions to be represented in those obligations. We will see a shift in priorities for school leaders with a focus on protecting against further learning loss – the projects they invest in should help reach this outcome long-term.
–Cheryl Aquadro, K-12 Vertical Market Director, Johnson Controls

From cafeteria support, bus drivers, and clerical staff, to teachers, administrators and superintendents, the staffing shortage across the board is real, but not new. Speak to those who have spent a lifetime in and out of education. Moving beyond the tradition of looking for employees at university graduation days may provide a glimpse into how we can simplify job transfers between private industry and public education and provide more opportunities for non-traditional paths into education careers. Oftentimes, when a person reaches their forties, a big life question ensues. “Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life or can I do something more impactful for humanity and the good of our society, how can I engage in a more fulfilling life?” I predict that in the coming year there will be an increased emphasis on innovative ways to address the staff shortage in education and we will see focused research and development around how degrees, expertise and/or experience can be used as qualifiers toward an education degree or certificate. Doing so will expand options for long-term career planning and will truly be seen as an investment for both the education industry, and for private industries. After all, education and the economy are inextricably linked.
–Dr. Maria Armstrong, Executive Director, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)

Looking ahead, I think we will see more educators helping students get a better understanding of clean energy and its connections to climate change and the wider economy. Educators will seek out content that better supports them to successfully bring clean energy content to their students in meaningful ways and, as the job market in clean energy continues to grow, it is important for schools to help meet this demand for an educated workforce by helping students see themselves in clean energy careers.
–Michael Arquin, Founder, KidWind

School districts will begin to offer microschool options. With 65% of K-12 parents backing school choice, school districts will realize that in order to stay competitive and meet the needs of students and parents, adopting and offering innovative learning models is key. One of the shifts the industry can expect to see in the coming years is school districts offering mircoschool options within the district itself. While historically independent learning institutions, microschools will be adopted within school districts that are responsive to this need for choice and evolving learning needs of students.
—Carlos Bortoni, Principal, Industry Advisor, K-12 Education, Qualtrics

Parents will step up to address the student mental health crisis. Predictions about the state of youth mental health in America have been realized. Teachers, parents, counselors, administrators, coaches, and other loved ones have faced an unprecedented challenge in this regard. They will continue to step up in 2023 to meet the challenge. Parents will take on an even greater role in the mental health of children in the coming year. Schools will continue to invest in mental health resources, and the solutions that gain the most traction will be those that honor the central role that parents play. In 2023, the shortage of therapists, school counselors, and other mental health care workers will result in parents seeking resources that they can implement. It will be up to school leaders to guide them to the best resources that have already demonstrated efficacy.
—Anne Brown, President and CEO, Cook Center for Human Connection

Students’ mental health and social and emotional wellness continue to be pressing concerns for school districts. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma continue to rise among students, impacting their learning, engagement, and relationships. At the same time, a shortage of mental health resources in schools places additional strain on already overburdened teachers and administrators. In the coming year I expect to see many districts taking advantage of an influx in federal grant money to bolster their mental health teams and to provide additional resources and professional development around these important issues to better support student well-being.
–Rob Buelow, Head of Product for Education, Vector Solutions

In 2023, educators nationwide will benefit from the most recent wave of edtech consolidation. The various services and products acquired by consolidators over the last year or two will be integrated into increasingly comprehensive platforms offering instructional content, assessments, and classroom tools all in one place.  As this occurs, the power and effectiveness of those edtech resources will grow as they begin to work in concert with each other seamlessly. The combination of these resources will empower administrators, teachers, families, and students to better leverage edtech’s ability to improve learning.
–Kelli Campbell, President, Discovery Education

Educators will increasingly be looking for–and needing–educational resources and technologies that authentically represent and support today’s growing number of multilingual learners. As such, from the characters portrayed in online programs to reading excerpts included in curricular products, it is important for all education companies to provide, and educators to seek out, more culturally relevant, modifiable, and accessible resources to effectively meet the varying learning needs of all students.
–David Cisneros, National Director for Content and Implementation, Curriculum Associates

Schools will prioritize parent engagement as school-home collaboration will be needed to help students impacted by the pandemic. As we continue to recover from the impacts of COVID learning disruptions, parent communication and engagement will continue to be a strategic imperative for all schools. Parent-school relationships have always been a vital part of student success, but during the pandemic, when schools moved to remote instruction, communication between parents and educators soared. Teachers and administrators worked with students’ families to try to establish stability and continuity. Priorities such as setting up remote learning structures, developing a distance curriculum, and offering social and emotional support required increased collaboration with home. Parents have become used to increased information and communication from schools. Now, schools have an opportunity to build on this uptick in parent engagement and establish long-term processes that increase meaningful, two-way communication with students’ families and support student success. Over the next year, we will see this momentum continue, as more schools realize the benefits and implement solutions to enable this.
—Russ Davis, Founder and CEO, SchoolStatus

Districts will see the value in data-driven instructional coaching. As we begin the fourth straight year impacted by COVID pandemic learning disruptions, the challenge of retaining high quality teachers is a critical issue in U.S. public schools. Staff shortages, ongoing pandemic fallout, and more demands on their time has made teacher burnout and job dissatisfaction a serious issue. Implementing strategies for creating a collaborative and supportive environment for teachers is more important than ever. In the coming school year, we will start to see a much larger focus on investments in educators – particularly on retaining and supporting current faculty. One practice that we will see gaining popularity is instructional coaching. Over the past year, we have seen a trend in districts using ESSER funds to create coaching programs to support their educators. We anticipate this will continue as more districts realize the benefits to both teachers and students of a data-driven coaching program.
–Jason DeRoner, CEO and Co-Founder, TeachBoost

As we enter 2023, we need to be looking for opportunities to find balance. Like a pendulum, the pandemic forced us to increase our use of technology and upon return to the classroom, we swung the opposite way with some educators avoiding technology at all costs. It is time to find the balance again. To be intentional and thoughtful to what technology can provide for teachers and students. Technology can help us to find solutions and support for accessibility, differentiation, agency, and voice in the classroom. It is all about the balance.
–Michele Dick, Education Specialist, Wacom

With the release of the Nation’s Report Card and ongoing school staffing shortages, states and professional organizations will need to rethink the benefits of technology in supporting students in special education programs. Decision-makers rose to the challenge in the initial waves of the pandemic, enacting temporary policies to permit and reimburse for online education services. Though these policies made a big impact, many have expired in favor of returning to the status quo. Permanent legislation giving schools the ability to leverage online services to support their students will be critical to address persistent challenges and ensure every student receives the services that they need to thrive in this new normal.
–Kate Eberle Walker, CEO, Presence

A continued decline in college enrollment is bringing greater interest in non-degree postsecondary pathways. Despite the pressure to attend, reports suggest 53 percent of high school students are unlikely to pursue a college degree. And unfortunately, we know
that for those who do attend college, many fail to complete, leaving millions of young people without the education and training necessary for career success. College is not the only viable path to success. While we undoubtedly need to do more to support those students whose interests are well aligned with a degree program to transition and complete college, many young people are looking for paths that better suit their needs and aspirations. In fact, our collaborative and extensive research on non-degree pathways has covered innovative training and education opportunities for young people ages 18-25, based on data gathered on more than 400 education-to-career pathways across the country. Skills matter most to both Gen Z and employers. Research shows that employers and Gen Z rank skills as the most important consideration in choosing an education or training program: 74 percent of Gen Z want to earn skills that will lead to a good job and 81 percent of employers believe they should look at skills rather than degrees when hiring.
–Jean Eddy, CEO and President, American Student Assistance

The term “science of reading” has become shorthand for phonics in many cases. And phonics—and all foundational reading skills—are very important. That piece is critical, and we need research-backed methods for teaching kids how to read and decode. However, getting lost in that discussion is the recognition that the science of reading encompasses all scientifically-based reading research. It extends to the skills needed to improve comprehension. Once students have “the code,” we can tap into another body of research on best practices for developing reading comprehension skills. In 2023, the science of reading discussion will grow to encompass reading skills beyond foundational skills.
—Laura Fischer, VP of Content Development, Learning A-Z

Looking ahead, it is important for educators to help students develop 21st century skills, especially as more industries need STEM-focused employees. One way to do this is to provide more opportunities for students to learn and engage in hands-on STEAM education by incorporating STEAM across the curriculum. One way education is doing this is by offering CTE, even in the elementary grades. This is growing due to the demand for a low to mid-skilled engineering/IT workforce needed to support an increasing number of companies that are focusing on local production. Helping students understand that they can get a well-paid and engaging job through CTE can play an important role in the modernized school system and create great business opportunities and positive impact on society.
–Karol Górnowicz, CEO, Skriware

