(Doudna, 2023)

Martin Weller in 25 years of Ed Tech describes technological advancements that impacted higher education in the 21st century. A major shift in ed tech was the implementation of the learning management systems (LMS) within post-secondary institutions in 2002 (Weller, 2020). It created a centralized system that facilitated online learning. Fast-forward to 2026, post-secondary institutions still use LMS and it has proven to have its merits. However, with every technological advancement, comes its challenges. The LMS created rigidity in the learning process that inhibited educators to explore possible learning outcomes and methodologies (Weller, 2020). The design of the LMS affected pedagogy and shifted the controls of the learning environment.

In the world of talent acquisition comes the applicant tracking system (ATS), a system that centralizes the candidate life cycle and recruitment process. The ATS made its evolution between the early 1900s and 2000s (Jovanovska, 2026). It moved the manual, paper-based recruitment process into a digital hiring process that is pushed by the internet (Jovanovska, 2026). Similar to the LMS, ATS limits the customization of what the end-user needs the system to do, inhibiting the system’s maximum efficacy performance. Lanier (2002, as cited in Weller, 2020) argues that “software sedimentation” occurs when the ideas embedded within software become accepted as mandatory or fundamental. Lanier (2002, as cited in Weller, 2020) further argues that “this inevitably stifles innovation and is one of the common complaints against the LMS”. This can seamlessly apply to the ATS, stifling the recruitment process and inhibiting talent acquisition professionals to innovate, test and retest ways to attract top talent.

Weller (2020) further examines other technological advancements that impacted education. In 2009 came the rise of Twitter and social media. Throughout this chapter, Weller explains how social media increased student recruitment, engagement, and retention (Weller, 2020, pp. 110–111). One can argue that social media has its benefits and a surge of excitement at the peak of its evolution however, recent statistics show that the usage of social media has declined by 10% since its peak in 2022 (Bhaimiya, 2026). Studies have show that there is a shift to social media discontinuation (Vanden Abeele et al., 2024) which acts as a counterpart of weaving digital communities through Twitter and social media platforms. This raises a question in the ed tech community, how will the evolution of new generations towards social media impact the future of ed tech. Will new generations yearn to go back to pen and paper and in-person classrooms? The shifts we are witnessing may not have been in the ed tech roadmap.  

References

Bhaimiya, S. (2026, February 7). A “quiet revolution”: Why young people are swapping social media for lunch dates, vinyl records and brick phones. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/07/young-people-quiet-revolution-social-media.html

Doudna, T. (2023, July 19). TrustWell resource guide. TrustWell Financial Advisors. https://trustwellfa.com/trustwell-values-updates/trustwell-resource-guide/

Jovanovska, T. (2026). Evolution of applicant tracking systems from paper to AI. Shortlister. https://www.myshortlister.com/insights/evolution-of-applicant-tracking-systems

Vanden Abeele, M. M. P., Vandebosch, H., Koster, E. H. W., De Leyn, T., Van Gaeveren, K., de Segovia Vicente, D., Van Bruyssel, S., van Timmeren, T., De Marez, L., Poels, K., DeSmet, A., De Wever, B., Verbruggen, M., & Baillien, E. (2024). Why, how, when, and for whom does digital disconnection work? A process-based framework of digital disconnection. *Communication Theory, 34*(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtad016

Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01

Transparency Statement: Generative AI, ChatGPT, was used to create the reference list and in-text citations only.