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Education Week - Education Futures: Emerging Trends in K-12

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When students are engaged and inspired, they excel academically. Regrettably, schools all around the country are facing a student motivation and engagement crisis of epic proportions. Student engagement and motivation are the most important and also difficult aspects of the teaching profession. How do we motivate students who are utterly not interested in their own learning? The answer to that question is gamification.
What is Gamification?
In broad terms, gamification is using the concepts of game design and play to motivate users and boost participation, and engagement. People who gamify attempt to tap into their users' innate desire for competition, prestige, and partnership. Teachers use game design principles to enhance curriculum materials while helping students learn.

Although this strategy integrates game elements into the classroom, learning remains the end goal. It is meant to supplement -- not replace -- traditional educational methods. Students begin to find they have alternative incentives and motivation to pay attention and participate, focusing less on the negative incentive of bad grades. Gamification may even help students understand real-world applications, by putting the concepts they are learning in context.
Gamification is not a New Concept
Despite the widespread misconceptions and hype about gamification, it is nothing new. You probably already use it in your classroom without even knowing it. Gamification is a name that was given to methods that were implemented in classrooms long ago. I have fond memories of teachers using gamified elements in primary school. One element that I remember my teachers using in their classroom is the smiley faced stickers. I was tremendously overjoyed when I received my completed assignments back, and they had smiley faced stickers on them. I knew that those stickers were the key to special activities and privileges. They were also key in communicating with my parents that I was performing well, which sometimes led to monetary gain for a job well done. Another element that they used were behavior charts. My teachers would reward by giving us gold stars for participating in class, completing homework, behaving properly, having a good attitude, etc.
Businesses Gamify Too
The term gamification was coined by Nick Pelling in 2003, but it did not gain any traction until several years later when businesses began gamifying. Businesses use gamification for similar purposes as teachers. They use them for marketing, retention, and customer engagement. Nike began gamifying in 2006 with the introduction of Nike+, which is an app that was designed to motivate and reward people for practicing a healthy lifestyle. Since implementing gamified concepts, Nike has increased its market share by 14%.

Another business that has had marked gamification success is Starbucks. Starbucks launched My Starbucks Rewards in 2009. My Starbucks Rewards is a mobile loyalty app that offers faster payment and incentives for repeat business. My Starbucks gives users gold stars each time they use the app to pay for a transaction. The users also receive badges which give the users perks, such as free refills for a day.
Gamification and the Learning Disabled
Everyone agrees that education works best when it is tailored to the student. This is especially true for children with at-risk students. These children often have trouble learning in traditional classroom settings, which can cause their performance to lag behind other children in their class. Fortunately, there is a new teaching method that may help these children stay motivated, thereby reducing the achievement gap. It is called gamification, and it applies the rules of game design to the classroom environment.

The goal of any instructional method is to get students to motivate themselves. People learn when they want to learn, and this goes double for children. Kids with learning disabilities need to see their lessons as something they want to do to improve their abilities and be better suited for the outside world. Gamified learning turns each lesson into a journey the kids want to take.

Gamified learning transforms education from something children find boring into something they enjoy via implementation of the key concepts of game design. It is not the solution for every student, but it can give children with learning disabilities the motivation, context, and support they need to improve their performance and narrow the achievement gap between them and their peers. This is especially true when other methods fail, as is the case with most children with learning disabilities.

Gamification can only be used to help children if you understand what it is. It is not merely providing incentives (such as achievements and points) for learning. Rather, Gamified learning is understanding why people play games and turning that information into the core around which you build their education.

What are your thoughts about gamification? Do you think it can reinvigorate teaching and learning?
Dr. Boyd is the founder of Boyd Education Solutions & Technology and Engagucate.com. He also founded of Magnolia Alliance for Change, which is a nonprofit aimed at easing the effects of poverty and disenfranchisement on young children. Dr. Boyd is a professor, consultant, writer, and trainer.

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Gamification Can Reinvigorate Teaching and Learning: An Introduction

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In broad terms, gamification is using the concepts of game design and play to motivate users and boost participation, and engagement. People who gamify attempt to tap into their users' innate desire for competition, prestige, and partnership. Teachers use game design principles to enhance curriculum materials while helping students learn.

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Dr. James Paul Gee is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies and a Regents' Professor at Arizona State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Education. He earned his BA in philosophy at the University of California at Santa Barbara and his MA and PhD in linguistics from Stanford University. He has been a faculty member at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts; Boston University; University of Southern California; Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts; and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He works in both linguistics and education.