Innovative technology will increasingly help accelerate professional learning for teachers and coaches alike. In St. Vrain, for example, we recently implemented the AI Coach by Edthena platform which uses artificial intelligence for instructional coaching. The platform provides teachers with on-demand guidance from a computerized coach as they self-reflect and comment on videos of their teaching. In addition to helping teachers become more reflective practitioners, this supports the in-person coaching already taking place. We are now able to have more data-driven conversations around specific teaching practices and the impact these practices have on student growth.
–Patty Hagan, Teaching and Learning Coach, St. Vrain Valley Schools

2021 and 2022 were the years of urgency and near-term decisions to ensure learning continued through the pandemic.  In 2023, district leaders will have the data they need to make more long-term strategic decisions for their schools. This includes investing in personalized learning supports, including scalable instructional technology solutions, that have proven to accelerate learning achievement for students, increase student confidence, and complement educators’ instruction. With the troubling results of the recent Nation’s Report Card, the need to focus on what works is more important than ever. We can also expect new and creative solutions to increase support for teachers in the year ahead, especially given staffing shortages in schools. Next year, I hope to see districts invest in more job-embedded and on-demand professional development opportunities for teachers that meet them where they are and on a schedule that works for them. Ultimately, what matters is what works for improving achievement. Educational technology solutions that are engaging, effective, and easy-to-use for students, teachers, and chief academic officers will continue to play a crucial role in the year ahead.
–Dr. Tim Hudson, Chief Learning Officer, DreamBox Learning

Building literacy skills in young readers must continue beyond third grade. We’ve seen in the most recent research on Covid recovery that our youngest readers–those who were in kindergarten when the pandemic hit–are rebounding least quickly. This is not surprising as the first few years of school are when learners build the foundations for literacy. Teaching kids to read with good accuracy in English takes several years. We have a complex language where one letter pattern can stand for different sounds (COW and SNOW), and where similar sounds can be spelled in different ways (WAIT and WEIGHT). It should not be surprising that when good systematic teaching about this complex code was challenged, our current third graders turned out to be still working toward solid word recognition. As such, educators will need to focus intently on building these skills in young readers. First, we need to ensure that we are offering strong, evidence-based code instruction beyond the grades where those skills used to be actively taught. Phonics and fluency instruction need to extend, to meet students’ needs regardless of grade. Second, we need to acknowledge and allow for the time it takes students to move toward fluent reading of a complex language, even when our instruction is excellent.
–Cindy Jiban, PhD, Principal Academic Lead, NWEA

Teachers experienced greater anxiety during the pandemic, reporting significantly higher rates of anxiety than healthcare workers. This emphasizes the need for tools and programs to support their well-being. In the coming year, we will see a continued emphasis on providing resources to teachers that support their social and emotional well-being and help them create positive learning environments. Tools that allow teachers to collaborate, develop strong relationships with students and families, and feel supported by school leaders are especially needed. Supporting teachers to create positive learning environments promotes teacher well-being, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction, while also improving students’ learning.
–Dr. Evelyn Johnson, Vice President, Research and Development, Aperture Education

Families will continue to seek alternatives for their children’s education. It will be important in the coming year for schools and districts to look for trends in their communities and take steps to ensure they can meet the needs of their families and future workforce. Data should drive these decisions. Having strong data about student transfers, enrollment, and choice programs helps education leaders in making better decisions for their students.
–Dr. Bridget Jones, Director of Client Support & Success, Scribbles Software

With the combination of federal grants that came about due to the pandemic and the supply chain delays for equipment, many districts are just now getting the needed equipment, including here at Livonia Public Schools. We are currently in the process of handing out 8,000 Chromebooks and hotspots for students to use at home. Deploying these technologies to families is a major undertaking, but this will mean we are ready for the next event that requires our students to learn remotely. Deploying this technology to students and helping teachers adjust to this new way of teaching is the new norm. We need to ensure teachers are confident using technology in the classroom and they are also ready to change to online at a moment’s notice. How or if we are able to continue to provide this level of technology to families into the future is another question, but we are providing what we can while we have the funds.
–Tim Klan, Administrator of Information and Instructional Technology, Livonia Public Schools

The familiar phrase “Students as Creators” is coming back around, but this time there are new, low-cost tools that let students create in a virtual world. Students are able to build resources in the education metaverse for their courses and for other teacher’s courses as well. The digital version of “working with your hands” leads students to create content, often to show their knowledge, rather than just being consumers of content provided by expensive development houses using high-cost software. In the coming year we will see more schools taking advantage of free or almost-free software to help students quickly and easily create great virtual content to enhance their instructional environment with the added benefit of “learning by doing.”
–Chris Klein, Head of Education, USA, Avantis Education

In recent years, the education sector has had no choice but to adopt technology to ensure continuity and the impact of technology has proven to be integral. As higher education moves into a post-pandemic world, the sector will invest in new student success systems that will help students progress through their various stages by leveraging real-time information and feedback. Simultaneously, investments will also be made in cybersecurity to ensure that this wealth of sensitive student information is kept secure at all times. 
—Noel Loughrin, Strategic Solutions Manager, Laserfiche

We are seeing the focus on and importance of evidence in edtech more strongly than ever. Technology investments must have documented plans for impacting teaching and learning outcomes, and companies that cannot provide evidence and support with documenting impact will get left behind. Further to that, tech that can do many things – from assessment to collaboration to scaffolded lessons and everything in between – will be the top choice for educators as they look to simplify workflows. This tech must support all students so that everyone can learn not only WITH technology, but about it, too. Edtech provides unique opportunities to personalize and democratize learning and the importance of this will only grow in 2023.
–Jeff Lowe, Chief Commercial Officer at SMART Technologies

With the learning loss that has transpired because of COVID-19, especially in mathematics, I believe educators will move toward an individualized, standards-based approach to teaching, learning, and grading. Data and formative assessment will be a key factor in targeting individual student needs, and impactful technology will help teachers understand what students missed during the pandemic. Meaningful small group and individual instruction will be important in combating the deficit in student achievement.
–Jessica Medley, 8th Grade Math Teacher, Phenix City Schools (AL) & a Curriculum Associates’ 2022 Extraordinary Educator

Assessments should create opportunity – not squash it. On the heels of three years of impact from COVID interruptions, states and districts are taking a closer look at the types of evidence of learning they gather on each student, and how that information is used to move the needle for every child. In 2023, , we will see a movement toward more thoughtful and innovative approaches in how we assess students and use the data to accelerate academic growth for kids. Data only matters if it leads to effective action. There are too many kids who have been left out of good instructional practices. They get to the end of their academic career, and we all wonder why they aren’t achieving at the same level. It’s not enough just to assess students; we actually have to do something about what’s going on. That means investments need to follow. We need to start by asking, what information do I need about my students to know we’re being successful? We need to create an environment where assessments are creating more opportunities, not limiting opportunities for the student. They need to be answering questions like, “What’s the next step for this student?” This is more important now than ever as we look for ways to help students recover from the pandemic’s immense impact. This trend toward innovation is critical to creating equity in both opportunity and outcomes for all students – so every young person leaves school ready to succeed.
—Chris Minnich, CEO, NWEA

With 2023 on the horizon, I am hopeful that the education community resolves to move forward after years of being stifled by the pandemic and learning disruptions. The coming year is the time to work on meeting kids where they are, including making sure we’re supporting their mental health needs. I believe we’ll see increased attention to students’ mental health and, with it, an increase in the attention paid to the mental health crisis and severely limited resources in our schools. In fall 2022, an online survey, conducted from a parents’ perspective, found that many parents are realizing or have concerns regarding the pandemic’s impact on their children’s mental, academic and social well-being. In fact, more than four in five parents believe it would be beneficial for schools to provide mental health services for students as a part of the school day and 84% of parents would be open to their children receiving mental health counseling and emotional support services if offered in school. I think administrators at more schools across the county will lean into non-traditional supports for students including mentoring, behavioral counseling and socialization exercises for students. I’m also hopeful we’ll see more schools providing comprehensive mental health supports – for both students and staff members.
–Diane Myers, Ph. D, SVP, Special Education – Behavior, Specialized Education Services, Inc.

