Digital transformation in the education industry – trends, cases & Boldare
The education sector has a long history of adopting and making the most of technology. From chalkboards to digital screens, from text books to the internet, from physical classrooms to Zoom lessons… Now, when the advent of the coronavirus pandemic ‘supercharged’ the process of digital transformation in the sector, teachers and students have no choice but to adopt more digital methods to cope with school closures during lockdowns. Read on to explore the current digital challenges facing education, and how Boldare is supporting the technological evolution of the sector.
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The digital transformation challenges facing the education sector
Before the arrival of COVID-19, the barriers facing digital transformation in education were mainly around encouraging the adoption and use of new technologies. Despite a long history of learning software packages, simulators and other aids, the fundamental belief was still that the best way to learn was in a physical classroom with a teacher and other students. The introduction of any form of EdTech (educational technology) was faced with the following.
- Attachment to the status quo – people are comfortable with what they are used to, however flawed it is; they are less comfortable with anything new.
- A lack of direction – individual institutions may have clear strategies but overall, the sector was transforming in a piecemeal fashion.
- A lack of integration – tools and systems were largely implemented in isolation and were not necessarily compatible, resulting in patchwork systems rather than true transformation.
- Inefficient data use – likewise, the information about how teachers and students use EdTech was scattered due to the technology being used as an ‘additional resource’ or add-on to the existing educational setup. Data must be amalgamated and analyzed to understand the big picture of how users interact with technology.
- Budget – new technology is rarely cheap and educational institutions are known for their budgetary limitations, with other priorities competing with technology adoption.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the situation. Lockdowns and other preventative measures meant lessons in a physical classroom were no longer possible. Suddenly, there was a stark choice facing the sector: adopt new technological methods or cease to educate. With the need to learn in new and different (i.e. remote) ways established, the focus of the sector’s digital transformation became more specific.
The solution is digital – current trends in the digital transformation of education
In 2018, pre-COVID, 35.3% of US college students were taking at least one online class as part of their degrees (source). In 2020, online classes became the only option. The key question about digital transformation was no longer, “Should we?” it was “How?” and this is expressed in a number of key areas of development.
Accessibility
Strangely enough, once education is less classroom-focused it becomes more accessible. When everyone is ‘dialling in’ from home, the educational experience becomes more uniform for students, regardless of their individual needs or locations.
Personalization
The use of digital technology can even provide a different lesson for each student. Digital solutions can be designed to convey the lesson in different ways, according to student preference. Adaptive technologies can use artificial intelligence to change the lesson (e.g. by altering the sequence of information) depending on how the student is interacting with it, catering to individual needs.
Artificial intelligence
AI tools can transform the education experience for many students. Voice-to-text app allow for the easy creation of lecture notes. Text-to-voice technology can assist students with dyslexia or other reading impairments. Outside of the classroom, FAQ chatbots can provide answers to common student questions, taking on some of the student advisor role. For example, a few years ago Deakin University in Australia used AI to create a 24/7/365 advisory service for students – the service answered 30,000+ questions in the first trimester alone.
Virtual reality
Bringing the old ‘learning by doing’ principle into the 21st century, virtual reality can be used to provide simulation scenarios, virtual field trips, and offer a direct experience of the skills being learned instead of merely reading and talking about them.
The cloud
Cloud-based platforms were and are essential in providing the anywhere-anytime access, regardless of location or time zone that has been so essential in continuing education through the pandemic. Thanks to the cloud, lectures can be streamed, assignments submitted remotely, study groups can collaborate remotely, and examinations can be taken.
Internet of Things
The ubiquity of smartphones and other similar devices can connect the student body, ensuring real-time communication and data transfer. Then as students return to physical school and university buildings, the IoT can be used to optimize the physical environment.
Security
As ever greater amounts of digital data are collected, security becomes more important. Furthermore, digital user verification is essential to students being able to safely submit assignments from home, or take examinations.
Big Data
The large quantities of student information that is gathered by digital technology allows a closer focus on the details of learning. Compilation and analysis of large amounts of data can allow schools to identify and address patterns of where students struggle or do well in the curriculum. Performance and later career trends can be tracked. Learning and course design can be updated and improved thanks to data analysis insights.
Gamification
Educators have always known that making learning fun can help understanding and retention. Digital technology can be used to gamify lessons, incorporating objectives, tasks and rewards to create a more stimulating (and therefore more effective) experience.
Investment in the digital transformation of education
For years now, private companies and startups have found the digital transformation of the education sector highly attractive (and profitable). For example, Carnegie Learning’s MATHia uses artificial intelligence to offer personalized tutoring that addresses individual student requirements.
Another success was a pilot exercise at the University of Arizona, offering students the chance to live in a voice-enabled hall of residence in which each student was given their own Amazon Echo Dot device. Students enthusiastically embraced the technology, using it to enhance their campus experience in a variety of ways. Students not involved in the pilot study even purchased their own Echo Dots so they could connect to the network and enjoy the benefits. The next step for Deputy CIO John Rome is to create a voice-enabled tutor service for students.
An example of educational technology spilling over into the wider world is Google’s Arts & Culture service, offering virtual access to over 2000 museums worldwide to all Google users. Originally, it was an education app called Google Expedition which offered virtual and augmented reality tours to teachers and students, allowing them to visit museums and galleries, take field trips, and even go to outer space!
The individual examples are endless but to consider the big picture, investment in the digital transformation of the education sector is growing rapidly. Even pre-pandemic, the numbers were significant. Research by HolonIQ shows that venture capital funding in EdTech increased from 500m US dollars in 2010 to 7bn in 2019. However, in the space of a single year, thanks to the situation created by COVID-19, that investment more than doubled to 16.1bn in 2020.
Education’s digital transformation and Boldare
At Boldare, our in-house digitalization and digital transformation practices have been perfected by a number of projects in recent years.
TutorSpace – With the pandemic and the rise in remote learning, many parents have turned to private tutors to support their children’s education. Tutors are not always easy to find, however. Simple internet searches are inefficient, and the results are hard to verify. Boldare worked with a German client company to develop TutorSpace, an app to help parents find verified tutors in the subject of their choice, and for tutors to market themselves.
ACL – Education is not just confined to schools and universities. In fact, it never ends. In collaboration with Xinfu, Boldare developed the ACL app to help users develop their soft skills and leadership. The app content is linked to the book, The Awareness Code and supports individuals to apply the book’s lessons to their leadership practice.
MemberClicks – The key to good education is managing the learning process. MemberClicks is an association management platform developed by Boldare. While the wider platform has a number of features devoted to managing the membership of organizations, beneath that lies a learning management system (LMS). This LMS enables users to host online educational content, manage certification programs, track education credits, and issue certificates of completion.
The digital future of education
The education sector has a long history of using technology to aid and support learning. The rate of adoption of new learning technologies received a huge boost from the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools, universities, and other learning organizations were faced with a wholesale shift to remote learning and therefore digital technologies. The key principles driving the sector’s digital transformation are the need to maintain and improve the accessibility of learning to all, and to make the learning content and methodologies engaging and effective. This is an opportunity to go beyond mere digital equivalents of traditional educational options and explore new methods of bringing knowledge to students through use of AI and virtual reality. The future of learning is arriving, and it will not look like the past.
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