His book Sociolinguistics and Literacies (1990, Fifth Edition 2015) was one of the founding documents in the formation of the "New Literacy Studies", an interdisciplinary field devoted to studying language, learning, and literacy in an integrated way in the full range of their cognitive, social, and cultural contexts. His book An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (1999, Fourth Edition 2014) brings together his work on a methodology for studying communication in its cultural settings, an approach that has been widely influential over the last three decades. Professor Gee's book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003, Second Edition 2007) argues that good video games are designed to enhance learning through effective learning principles supported by research in the Learning Sciences. Situated Language and Learning (2004) places video games within an overall theory of learning and literacy and shows how they can help us in thinking about the reform of schools. Women as Gamers: The Sims and 21st-Century Learning (2010) and Language and Learning in the Digital Age (2011), both written with Elisabeth Hayes, have continued his earlier work on games and learning. His most recent books are: The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning (2013); Unified Discourse Analysis: Language, Reality, Virtual Worlds, and Video Games (2014); Literacy and Education (2014); The Essential James Gee: An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (2015); and Teaching, Learning, Literacy in Our High-Risk High-Tech World: A Framework for Becoming Human (2017), and Introducing Discourse: From Grammar to Society (2017).

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Dr. James Paul Gee is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies and a Regents' Professor at Arizona State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Education. He earned his BA in philosophy at the University of California at Santa Barbara and his MA and PhD in linguistics from Stanford University.

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Formar estudiantes para los retos del mundo

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Formar estudiantes para los retos del mundo

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Hasta hace relativamente poco, la de profesor universitario era una ocupación privilegiada. No sólo gozaba de una buena reputación entre todos los estamentos de la sociedad, sino que esta se correspondía con una gran influencia social y una remuneración acorde con el puesto. John Edward Masefield, poeta inglés, escribió que "hay pocas cosas terrenas más hermosas que la universidad: un lugar donde los que odian la ignorancia pueden luchar por el conocimiento, y donde quienes perciben la verdad pueden luchar para que otros la vean".

No obstante, y de manera paralela al crecimiento de la población universitaria durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX, el profesor universitario parece estar sometido a más estresantes que nunca. No sólo ha perdido su categoría social, sino que también ha visto cómo su sueldo ha disminuido de manera inversamente proporcional al del estrés que ha de afrontar. Todo ello formando parte de una institución cuyas estructuras apenas han evolucionado en siglos.

"El trabajo del profesor universitario es uno de los más tóxicos", recuerda con contundencia el psicólogo y profesor de Recursos Humanos de la Universidad de Alcalá Iñaki Piñuel. "Se valora poco porque se cree que el trabajo del sector educativo es de guante blanco, pero contrariamente a ello, el entorno del profesor universitario produce niveles de estrés superior a otros y quiebra la capacidad laboral de muchos profesores a una edad más temprana".
Se desprecia el valor del conocimiento por la eficiencia
Hace ya ocho años que un estudio de la Universidad de Murcia puso de manifiesto que el 83,6% del profesorado sufría de estrés crónico, y aunque su autor, el profesor ya retirado de Psicopatología de la Universidad de Murcia José Buendía reconoce que "los datos son perecederos", la situación parece haber empeorado tras la implantación del Plan Bolonia. Es una situación que se repite en otros países vecinos, como el Reino Unido, donde recientemente una investigación publicada por el UCU (Universitary and College Union) ponía de manifiesto que las enfermedades mentales habían aumentado sensiblemente entre la población académica.

El estudio sintetizaba algunos de los principales escollos para la felicidad del profesor, entre los que se encuentran el constante escrutinio externo, la imposibilidad de conciliar la vida personal con la laboral y la necesidad de proporcionar constantemente resultados positivos. Como recuerda la profesora titular de sociología de la Universidad de La Coruña Rosa Caramés, "se desprecia el valor del conocimiento por la eficiencia". Estos son los principales "jinetes del Apocalipsis" a los que tiene que enfrentarse el profesor contemporáneo.
1. Es una institución del siglo XXI que sigue funcionando de manera medieval
Quizá la comparación más reveladora para definir la universidad sea la que utiliza Piñuel: las universidades siguen reflejando con gran fidelidad las características de la sociedad feudal en la que nacieron. "El feudalismo genera sus cabecillas y sus súbditos, que están obligados a respetar ciertos códigos ajenos al siglo XXI, como cuando te dicen 'no te presentes a esta plaza porque ya está adjudicada' o 'tú no puedes publicar en esta revista hasta que yo lo haga", explica el autor de La dimisión interior (Ed. Pirámide).

Se ha conseguido consumir el tiempo dedicado a la preparación de las clases y dedicar más tiempo a labores puramente administrativas

Como dejó escrito el administrador de la Universidad de Harvard Henry Rosovsky en The University: an Owner's Manual, "las universidades aman los rangos jerárquicos tanto o más que el ejército". El psicólogo añade que, a diferencia de la educación primaria o secundaria, la universidad está formada por alumnos ya adultos, "que son gente más exigente", y el profesor está obligado a actualizarse continuamente. Ello da lugar a factores de riesgo psicosocial como "la rivalidad, la competitividad, las camarillas de poder o las guerras intestinas", frecuentes en el ámbito universitario y que minan poco a poco la resistencia del profesor.
2. El día que el profesor pasó a ser un burócrata
El Plan Bolonia ha traído consigo, entre muchas otras cosas, una burocratización de la enseñanza que ha provocado que los profesores pasen más tiempo rellenando formularios, pruebas y revisiones que dedicados a la preparación de sus clases y a sus proyectos de investigación. "Bolonia se ha implantado de manera desastrosa", sintetiza Rosa Caramés. "Sólo se ha conseguido consumir el tiempo dedicado a la preparación de las clases y dedicar más tiempo a labores puramente administrativas".