In 2023, educators should anticipate deeper support from corporations looking to impact teaching and learning. In the coming year I believe corporate social impact investments will include large scale, systemic commitments combined with localized, equity-focused approaches. We are hearing corporate strategies are shifting to include geographically targeted approaches that allow companies to more directly support school leaders, teachers, and students with both learning and human resources aligned to college and career readiness, student engagement, and overall well-being.
–Amy Nakamoto, General Manager of Social Impact, Discovery Education

The American education system has faced unprecedented change over the past few years, with fundamental aspects of the classroom undergoing a massive transformation. However, one thing remains true: the relationship between the teacher and the student is the quintessential element of a classroom. At the end of the day, a teacher connecting with and believing in a student is what’s going to change the world, and this relationship will continue to be the case in 2023 and well beyond.
—Lisa O’Masta, President, Learning A-Z

I believe 2023 will bring a shift in professional development (PD) for K-12 educators, with increased focus on inclusive practices. With this focus, PD and coaching will address the unique needs of every student, whether general or special education. General and special education teachers must meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population, which warrants a deeper understanding of learner variability. With more students with special needs in general education settings, teachers must be equipped with key strategies, practices, and tools to support each learner’s individual needs. In recent decades, the number of students with disabilities who spend more than 80% of their time in general education classrooms has more than doubled, equating to nearly 65% of those students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). By design, educational programs increase the amount of time students with disabilities spend learning alongside their general education peers and increase their exposure to grade-level standards and instruction. Unfortunately, academic outcomes for students with special needs have remained low year after year. It is my hope that district administrators will seek out PD offerings that support inclusive practices and empower educators to explore the common attributes of various disabilities, while also learning how to provide instructional support in general education classrooms. It’s vital for schools and districts to ensure their educators are sufficiently prepared to create classroom learning environments and opportunities that meet the needs of all students, including those with special needs.
–Jessica Petersen, General Manager of Professional Development Services, Catapult Learning

We’re seeing the pendulum swinging back to reintroducing career and technical exploration (CTE) in middle schools. While students are suffering from learning loss due to COVID, their parents see record level student debt, a growing shortage of skilled workers, and a 20% graduation rate when comparing all 9th graders to those who graduate from a 4-year college. Combined with promising results from middle schools with renewed CTE, more schools, both rural and urban, are realizing there are many successful paths for their students beyond a 4-year degree. We are proud to help schools which lack space or a certified CTE teacher help students discover the intelligence in their students’ hands.
–Mike Schloff, CEO, Maplewoodshop

Educators will need a new platform for knowledge sharing. For many years, educators like myself have turned to the education community on Twitter and other social media platforms to network, find inspiration and share fresh ideas for how to spark active learning in our classrooms. However, recent developments with various social media platforms have led some long-time users to consider leaving them altogether. I believe that in the year ahead, more educators will seek a new place where they can create an online community—for teachers, by teachers. On a new platform completely dedicated to education, teachers can go beyond the conversations from Twitter and create new opportunities for professional discourse and development that all goes back to inspiring better learning outcomes for students. Integration and connectivity between edtech tools will give rise to more smart schools. In 2023 and beyond, we can expect to see more integration and seamless connectivity between technologies used in classrooms and around campuses. For example, some schools are already integrating bi-directional casting between student tablets and interactive displays at the front of the classroom. Rather than a monologue by the teacher, it creates an engaging dialogue between learners that is far more productive in knowledge retention and problem-solving skills development. Displays in the classroom can also integrate with digital signage installed around campus—from the front office to the sports field. The role of schools in providing accessible and equitable education will come into focus. When classrooms went online in 2020, the digital divide was amplified showing the gap between students who had, did not have, access to broadband internet and digital tools at home. Those without access, unfortunately, fell behind and educators are now working to help them catch up to their peers. In much the same way that libraries have historically provided people with equal access to information, it will be up to schools to provide students with equal access and opportunities to education and emerging technologies. This goes beyond just providing 1:1 tablets or laptops; it’s giving students guidance on how to use classroom tools in meaningful ways that work with how they learn best.
–Dr. Micah Shippee, Director of Education Technology Consulting and Solutions, Samsung

Leveraging data will be critical to supporting academic recovery efforts and helping historically marginalized students. According to the most recent research on COVID impact, while there are initial signs of academic rebounding, historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools remain disproportionately impacted. Kuhfeld and Lewis (2022) call for sustained urgency in addressing interrupted learning, anticipating it will take several years to fully recover pre-pandemic achievement levels. It will be imperative that districts prioritize data and strategic communication to support their most at-risk students. Comprehensive data on the student, classroom, and school will be critical to developing right-size interventions, proportional to students’ needs, and avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. Having a holistic picture of each student – including academic, behavioral, attendance, and disciplinary data – will be essential to targeting interventions and resources to the students who need them most. Most importantly, ongoing, meaningful school-home communication is paramount.
–Joy Smithson, Ph.D., Data Scientist, SchoolStatus

When we returned to the classroom after the challenges of navigating distance learning during COVID, many students had built a wall up as distance learners. For many, the one-size-fits-all learning opportunity was not successful due to limited resources in addition to not being able to offer individualized and adaptive-learning based learning opportunities. Being back in the classroom has given us the opportunity to build the relationships we may have lost during distance learning, allowing teachers to re-focus on the skills students need to be successful as lifelong learners and members of the workforce. Pivoting the focus of education to a competency-based teaching model and using both PBL and hands-on activities in the science classroom will allow students to gain meaning in their learning experiences and create the buy-in they are looking for. Using our current standards with real-world applications, vocational opportunities, and relevant technology in the classroom will allow for engagement as well as the skills students need to be successful in our current workforce and post-secondary education experiences.
–Kristy Topalovich, Science Teacher at Roosevelt Community Education Center and a Vernier Science Education 40th Anniversary Grant recipient

Educators will embrace brain science and screen time in early learning. Journeying right along with you through the early education space, the view from my seat offers a clear look at the gap between brain science and learning. We have to spend time in 2023 understanding the correlation there. As we acquire that insight, let’s share it with caregivers so they, too, are empowered by understanding, for example, why reading on grade level by age 8 is so critical. And in the spirit of the New Year’s Eve ditty “Auld Lang Syne,” let’s agree that embracing screen time is not something we ought to leave in 2022. We absolutely should leverage technology as a learning partner in 2023. Young learners are digital natives who just need guidance about balancing on- and off-screen activities, with those on-screen moments aligning with screen-time recommendations in terms of time and content.
—Jenni Torres, Ed.D., Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction, Waterford.org

Since the pandemic families have become more in tune to students’ plans for the future. The era of “everyone goes to college” has seemed to subside a bit and been replaced with a new push to programs that tailor to the trades. Families want opportunities where their students can enter the workforce immediately, with industry certifications and transferable skills. As families are exploring these options, they are also asking schools to create programs that offer flexibility so students have opportunities to pursue a trade while also being college-ready. In order to do both within the confines of a “normal school year” we have had families request options for our programs to be hybrid and offer students the opportunity to participate in-person, synchronously and asynchronously. In the coming year I expect we will see more school districts working to meet this new demand by providing flexible options for students who are interested in exploring both technical education and college-preparatory programs.
–Karima Wesselhoft, Supervisor, Advanced Academics and Specialty Programs, Prince William County Public Schools

In 2022, many schools, districts and states developed their Portrait of a Learner, defining the competencies and mindsets their communities value and want students to develop during their academic journey. This is a very positive development, particularly the recognition of the value of essential academic and career skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication. In 2023, I believe we will see the focus shift toward measuring students’ Portrait of Learner skills and competencies and providing instruction to further develop these skills. It is clear that students are not leaving high school with these essential skills. Our research shows that 60% of our sample of 120,000 students entering higher education do not have proficiency in the skills of critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication. Our research also shows that these skills are predictive of positive higher education and career outcomes. I also believe that 2023 will see a continued movement from content-based summative assessments to formative and interim performance-based assessments that challenge students to apply content knowledge, critical thinking skills and written communication skills. CAE has been developing these types of assessments for innovative school districts who want to use assessment to help students improve. Not every assessment needs to be a test. As schools, districts and states implement their Portrait of a Learner, 2023 should be the year in which a concerted effort is made to measure and improve students’ proficiency in these essential skills, improving their future outcomes no matter what path they pursue.
–Bob Yayac, President and CEO, CAE

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s 6th most-read story focuses on the predictions educators and industry experts made for learning in 2022.

