Akademia

EdTech: Technology in the pursuit of Education

EdTech: Technology in the pursuit of Education

The technology-education binomial has reached its maximum exponent in EdTech. We explain what this trend consists of and what benefits it has over the traditional education system.

The image of a classroom has changed a lot in recent years, but its transformation in the wake of the pandemic has been dizzying. Electronic whiteboards or tablets on desks are just a token of how technology is taking the education sector by storm. EdTecheducational technology—is already taking knowledge beyond the walls of the classroom. With all that it entails.

Beyond maintaining the pace of education during lockdowns, the EdTech boom during the pandemic will leave its mark on the future of education. And it will do so of its own right, as it has the capacity to affect virtually every aspect of this sector. From the institutional role of universities to the price of tuition, EdTech promises to free education from many straitjackets.

What is EdTech and how is it applied?

Before discussing the promise held by technology to radically change education, it is best to define EdTech correctly. This term comes from Educational Technology. It refers to an area of technology that is dedicated to the development of solutions to improve the education sector.

This encompasses all kinds of tools, which can act both inside and outside a classroom. Educational apps, games, learning management systems, video conferencing platforms, discussion forums or even virtual reality glasses are just a few examples of EdTech. Of course, so are electronic whiteboards and, to a certain extent, the classic projectors that still swarm in classrooms.

However, the application of EdTech can be approached in two ways. One is to adapt its use to traditional education models. The other way is the one advocated by Alper Utku, founder of the European Leadership University, a global authority in education trends and member of our Future Trends Forum think tank. It requires seizing the momentum that EdTech has experienced in recent times to take the sector to a new level. Most of all, because there is no going back.

“People talk about ‘back to normal’ and it turns out that there is no such back to normal. Rather, there is a new normal. The impact of the pandemic will be with us for at least four to six years. By then, we won’t remember what ‘normal’ used to be. So, the best thing to do is to plan everything around that reality.” Alper Utku thus describes the state of shock that part of the educational community is currently experiencing. A state that, in his opinion, needs to be shaken off as soon as possible.

The beauties of EdTech

The use of technologies in this sector has a vital transformative power. In fact, they are capable of making education more economical, more flexible and more accessible to all types of people. This evolution inevitably leads to a more universal education.

Alper Utku sees enormous economic advantages in EdTech for both students and institutions, such as universities. This is because technology has the ability to remove the limitations of a location-based education.

“The traditional education system is built around premises of the past. We used to need to bring a certain group of people to a certain place at a certain time. Now, digital technology allows us to teach and learn anywhere, anytime. It may seem like a small step, but it’s actually a fundamental change,” says Utku.

An education designed around digital environments, flexible in terms of space and time, reduces costs considerably. “The campus becomes totally irrelevant and unnecessary. And it turns out that 80% of the price of tuition fees comes from this way of designing education around brick and mortar, as well as the administrative costs linked to it,” the expert points out.

Greater flexibility in education

In fact, the economic virtues of EdTech do not end there. The flexibility it brings to education also has an important influence here. And it does for both students and educational institutions such as universities.

Alper Utku illustrates this with a Nigerian student entering a program at a European university and not needing to pay for airfare or a place to live near the campus. What’s more, without the straitjacket of time, it will be easier for him to work while studying, or even do it all remotely. Add all this to much more affordable tuition because you don’t have to maintain huge facilities, and the math adds up.

On the universities’ side, along with the cost saved from reducing their facilities, the flexibility that EdTech brings can enable them to multiply their influence and reach students around the world.

“The flexibility that EdTech brings will allow us to recruit students from anywhere in the world without worrying about issues such as visas or accommodation. We won’t even need schools concentrated around the campus. We’ll be able to work with any school, from anywhere, at any time. That expands our reach enormously: the world becomes our campus,” Utku reflects.

Accessibility for everyone

The third major advantage derived from the emergence of EdTech is the facilities that digital tools can bring to people with different abilities. The accessibility they provide can make education a more inclusive sector.

“The traditional campus-based university system poses many limitations for people with different abilities and skills. We call them disabilities, but they are not people’s disabilities, they are disabilities in a system that we must overcome. Digital technology can do so much for people in the spectrum, with dyslexia, or who can’t see or hear… we simply can’t do that in a physical classroom.”

The accessibility provided by EdTech is precisely one of the dreams Utku has for the future of his own institution: “I would like for these people to have the same privileges and advantages in this institution as the majority with two eyes, two ears, two legs or a certain way of thinking. In my vision, we can embrace all those differences and create systems that provide opportunities for all.”

The Blockchain Tsunami

What is the future of EdTech and what role will innovation play in education in the future? While the pandemic has sparked a revolution, what awaits the sector will not be far behind. So much so that Alper Utku calls it a “tsunami.”

“That giant wave that is coming is called Blockchain technology. It will sweep away all those traditional institutions that act as intermediaries because they provide credentials and credibility. Blockchain will render universities unnecessary. With the help of this technology, I will be able to teach students directly and award credits accordingly. As there will be a universal credibility machine, we will have to learn about it and adapt our businesses,” explains the expert.

Against this backdrop, Utku invites universities and large institutions to quickly move beyond the lesson of the pandemic and go one step further. A step that our Akademia program, which launches a new course in collaboration with different universities and with flexible time options and the participation of international experts in innovation and education, has been taking since its inception.

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Alper Utku
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