Piñuel se muestra de acuerdo: "Son un montón de horas de trabajo que sobrecargan a un profesor que ya está suficientemente sobrecargado de por sí. Para conseguir nada estamos incrementando una carga que no tiene mucho valor añadido. No por rellenar más papeles es mejor, al contrario, el tiempo disponible para preparar clases e investigar se emplea en reuniones y consignar papeles". También disminuyen las horas de descanso y esparcimiento, vitales para el bienestar de cualquier trabajador.

Esta "maquinaria", como la define el psicólogo, conlleva otro problema: el aumento de las pruebas sobre el control del profesorado. Algo que en principio tendría como objetivo garantizar la calidad de la enseñanza, se añade a las montañas de burocracia ya existentes y someten al profesor a un continuo escrutinio. "Es la paradoja tras la ilusión del control", explica Piñuel. "Es un efecto de la centralización de las políticas de la UE que necesita sistemas de control. La idea de consignar papeles, documentos o comisiones da la sensación de que las cosas se están gestionando mejor. Es pura entelequia".

Pablo, profesor durante quince años tanto en España como en Inglaterra, cree que ello ha provocado, no obstante, que haya un mayor control sobre el acceso a los puestos docentes. "Antes, cualquier catedrático o profesor con influencia podía enchufar a quien le diese la gana (te sorprendería saber en cuántos departamentos de la universidad pública hay padres e hijos o maridos y mujeres)", explica. "Ahora, al menos, el enchufado ha de pasar un filtro, aunque sea un filtro de mínimos, no del todo exigente, discutible, etc."
3. Acoso por parte de los alumnos... y por parte de los compañeros
Aunque el acoso por parte de los estudiantes no es tan frecuente como en la educación secundaria, los profesores también manifiestan ser víctimas de amenazas por parte de sus alumnos. El desprestigio reciente de la educación no ha ayudado precisamente: "En los últimos años ha entrado una corriente que desprestigia la labor del docente. En ocasiones parece haber un afán reduccionista, un tanto persecutorio, de la labor de las personas que se dedican a la docencia", explica Rosa Caramés, que sugiere que muchas veces el profesor es acusado de una serie de cosas -"que no corrige bien, que tiene manía a los alumnos, que no sabe dar clase"- que tan sólo son ciertas en un número limitado de casos, pero que suele hacerse extensible a todo el cuerpo docente.

La creciente competencia provoca que las zancadillas sean frecuentes

A este hay que añadirle el mobbing ocasionado por los propios compañeros: según el estudio anteriormente citado, realizado en la Universidad de Murcia en el año 2004, hasta el 44% del personal manifestaba sufrir acoso laboral. Algo que, como señaló en aquella ocasión el profesor José Buendía, "tiene como objetivo que se abandone el centro, puesto que al ser funcionarios, no se les puede despedir". Piñuel añade que la creciente competencia provoca que las zancadillas sean frecuentes: "Quien no acata las reglas, se convierte en un chivo expiatorio y es perseguido".
4. Hay que luchar mucho para ascender
El del acceso a la docencia universitaria es un camino lleno de palos y piedras y, sobre todo, sacrificios obligados. Pasan años hasta que se pueda impartir clase, mucho más hasta que alguien se convierte en profesor titular y ya no digamos convertirse en catedrático. Abundan las horas extras, las asignaturas impartidas a cambio de nada o el "tráfico" de artículos que permite a algunos profesores seguir un año más aferrados a su puesto gracias a trabajos realizados por sus estudiantes.

Aún hoy se ven rencillas entre profesores que se enfrentaron unos a otros por plazas

"El motivo de conflicto más grande que puede haber en un departamento es casi siempre las plazas", explica Pablo, que matiza que al no haber plazas nuevas durante los últimos años, los conflictos han desaparecido. "En el pasado, cuando no existía el método de las acreditaciones, las plazas las decidía el catedrático de turno, y siempre terminaba favoreciendo a sus preferidos, mientras que los otros se jodían y tenían que esperar años hasta conseguir sacar su plaza. Aún hoy se ven rencillas entre profesores que vivieron ese sistema y que se enfrentaron unos a otros por plazas".

