Call us now

What the EdTech revolution means for the business

A lot has been said over the past couple of years about the segment called Education Technology, a.k.a. EdTech. What it means for your business? Let’s find out.

First, what is EdTech exactly? There are several definitions, but the main one is simple. It’s the use of technology in order to enhance learning and education. Many people view it as one of the biggest things to come in the worlds of education, technology and also the business.

It is already quite a big market and the forecasts are that it’s just getting started. According to the Global EdTech Review by EdTechXGlobal, the market will reach $252 billion by 2020. This means it will grow by 17% per year from now until 2020.

“To date, the US has set the trend and pace of the EdTech market. Asia is now experiencing the world’s fastest growth in investment into the sector, and Europe has seen increases in M&A; however, this region remains a largely under-invested and fragmented market”, EdTexhXGlobal notes in its report.

EdTechXGlobal notes that mobile devices will be a catalyst for delivering and supporting learning. The organization envisions that education in emerging markets, where 90% of the world’s population under 30 is situated, will be led by mobile first strategies.

Why is this a big deal?

Education hasn’t really changed for hundreds of years. Now technologies are rapidly entering all walks of life and changing them. Education is one of them and that’s great. Today the world changes dramatically and at a very fast pace. Traditional education is simply not fast or flexible enough to answer the modern day business and market needs.

This is especially valid for the IT industry. Even if you start to study to become a software developer in a college or university, by the end of the bachelor degree, most of the stuff and platforms you’ve learned will either be completely outdated, or starting to lose ground to new stuff.

This is why most IT companies are putting more value in additional trainings and certifications. For some of them in the developing markets, college education even steps back for certain certifications, experience and simply a desire to learn and develop.

What are the changes?

Trainings and certifications are in the center of EdTech as a great way to show progress. But certifications are the end achievement. In order to get to it, you usually have to pass a complex test and a comprehensive training before that. Most trainings don’t follow the traditional approach. Instead, they focus on new techniques. Among them are entire online degree platforms, informal mobile learning applications, gamification or virtual reality.

One of the big advantages of EdTech is liberalizing the access to education. It cuts costs for education and makes it not only more affordable, but also easier to access and “consume”. EdTech provides the opportunity for personalized learning for each person. This is important since not all people like to learn from textbooks. Some prefer a more visual approach, other like interactive features and so on.

EdTech improves the user engagement and also provides better learning retention. Technologies also help having a wealth of knowledge in your laptop, smartphone or tablet accessible at any time. So, you can even learn while you ride the subway to work. It provides for a lot of ways to offer learning via video, online courses, even in the form of video games.

Additional benefits

To all of this we can add Big Data analysis. With it learning providers and the business can see what really works and what doesn’t. They can also see the early signs of new trends and future top platforms. All of this can help them create new trainings proactively and provide them to the business to get ready just in time for their surfacing on the big scene.

Learning is changing. Completing college is no longer enough. Since everything is changing and developing faster than ever, you have to continue to learn new material throughout your entire career. If you stop learning, you will stop your own progress and you will even go backwards. EdTech can and already makes education easily available.

There is still a lot of development to happen in the field. EdTech is just starting. It doesn’t matter whether the EdTech revolution has happened or will happen soon. The effects of EdTech are already visible. Now is the time to explore how EdTech can help you grow your business. And you might need a hand for that. CourseDot can help you out.