Harmonious, with the statement that Martin Weller brought out in his introduction of the book “25 Years of Ed Tech”, the field of Educational Technology is constantly looking towards the future (Weller, 2020). This essay will explore some of the multifaceted dimensions of Ed Tech as I express what I believe the future of Education and Technology will look like in 2030.
In recent times, especially with the rise of Ed Tech buzz words such as “Artificial intelligence’ and ‘Automation,” I have heard others comment that the future looks bleak as Educators will no longer be needed and students can just learn from machines. As far-fetched as this may sound, I believe that future students, particularly those learning online, will have fewer virtual human interactions and more contact with AI and automation tools.
As I foresee a growing gap between human educators and students in the online learning environment, I expect a more significant global access gap among various socio-economic groups to an online learning environment. As highlighted in the article by Maughan, there are many factors and barriers that different socioeconomic groups face globally merely based on aspects such as the location where someone is born (2018). One may be born into a more advantaged home with easy access to the latest technologies and opportunities. At the same time, another student may face tremendous obstacles to accessing the same resources, while others never have access to them at all.
As bleak as this futuristic assumption may sound, there can be ways to mitigate or lessen the potential adversities looming in EdTech.
References
Maughan, T. (2018, February 11). The future of ed tech is here, it’s just not evenly distributed. Medium. https://medium.com/futures-exchange/the-future-of-ed-tech-is-here-its-just-not-evenly-distributed-210778a423d7
Weller, M. (2020, February). 25 Years of Ed Tech. AU Press—Digital Publications. https://read.aupress.ca/projects/25-years-of-ed-tech