Embracing the Most Important Education Trends of 2023

Kyla Ball June 21, 2023

In 2023, we have already seen significant developments that will continue to transform teaching, learning, education technology and the education industry as we know it. In this post, we explore the three macro trends in education in 2023:

• Online Learning
• AI
• VR and AR

We show real examples of how edtech platform ThingLink is embracing them, and giving its worldwide community of creators the opportunity to incorporate them with easy to use additions to its suite of tools.

Online Learning

Or should that be online education, or remote learning, or e-learning? Whatever you choose to call it, there are no signs that this fundamental, seismic shift in education will be slowing any time soon! Since the pandemic, the number of online learning platforms and online courses has simply exploded. In particular, more online K-12 education providers are being launched all the time, to meet the demand from families who have chosen to leave traditional education systems behind. The range of different hybrid learning models available is huge, and it means that learners can be given a flexible and personalized learning experience, within a learning environment that is tailored to them.

Online learning in the higher and further education sector

The format of online learning is expanding all the time, and in the higher education sector, we have seen some great examples of educators creating virtual labs, virtual field trips and virtual workshops using ThingLink.

While technical skills are important, real-life soft skill sets such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, teamwork and collaboration are becoming increasingly valuable in the workplace. Online team challenges are a time-efficient and budget-efficient way to build these skills. Recent examples of ThingLink being used for this sort of group online learning are explored in this blog, How to Create a Virtual Escape Room for Students. We demonstrate examples where educators have used online escape rooms and murder mystery formats, introducing an element of gamification to the online learning experience.

In Virtual Labs, we showed how online learning environments can increase accessibility and inclusivity to higher education. Student mental health and well-being is increasingly a priority in higher education institutions. Virtual versions of labs, field trips etc open up learning environments to those who may be excluded from certain settings due to ill-health or anxiety.

In this example, college tutors created a virtual workshop so that students could gain knowledge and certification on a number of machines and tools before entering the real workshop.

Universities are also using ThingLink to create virtual campus tours, to help increase enquiries (and enrollment) from students who can’t manage to visit in person.

AI in Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most transformative technologies of our time. ThingLink is developing our own AI tools to assist our global community of creators, based in a large part on their suggestions and feedback.

One of these is the ThingLink 360 Image Generator – coming soon! The tool will allow you to create 360 images from panoramic shots on your phone. A game changer for creating 360 images for virtual tours.

We’re also regularly sharing the best examples where creators have used their initiative to combine AI creation tools with the ThingLink platform. One outstanding example of this was How to Unlock the Awesome Power of AI in Education, where a student created her own immersive guided tour using a number of generative AI image platforms.

In this blog post How to Optimize Your Productivity with AI we also looked at the AI tools that you can use to create content faster and more effectively, using tools like Jasper.ai and ChatGPT.

We discuss the impact of AI on education in the first in our series of webinars, AI in Immersive Learning. Watch the catch up below!

VR and AR in Education:

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are two more technologies that promise to revolutionize education. These immersive technologies allow students to practice skills in virtual simulations and environments. The learning opportunities provided in extended reality environments give them experience and confidence before they take those skills beyond the digital world and into a real-life situation. In this summary, we show how VR and AR training can aid in knowledge retention, improvement in skills, and reduction in errors at a fraction of the cost of traditional training methods.

In 2023, we expect VR and AR to become more embedded in everyday learning experiences, and at ThingLink we are developing the ThingLink Augmented Reality App. Watch this short clip below to get a preview of this exciting new addition to the ThingLink suite of tools.

Join the discussion!

To continue the discussion, and to get involved in helping to shape the future of ThingLink and education technology, please join our communities: The Facebook ThingLink Education group, The ThingLink LinkedIn Community, and the ThingLink Twitter Community.