What are the opportunities in EdTech?

By S Adeeb Mujtaba Ali

EdTech's financial impact

Inherently inefficient are traditional education systems.

Globally, the education and training industries spend more than $4 trillion, an increase of 84% since 2000.

Despite this, reading and math results in the United States have remained constant, despite the fact that it is estimated that 85 percent of every dollar spent on education is spent on its delivery — for example, the price of bricks and mortar and teaching staff.

As a result, the link between rising educational spending and improved educational outcomes is shaky, and EdTech has a clear opportunity to lower the cost of traditional education delivery.

This is especially true for e-learning methods, which are credited with allowing one-to-many delivery at a lower cost.

Cost savings, on the other hand, aren't limited to the world of e-learning. Reliable broadband services, as well as the adoption of other technologies like the Cloud, have made policies like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in schools more feasible, allowing students to use their own devices. As a result, school hardware, which currently accounts for 60% of IT budgets, receives less funding.

User engagement and impact on learning have both improved

Saving money on educational or training budgets in this way allows more money to be allocated to educational elements like smart learning software that creates customized lesson plans or innovative digital content like engaging video materials that will improve outcomes.

Indeed, in the ever-expanding field of educational technology options, user experience and engagement are quickly becoming the most important differentiators.

Content is becoming increasingly immersive, thanks to the integration of multi-media, gamification, mobile casual and informal learning apps, and peer-to-peer learning platforms, which are all designed to not only attract but also keep students engaged – all the way to the end.

Video learning platforms, for instance, have been shown to speed up the learning process while also being a user-friendly format. As software and 3D animation engines advance, the link between video and immersive environments is becoming stronger, as evidenced by the video game industry.

EdTech is also strengthening the link between what happens in the classroom and what happens outside the classroom (at home, on the bus, etc.) by making teacher-approved digital educational resources, such as assignments and test prep material, available at all times, and by creating a continuum of touch points in the learning experience for students.

This is altering the way students consume education in the same way that cloud technology has altered our consumption of music and television.

Big data's advantages

Teachers and assessors now have far more data on individual accomplishments and progress thanks to the growth of EdTech.

Adaptive learning has been fueled by the introduction of data analytics techniques in education, which allows data to be fed back into the system to influence learning programmes and structures. It is possible to identify personalised learning programmes and fill knowledge gaps.

Not just that, but the ability to access and store data on students is fueling the development of Learning Record Stores that can be carried from one educational institution to the next, providing individuals with permanent documentation of what they've learned and accomplished.

Since education is now a lifelong requirement, rather than something we can leave behind at schools and colleges, it is becoming increasingly important for school leavers and graduates to prepare for the labor market.

Education is being democratized

EdTech's significance is not solely based on its ability to reduce costs and engage students in new and creative ways.

It's also about how it can level the playing field and make education more accessible to everyone, resulting in democratization.

Online services, mobile apps, and new educational formats have vastly improved access to education while also improving the learning process, while online and Cloud technologies offer exciting content standardization opportunities.

Today, a sponsored inner-city school can receive the same quality and content as a well-funded school in a wealthy neighborhood.

This is true not just on a school-by-school or country-by-country basis, but on a global scale, providing developing countries with access to developed educational institutions, both academically and professionally.

Developing the knowledge-based economy

The knowledge-based economy, which we invest in for our children through the school system, higher education, and ongoing professional development and training, is a critical component of the rest of our economic lives.

We lose our ability to train skilled workers, build competitive advantages as nations, and generate growth if we don't have it.

To keep the knowledge economy growing, we must maintain a level of innovation to improve the efficacy and efficiency of our learning systems, just as we must in other sectors.

This is why EdTech is so important.