Algo que, no obstante, no siempre es percibido de forma necesariamente negativa, especialmente como una solución al piloto automático que provoca la falta de ilusión entre los docentes de mayor edad. Luna Paredes goza de una beca FPU (Formación del Profesorado Universitario) e imparte clases de "Análisis y comentario de textos literarios" en la Universidad de Alcalá. "El hecho de que un becario imparta una asignatura completa me parecía a priori una irresponsabilidad", explica. "Sin embargo, un becario también va a afrontar las clases con un entusiasmo que algunos profesores (no todos, no siempre) han perdido".

Preparar bien una hora de clase puede llevarte entre ocho y diez horas

El esfuerzo exigido a los primerizos, frente al de los funcionarios, "sólo puede traer cosas buenas", señala, aunque "implica que las horas de preparación de una sola clase sean ingentes". Como recuerda Pablo, que imparte ocho horas de clase a la semana, "preparar bien una hora de clase que impartes por primera vez puede llevarte entre ocho y diez horas". "El becario debe hacerlo bien porque, en primer lugar, está inseguro y se esfuerza ante los alumnos y en segundo lugar, porque no quiere cagarla ante el director de tesis ni el departamento", concluye Paredes.
5. Se cobra menos de lo que se piensa
El de los sueldos de los profesores universitarios es un tema complicado, en cuanto que estos varían sensiblemente dependiendo del centro, de la categoría del docente o de los diferentes incentivos autonómicos. Las categorías inferiores son las principales perjudicadas de un sistema que se complementa con los célebres quinquenios y sexenios -períodos dedicados a la investigación-, pero a los que no todo el mundo tiene acceso. El salario base puede llegar a encontrarse en unos 1.100 euros. Rosa Caramés recuerda que, aunque ella no pertenezca a dicho grupo, los más jóvenes sufren una mayor precariedad, "con contratos de muy pocas horas por las que se paga muy poco, a pesar de que el tiempo de preparación de las clases sigue siendo el mismo. La docencia se concentra en poco tiempo para ahorrar presupuesto".
6. Sistema educativo "marketinizado": el estudiante siempre tiene la razón
Existe cierto consenso entre los profesores en señalar que el alumno ha pasado de ser un estudiante a convertirse en un cliente, algo en consonancia con la tendencia privatizadora del sistema universitario. Ello obliga a que el docente redefina sus tareas y se vea obligado a reinterpretar su labor, lo que en opinión de Rosa Caramés, da lugar a una relación "un tanto viciada". "Todas las cosas materiales e inmateriales tienen un precio y un valor, que no tienen por qué coincidir", explica la socióloga. "No se entiende que los conocimientos y su proceso de adquisición es un proceso mutuo. Como todo se ha mercantilizado, lo único que parece sustentar la relación entre profesor y alumno es el precio de la matrícula".

Uno de los factores novedosos es que el profesor se tiene que poner al servicio del alumno, algo que antes no se entendía así.

Como señalaba el filósofo José Luis Pardo en 2008, "todo comenzó con la sustitución de las "asignaturas" por "créditos". Piñuel lo interpreta como una liberación del estudiante de las cadenas que el sistema feudal le había impuesto. "Uno de los factores novedosos es que el profesor se tiene que poner al servicio del alumno, algo que antes no se entendía así, sino que se ponía énfasis en el profesorado. El alumno ha evolucionado a ser alguien que tiene derechos, que puede exigir, que puede pensar y reclamar". Algo a priori positivo pero de lo que, sin embargo, el profesor no parece haberse beneficiado: "Precisamente, el burnout en el profesor genera situaciones de maltrato hacia los alumnos impropia de este tiempo, como arrogancia, prepotencia..."
7. La investigación, ¿sirve para algo?
A finales del año pasado, la comunidad científica se vio sacudida después de que el Premio Nobel Randy Schekman denunciase que el factor de impacto de las revistas -es decir, la puntuación recibida por cada publicación sobre el número de veces que sus artículos son citados- vicia la investigación, y crea burbujas en torno a determinados temas. Algo semejante ocurre con el funcionamiento de los diferentes departamentos de investigación, que se centran exclusivamente en aquellos temas que les pueden dar una mayor visibilidad, despreciando aquello que no está de moda.

Una parte importante de los ingresos de los departamentos dependen de la productividad de los miembros

La máquina de la producción científica no puede pararse. Como recuerda Pablo, en países como Inglaterra, "una parte importante de los ingresos de los departamentos se los juegan con la productividad de los miembros. Es decir, si un profesor se pasa tres años sin publicar un artículo de prestigio o sin conseguir un proyecto de investigación, baja los promedios del departamento y este pierde dinero". No obstante, se trata de una situación que afecta más en el extranjero que en nuestro país. "Un profesor titular (y conozco no a uno o a dos, sino a muchos) puede tirarse, no tres años, sino toda una vida sin dar un palo al agua, excepto prepararse sus horas de clase semanales, corregir exámenes y punto", explica el profesor.
8. Sentimiento de inutilidad
En una reciente investigación llamada It's a Bittersweet Symphony, This Life: Fragile Academic Selves, el profesor de gestión de las organizaciones de la Universidad de Lancaster David Knights, tras analizar los problemas de identidad entre el cuerpo lectivo inglés, llegó a la conclusión de que la mayor parte de sentimientos de los profesores hacia sus centros estaban marcados por la ambivalencia. Por una parte, porque su idea del mundo académico estaba marcada por la pasión, por el entusiasmo y por unas elevadas expectativas. Pero, al mismo tiempo, estas se encontraban matizadas por una agria sensación de que muchas de sus aspiraciones parecían "irrealizables, si no irreales".

