11 education trends of the future: what should we look for in 2021? ​

A little introduction

The year 2020 has changed the education system dramatically. Globalization, the leap in the world of technology, the shift to digital, and, on top of that, a little pandemic coronavirus have all had a significant impact on many areas of our lives, including education.

It's the beginning of 2021, which means it's time to talk about what educational trends will dominate education in the future, what to look out for and what to expect in the coming months and years at your schools, colleges, and universities.

It's interesting!

Today's educational trends are looking for more and more ways to get students interested in the process. If in the past it was enough to use new technologies, now it's no wonder. Therefore, more and more ideas are born where the roles of the student and the teacher are changed, transformed, and sometimes even changed.

So, here is the list of 11 education trends of the future, prepared by the best paper writing service specialists! Why 11? Because 10 is too hackneyed and straightforward, and 9 is too little. 11 is just right!

Trend 1: Lifelong Learning

The Lifelong Learning principle has been spreading worldwide for many centuries: at the beginning of our era Lucius Anna Seneca said the golden quote, which is still relevant today: "A century of life is a century of learning how life should be." True, in the 21st century, it was shortened to "A Century of Living is a Century of Learning," but the essence remains the same: one must always learn, one must constantly grow and develop because stagnation is no better than degradation.

In the 21st century, continuous learning has become incredibly popular, people have realized the importance of self-development (one of the reasons - the constant competition at work, personal life, etc.). The flow of information surrounds us 24/7/365, news, events, discoveries, all updated at an incredible rate, robots and artificial intelligence start people. It gets to the point that your knowledge is already outdated between graduation and the first day of work. That's why it's so important always to be learning, learn everywhere, and not stop developing for a second.

This is important!

Modern trends have made it unlikely that anyone can take a job in one company and work there until retirement. It is now quite normal to change careers every five years - this is professional development, that's all.

Trend 2: Total digitalization

Digitalization of education has been going on for a long time, but it has gained such momentum in recent years. Digitalization - the introduction of modern technology in a particular area of human life, at this point, we are talking about education.

One of the important flags of success of this process is how all schools and universities could switch to a distance learning system. Five years ago, this would have been unimaginable.

Another reason for the total digitalization of higher education: the general increase in the number of students. The world population is growing, the number of students inevitably increases, and universities can not always afford to teach everyone who wants to study in person, so the growth of courses on the Internet from a particular institution continues. It's also good for international students, who no longer have to travel great distances to get a degree from a prestigious university.

Trend 3: Online courses for anything and everything

If you are sitting on YouTube, you probably noticed the abundance of integrations of various online schools, courses, and so on in the second half of 2020. This global change in education flows seamlessly from the previous two. Massive open online courses effectively accomplish two things:

• Make up-to-date educational data available to as many people as possible.

• Make the educational process more open, interactive, and engaging.

• The Massive Open Online Courses Internet site deserves special attention. On it, you will find current training programs in leading and promising areas: programming, IT development, design, management, and so on.

Trend 4: Gamification of education

Shakespeare's words about our lives echo in the minds of every generation. Through gamification, even learning becomes easier. Games and entertainment have become such an integral part of the educational process that even a particular term in English is formed from the merger of the words "learning" and "entertainment" - Edutainment.

Gamification, i.e., the introduction of games and entertainment elements into the educational process, helps schoolchildren and students develop creative and adaptive thinking during the learning process, improving their soft skills. It is impossible to survive in the modern world.

A prime example of gamification!

Almost all educational games for children are built on games. What's in kindergarten, what's on smartphones. Pay attention to this.

Trend 5: Augmented and Virtual Reality

It would seem that VR and AR technologies have only recently burst into our world, and they are already in full use everywhere, even in education. The right approach allows the teacher and the student to immerse themselves in the process much deeper, making it more voluminous, unique, and fascinating. Virtual and augmented reality increase the boundaries of perception, allow a clearer and more extensive assessment of various points. And in some moments, theory and practice become one whole.

This is interesting!

