Dive Brief:
- Three black swans of ed tech are expected to come from the network, Internet privacy, and machine learning, meaning major, impactful, and unexpected change will come from these areas.
- With so much activity conducted in a trackable, online format, there is great potential for improving learning outcomes, but eCampus News reports Internet privacy may be under assault, and colleges must be active in setting boundaries.
- Machine learning has the ability to further improve efficiency and turn more tasks over to computers, but campuses may have to protect against going too far or even moving away from traditional professors entirely.
Dive Insight:
The net has been around for almost 50 years now, changing our entire society into a digital one. Its continued growth and change brings great positive potential for human knowledge and higher learning, but colleges and universities will have to be conscientious adapters moving forward. Already, online education programs are being criticized for underpreparing students in soft skills that accompany traditional degrees. Competency-based programs and improvements in adaptive learning technology could improve student outcomes, but there is always, of course, the chance they’ll do the opposite.