Así como periódicamente hacemos una revisión de nuestro vehículos, deberíamos hacer la ITV psicológica de los profesores

"Los que tenemos más vocaciones de hacer cosas nos vamos desgastando", afirma Pablo. "Muchos de estos profesores que sólo hacen docencia en realidad no tienen interés en nada y por eso no investigan, lo único que les apetece es leerse el periódico, hablar por teléfono y tomar cafés". Es la última etapa de un proceso que erosiona poco a poco las ilusiones privilegias y que, como recuerda Piñuel, aparece mucho antes que en otras profesiones. "Si bien la respuesta a nivel institucional a sus esfuerzos no alcanzaba el reconocimiento jerárquico, social o por parte de los compañeros, la dulzura de una carrera potencialmente estimada y una identidad reconocida de manera pública disparó sus esfuerzos", concluía el estudio sobre esos frustrados, pero ilusionados, profesores.

"Así como periódicamente hacemos una revisión de nuestro vehículo, deberíamos hacer la ITV psicológica de los profesores", concluye Piñuel. "Tenemos entre nuestras manos el mejor capital simbólico del país". No se trata únicamente de preservar la calidad de vida de los docentes, sino también, de evitar que el alumnado sea la última víctima de un sistema desencantado y cada vez más oprimido.

Consulta el artículo en: REDEM.org

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Los 8 males del profesor universitario: "es uno de los trabajos más tóxicos que existen"

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Hasta hace relativamente poco, la de profesor universitario era una ocupación privilegiada. No sólo gozaba de una buena reputación entre todos los estamentos de la sociedad, sino que esta se correspondía con una gran influencia social y una remuneración acorde con el puesto.

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Appcessories - App-enabled Accessories and Wearables

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Education is universally seen as the bedrock of a civil and advanced society. In recent years, thanks to a rising number of education technology trends, there have been concerted efforts to improve the quality of education and increase access to educational resources.

The internet has been a crucial part of these efforts, helping millions of people all over the world get the same education resources as students in top level universities. The dominance of stuffy traditional classrooms is fast fading, replaced by innovative and interactive new technologies. Less than a decade from now, education will have made enormous advances in terms of quality and access. This will in turn have an impact on every other field from medicine to rocket science.

To have a glimpse of the kind of future we are flying toward, here is a look at the most notable emerging innovations in education.

1. VR and AR

Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies have made big gains in the last one year. From a niche technology designed for nerds and tech enthusiasts, VR and AR have gone on to garner mainstream popularity.

Samsung, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have come out as some of the top brands in these two fields. Currently, virtual reality has been mostly focused on gaming and entertainment. But tech experts are starting to realize just how valuable these novel education technology trends are in learning and education. We have seen some quite innovative applications of VR headsets and AR glasses in classrooms.

Microsoft Hololens has already proven to be an invaluable tool in teaching medical courses. Instead of just reading about the human body or looking at pictures in a book, they can actually see a 3D visualization of every body part, including the internal organs. They can see the heart beating, the blood flowing, the muscles contracting and relaxing and so on.

A VR headset like Oculus or the simpler Google Daydream VR could help learners experience other places and cultures more realistically without having to leave the classroom. For younger learners, AR and VR can be used to show them what wild animals actually look like, how the solar system works, how volcanoes form and so on.

This form of interactive and hyper realistic learning is bound to have a much bigger on the quality of education. Not only will they remember what they are taught, they will develop passions in various fields from early on. They will be more passionate about going to space, becoming doctors, saving the planet because they can actually experience these things virtually.

2. Artificial Intelligence

Students at the Georgia Institute of Technology thought they had a very helpful and clever teaching assistant, and they did. They knew her as Jill Watson. She answered questions and gave students important updates via a discussion forum.

But the TA they knew as Jill Watson was actually an AI program developed by IBM. Powered by IBM Watson, the virtual TA was able to fool most of the students. Most importantly, it gave a glimpse of a future where AI is integrated into education.

As AI gets smarter and more intuitive, it will complement the traditional human teacher. By studying a student's performance, an AI program might be able to automatically determine the problem areas and act as an afterschool tutor. With time, AI might even be able to teach an entire classroom and even interact with the learners.

It is not completely unreasonable to find that a few decades from today, lecturers in universities will be unnecessary. An AI teacher will be able to do everything they do today and then some.

It can teach a class of 200 and still manage to focus on each and every student. It can pull together additional information like no other lecturer can. At lower education levels, human teachers may still be necessary with AI providing complementary lessons or even assisting the teacher during the lesson.

AI will also help in managing vast amounts of data to help in research and improvement of learning methods.

There have been endless criticisms of current educational methods and standards from the inefficiencies of testing to the need for more customized learning approaches. The integration of AI into education might just solve some of the most pressing problems facing our learners today.

3. Real Time Collaboration

Interaction is at the center of quality learning. Teachers need to interact with their students, teachers need to interact with other teachers and students need to interact with other students. This interaction can happen within the same physical location or it can traverse across cities and even countries.

By interacting and collaborating, teachers and students are able to share ideas and in the process improve the quality of learning. The internet has become the main facilitator of collaboration among education stakeholders. It allows individuals in the same facility or continents away to work together virtually.

Various tools aimed at providing a robust and fun collaboration platform have sprouted everywhere:

With Google Docs you can write documents or fill in sheets data together.

With ePals, students can learn together in a global classroom.

With Emaze, kids can come together to create beautiful presentations.

Other platforms include Wikispaces, Genius, Chalkup, Google Hangouts and Scoot & Doodle.

The aim of most of these collaboration tools is to introduce aspects of fun and teamwork in learning, two things that are often severely lacking in the traditional classroom. With the AI education technology trends discussed in the previous point, you might even find an AI teacher handling an online collaborative class.

4. 3D Printing

The third industrial revolution is what they call it. 3D printing holds the potential of completely upending the relationship between consumers and manufacturers. As 3D printers get cheaper and better, you will be able to print almost anything at home from dinner plates to toys for your kids.

3D printing is also expected to make monumental impact in the medical industry, thanks to the ability to print organs such as the kidney, heart and prosthetics.

But what we are interested in is how it will change education. Imagine a class where students are learning geography and the subject of the day is the lunar landscape. Instead of just reading about all the craters and trenches, they print out a 3D representation representing the rugged nature of the moon's surface.

If on another day they are learning about the heart and its function, they could print out an actual 3D representation and see all the veins and arteries upclose.

In higher education, students could play around with 3D printing to invent new products and print out prototypes.

Like VR, 3D printing helps inject more realism into learning. Instead of just reading and seeing things on a boring textbook, you create real life object to make learning more fun and productive.

5. Wearables

Wearables is another area that has enjoyed a bloom in 2016 alongside VR. Smartwatches and fitness bands have led the way with brands like Fitbit, Samsung and Apple leading the market. It might not seem so but wearables have a role to play in the classroom.

One of the obvious applications is in sports and fitness. Kids could learn how to take their own fitness metrics and work at maintaining a healthy level of fitness. In formal learning environments, wearable devices can be used as complementary learning devices.

Smartwatches for instance, could be loaded with educational apps to help students learn on the go. Or they could help improve real time collaboration and interactions among learners and educators. Some current applications of wearables in education include;

Duolingo - an app available for Android Wear smartwatches. It helps students learn and practice various languages including Spanish, Italian and German.

Mover Kit - this is an electronic kit that kids can code to do different things. It can be worn as a smartwatch, a necklace pendant or attached to a bike among other things.

LeapBand - a colorful activity tracker designed for kids between 4 to 7 years in age.

6. Cloud Computing

Also referred to as SaaS or Software-as-a-Service, could computing is fast catching on in the education sector. It holds a lot of benefits for schools. For one, it reduces hardware needs for institutions that want to improve their students' access to technological resource.

With the cloud, you can access as many resources as you need and store as much information as you want with no worry about getting extra hardware.

You will find cloud computing platforms that offer automatic updates and management of software, which significantly lessens the IT load on your school. This allows even small skills with limited IT knowhow to take advantage of cloud-based resources.

Cloud computing can be used in real time student collaborations, to create vast online libraries for schools and to create centralized learning hubs.

7. Open Source Platforms

Have you heard about MOOCs? You might know them better as Massive Open Online Courses. These are online courses aimed at unlimited online access globally. These courses take content taught in traditional universities and make it available online for whoever would like to learn. These include filmed lectures, course notes and problem sets.

The emergence of open source platforms has been touted as one of the biggest developments in educational technology.

It has opened up quality education to millions of enthusiastic learners from all over the globe. People from developing countries can now learn courses taught in top-level universities like Stanford and Harvard.

The most notable open source platforms include:

Some of these platforms have begun issuing real certificates (for a fee) to improve the credibility of their graduates to potential employers.

More and more, education is getting out of the classrooms. Platforms such as the ones listed above are providing an alternative for people who cannot or do not want to attend a traditional classroom. They are cheaper and the quality of education is more or less the same as the one you would get in a physical lecture hall.

