Advancements in educational technology have not only improved the learning process through experimentation and data analysis but have also enabled millions of new learners from all over the world to attend courses and acquire professional certificates and degrees by online learning systems. Online learning and teaching are one of the fastest-growing areas of education and teaching, and well-designed technologies can provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to pursue opportunities in this area.

Is EdTech and E-Learning Are Same Industry?

The flood of innovation in technology has provided students of all ages with a new way of education and encouraging cooperation and classroom inclusiveness. Smart classrooms and schools have numerous online resources that help students learn in a productive and imaginative environment.

In recent years, different education platforms have enabled learning beyond traditional class-based learning environments and more flexible forms of learning. EdTech tools have reversed the traditional notion of education in the classroom. As a result, today's students are more likely to use e-learning methods and activities when responding to the trend in online education.

In recent decades, educational software has changed the way students learn. In the online education industry, significant strides have been made to address the complexity of traditional and virtual classrooms for both teachers and students. Here are five key ways EdTech affects the way students learn. If you doubt it, see how online learning software makes the physical classroom a thing of the past and how digital tests are used to assess students.

The introduction of more technology in classrooms and distance learning will make the life of teachers and students easier. Online classes have simplified the way educators communicate with students & they can behave in a manner during the sessions. Apps can help parents and students send reminders for projects and homework, and tools permit students to monitor the noise levels in the classroom themselves.

EdTech is a growing list of tools to help teachers and students create personal educational experiences. EdTech tools range from VR headsets that help students learn certain subjects to data-based platforms that help teachers identify learning habits and create personalized lesson plans for students. Educational technology is being used as an industry to train students and staff in a wide range of learning and communication practitioners, including learning designers, technical trainers, technical communication professionals, communication specialists, and technical writers on the primary and secondary levels. In turn, teachers use a wide range of tools to add value to their students and make profits to pay for certificates.

Educational technology is the process of integrating technology into education to promote various learning environments and opportunities for students to learn with technology for their common tasks. EdTech is a term used to describe a mix of digital learning (also known as hardware and software) that is intended to improve the results of students & quality of education. It aims to improve study outcomes, improve individual training and reduce the burden on teachers.

Modern educators can add a mix of things like videos, interactive simulations, tilt-able classrooms, serious games, social learning, and collaborative projects to their inventory of text and images as technology advances. With the modern evolution of technology, you can find games in almost all educational disciplines. E-learning is an evolving part of the education industry and EdTech makes it possible.

Experts say that start-ups need to focus on teaching and not on technology to improve learning. A chemistry teacher (we cannot show you the name because of privacy concerns) on a private learning platform had recently said on a public platform that, "the most challenging aspect of being an educator on ELearning Platform is not seeing the students in the class. She says that teachers generally respond to the students, while the head Educator focuses on recording the lecture on Elearning app".

Online learning offers opportunities for higher education for non-traditional students (25% of whom work full-time and care for families), according to their timetable. Online education is a good option for these students because it provides a unique learning experience based on the abilities of each student. Students and parents believe that educators establish a social atmosphere that allows group study and other variable shifts not covered by EdTech. This is a major reason why students think that online learning is better than traditional classroom learning. There is evidence proving that online learning can be effective in many ways with access to the right technology.

One of the biggest advantages of online learning is that it allows students to participate in classes at a location of their choice. Students can attend and leave a course in the hope that the knowledge gained during the course will help them learn and grow in the next course. The focus on student activities outside the academic domain and the holistic focus incorporate context means that students are expected to build a knowledge bank across a variety of disciplines. Students learn faster because online learning takes 40%-60% less time than traditional teaching, enabling them to learn at their own pace without re-reading or skipping speed concepts if they wish. Research shows that students keep on average 25-60% more material learned online than in the classroom, compared to 8-10% in a classroom.

Online education provides a place for creative learning and the development of problem-solving skills for pupils. Online learning offers students access to education at any time and in any place. This allows students to access study materials at any time. Students can spend their time learning from home, the office, the café, or even on vacation by accessing course materials via a reliable Internet connection. Online courses enable students to access course material easily, communicate with peers and faculty, and complete exams via reliable Internet access.

Teaching materials are available to students to learn at their own pace and can be learned any day of the week. There is no time limit on when students can access learning materials.