As we wrapped up 2020, we thought for sure that 2021 might bring us a reprieve from pandemic learning. Well, it did–but it also didn’t. Virtual and hybrid learning continued into the spring, but then classrooms welcomed back students for full-time in-person learning in the fall. Many silver linings emerged and digital learning cemented itself as a “must have” in schools. Equity remained front and center, too, raising issues of inequitable technology access, along with racial and socioeconomic disparities and discrimination.

2021 brought with it new COVID-19 variants, the dreaded school COVID quarantine, and renewed calls to support the nation’s educators, who have worked tirelessly (and constantly) to support students’ learning, social and emotional needs, and more.

And now, we head into our third year of learning during a global pandemic. We asked edtech executives, stakeholders, and experts to share some of their thoughts and predictions about where they think edtech is headed in 2022.

Here’s what they had to say:

The demand for online learning will continue to grow in 2022 and possibly lead to the creation of virtual schools, which would introduce new AR and VR learning processes. Teachers will need to learn and refine their online teaching skills and find new opportunities for working from home, allowing them a better work-life balance. This will help them focus on the quality of their lessons without the heavy financial strain that many teachers deal with today. Learners will have the flexibility to follow on-campus lessons and use online lessons to cover topics they couldn’t fully grasp the first time around. More importantly, students will have better access to lessons designed specifically for their learning style. This will inevitably result in increased comprehension and productivity in student learning. To deal with the challenges of today and tomorrow, we need to equip the next generation with the skills and knowledge necessary to adapt and overcome these challenges.

—Suren Aloyan, Co-Founder & CEO, PopUp EduTech, Inc., Founding President, Dasaran 

This school year, one of the biggest challenges for school administrators has been trying to work through the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. This includes navigating the often politicized issues related to immunizations, the high student absence rate due to quarantines or parents wanting to keep their children home, and the negative impact the pandemic had on student and staff mental health.  Many students are exhibiting new behavioral issues such as getting into fights or engaging in bullying, and many teachers are just trying to get through the day. Although there has been a lot of focus on mental wellbeing, we need to do more. We need to invest in resources that will help us get better at finding the root cause of these issues instead of just treating the symptoms.

–Dr. Maria Armstrong, Executive Director, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents

5G promises reliability, lightning-fast speeds, and much higher data capacities. The pandemic highlighted the massive digital divide that exists between marginalized communities and affluent communities that enjoy well-established digital infrastructure. We typically talk about the “last-mile” – the connection between the larger Internet network and neighborhoods and communities. 5G can provide a cost-effective way to deliver fiber-like Internet speeds to schools, through Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). FWA allows extremely high-speed broadband where fiber connections can be too cost-prohibitive to install. Think of broadband speeds where large amounts of data can allow students to collaborate digitally from their schools or homes. Access to interactive experiences, 3D drawings, site visits, etc. can now be accessible to schools in densely populated urban areas. By the end of 2022, some of the major service providers in the U.S. expect to reach 250 million 5G customers. It is becoming more and more promising for 5G to enable improved remote learning through these innovations.

—Babak D. Beheshti, IEEE Senior Member, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences at New York Institute of Technology

I believe the use of esports to teach both K–12 academic and social-emotional skills and the design of esports environments to support skill development outcomes will continue to grow at an exponential rate over the next several years. Currently, the esports ecosystem is projected to surpass $1.8 billion by 2022. Schools, media, and investors are all keeping an eye on the growth. In fact, research shows that 80 percent of esports teams are comprised of students who have never before participated in extracurricular activities. Much like participation in an athletic team, esports players learn how to work together as an effective team by communicating and collaborating with each other. I believe the alignment of esports to the development of higher order thinking skills and social emotional learning with a path toward college scholarships combined with the high interest of adolescents for gaming activities ensures that esports will continue to grow for some time into the future.

–Remco Bergsma, CEO, MiEN Company

COVID forced teachers and students to rely on digital learning more than ever, but they came away with different lessons from the experience. Even teachers who were tech-shy found excellent tools to help create and deliver engaging classes, whereas many students found they missed school and interacting with their classmates. After online lessons, I don’t see teachers returning to binders of lesson ideas collected over years, but I do see teachers and students pushing back on the idea that digital is the solution—so hands-on learning, collaboration, and teamwork will take center stage for the next year or two. However, eventually, as post-stimulus costs begin to hit schools, digital, with its lower costs and higher margins, will be where districts and publishers come together to deliver engaging education with tighter budgets.

— Catherine Cahn, CEO, Twig Education

Edtech companies that fail to prioritize accessibility will be left behind. Now more than ever, students and teachers are seeing the real value edtech tools can bring to the classroom. As these tools become more integrated into the classroom, teachers will want to ensure that all students, including those with disabilities or language barriers, are being supported. This means that teachers will prefer to use tools from edtech companies that prioritize accessibility. Companies that don’t prioritize accessibility will be left behind as accessibility will become a major factor for edtech tools in 2022 and beyond.

–Jason Carroll, Chief Product Officer, Texthelp

2022 will be the year of decision making for K-12 educators. For over a year now, the focus has been on getting technology into the hands of students. With schools transitioning back to the classroom, we’re seeing what hopefully is the beginning of greater stabilization in education. Districts and schools that embraced new edtech tools since the start of the pandemic are learning what works for them. We will begin to see these schools and districts make more permanent decisions on the edtech tools they’re using and will continue to use in the future. With edtech usage higher than ever, the edtech industry will use this as an opportunity to evolve. Educators will use the data from the past two years to determine what works and where to go “all-in” to support student learning and classroom efficiencies.

–Jason Carroll, Chief Product Officer, Texthelp

Schools had a crash course in greater instructional technology usage during the pandemic. Teachers have gained so much confidence and are finally using educational technology in a way that enhances their instruction at a scale we haven’t seen. Districts now have a trove of data about which platforms and apps were actually being used (and enjoyed), and they can track that data against student performance in ways that just weren’t possible before. I predict that 2022 is going to be the year of edtech efficacy. District leaders are no longer reliant on the claims of edtech companies. They can now see what technology their teachers and students found useful, and whether or not that actually contributed to student growth. And there is power in that data, not just from the perspective of ROI, but also in the potential for teaching and learning and ensuring data privacy compliance. 

–Monica Cougan, Manager of Strategic Relationships and Initiatives, CatchOn

The start of this school year was a tough one for both students and teachers. Because much of last year was very unpredictable, the normal content and study skills were not fully taught. Students came into this year having not been held completely accountable during the previous year, having little experience in the lab, and in many cases lacking necessary content. During the first few months of this year, I spent a lot of time reviewing ways for the students to study, as well as making up for missing content. Because of the ever-changing schedule and environment of last year, many students simply lack the skills to be good students and require much more monitoring in class. This is where my Wacom Intuos has been so very helpful. I have used it to create quick and short review videos for content, lab procedures, and even study tips. Additionally, the tablet has Bluetooth, so I am able to carry on a lecture while walking around the classroom monitoring students as they take notes or work through problems. While I have had to readjust some of my teaching methodology, I have also come to appreciate all of the technology I learned to use this past year and plan on continuing to use it in my instruction.

–Lisa Cumming, Science Teacher, Olmsted Falls High School

A lot of students are struggling emotionally this year because of the pandemic and teaching is harder than it’s ever been because of this shift. Some of our kids haven’t been in school for two years and are having a hard time adjusting to being back in the classroom. Some have had too much screen time and it’s changed the way their brain works and we’re seeing more students qualifying for special education services and needing help. The pandemic moved most schools to 1:1, and monitoring those devices provides another way for teachers to help determine if students are struggling so they can get the help they need.

–Jami Davis, Technology Teacher, Mansfield Independent School District

COVID caused an uptick in parent engagement–this will be the new norm. Educators are feeling the change in parent-school relationships everywhere—an unexpected side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. We saw that communication between parents and educators soared during and after the shutdown. As students begin to settle back into an in-person routine, we must not lose the momentum caused by the groundswell in engagement. Now is the time for schools to establish communication processes, frequency, and consistency— while parents are still very comfortable with increased engagement and information. As such, over the next year we will see this momentum continue, as more schools realize the benefits of more meaningful communication between school and home and implement solutions to enable this.

–Russ Davis, CEO and Founder, SchoolStatus

We will see a continued surge in demand for K-12 digitized operations platforms. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and the resulting lockdowns and social distancing mandates, there has been a growing need for schools to adopt online school management software for a variety of functions, everything from virtual instruction to communication with student families to operational tasks. When schools were forced to pivot to virtual learning, that also meant finding a way to manage day-to-day operations that didn’t rely on being in person. In the schools that embraced this paradigm, this shift to digital operations resulted in greater efficiency and more time for classroom teachers to focus on teaching vs administrative tasks. This surge in demand will continue post-COVID, as schools work to increase their engagement with parents, provide more detailed reporting, and create more efficient, paperless administration systems.

