Teaching and Learning – The 6 Fundamental Technologies Moving them Forward in 2021
In its most recent Horizon Report, Educause identifies the key trends influencing teaching and learning in 2014. The research specifically listed six technologies and processes that are essential for higher education institutions’ long-term planning, regardless of whether they are currently in development or have undergone changes in recent years. They are subjects that may appear in Horizon Reports one year, disappear the next, and then reappear the following year “more organically, reflecting the most pressing issues,” the report said. Artificial intelligence, free resources for learning, and learning analytics are areas that have recurred in this year’s list of significant technologies. Three additional categories, including quality online learning, micro certification, and blended and hybrid course formats, are added to them. Here are the topmost six trends and technologies for 2021.
The 6 Fundamental Technologies
Artificial intelligence. According to the report, AI is becoming more prevalent in all sectors of higher education teaching and learning, including learning management systems, proctoring, assessment, student information systems, office productivity, library services, admissions, disability support, mobile apps, and more. The vast majority of the time, it is employed to “address standing or current challenges in teaching, learning, and learner success.” However, due to ongoing issues with bias in AI technology and the ethics of data collection, higher education must not only be a careful and moral user of AI but also reconsider its educational mission in order to better assist students “in a world in which AI is well on its way to becoming commonplace.”
Open scholarly sources. The paper claimed that “the global pandemic threw in stark relief the growing importance of open educational resources.” Faculty and students flocked to digital resources that are free or inexpensive, obtainable from everywhere, and usable on any device as courses quickly transitioned online. Nevertheless, “it remains to be seen if the pandemic will have any lasting impact on awareness and adoption once students begin returning to face-to-face instruction.”
Analytics for learning. The research made note of the fact that many various departments and positions within higher education institutions can make use of learning analytics. To better identify and analyze the demands and obstacles of learner communities, educational advisors, department chairmen, offices of access or disability services, and other areas of academic assistance frequently use learning analytics in addition to instructors. The widespread availability and utilization of data, however, also raises a number of ethical concerns, such as “transparency, data ownership and control, accessibility of data, validity, and reliability of data, institutional responsibility and obligation to act, communications, cultural values, inclusion, consent, and student agency and responsibility.”
Hybrid and blended course models. The epidemic hastened the development of online and hybrid educational models, “forcing higher education to become inventive and create an array of new course models to cope with a truly unique situation,” the research said. Both students and teachers had to change how they worked, and even the classrooms themselves needed to be modified to make way for the new hybrid models. The question is whether post-pandemic schools will stick with these new models, go back to more conventional in-person instruction, or try to find a middle ground. A chance exists for higher education, according to the report, to “find the right balance point to best serve its teaching and learning mission.”
Excellent online education. Institutions have used a range of tactics, including templates, self-directed courses, consulting, resource hubs with carefully selected materials, and more, to assist faculty in creating high-quality courses and instructing well online. According to the survey, many faculty realized that teaching online meant more than just emulating the face-to-face experience via Zoom. It also noted that upholding quality standards is essential to enhancing the online learning experience. Institutions have needed to refocus on quality after making the initial transition to emergency online instruction and start a “more deliberate transformational process that ensures the instructional content is student centered, aligned with programmatic learning outcomes, accessible to all learners, and effectively designed and delivered.”
Microcredentialing. Microcredentials, which are quickly taking root in the higher education scene, are described as courses of study that “verify, validate, and attest that specific skills and/or competencies have been achieved,” according to the paper. Compared to traditional degrees or certificates, they are typically given in shorter or more flexible timeframes and have a more specialized concentration. As the workforce needs continue to alter as a result of changes in technological infrastructure and the upskilling and reskilling that follows, microcredentials will be especially important in workforce training. As they plot the course of their response to labor needs, institutions will need to reevaluate their processes for developing curricula, the connections between their credit and noncredit applications, and the ways in which they are catering to an increasingly varied audience of learners.
On the research portal for the 2021 Horizon Project, you can access the complete report and more resources.
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