EdTech trends for 2022

Last year I wrote about mobile first, learning by doing and flexible training, so as the co-founder of an Australian owned LMS what are my predicted EdTech trends for 2022?

The Australian Online Education market was valued at 7.9 billion in 2021, with a growth of 8.2% in 2021 alone (Ibis World 2021)

This article highlights my predictions on EdTech trends in Australia for 2022.

#BigData

"Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile" - Abu Bakr

I really believe in the power of numbers and analytics for incremental improvement for educators.

A feature Ammonite offers in its platform for course writers to continually improve their courses and understand the learner journey is detailed data for courses including statistics on individual questions. This has helped a lot of course writers to identify questions that need further work, clarification or tweaking.

Flexibility for learners

“The trend of design toward simplicity and accessibility in software happened for a reason - simple sells, simple’s usable and simple scales” - Rand Fishkin

A key part of Universal Design for learning is the concept of Representation, allowing every student to access and understand the content and access to the learning materials (New South Wales Government 2021).

A mobile friendly, adaptable LMS that works across all devices is key in allowing representation. While other LMS platforms stipulate users to use specific browsers and do not adapt to the growing Apple user base. Ammonite instead embraces representation in the design of its products.

More features

EdTech companies need to continue to research, trial and add new features, "one of the most consistent patterns in business is the failure of leading companies to stay at the top of their industries when technologies or markets change" (Bower & Christensen 1995).

I found it quite surprising that LMS products on the market do not offer in build proctoring. With the move toward online education and the change in the education climate since the beginning of the pandemic it has also surprised me that LMS products have not developed. Ammonite has had an inbuilt proctoring tool since 2014 when we released our inbuilt VAT (Validity & Authenticity Technology). We continue to adapt, build, research and introduce new EdTech features into our platform as we grow into different disruptive technologies, because you either grow, pivot, change and adapt or stay stagnant and eventually sink.

A recent feature our IT team has been building in the back end has been vocational mapping and teacher currency tool for the TAFEs we are partnering with to move them from a document based systems into a user friendly digital system with powerful reporting features. Ammonite is incorporating Training and Assessment Strategies (TAS) and Industry Consultation into this digital ecosystem.