Original post by Benjamin Ferrel on January 30, 2015
Three trends that will influence learning and teaching in 2015 (article here: https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2014/12/29/three-trends-that-will-influence-learning-and-teaching-in-2015/) is an interesting analysis of the driving forces moving the evolution of teaching and learning at this point history. Although the thought of collapsing the things influencing the field of education into three trends may seem somewhat high-handed, the trends that are considered do provide an interesting framework to use to look at the other areas where education is evolving, such as adaptive learning or place-based mobile applications – in a way, they are all influenced by these trends.
I always find it super interesting to go back and review various predictions made in the recent past, particularly on the subject of educational technology. The linked article lists the following 3 trends as major influences on learning and teaching in 2015:
1. Skill-Specific Education
2. Social Learning as a Pedagogical Method
3. Learning-on-the-Go
Looking back 5 years later, I wonder how accurate these predictions turned out to be. In my opinion, the third trend, Learning-on-the-Go has probably had the biggest impact on teaching and learning over the past 5 years and particularly over the past few months. Online education has gone from luxury or optional to mandatory. Most educational institutions now have the infrastructure in place to offer full online curriculum, or if not they very soon will.
The other two trends are based more on pedagogy and theories of learning, which I think always lags a bit behind the technical aspects. I think it’s tough to make a case that there was a strong shift in focus in these areas between 2015 and now. That said, now that online learning is a reality, I think we’ll see growth in these areas in the near future as well.
Original comment by Kirsten on February 1st 2015
One of the trends, skill-specific education reminds me of the ads that a leading polytechnic here, NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) puts out that have the slogan, “Education for the Real World”. It lives up to its slogan because a high percentage of its students have skills that land them jobs upon graduation or even before leaving school.