Many studies have confirmed that the use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies significantly increases the effectiveness and perception of educational information.

Trend 6: Agile and Scrum methodology

Our readers already know about Agile and Scrum, so we will just touch upon what we discussed earlier, but if you are interested, you can read more in our article "Agile and Scrum methods in education: what are they and how does it work?

In a narrow sense, Agile is a collective word for a large number of "agile" approaches that are used in software product creation and development. In a broader sense, Agile is a certain mindset and features that characterize all these approaches. And if you turn to the broader approach, you can come up with the idea that Agile can be implemented not only in the IT-sphere.

Scrum is considered the framework, framework, basis, structure of Agile-approach. Scrum comes from the idea of a clear division of roles, tasks, and processes. Over each project, a team of specialists works, and their actions are coordinated by the customer and the scrum-master. They are two different people, and each has various tasks: the first ensures that the final product meets the functions that will be assigned to it, the second - to monitor the team and direct in the right direction if necessary. All work will consist of short stages of 1-2 weeks - sprints. On the shoulder of each employee is assigned specific tasks, and each is responsible for the final result. This approach allows you to create a product quickly, keep the team highly motivated and not waste time and money on ineffective actions.

Trend 7: Active Project Work

While students spend most of their time doing homework and lectures and seminars, things are changing. Students are often given group assignments or projects because this is much closer to the real cases that await students in adulthood rather than work in lectures and seminars. It also leads to the growth of personal responsibility and awareness of their role in independent work.

The benefits of this approach are many:

• Students acquire hands-on experience that will help them advance in their jobs.

• Students develop critical thinking skills and learn to work in groups.

• Practical skills and knowledge are honed.

• This strategy allows for more information to be absorbed.

• Allows you to keep your study motivation after a period of time has passed.

• The instructor is relieved of a load of inefficient and unnecessary labor.

Trend 8: Use of Adaptive Learning Principles

Adaptive principles have finally arrived in the field of education. Teachers have realized that not students need to adapt to them, but teachers who need to adapt to students. There has long been talking about this, but this became a reality only with Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. Using the principles of adaptability and Artificial Intelligence, it becomes realistic to adjust the educational process for each student individually, taking full advantage of their strengths and pulling up weaknesses.

Unfortunately, adaptive programs have not reached their peak in 2021: they are not yet good enough for humanities programs, and those specialties were constantly changing (hello programmers). What will happen in 2024? Who knows...

Trend 9: The Integral Approach

The integral approach in education and life involves interdisciplinary learning. In classical medicine, a disease is a physical ailment that must be treated with drugs or surgery. A specialist who takes an integrative approach looks at the disease from the perspective of the physical body and takes into account the patient's psychological state, relationships with others, family history, and knowledge of alternative therapies.

If you want to be a genuinely in-demand specialist, you should consider developing interdisciplinary skills that allow you to explore the subject from different angles.

Trend 10: Neurotechnology and Big Data

Forgetting about the development of neurotechnology and Big Data is inadmissible! In the last couple of years, these technologies have been so actively bursting into the modern world that in the next few years, they will cover the educational sphere as well. It all started as an element of marketing, and now it's so much easier to choose a field that doesn't need Big Data than to list all the areas that use it.

What is Big Data, and why do we need it? As for education, it's simple: neurotechnology is used to intelligently integrate information into the educational process to keep students' attention as long as possible. Big Data processes kilotons of information to analyze everything and draw conclusions from the collected information to improve the educational process.

Trend 11: The changing role of the educator in the educational process.

In the classical form of education, the teacher takes on virtually a supervisory function; everything should be done according to his wishes; the teacher is at the center of everything and directs all operations. However, the teacher has evolved into a scrum master who assists and corrects but does not lead the process in today's world. He is more of a supporter and advisor than a leader.

The teacher now has slightly different responsibilities than before:

• Every effort is being made to include every student in the educational process.

• Keep your motivation up without letting it dwindle.

• Developing, directing, and directing one-of-a-kind and interactive projects.

• Teach the mindset rather than the details.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes