Application update


Collaboration in education: technologies and trends


Earlier this year the BETT show revealed the growing range of solu- tions available to schools moving away from traditional font-of-class teaching methods to collaborative techniques. Here, we look at recent statistics published about the growing market for hardware and soft- ware, and report on recent projects that deploy these solutions.


Sales of education digital man- agement platforms and tools are forecast, by Futuresource, to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% to 2020, reaching $1.83 billion•. This growth is indicative of the changing education technology landscape, characterised by: the adoption of mobile PC's in classrooms; the digitisation of content; a growing reliance on cloud services; and a high penetration of smart devices amongst parents, teachers and students. To accommodate an increas- digital


ingly school environ-


ment, the platforms and tools market is evolving and growing with developments across both administrative and instruc- tional technologies. The lat- est report from Futuresource's Educational Technology team examined the digital platforms and tools markets for K-12 ed- ucation in both the US and UK. As the diversity of solutions in use grows, end-users are de- manding platform rationalisa- tion and integration.


As such, supply side consol- idation and applications in- teroperability are key areas of development. The recent past has seen major US players like PowerSchool (Student Infor- mation Systems) & Blackboard (Communications & Learning Management) increase market exposure


through the acqui-


sition of complimentary and competitive solutions. “These companies are seeking to be- come holistic suppliers, le- veraging the customer base of individual businesses to upsell a broader solution,” comments Ben Davis, Senior Market An- alyst at Futuresource Consult- ing.


Data standards and integra- tion solutions from providers like Ed-Fi, IMS Global and Clever are uniting the appli- cations ecosystem, reducing operational burdens and creat- ing new opportunities for high growth product segments like data analytics platforms. “This could have significant implica- tions for procurement going for- wards,” continues Davis. “With these tools used to identify strategies for student retention, analyse the ROI of investments and differentiate


learning for


students, analytics platforms have the capacity to influence school leadership at the high- est levels.”


Classroom technology


In the classroom, the increased utilisation of PC's has spurred rapid growth for device man- agement tools


servicing both


administrative and instruction- al requirements. Mobile device


P16 AV News April 2017


management software allows IT staff to centrally distribute applications and configure de- vices while classroom manage- ment and collaboration


tools


allow teachers to monitor the usage of devices and engage students


via quizzing games


and interactive presentations. “Market value in these seg- ments is high growth, espe- cially in the US, where the penetration of student devices is over 45%. Unlike other prod- uct segments (which are close- ly aligned to local curriculum and reporting standards), these solutions offer significant inter- national growth opportunities. Companies in this space will be some of the most interesting to watch, going forwards, as the penetration of devices in inter- national markets rises,” adds Davis.


The rise of freemium business models is another key takeaway from the report. This is most notable in the arena of in- structional technologies, where there are already large


user


basis for tools enabling class- room communications, assign- ment distribution and student response. Providers show the capacity to displace and dis- rupt more traditional paid for solutions in areas like learning management and classroom re- sponse but some are struggling to monetise. “Some of


these companies


have amassed user bases into the tens of millions and attract- ed significant investment, but there is a clock ticking on the ability to turn a profit. Some are seeking to monetise in areas adjacent to the core product offering, but the most success- ful freemium approaches have come from companies able to monetise the core product after offering a free to access trial or 'lite' solution,” says Davis.


Notes


Market values include initial imple- mentation and licensing costs only. Revenues for additional professional development are excluded. Associated hardware and additional hosting costs are excluded. Values exclude additional transactional


costs incurred includ-


ing SMS text costs, cashless payment charges and digital content sales. Val- ues include content agnostic solutions only and do not include course man- agement tools designed to manage proprietary content. **Values exclude security and smart campus solutions including web filtering, identify man- agement, building automation and communications safeguarding. Values exclude productivity software including Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop and similar.


Given currented education funding, choices have to be made between conflicting pri- orities. The majority of edu- cation


professionals feel the


primary focus should be on im- proving the quality of teacher training (34%). Other factors that respondents feel need at- tention are, personalising the student-learning experience (17%) and taking advantage of new technology (13%). Looking into the future of ed-


with the role of thought leaders and educational outreach pro- grammes becoming increasing- ly important to education. Andrew Graley, Polycom’s Director of Healthcare, Educa- tion and Government for EMEA believes that industry expert advice in education courses will become more accessible: “With the real-time video col- laboration technology that’s available today, there’s no rea- son why students can’t speak


Chart 1: Where do you think new education models will come from in the future?


[Source: Polycom - Education in 2025. Education Technology Inno- vation Survey]


Education in the next decade


At BETT 2017, Promethean, in association with new parent company NetDragon treated delegates to a VR-based vision of the future of ed- ucation (see AV News YouTube channel for our video report). Around the same time, Polycom unveiled a long-term vision which has an even more profound impact on education as we know it – according to the VC specialists, the future of education is online,


A recent report commissioned by Polycom, 72% of education professionals believe teachers are performing the leading role in education today, but only 40% believe this will still be the case in 2025. Furthermore, 53% of education professionals believe real-time video collabo- ration and mobile devices will be the primary ways students engage with content by 2025. Much as we expect, the stumbling block in the way of Prometheans VR-led future is funding – the Polycom findings goes a step further, with 36% of EMEA education profession- als reporting that funding is the biggest inhibitor to a more positive future for education in general. This contrasts with the agreement of 30% of education professionals who say making education accessible to anyone who wants to learn is the most important factor in the future of education. Unsurprisingly then, the #Education in 2025 – Technology Innovation’ Report concludes that institutions are currently failing to maximise the potential of the technology available today.


ucation, Survey respondents predict that the learning envi- ronment will break free from the classroom: 64% of respon- dents reported that students in 2015 primarily engaged with content in the classroom, but only 25% predicted it will still be the leading way for learning in 2025. Alongside this, the use of remote learning technol- ogies in teaching is expected to rise significantly: 53% of edu- cation professionals believe re- al-time video collaboration and mobile devices will be the pri- mary way students engage with content by 2025.


A combination of funding challenges and the need to prepare a skilled workforce prompted a significant 58% of EMEA respondents expect to see greater collaboration between schools and corpora- tions by 2025. The majority of respondents believe there will be a more defined career pathway through the school- ing process. Furthermore, the majority of EMEA respondents predict that the role a teacher plays in education will become less important in coming years,


AV News’ videographer Matt Strange tries some of Promethean’s VR solutions at BETT 2017.


to industry experts about their field of study. It’s possible to connect with an expert any- where in the world at any time – it’s just one click away.” However, education profes- sionals believe laptop use in a classroom environment is likely to drastically decline: 66% of those surveyed think laptops are how students currently engage with content, but only 29% think this


will stay the


same by 2025. “If you have a room full of students sat on separate laptops on the same website going through an in- teractive online course, why do they need to be in a classroom? If students can do the basic, information-heavy lessons from home through online courses, that frees up face-to-face class- room time for practical and interactive learning” explains Graley.


Virtual Learning Environ- ments (VLEs) are predicted to be the number one invest- ment in coming years, closely followed by physical creative learning environments: “There is clearly a trend for integrat- ing technology with physical teaching; it’s about finding a balance and doing what is best for the pupils. It’s important that we don’t lose that face- to-face practical teaching en- vironment, but make sure we maximise the potential that technology can bring to the ed- ucation landscape,” explains Graley.


The Report concludes that ed- ucation is best described as be- tween paradigms from the tra- ditional to the digital. Students expect a highly engaging inter- active learning environment, not stagnant instructor-led designs. Learning technolo- gies, and changing pedagogical methods, are not only chang- ing the teaching method but also the physical environments housing teaching.


The classroom of the future recasts tomorrow’s educational


settings in exciting new for- mats: global connectivity and collaboration, combined with technology that allows for in- teractive and student tailored lessons. It is both physical and virtual, it is mobile and engag- ing, it is personal yet scalable. Specific findings include:


• Collaborative, team-based learning engages students. The right technology –flexible me- dia, high-quality connections – enhances students’ experience to the level of “I’d hate to miss this” learning.


• Faculty can readily connect face-to-face with one or with many participants. Subject matter experts, community re- sources, or colleagues can be included through desktop or mobile devices by using a rich interactive toolset.


Become part of something larger than one standalone school. Share innovations and best practices – develop flexi- ble strategies and collaboration techniques – within a growing community of interest.


•Capturing lectures and man- aging content for live on-de- mand and revote viewing. Over the next 10 years, the Re- port emphasises the continu- ing significance of the private sector innovation in the future of education (see Chart 1). Pri- orities for investment include virtual learning environments, “physical creative learning en- vironments” and collaborative software platforms (see Chart 2).


Overall, the fundamental


trend in the future of education is greater collaboration between schools and corporations.


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