–Russ Davis, CEO and Founder, SchoolStatus

Schools will look for educational solutions that meet the unique needs of their diverse student populations, not one-size-fits all options. Parents and students will expect schools to provide curriculum pathways that better prepare students for life after graduation, and that factor in student wellness and social emotional learning (SEL). To combat teacher shortages, through collaboration and the sharing of resources, schools will develop new partnerships and solutions for educating students in class and at a distance. Cybersecurity and maintaining student privacy will continue to be a high priority. As more districts use technology tools to deliver education in new ways, it will remain critically important to ensure that education taking place outside of classroom walls remains safe and secure. 

–Carol DeFuria, President & CEO, VHS Learning

As schools continue adjusting to the return to classrooms, educators are searching for ways to reignite student engagement and collaboration. Schools are turning to creative solutions such as immersive technology and gamification in the classroom. AR and VR, for instance, brings a fun element to a lesson and can help students develop critical thinking skills. We’ll continue to see schools and educators creating experiential lessons to better engage students and get them excited to be in school learning.

–Remi Del Mar, Senior Product Manager for K-12 Projectors, Epson America, Inc.

The last two years have shown that technology is a valuable tool that can help educators prepare for any circumstance and be more agile and flexible in a quickly changing educational environment. The pandemic has also highlighted the disparity in technology budgets and practices, revealing an opportunity to make technology work for all. It has become more apparent that technological advancement in education should be focused on rethinking educational approaches while strategically identifying and solving real challenges in the extended classroom. In 2022, education leaders and institutions will be more discerning with their technology investments and adoption to ensure they use strategically aligned, high-quality tech tools to enhance the educator’s role as facilitator, improve equity in student learning, and prepare them for whatever the future brings. As educators continue to vet and implement high-quality tech tools, automated processes will begin to free up time so they can work more closely with students one-on-one.

–Jeff Elliot, COO of UWorld

With COVID-19 we learned lessons that will carry over into 2022. The first is that technology will continue to play an important role in the classroom with expanded infrastructure and broader applications to increase teacher-student engagement. Secondly, we will see the need for greater access to real-time data and analytics to empower teachers to intervene when needed to accelerate individual student achievement. And thirdly, we believe that there will be more urgent attention paid to professional development for K-12 educators. This means instruction in evidence-based, proven methodologies for students and teachers that build on literacy as the foundation to all learning and that create a path to educational equity for all.

–Nick Gaehde, President, Lexia Learning

District leaders are telling us they’re looking for ways to ensure teachers feel supported in their classrooms — even when there are fewer coaches to provide support. This has meant conversations with us about streamlining feedback to teachers and increasing teacher-teacher collaboration. We’re discussing how to strategically implement video feedback “now” and replicate successful models from other districts.

–Adam Geller, Founder and CEO, Edthena

The classroom experience will include increased technology and personalized learning. I believe we’re going to see some really exciting trends in education technology in 2022–in particular, how teachers are applying the tools they discovered during remote learning and incorporating them into an entirely new classroom experience. During the course of the pandemic, we’ve seen how technology can benefit teachers.Using the right edtech tools has been shown to give teachers more time and freedom to focus on improving outcomes for students. Through the use of edtech tools, we will see teachers be able to differentiate instruction, support, and encourage every student on a much different scale, especially as students re-learn or seek to catch up on certain concepts that were disrupted during the past year.

— Ryan Graham, Chief Technology Officer, Texthelp

Districts will move to adopt the Science of Reading to increase reading gains: The research to support this approach to teaching and the efficacy of it in application is strong. Schools are realizing that many of their teachers were not taught this approach to instruction. Districts will have the burden to ensure their teachers play catch up.

–Amy Gulley, M.Ed Literacy and Curriculum, Certified Academic Language Therapist C.A.L.T and IDA Certified Dyslexia Specialist

Schools, districts and states will work to figure out policy changes to help reduce the inequities in education. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a heightened awareness of the important role parents play in a child’s education, but it has also brought a heightened awareness to the inequities we face across the nation to, not just virtual learning, but parental leave to be at home with their kids, time away from their jobs with no funding reprieve, and the need to have basic knowledge/understanding of what their children are learning on schools. As a country, we now have to figure out how to close the inequity gaps and make sure all students and parents have a level playing field. 

–Amy Gulley, M.Ed Literacy and Curriculum, Certified Academic Language Therapist C.A.L.T and IDA Certified Dyslexia Specialist

Schools will make changes to provide systematic instruction and stem the bleed of learning loss. The gaps will have to be filled from the COVID-19 pandemic; as administrators begin to witness the widening of learning gaps, they will have to assure that teachers are equipped to provide systematic and focused instruction. Many states will receive federal ESSR funds to increase professional development for teachers and help support systematic instruction.

–Amy Gulley, M.Ed Literacy and Curriculum, Certified Academic Language Therapist C.A.L.T and IDA Certified Dyslexia Specialist

Many schools that applied for grants during the pandemic are only now getting access to awarded funds.  Now that the most urgent phase of the crisis is past, learning technology leaders can assess how to implement technology that both prepares them for the next emergency and better supports students’ everyday learning needs. Collaboration technology improves accessibility for students with disabilities, illnesses, and other impediments to in-person learning. They also offer benefits in terms of soft skills and workforce readiness. Even very young students now have access to and experience with tools for both synchronous and a synchronous collaboration. Today’s students going to emerge from school already very comfortable with the technological tools of the modern workforce. This increased ability to collaborate at a distance hasn’t made in-person learning obsolete, however. Hybrid capabilities will continue to roll out across campuses specifically so that we can avoid another total shutdown. With hybrid classrooms, schools can ask students to quarantine on a targeted basis rather than issuing a blanket shutdown. In 2022, we’ll see a continued focus on bringing solutions into the classroom that support both continuous operations and safety in the event of a crisis, such as auto-tracking cameras. Such technology allows instructors to teach in-person students normally – but any remote students can keep track of everything happening in the classroom. Moving forward, the question will be not, “should we implement collaborative technology in the classroom,” but, “which tools have the most impact for students – wherever they’re located.

— Stephen Heywood, Broadcast Engineer, PTZOptics

As schools and districts focus on closing learning gaps after more than a full school year of virtual and hybrid learning, I predict that resources that help teachers provide differentiated learning will be in high demand. Many schools are using part of the funds from the America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for one-on-one or small-group tutoring, which is seen by experts as one of the most effective ways to address learning recovery. Our team is hearing from parents and school leaders that students need more individual support than they can get in a classroom setting. Tutors can almost act as virtual teaching assistants, helping students grasp even the most nuanced concepts of a lesson—without requiring time and energy that classroom teachers simply don’t have. Looking forward to 2022, I believe that any tool students can use anywhere and anytime to receive quality, personalized instruction will be invaluable.

–Myles Hunter, Co-Founder and CEO, TutorMe

As more teachers retire and leave the profession, 2022 will be a year of reckoning for the country. The importance of professional teachers will emerge as an important national conversation. There will be added pressure by governments and businesses to prepare teachers, pay them, and elevate their professional standing. While this shift won’t happen in a single year, 2022 will be seen as a pivotal shift in the zeitgeist.

–John Jorgenson, CMO, Cambium

While the youth unemployment rate is receding from its record high in 2020, the rate is still concerningly high at a time when we see college enrollments at an all-time low. This should be ringing some alarms about the ways we have failed to prepare students for postsecondary success. I predict that in 2022, we are going to see a big push from the business community to start expanding career and technical education programs in high schools to help build out the workforce pipeline and address the critical worker shortage. My hope is that district leaders take a more active role in that design process instead of deferring solely to the expertise of business leaders. A true collaboration between K-12, higher education, and workforce leaders is going to ensure students get the support and training they need to be successful post-graduation, whether they choose to go to college, join the workforce, or some combination of both.

–Dr. Charles Khoury, District Superintendent, Ulster BOCES

Gamification:The world is moving from the content era to the engagement era. Now the most important thing is interactions. More educators and programs are choosing to gamify lessons — and students are responding positively.

–Manan Khurma, Founder, Cuemath

A rise in personalized learning and use of data analytics to help students: Student analytics allow educators to better determine how best to teach students. Programs use data to help identify learning behaviors and styles which provide better results. 

