The fact that technology is so dynamic is amusing. A new program is rolled out every day, and keeping up with technology has been almost impossible. The constant advancement in technology has served as a great advantage to humans as it has made life better in all ways you can think of. While technology has seen significant and profitable business operations changes, that is not the only sector that has benefited.

Since technology started being incorporated into education, things have not been the same, and they keep getting better. 

Being something that has already been experienced in education, technology is going to transform education in 2021. Here are edtech trends to watch out for. 

1. Robotics

Speech assistants are going to intervene and address issues that students with disabilities have. Virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Cortana can, for instance, help students access professional writing services even without typing by simply instructing "write my research paper." Robotics will also help learning institutions develop flexible teaching systems and products that will accommodate all students, even those with special needs. 

Through voice commands, students will be able to accomplish tasks and organize themselves better for academic excellence. 

2. The Internet of Things

The interconnectivity of devices will make it easy for teachers to distribute learning materials to their students. This will ensure that human resources are efficiently utilized while at the same time maintaining a superior quality of education. The internet of things will also help the management of learning institutions with data collection, which they will use to integrate the different aspects of the classes.

The internet of things will also promote personalized learning, which will allow the modification of coursework depending on a student's strength. This will also allow individual assessment of the students for better results.

The internet of things will help students on a personal learning level as their access to academic resources will be enhanced due to devices' interconnectivity.

3. Blockchain

This will address the issue of transparency, which most learning institutions struggle with today. We are talking about fake certifications, the loss of documents, and many other issues. Contrary to what most people think, blockchain is not limited to financial transactions. It can also be applied in cybersecurity.

Universities and colleges will start embracing the idea of digital documents come 2021, which will eliminate the cumbersome paperwork and even make the sharing of documents easy. Think about students being able to share their result slips, transcripts, and even degree in softcopy through links. This will go a long way in reducing fraud in the education sector and saving time.

4. The Use of Big Data to Evaluate How Learning Institutions Operate

Big data is a term that has been used a lot in the past decade. However, its application appeared to be only in the business world. Operations in different sectors, be it healthcare or business, are using big data to increase their operations' efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability. 

The education sector will begin to lean on big data to evaluate its operations. Insights from big data will go a long way in helping the institutions plan meals at the school canteen, bus routes, timetables, and many other things that define their operations. 

Through the analysis of big data, the institutions will also get useful insights into their students' performance and be able to point out different factors that may affect their performance and address it. 

5. Online Learning

Though it has been there for some time, in 2021, more will be done when it comes to online learning. This has been particularly motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced students to learn from their homes in an effort to ensure social distancing to reduce the spread of the virus.

Even post-pandemic, institutions will carry on digital learning as they have seen the benefits that it comes with. To accommodate the changes brought about by the pandemic, tech companies have rolled out programs to support virtual learning such as Microsoft Teams, Google (News - Alert) Meets, Zoom, and so on. The learning institutions have also rolled out private programs to facilitate the changes.

These will still be used come 2021 as they will address the issue of capacity, which most institutions struggle with. More students will be rolled into universities during a given period with no worries of whether the classrooms available will be able to accommodate the numbers. It will also bring flexibility to learning hours as students can be able to attend classes from where they are. 

Take Away

Technology has proved to be a blessing in different sectors, and it is about to transform education. The changes are already being witnessed as students can now access a wide range of learning materials through their digital devices. The cost of education will be lower for students who live far from the schools as they will not have to incur accommodation and transport costs. The operation costs of learning institutions are also expected to go lower.

The amazing part is that the quality of education will continue improving as big data and other technologies will help conduct more effective performance assessments in the learning institutions. Technology is also set out to play a role in enhancing special education, championing outside classroom learning, and addressing safety issues.

Thomas Moore is an independent technology consultant and freelance writer at WritePaper. He enjoys writing useful pieces and sharing his expertise. He is an author of numerous posts and articles published both online and in print media.