8. Gamification

Adding aspects of gaming to learning has been show to increase motivation, improve memory and help students learn more. Simple things like awarding badges or points for tasks accomplished and new things learned can motivate students to work even harder.

You can also create mini tournaments that push students to practice more and get better at their subjects.

There is a lot of research and education technology trends nowadays that educators can use to integrate gamification into learning. In fact, it does not have to be limited to a single classroom or school.

Developments like cloud computing, open source platforms and collaboration tools allows learners to go up against other learners in other cities or countries.

9. Flexible Displays

We have been hearing about foldable and rollable displays for years now but they never seem to materialize into a proper consumer product. It seems like tech companies are not yet confident enough to implement such displays in their devices. But in the near future, flexible displays could make a big impact in the classroom.

OLED-based displays will become commonplace in the classroom with students being able to take notes, draw images and read content without having to carry any extra books to class. Most importantly, flexible displays will allow students to interact with the content they are reading. They can pinch, zoom and swipe, all things you cannot do with paper.

After the class is over, students can just fold or roll up the displays and stuff them in their pockets until the next sessions. These displays will largely replace traditional paper and pen. You can write all your class notes on it, do your art design on it, read your economics book on it and during leisure time, watch funny cat videos on it.

Education Technology Trends - Tomorrow's Classroom

If you look at most of these education technology trends, you will notice one uniting thread; they are drawing learning away from traditional classroom-based methods and into new realms that encourage immersion, collaboration, interaction and customization.

When you think about it, how we learn has not changed much in centuries and maybe it is time we changed things up a bit. After all, the demands on our educational system today are far much heavier than in 1400.

We want to colonize Mars, extend the human lifespan, kick out all diseases and other lofty goals. Perhaps a shift to newer education technology trends such as those described above will put our education system more in step with the needs and demands on the modern world.

What do you think tomorrow's classroom will look like? Leave your comment below.
See recommended VR headsets on Amazon

Max is the Senior Editor at Appcessories and a regular contributor with a keen eye on new inventions and is always one step ahead when it comes to technology.

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9 Education Technology Trends and How They Will Change Learning

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Education is universally seen as the bedrock of a civil and advanced society. In recent years, thanks to a rising number of education technology trends, there have been concerted efforts to improve the quality of education and increase access to educational resources.

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From working on technology projects across the education sector, I see a similar culture of resistance that is bred from poor implementation planning and inadequate change management.

Many schools simply 'drop' computers, tablets and interactive projectors into the classroom as a replacement for paper, pens and whiteboards. This makes the value proposition unclear and technology fast becomes an inhibitor to learning rather than an enabler.

Successful technology adoption is founded on an actionable strategy, backed by rational investment decisions, an emphasis on change management, the right leadership structure, and effective ICT governance and support.

Without these components schools will struggle to see a correlation between their IT investments and improved student outcomes.

Discussed below are five common pitfalls that I see in many education technology projects, as well as actionable advice on how these stumbling blocks can be avoided to progress beyond digital learning 'buzz words' and see real results.

1. Failing to establish a shared vision

Clearly defined objectives and a shared vision are the backbone of any successful project. Many schools skip this step and proceed directly to rolling out new tools without identifying and communicating a long-term strategy and the purpose the tools will play in achieving strategic objectives.
School leaders should collectively develop a digital strategy to encourage top-level buy-in from everyone who will be involved in 'selling' the strategy to their staff and seeing it through to success. Embed the digital strategy within the school's existing strategic framework and ensure it is aligned with other concurrent initiatives. The digital strategy should augment existing initiatives rather than be an 'add on' or afterthought.

Enrol ' change champions' within each of the school's departments and work with these leaders to advocate digital adoption. Establish a culture of innovation across the school that gives staff the autonomy and confidence they need to try new things. Define what success looks like and agree on ways to periodically measure your school's performance against its objectives. Set realistic targets that motivate staff to contribute to the school's ongoing success.

1. Investing in the wrong technologies

Many schools find themselves caught in the hype of the latest and greatest technologies such as interactive projectors, convertible tablets and touch-enabled desks. These are all great technologies but there must be clear alignment to the school's digital strategy before an investment decision is made. Every technology investment must be directly or indirectly solving a teaching and learning problem. Without this alignment, it becomes too easy to invest time and money in the wrong places.
It is also important to remember that IT hardware represents one of the many categories of necessary technology investments. Learning management systems (LMS), business intelligence and analytics, and educational applications are all necessary investments for driving and measuring digital adoption.
Forcing a digital learning vision onto those who are not ready for it will never work. Technology ends up being used because it has to be rather than because it should be. Everyone needs to be taken on the journey at their own pace, with adequate flexibility and independence to deliver lessons the way that works for them.

