EdTech: The digitalization of learning - #SwissTech Series
What is EdTech ?
EdTech, short for Educational Technologies, is the industry term used to describe the combined use of hardware, software, and educational theory & practice to facilitate learning.
Why EdTech is important for individuals and companies?
While most of us think about children when we mention education, learning can - and should - be carried throughout one’s life, as there is always something new to learn. From teaching the poorest populations in the world, to executive training and corporate learning programs, EdTech is taking over the traditional learning models
However, the way we learn, how we interact with classmates and teachers, and our overall enthusiasm for the same subjects is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Everyone learns at their own pace and in their own style. Edtech tools make it easier for teachers to create individualized lesson plans and learning experiences that foster a sense of inclusivity and boost the learning capabilities of all students, no matter their age or learning abilities.
EdTech also enables schools and companies to develop “always-on” and “self-service” programs, to allow students of every age to consume the content when and where they prefer.
Setting up effective professional training schemes, leveraging Edtech, not only ensures that your employees learn about the company or its processes, it also empowers them to grow, and ultimately contribute to the company’s success.
Last but not least, EdTech enables companies to be more respectful of the environment, with paperless training, avoiding waste since many manuals are printed once and become obsolete almost at the same time.
What are the latest trends in EdTech?
It is expected that by 2030, Global Education and Training expenditure will represent a $10Trillion (source: HolonIQ). With such a large market, you can only imagine how various actors actively seek at taking a part of this attractive industry. All these actors rival in innovation and creativity create a fruitful bed for the industry to develop very fast.
Our research, as well as the annual EdTech Trend survey from CoSN published in August 2021, revealed some interesting elements about the development of EdTech globally:
Blended learning which combines analog and digital learning has been widely adopted as it has proven its efficiency
Augmented Reality is boosting the engagement of learning platforms
Virtual Reality enables immersive experiences for better retention of new techniques and the practice of new skills
Cybersecurity and data privacy has been of a growing importance to safeguard data, avoid curriculum duplication or student’s private data spread around
Artificial Intelligence is expanding EdTech companies capabilities beyond what could be imagined before, taking personalized training to yet another level. However, Peer-to-peer learning is not dead yet, humans and their abilities such as empathy cannot completely be recreated by computers
Even in the Western World, WiFi and access to internet can still represent a hurdle towards adopting digital learning platforms: as a matter of fact, in the USA, the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) bill was recently signed by President Biden to allocate funds to schools to provide broadband service and devices, in order to empower students to learn and do their home-works digitally.
This last points also connects with another highly important topic, which is the digital divide, namely the difference in access to information, around the world, which we will cover in the future.
Are there Swiss companies active in this field?
YES! absolutely, and we are pleased to bring them to you through this article as we have been throughout this Swiss Tech Series.
Let’s start with a powerful and active actor in Switzerland, the EdTech Collider, which is an incubator, set up in 2017 as a not-for-profit association and located in the Innovation park at the EPFL University - which was featured in our article about the Swiss Tech ecosystem. They offer physical and virtual coworking spaces for startups in the field of EdTech, and differentiate themselves by acting as long term partners and providing ongoing support.
Next up is Swissnex, whose mission is to be “the swiss global network for education, research and innovation”. While they are not solely dedicated to EdTech, they are promoting it and connecting key actors, advising on trends, and promoting the visibility of Swiss education and research institutions.
An interesting Swiss Edtech is AIcrowd, which enables data science experts and enthusiasts as well as learners in general to collaboratively solve real-world problems through challenges. Targeting businesses, their solution allows companies to accelerate their Artificial Intelligence practice.
We are also fond of Thymio, a Swiss open-source robot created for teachers, by universities. The idea for the robot started from the will to offer children a modular, affordable, robot to let them discover digital technologies. Through educational and technological research, the robot has been developed in collaboration with multiple actors, harnessing the power of the open-source model.
As usual, there are many other companies active in this field, and we encourage you to continue discovering the fascinating industry of EdTech. If you are looking for guidance in setting up digital learning, we’d be glad to help you, get in touch and let’s figure out together your next step.
Where can I learn more?
Here are a few website which are considered as references in the industry.
Next up : Sustainable Technology
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