6 Key Technologies Moving Teaching and Learning Forward in 2021 -- Campus Technology

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6 key technologies that will drive teaching and learning in 2021

Educause's latest Horizon report outlines the biggest trends shaping teaching and learning this year. In particular, the report identified six technologies and practices that are critical to the future planning of higher education institutions, whether these issues are emerging or evolving from previous years. These are topics that may come, go, and return to Horizon Reports year after year "more organically and with the latest issues in mind," the report stated. In this year's list of key technologies, the categories artificial intelligence, open educational resources and learning analytics have repeatedly appeared in the report. There are also three new categories: mixed and hybrid course models, high-quality online learning and micro-crediting. Here are the six most important technologies and practices for 2021.

Artificial intelligence. The report states that AI occurs throughout teaching and learning in higher education, touching areas such as learning management systems, monitoring, assessment, student information systems, office productivity, library services, admissions, support for the disabled, mobile apps and more. In most cases it is used to "address ongoing or current challenges in teaching, learning and learner success". However, the problems of bias in AI technology and the ethics of data collection persist. Hence, it is imperative for higher education to not only be a careful and ethical user of AI, but also to redefine the teaching mission to better serve students "in a world in" which AI is on its way to becoming commonplace become. "

Open educational resources. "The global pandemic has greatly facilitated the growing importance of open educational resources," the report said. As courses quickly shifted online, faculty and students turned to digital materials that are free or inexpensive and accessible from anywhere and on any device. Still, "it remains to be seen whether the pandemic will have a lasting impact on awareness and adoption once students return to face-to-face classes."

Learn analytics. The report indicated that learning analytics can be used by many different areas and roles in universities. "In addition to teachers, it is common for academic advisors, department heads, access or disability offices, and other areas of academic support to use learning analytics to better understand and interpret learners' needs and challenges." At the same time, the widespread availability and use of data is accompanied by ethical issues, including “transparency, data ownership and control, accessibility of data, validity and reliability of data, institutional responsibility and duty to act, communication, cultural values, inclusion, consent and student agency and responsibility . "

Mixed and hybrid course models. The pandemic accelerated the development of online and blended learning models and "forced higher education to get inventive and create a range of new course models to cope with a truly unique situation," the report said. Both students and faculty had to adapt their practices, and even the classrooms themselves had to be upgraded to accommodate new hybrid models. The question is whether post-pandemic institutions will keep these new models, return to more traditional personal education, or strike a middle ground. According to the report, there is an opportunity for higher education to "find the right balance point to best fulfill its teaching and learning mission".

High quality online learning. The institutions have employed a variety of strategies to help faculties design quality courses and teach effectively online: templates, self-directed courses, counseling, resource hubs for curated materials, and more. "Many faculties found that online teaching meant more than just reproducing the personal experience through zoom," the report said. Compliance with quality standards is the key to improving the online learning experience. After taking the first step towards online emergency teaching, institutions had to renew their focus on quality and "initiate a more deliberate transformation process that ensures classroom content is student-centered, programmatic learning outcomes, accessible to all learners, and effectively designed and delivered."

Micro-credit. Microloans are fast becoming a "mainstay of the higher education landscape" and are defined as programs of study that "review, validate and acknowledge that certain skills and / or competencies have been achieved," the report explained. They are "usually offered in shorter or shorter periods of time," more flexible time spans and tend to be more focused "than traditional degrees or certificates. Microcredit, in particular, will play a key role in manpower training as the need for manpower increases due to changes in technology Infrastructure and the resulting qualification and retraining evolve to further develop qualification of the workforce. "Institutions must" their curriculum development processes, the relationships between their credit and non-credit programs, and the way in which they serve an increasingly diverse audience of learners , rethinking "as they" map out their evolution "responding to the needs of the workforce. "

The full report and additional materials can be found at the Horizon Project 2021 Research Center.

About the author

About the Author: Rhea Kelly is the Editor-in-Chief for Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

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