Until staff are confident using technology and see the value that it can add to their lessons, school leaders will struggle for organisational buy-in. The best way to communicate the value proposition and to build confidence across the school starts with the right culture, segmented change management and communications plans, and tailored professional development opportunities.

Staff will fall into one of five segments across the technology adoption curve: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Each of these segments require a very different approach to change management and professional development. Reach out to staff to understand where they see themselves on the technology adoption curve.

1. Leaving the IT decisions to the IT guys

Many school IT Departments are led by a technical resource with limited or no teaching experience. On the other hand, many classroom teachers have a limited understanding of what technologies exist in the market and the supporting infrastructure required to deliver and support them. This disconnect often leads to mismanaged expectations and technology decisions that are not in the best interest of students and teachers.
It is critical that curriculum leaders and teachers work side-by-side with the IT Department. By combining the technical knowledge of the IT team with the learning and teaching expertise of classroom teachers, schools are capable of making smarter strategic IT decisions. As part of this process, identify educators that have a healthy scepticism for digital learning as well as those who will be the technology evangelists.

Assign your school's Digital Leadership position to a member of staff who will be an effective conduit between the classroom and the IT team.

Consider your IT team as the supplier of products and services that must meet the needs of your customers - students and teachers. The Head of IT is the business analyst who translates the needs of teachers' and students' into problems that can be solved through technology.

1. Avoiding responsibility for technology problems

"My computer isn't working" has become the new excuse for "the dog ate my homework". This creates a dangerous 'blame culture' between the IT Department and teachers.
For successful digital adoption, classroom teachers need to be able to assume that all of their students will have a working computer in front of them. Teachers also need to know that their students are on task.

With laptops on desks, it's no longer as easy as casting an eye over the classroom. The reality is that teachers often don't know what students are doing on their computers. Time that should be spent teaching students shouldn't be wasted circling the classroom to verify that students have work on their screens.

Effective technology governance is only made possible through a collaborative effort between school leaders and the IT Department. Technology governance and support is a joint responsibility, where school leaders must identify governance and support requirements for IT staff to build the support capabilities and controls necessary for addressing those needs.

Technology adoption isn't going to skyrocket overnight and all five of these elements will require patience and continuous improvement. Deploying new technologies is unlikely to give your school the return on investment you desire unless it is coupled with the right supporting mechanisms.

Thomas Pagram is an experienced IT Projects consultant, specialising in the education sector. Thomas partners with organisations to help them see their ICT-enabled transformation initiatives through to success.

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Opinion: Five pitfalls that constrain digital adoption in schools

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From working on technology projects across the education sector, I see a similar culture of resistance that is bred from poor implementation planning and inadequate change management. Many schools simply 'drop' computers, tablets and interactive projectors into the classroom as a replacement for paper, pens and whiteboards.

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A new report titled " Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030" explores the role of AI in various aspects of society and considers implications for our future. The increasing personalization of learning due to intelligent systems and the skills likely required for jobs in an AI filled future are important to consider.
1. Educational personalization will increase

"While formal education will not disappear, the Study Panel believes that MOOC's and other forms of online education will become part of learning at all levels, from K-12 through university, in a blended classroom experience. This development will facilitate more customizable approaches to learning, in which students can learn at their own pace using educational techniques that work best for them. Online education systems will learn as the students learn, supporting rapid advances in our understanding of the learning process. Learning analytics, in turn, will accelerate the development of tools for personalized education."

Such intelligent systems may help all students be able to move through their education most effectively, but will likely especially improve education of talented students who are often bored and unchallenged.
2. New jobs will emerge that are currently unimaginable

"AI will likely replace tasks rather than jobs in the near term, and will also create new kinds of jobs. But the new jobs that will emerge are harder to imagine in advance than the existing jobs that will likely be lost. Changes in employment usually happen gradually, often without a sharp transition, a trend likely to continue as AI slowly moves into the workplace. A spectrum of effects will emerge, ranging from small amounts of replacement or augmentation to complete replacement. For example, although most of a lawyer's job is not yet automated, AI applied to legal information extraction and topic modeling has automated parts of first-year lawyers' jobs."

Despite AI automating some aspects of jobs, certain facets of human ingenuity are likely to remain valuable or even increase in value. Perhaps AI will amplify human talent in ways that creates interesting occupational possibilities. It will also be important to consider how to help engage people from all parts of the occupational distribution.

Tom Vander Ark has a great podcast exploring what AI means for our kids and their future. He argues that "There's nothing that will do more to impact lives and livelihoods of young people, nothing more profound in terms of ethics and economics."

The full report can be read here. What do you think we should do to prepare our kids for this future?

© 2016 by Jonathan Wai. You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

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How Will Artificial Intelligence Change Education and Work?

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A new report titled " Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030" explores the role of AI in various aspects of society and considers implications for our future. The increasing personalization of learning due to intelligent systems and the skills likely required for jobs in an AI filled future are important to consider.