–Manan Khurma, Founder, Cuemath

In 2021, we learned to adjust one’s mindsets, to recognize and appreciate cultural needs, and the impact of social and emotional well-being. In 2022, social and emotional learning will become ubiquitous, integrated in everything we do to support both, students and educators, and their families.

–Lupita Knittel, President, 7 Mindsets

Greater legislation about how teachers teach students how to read: We are going to start seeing more and more state legislation requiring that universities teach pre-service teachers about linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, and how the brain learns to read. Districts will forgo a ‘wait to fail’ model where students are identified in third or fourth grade before receiving the instruction they need vs. giving instruction to all students from the onset of school.

–Janice Kohler-Curtis, Chief Academic Officer, The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education

More investment in teacher training and certification: Districts are realizing that teachers are the best resource for any school. Teacher knowledge is imperative to move students forward. Teachers want programs that they can implement immediately: not just something they read from a book. Educators want something they can implement through knowledge, partnerships, and fidelity. Certification will become increasingly more important to ensure fidelity, and cohorts of teachers will pop up who are dedicated to making significant changes.

–Janice Kohler-Curtis, Chief Academic Officer, The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education

Increased support to prevent teacher shortage: Teachers who remain in education have a passion for it and are dedicated to helping children. The past two years have been very challenging for educators. Districts will see the importance of giving teachers the tools to be successful, provide support, and show greater appreciation of them to prevent quality educators from leaving the field.

–Janice Kohler-Curtis, Chief Academic Officer, The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education

My school is always looking for new and innovative ways to engage students in STEM, and this will continue to be a focus in 2022. An example of this will be providing students with ample opportunities to learn about astronomical concepts through the use of Slooh. They will be able to explore space through the use of online telescope feeds, participate in class-wide learning quests, and share what they learn with others. This will encourage ongoing communication and collaboration as students participate in meaningful, real-world STEM learning.

—Nicollette LeTellier, STEM Specialist for K-5, Swift Water Elementary School

Competency-based education will emerge across K-12.After the pandemic, schools will need to find a way to measure where their students are academically, developmentally, and socially to make their best efforts to remediate learning loss of all kinds.

—Keith Look, Ed.D., VP of Equity and Innovation, K-12, Territorium

Technology will be tailored to support through-course assessment.Rather than an end-of-year, single high-stakes test, conversations are picking up around scaffolding the high stakes testing model, whereby students take pieces of exams as they progress. And those exams–as the learner progresses–will include questions from previous assessments to ensure information is being retained.  Technology will be better equipped to evaluate threads across time as well as single point-in-time measures.

—Keith Look, Ed.D., VP of Equity and Innovation, K-12, Territorium

Performance assessment will gain in its share of the spotlight.With every living room, bedroom, or community center becoming a classroom during the pandemic, the education arena became more open to accepting new kinds of evidence of student learning. This has helped to break down barriers to the perception that there is only one way to prove what a student knows and is ready to learn how to do next.

—Keith Look, Ed.D., VP of Equity and Innovation, K-12, Territorium

Connectivity will be the winner–both on a technological level and a social/emotional level. We’re already beginning to see many school districts invest in social and emotional learning for the upcoming year, and there’s an increased appetite for asynchronous learning as the pandemic has shown that some students prefer this learning environment. Social connections are crucial, and teachers and students will benefit from technologies built to replicate the social aspects of the classroom.

— Abbas Manjee, Former Educator and Co-Founder of Kiddom

2022 will see the birth of digital native curriculum. In the age of remote learning, a myth has emerged that school districts have to make a choice between quality and flexibility when it comes to curriculum. The reality is that curriculum authored on paper doesn’t always transition smoothly to a digital format, especially when it comes to in-person partner activities and other traditional learning activities. In 2022, school districts need to break that mindset and invest in curriculum specifically authored for digital tools.

— Abbas Manjee, Former Educator and Co-Founder, Kiddom

Technology that supports engagement, interactivity, and social connection will be key to retaining and recruiting teachers. The idea of the digital market is further along than the adoption of it, and teachers are getting tired. In fact, two-thirds of teachers will be ready for retirement in the next 15 years, a trend that isn’t expected to slow down. Teachers want to use technology and digital curriculum to free themselves from some of the other work they’d been doing beforehand. To attract new talent, we must use 21st century tools in classrooms. 

— Abbas Manjee, Former Educator and Co-Founder, Kiddom

At the end of the day, how school districts operate with regard to data will be key.There’s a dire need for new measurement systems aside from end-of-year letter grades. The school districts that win next year will be the ones that invest in and use real-time data to show their end user (families) that an impact is being made and adjustments are being implemented accordingly. Reliance on traditional methods of accountability within both a hybrid and in-person school system will not be fruitful in the long term.

— Abbas Manjee, Former Educator and Co-Founder, Kiddom

Over the past year and a half, school administrators, teachers, and IT support staff and students themselves have been working in a complex threat environment. The pandemic and major increase in cyberattacks has resulted in closures for both in-person and online schools. While this will only continue into 2022, it will be importance for security and IT professionals that support schools to align their policies, procedures, and technical controls to a cybersecurity framework that fits the needs of their organization, such as the recently announced K-12 resources announced jointly by the FBI and CISA. Using a formal framework can help schools effectively identify and mitigate gaps in school security postures without substantial budget increases. Schools should also consider a quarterly exercise to re-audit their password stores, as the number of compromised passwords will only continue to increase in the year ahead. A password that was secure three months ago may have appeared in a data breach (especially since students and adults tend to use the same passwords for multiple accounts) and may no longer be a secure option. Although it’s hard to predict what’s to come for educational institutions moving forward and future of remote and hybrid learning is going to be uncertain, education professionals should expect to see threat actors continue to target schools that have not taken a proactive approach to cybersecurity and deployed the appropriate defenses.

—Kayne McGladrey, IEEE Senior Member, Cybersecurity Strategist, Ascent Solutions

Tracking students’ wellbeing and mental health will become a priority. Our students have been greatly affected by the pandemic. In March 2020, many were either starting school for the first time or in critical developmental years and had to go to school virtually. Now, three school years later, it is fair to say that this generation of students will be like no other. Teachers, district leaders, and parents need to make a conscious effort to keep track of students’ well-being and mental health. We cannot expect today or tomorrow’s students to be like previous generations. They’ve had a tremendously difficult start to their education, and it’ll likely have a lasting impact. Now more than ever, we need to put students’ mental health first,”

–Martin McKay, CEO and Founder, Texthelp

The impact of technology in the classroom will not go unnoticed. We saw a significant increase in the use of education technology due to COVID-19. I truly do not see there being a decrease any time soon, especially not in 2022. The pandemic triggered the deployment of 1:1 devices for students. Across the board, we saw more laptops in the hands of young people than ever before. While this is very likely due to schools across the world having to go remote, it is probable that teachers and students will continue to choose these technologies in the classroom moving forward. And, with educators now seeing the impact and benefits of having devices and technology tools, I don’t see us fully turning back to paper and pen. Through the use of technology tools, we will be able to give our students a greater education that is more individualized to their needs and learning styles. While the deployment of edtech tools has been substantial, educators must make sure all students have the same opportunity and access to these tools. A major focus will be on ensuring that disadvantaged students and families have equal access.

–Martin McKay, CEO and Founder, Texthelp

Students have seen increased access to school-issued devices and improved connectivity in a learning environment that combines in-person and remote learning in the last few years. As a result of these significant changes to their learning experience, 2022 will continue to highlight the importance of student safety, both emotional safety and digital safety. Teachers, who have been adapting to similar paradigm shifts, will need to acknowledge the students’ emotional needs and empower them with the resources they need to continue their education. Schools must combine digital security solutions to protect against cyberthreats with filtering solutions that ensure a safe learning environment for the students regardless of where they are. Lastly, “The Great Resignation” has affected every industry including education. Teachers are leaving their jobs and schools need to find ways to retain talent. One of the ways to empower teachers is offering professional development specific to the technology they use to run their hybrid classrooms. Empowering teachers will benefit the entire classroom experience and in turn drive student success.

-Suraj Mohandas, Senior Director of Education Strategy, Jamf

School safety and student wellbeing continue to be significant concerns for school districts this year. As a result we’re seeing an increased demand for our Student Safety and Wellness courses as well as our online Safety and Compliance courses for staff – everything from youth suicide prevention, to how to respond to and prevent bullying, to active shooter training. With most school districts back in-person, it’s important to be vigilant and proactive about safety issues, and for school administrators to make sure both employees and students have the resources they need.

