We are lucky to live in the age of exponential technological progress. Hardware engineers and software developers outdo themselves almost daily. They bring us more advanced ways to work, study, relax, communicate.
There is hardly any field that hasn’t experienced the influence of technology nowadays. If you know any, let us know in a comment section too.
The young generations have been witnessing this never-ending stream of innovation for quite some time now. Despite that, there are still plenty of surprises in store.
The education field in particular has been picking up on the latest advancements to forever change the way modern students ingest information. Here are some of the educational tech innovations that are likely to become commonplace sooner than you might imagine.
Remote Education
When it comes to modern education technology trends – remote learning is the first thing that comes to mind. It is not a specific device or software but rather a complex and multilayered system.
Store your study notes on a cloud server or get the help of a reliable PaperWriter online – these are all things that students have been benefiting from for years now.
Remote education has been improving its capabilities at a pretty decent pace. But what really gave it a push forward is the global isolation the COVID-19 pandemic has caused. The need for self-quarantine has put the current level of remote education technologies to a real test. Online classrooms have become a real necessity rather than an interesting and unconventional option.
So what does remote and online education bring to the table that traditional education can’t? Well, first and foremost – it saves a lot of time.
Moving the classroom online cuts out the need for transit and allows students to be more flexible with their schedules. Time is a precious resource. And even a marginal improvement in workflow efficiency can make a huge difference.
Another advantage of remote education is the availability of data. Physical notes are already giving way to their digital counterpart. It is way easier and more convenient to store and manage digitized materials online than it is to have to deal with heaps of papers.
Now let’s take a look at the few disadvantages it has. And the main one is by far the difficulty in maintaining focus. The learning environment college classrooms create is more important than it might seem.
It helps students to switch between work and rest easier. Working in a group also motivates them to keep up. So students of the future will have to figure out a way to stay focused if they want to efficiently study from the comfort of their own home.
Virtual Reality
It can be quite difficult to talk about the future of technology without going into pipe dream territory. But virtual reality has managed to successfully break this barrier separating sci-fi from reality over the last decade.
Through trial and error, it has established a solid footing in the entertainment industry. Developers are about to finish filling out the basics. Once they are done it would be possible to apply this technology in a multitude of other fields.
There are a couple of big issues virtual reality has. The complete VR setup takes up a lot of space. On top of that, it can be a bit pricey for the amount of functionality it offers at the moment. These two problems will solve themselves in due time.
What proved to be a real challenge was a thing VR users call ‘motion sickness’. The disconnect between the movements of the user’s head and the movement of the image in the VR headset can cause severe dizziness. Different approaches were tested to fix the issue.
You know what? Even the virtual reality changed the future of gaming through out the world.
The possibilities that virtual reality offers in terms of education are endless. With the right software, it can allow professors and students access to more engaging and interactive materials to analyze and study. Educational projects that pop up on the bare-bones platform of VRchat serve as a solid proof of concept in that regard.
Some colleges and universities are already introducing experimental programs to benefit from this technology. It will take some time for the system to figure out which fields are best to apply it to. But there is no doubt that you’ll be able to witness the integration of VR into our education system sooner rather than later.
Augmented Reality
AR technology can be considered a younger brother to virtual reality tech. Its overall development speed seems to be much lower. But it’s not exactly a direct competitor of VR as its applications differ significantly. It also has its very own set of pros and cons that set it apart from virtual reality devices, such as:
- Projection of images onto the real environment;
- Smaller in size compared to VR setup;
- Safety concerns about altering the user’s perception of the real world;
- More applications on hands-on workplaces.
There have been a couple of interesting but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to push AR into the masses. The technology is not refined enough for fieldwork yet. But its potential is far too great to drop it altogether.
A display projecting helpful information for the user can help out surgeons, data analysts, mechanics, plumbers, drivers. The selection of jobs that could benefit from AR is absolutely huge.
Even games like pokemon go use augmented reality for giving best user experience to their players, to make things so real that anyone can believe on it.
Final Words
Technology offers us plenty of new and exciting prospects in the nearest future. And the technical aptitude of the young generations ensures that universities and colleges will be among the first places to experience its influence.
Keeping an eye out for the latest developments in tech can help us make an educated guess about what the next major breakthrough will be.
But that guest can only be so accurate. Not even twenty years ago could we imagine the capabilities of the devices that are commonly available to us today.
Another twenty years can very well make today’s cutting edge technology completely obsolete. So don’t hold onto the old ways. Look towards new exciting prospects that await you. Keep up with the stride of humanity’s evolution.
