What Are We Learning From the World’s Big EdTech Initiatives?
Over the past few months, a remarkable experiment has been taking place. With almost every school in the world moving to remote learning, educational technology has increased. In fact, at one point, over 90% of the world was using some type of EdTech.
Though this was challenging for the parents, students, and the faculty of schools across the globe, the EdTech companies had the opportunity to let everyone see just what they were capable of. With this, many of those companies were given free access to their platforms for a limited time.
There are many different EdTech companies. Some offer help with math, and some are helping classrooms stay connected while others are teaching languages. But one thing is for sure; we want to know what we are learning from the world’s significant EdTech initiatives. So let’s take a look at that now!
Which EdTech Companies Are the Big Winners?
With so many EdTech companies, it might be hard to sift through all the data of what has happened over the last few months. But without a deep dive, there are some clear winners when it comes to initiatives. It seems like perhaps the biggest of these is Google Classrooms. Another winner across the globe was Duolingo. Both saw an increase in use the world over.
Could This Be The Educational Wave of the Future?
Though there is no telling if distance learning will stay in use as heavy as it is with the current world situation, it offers a unique extension to learning. It is also an excellent resource for those more rural areas.
It is evident, though, that EdTech apps and tools have a massive impact on the learning experience. The ability of the students that use them has shown a significant increase in learning speeds and retention. Of course, this is not a universal finding and so whether the EdTech initiative becomes more used in schools in the future is still yet to be seen.
Has It Become the Norm Already?
The use of video to video learning provided by EdTech initiatives like google classroom is not as universal as you might think. It depends on where you live. For instance, in the United States, it is much more accessible and used than in places like the UK.
The type of school and its funding also play a role in accessibility to online classrooms and EdTech initiatives. So despite the access to these apps and platforms, they have yet to become the norm. But who knows, maybe in the future.
Not Banking On the Permanency
Schools and parents are eagerly waiting for a return to the normal, and because of this, these EdTech companies that have been benefiting from the current needs know that this shift in education is not permanent at all. But they are hoping that their success will show that they are a useful aid in the educational process.
Concluding Thoughts
EdTech initiatives have seen an influx of use with schools’ closures over the last few months. Though they have been mostly successful, they are by no means the standard quiet yet. But what we did learn is that they are great apps to be used along with the traditional methods, which means heightened educational capabilities of schools across the globe.