–Justin Moore, K-12 Sales Director, Vector Solutions

Game-based learning is certainly proving its mettle in classrooms and in enhancing the overall learning experience in the edtech sector. With the excess of content and decreasing attention span of students, it is very important to arouse the interest and involvement of students, especially those in the K-12 sector. The biggest advantage of game-based learning is that it keeps students motivated and absorbed, but most importantly, makes learning fun. It also helps overcome anxiety, which is so typical of a classroom environment and helps retain concepts with spaced repetition. The educational sector is now also appreciating the value of data analytics. Learning analytics systems use student behaviors, or ‘digital breadcrumbs,’ to collate the traces left behind and use those traces for improving learning by providing insights to educators on how best to teach their students.

–Joy Deep Nath, Co-Founder, SplashLearn

New technologies will support equity in K-12 parent communication. Now more than ever, schools need to make it a priority to remove technology, language, and access barriers to parent engagement to create an environment where all kids can succeed. Most communication solutions have built-in economic or social barriers such as requiring parents to own a smartphone or computer, have reliable Wi-Fi, have time to spend communicating, and too often, to speak English. Equity in K-12 parent communication is about breaking through barriers and reaching parents in ways that are direct and convenient. That is why what we are already seeing, and will continue to see, is a growing demand for K-12 technologies and platforms that support more equitable parent communication and collaboration. Beyond the basic mass communication platforms, or grade/attendance portals, these new platforms fuse data and communications, and offer multiple modes of communications and translation capabilities that enable expanded educator understanding of student home life, increased professional and productive communication between teachers and parents, and shared parent understanding of curriculum and course goals.” 

–Leslie Ortego, Director of Customer Success, SchoolStatus

Social emotional learning will be a key area of focus in K-12. Social emotional learning (SEL) has grown in importance among schools. Schools are looking for ways to track and monitor SEL. One thing we have learned is that to successfully monitor SEL it takes a lot of two-way communication between the school and parents to stay abreast of and address any issues. To meet these needs, schools are implementing communications platforms with expanded capabilities that enable schools and classroom educators to have more in-depth, meaningful discussions with parents. Schools are also tracking metrics such as sports and activities involvement, chronic absenteeism, and disciplinary infractions to capture, track and monitor the social emotional health of their students. In the coming year, there will be an increased focus on social emotional learning, along with issues such as learning loss and chronic absenteeism, and finding ways to track and address these issues.

–Leslie Ortego, Director of Customer Success, SchoolStatus

This past year, some districts have worked tirelessly to address the unfinished learning that many students have faced over the past 21 months. As we turn the calendar to another new year, I believe public schools, districts, and charter schools will need to cultivate: Next-Level Resilience: To overcome and succeed through adversity, standing on their continuous improvement models and pathways developed along the way. Continued Innovation: And unleash the power of technology in the hands of trained educators to propel K-12 forward by leveraging and creating innovative initiatives to address the noted learning losses and this includes rapidly evolving and strengthening the ability to reach and teach students with engaging online learning opportunities. Social-Emotional Learning Endeavors: To ‘Lean In’ on the importance and necessity to develop and support Social Emotional Learning initiatives and address this critical foundation need for students and their academic communities. Targeted Instruction and Acceleration Focus TO SCALE and SUSTAIN: So districts can push the envelope on scaling strategic and targeted supports, like tutoring and acceleration models that can sustain for the long-term along with pairing their ESSER initiatives with research to deliver a sustainable pathway.

–Ryan Patenaude, Senior Vice President and Co-Founder, FEV Tutor

During the 2021 back-to-school season, we have witnessed a tremendous desire and need for SEL assessments across our customer base and throughout the nation.  Our partners are implementing district-wide initiatives because of increased COVID funding, allowing them to implement SEL assessments. Our partners realize the extreme learning loss that results from not supporting their students’ SEL needs through the application of adaptive, collaborative strategies and we expect this need to continue to increase.

–Stacey Preator, Vice President of Customer Experience, Aperture Education

Classrooms will become more democratic. Post-pandemic educators are feeling the pressure to “do it all.” We’ve all felt so out of control that our natural inclination is to hold the reins tighter. But we all know that’s unsustainable. Couple that with the fact that students are out of practice with their interpersonal skills and feeling especially disconnected from their learning. Something has to give. I predict that in 2022, we will start to see more democratic classrooms, where teachers share more authority with their students to embrace their expertise and experience. And because we know students are capable of struggle, we will start to trust them to take more risks, to be more critical and ask more questions, and to grow their confidence to use the thinking and content both in and out of the classroom to improve and enrich their schools and communities. By taking those small steps, teachers will have greater capacity to not only re-examine better and more diverse ways for students to demonstrate mastery, but to also seek out communities of practice to collaborate with and learn from their peers. 

–Christine Schepeler, Instructional Coach and Partnerships Director, STEM Ed Innovators

Simplification of the teachers’ technology toolkit:Districts drowned in apps during the pandemic in an effort to quickly assemble a virtual learning strategy. In 2022, institutions will start to commit to specific programs (Zoom vs Microsoft teams) or buy into a comprehensive learning management ecosystem.  Schools will pull in the reins on what was the proverbial ‘Wild West’ of technology experienced over the past few years.

—Terry Shrader, VP of K12 Growth, U.S., Territorium

Advancements will support simultaneous synchronous and asynchronous instruction. The technology to support the delivery of live in-person teaching with online instruction remains clunky (sound, small groups, camera tracking, whiteboards, etc.) Someone will see the opportunity in filling the need to improve these systems.

—Terry Shrader, VP of K12 Growth, U.S., Territorium

There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has ushered in a time of rapid change in education. In 2022, I envision fatigue with the online and virtual learning experiences of 2020 and 2021 turning into new and emerging instructional models. As they’ve become more well equipped with technology, schools will look at effective ways to combine face-to-face engagement with online/virtual learning opportunities in balance with each other. Each can play a powerful role in helping create flexibility, while also supporting student academic learning and well-being. Schools are experimenting and innovating more. Some schools will dabble in flexible schedules, for example. Schools will try new ideas and quickly scrap those that are not working. I think that’s exciting.

–Shawn Smith, Chief Innovation Officer, McGraw Hill

Another trend in 2022 will be a deeper focus on social emotional learning (SEL) and mental health in the classroom. This is a continuation of a trend that has emerged in recent years and become even more important during the pandemic. For students to succeed academically, they will also need to learn skills like managing emotions, feeling empathy for others and developing the ability to persevere, focus and more.

–Shawn Smith, Chief Innovation Officer, McGraw Hill

School districts will need to leverage data to address inequities. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on schools and students across the nation. In addition to academic impacts, many students are also facing widening achievement gaps, social emotional and economic challenges. While all students were impacted, the impacts have been most severe for those who were already at the greatest risk of not graduating — students with language and learning barriers, and those experiencing poverty. As schools struggle to recover from these impacts, it will be imperative that districts prioritize data and school-home communication to support its most at-risk students. Comprehensive data on the student, classroom, and school level will be critical to understanding the disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic and addressing the resulting inequities system-wide.

–Joy Smithson, Ph.D., Data Scientist, SchoolStatus

Cybersecurity is not a new topic, but as schools continue to increase the size of their data centers, server counts, and data and software options, their liabilities continue to increase. Five to seven years ago, it felt a bit obtuse to consider cybersecurity insurance as a valid need, yet over the years its significance has grown to the point where now it is an absolute necessity.  Mitigating risk today requires staying on top of training staff, using a secure and updated firewall, multi-factor authentication (MFA) for accounts, and going to the cloud with systems and data. We need to make sure there are no open doors into the network, by having top-notch security on all assets, including peripherals such as networked projection systems. We recognize that nothing is 100% safe and will even store certain data configurations in a secure offsite location to insure recoverable access in the event of a natural disaster or attack.

–Tony Spence, Chief Information Officer, Muskego-Norway School District

2022 will be a year that disconnected communications functions from various education products evolve into Parent Relationship Management systems, as parents deal with the longer-term fallout of rapid transitions to edtech tools during the pandemic; and the demand for new solutions to handle families being overwhelmed with digital communications.

–Chad A. Stevens, Ph.D, Chief Strategy Officer, ParentSquare

The pandemic has prompted a pivot to virtual options for students and staff. For example, last year we implemented OPEN Classroom which allows any family to access free daily online lessons, parent guides and resources. And our HR department has pivoted to conduct employee interviews, testing, onboarding, and new hire orientations virtually. Online professional development tools from Vector Solutions also allow us to conduct and manage our teacher evaluations online and to offer an e-sign in option for PD events instead of using paper sign-in sheets.  Moving more of our resources online has provided flexibility for our staff – something that will continue to be important for schools in the coming year.

–Monica Strain, HR Specialist,  Springs Charter Schools

This school year has met educators with many challenges, and some hope.  Educators are so happy to be back in buildings with students, however, they are facing more pressure to close gaps, and are still having to deal with students absent, parent frustrations and getting sick themselves.  The pressures of teaching haven’t changed, so those who support them need to. Now more than ever, it is important to provide opportunities for educators to focus on self-care as they continue to create classroom environments where all students will thrive, build relationships with students, and use the right technology tools to help students grow academically.  Administrators and edtech companies alike need to support educators in doing this important work, and ensuring they feel seen, heard, and validated just as much as their students.

–Danielle Sullivan, National Director of Content and Implementation, Curriculum Associates

This year we’re hearing from a lot of school leaders who are experiencing more and more turnover among deeply valued staff members. To remain attractive as employers, school districts need to consider remote work solutions. “My former co-op now has four remote therapists who would have left if not for their ability to work remotely,” said Mike Lowers, former executive director of Central Kansas Cooperative in Education. “They were able to stay on with the school and continue services, which was huge for them, our school, and especially the students!” While some roles do not lend themselves to remote work, many special education therapy services can be, and already are, delivered remotely. The schools that embrace this approach are likely to be the ones that win the battle for employee retention.

–Kate Eberle Walker, CEO, PresenceLearning

In 2022, many learning institutions will investigate the use of digital identities as a way to safeguard online learning environments for future technologies like the metaverse. Digital identity, a construct for representing students and understanding their educational journeys, is the foundation for the metaverse and other blockchain-based applications. With safe and secure access, the metaverse will be a boon for education. Experiential learning has historically been limited by cost as well as space and time itself — it’s simply impossible for the majority of students to visit China to learn about the Great Wall and be back by recess. The metaverse will unlock an unprecedented level of digital equity in education. For the cost of an internet connection and technology such as a VR headset, students of all backgrounds will have access to new learning experiences. The metaverse is here, and implementing digital identities is the first step towards widespread accessibility in 2022.

–Michael Webb, CTO, Identity Automation

Looking ahead to 2022, I believe that the edtech infrastructure that was stood up to support the continuity of learning—1:1 learning, better student access to Wi-Fi beyond the classrooms, etc.—at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic will serve an important role in bringing a host of powerful new technologies to teachers and students. The one technology I believe that is primed to make a big splash in classrooms is augmented reality. Augmented reality empowers teachers to create interactive learning experiences by showing virtual examples of concepts and adding gaming elements to instruction. For example, students can immerse themselves in a moment from history, like the reign of Tutankhamen, and enjoy experiences, explore landscapes, observe key events, and manipulate 3-D objects via their device. These experiences not only heighten student engagement with the digital content, but support students’ ability to retain knowledge by experiencing them through augmented reality. A big plus on the side of augmented reality becoming more deeply embedded in instruction in 2022 is the fact that in addition to the infrastructure being already in place, students are already using it in their personal lives through popular consumer and social apps. So, in 2022, teachers should be on the lookout for a host of new apps and tools they can use to create immersive classroom experiences that more deeply engage all learners.

–Pete Weir, Chief Product Officer, Discovery Education

Educators have faced continuing challenges this school year addressing learning loss and, in some cases, dealing with temporary closures or hybrid teaching. This continues to shine a light on technology equity issues as well as the challenge of keeping all students engaged regardless if they are in or out of the classroom. As such, school and district leaders should look to repurpose the tools and technology they invested in for hybrid or remote learning to augment in-person, synchronous instruction.

–John Wheeler, CEO, Vernier Software & Technology  

We predict edtech resources for district and school leaders will be abundant, fueled by the significant funding from the federal government. From a sourcing perspective, we can see districts aiming to centralize the purchase, training, support, and evaluation of digital instruction. Decisions will be made to trim choices in favor of higher-fidelity implementations to optimize outcomes. Edtech providers that were historically having site-by-site conversations are increasingly having district-level conversations, which we expect to continue into the new year. Lastly, though AI and natural language innovations have been evolving for several years, expect to see some innovative new uses in the education market by the end of 2022, expanding more rapidly in future years. There will be continued exploration around uses of blockchain in edtech, as well as an eye on Web 3.0 development and the benefits it may bring.

–Brett Woudenberg, CEO, MIND Research Institute, Creators of ST Math

I predict that homeschooling’s rise in popularity will continue into 2022 due, in large part, to two factors. First, the alignment of homeschooling curriculum with brick-and-mortar schools makes it easier for families to seamlessly transition between homeschooling and in-person instruction without much disruption. Second, homeschooling techniques — flexibility, student-paced learning and technology-first academics – are now mainstream, which will lead to more homeschooling growth and a paradigm shift in classrooms.

–Jaya Yoo, SVP of Product Development, Learning A-Z

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• Using data insight platforms to improve SEL strategies
• 5 tips to help students master foundational skills
• Teacher Shortages: Viable Solutions to Meet Immediate Needs

Related:
Big thoughts in edtech
Sharing best practices

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• 4 ways to design collaborative learning spaces
• Free internet could erase the digital divide
• STEM lessons straight from the classroom

Related:
Big thoughts in edtech
Sharing best practices

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• How edtech is embedded in Society 5.0
• How digital equity enhances cybersecurity in schools
• Blended and hybrid learning–the future of education

Edtech is the combination of IT tools and educational practices aimed at facilitating scalable individualized learning. It comprises the whole world of computer-aided education and training, along with the use of digital tools and resources.

There are numerous advantages to educational technology. Students learn at different rates, and from diverse ways. Efficient reading is best for some students to gain knowledge, while others rely more on audio visual materials.

These tools deliver personalized learning and training that can automatically adjust to an individual’s learning competence. Edtech combines educational theory and technological innovation to meet the learning needs of students. 

The use of edtech allows students to increase their level of technological literacy. It also encourages learning outside of the classroom environment.

Edtech has expanded from early usage in elementary school to college degrees online. This technology equalizes standards, and enables access for all, resulting in the democratization of education. (1)

Digital learning tools include any program, app, or technology that can be accessed via an internet connection. (2) These tools make use of a broad range of technology-enhanced educational strategies. Digital learning encompasses online learning or e-learning. (3)

Online resources are available on the web, and will allow a student to proceed with studies off campus. Student should make a schedule for these studies, and find the appropriate websites. Self-motivation and persistence are requirements for online learning. It is important to create a working space, and reduce distractions. This will allow one to readily focus on the work to be done.

Related:
How edtech is embedded in Society 5.0
3 tips to balance the back-to-analog edtech transition

The pandemic saw countless education institutes scramble in a bid to offer remote learning, which just highlighted how ill-prepared they were for future learning.

But in this transition, we also learned something vital: Edtech learning helps to level the playing field for those who are unable to join regular classes due to location, illness, or financial constraints. It offers access to courses that many could only have dreamed of, and it allows for education to be consumed on the students’ own terms, around work, family commitments, or other appointments.

It suddenly opened the door to those with young children or those working in low-paid jobs who wanted to learn more skills and fit them around their working hours. Entrepreneurs could learn vital skills such as business strategies, investments, marketing and more, enabling them to pivot to a digital business plan in an ever-changing world.

And now, as we embark on Society 5.0, the age of collaboration and the balancing of economic advancement with the resolution of social problems, we are beginning to see edtech and digital learning becoming embedded in our lives.

Children and adults alike learn better when engaged, and in this virtual world, engagement can be driven via gamification and by encompassing forward-thinking technology such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). By utilizing AI, we will also see a more personalized and varied curriculum that will enable more students to find their purpose. In this scenario, fewer students will be left to fall through the gaps–a problem that we see time and time again with traditional education.

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Educators who use technology as part of their teaching practice report that they are more aware of their students’ individual needs (61 percent) and more likely to be leveraging technology purposely to tailor learning for their students (61 percent), according to results from a national survey from education nonprofit Gradient Learning.

What’s more, teachers using technology are more than twice as likely to report that they spend more one-on-one time with their students.

Teachers using digital learning tools are more likely than teachers on average nationwide to see a stronger connection between the effective use of technology and positive changes in their instructional practice.

When teachers use digital tools, they are actually more likely to say they are very comfortable differentiating instruction and getting to know their students — emphasizing the positive impact technology can have on a classroom.

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