The main advantage of asynchronous online learning is that it allows students to participate in high-quality learning situations where distance learning makes learning difficult or impossible. Online and asynchronous education gives students control over their learning experience, provides curriculum flexibility for non-traditional students, and gives students greater responsibility. Online courses allow you to interact with students in remote areas of the world. Online teaching allows students to learn with teachers at any time of day from any time zone in the world. When students have access to the Internet, they can easily access their education in the classroom at any time of day.

Hybrid programs combine on-campus learning with the best online and campus learning for students. Goodwin offers a hybrid format for many courses, allowing students to benefit from the autonomy of online courses while gaining valuable time to collaborate with courses on campus.

Online courses allow you to integrate education into your routine so that you don't have to forego family time, hire expensive babysitters or cut your working hours. Online courses make it easier to be a passive participant rather than an investment and make it more fulfilling to utilize your network for opportunities.

A Brief History of Education Technology& Its Rise in the 1990s

The pace of technological change means that the knowledge and skills needed to remain successful are changing at an enormous rate. The same technologies that give our capabilities limited durability are also key to keeping pace with the pace of digital change. Enter eLearning, EdTech, and digital technology in education. ELearning has evolved over the years.

1. In the 1960s, the first forms of computer-aided education emerged from the Platonic mainframe systems.
2. During the 1980s with the advent of personal computers, educational programs and materials were distributed to students.
3. In the 1990s, this type of digital schooling became widely spread.
4. In 1999, when CD-ROMs gave way to Internet sales, the term eLearning was coined.
5. In the first decade of the 21st century, online education and web-based learning grew exponentially. Digital technologies are faster and more efficient at finding and presenting the information that computers need to impart understanding and skills to learners. In the last ten years, it has become clear that EdTech and eLearning work together because they combine live interaction between learners and teachers.
6. As the second decade of this century begins in 2010, these technologies have evolved and will affect our lives well into 2020. Consider some of the changes over the past decade. MOOCs are open online courses with educational content available on-demand to a large number of users over the Internet.

The Emergence of E-Learning Industry in the 2010s

1. In 2010, Flat World Knowledge (also known as Flat World) was named the top educational material supplier for its open textbooks by the American Library Association (also known as Flat World). Open textbooks are electronic textbooks that are free of charge licensed for public use and are incompatible with traditional textbooks subject to strict copyright checks.
2. In 2011, Stanford University offered three MOOCs for free (but not for college loans). The introduction of artificial intelligence has received more than 160,000 approvals worldwide, MOOCs were the principal form of EdTech in this era, while Learning Management Systems (LMS) were based on closed, proprietary software platforms tailored to individuals, companies, and institutions. MOOCs enabled courses to be accessed via a web browser and an Internet connection.
3. MIT founded a university MOOC consortium called MITX, which was later joined by several other universities and renamed EDX. The New York Times declared 2012 the "Year of the MOOC". A 2012 Harvard Business Review article stated that "technology and skills have a limited shelf life and need to be refreshed. MOOCs are seen as the standard for ELearning, and they seem to be its future.
4. In 2013, EdX partnered with Google and Stanford University to provide an open MOOC platform for course providers. Based on the MOOC model, the platform supports several university and higher education courses in a wide range of subjects. It was a big bet that MOOCs would be the preferred model for eLearning.
5. In 2014, the Georgia Institute of Technology created the first open online degree, the MOOC Program.
6. A 2015 study of MOOCs showed that the average graduation rate was just 15 percent. By contrast, blended learning approaches that combine online learning with personal interaction have shown better results.
7. In 2016, Facebook launched a self-directed learning platform in Western US public and charter schools for middle and high school students. In the same year, Microsoft integrated AI-based learning tools into Office Word so that researchers could have instant access to an Internet-based editor and use machine learning to propose improvements in writing style and grammar.
8. In 2017, investments in EdTech totaled $9.5 billion, up 30% from the previous year. The investments went to more than 800 companies.
9. In 2018, data analysis, EdTech, and eLearning became more important. Adaptive systems use heuristics to study student learning, student engagement in courses, their physical interaction with institutions and resources, the frequency of visits to libraries and leisure centers over a given period of time, and the frequency of use of learning management systems and programs. By collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data points on student interactions and outcomes, adaptive systems can prescribe tailored approaches to counselors and faculty that are most likely to help achieve optimal outcomes. Advisers in these systems can recommend adaptations to their learning paths.
10. In 2019 the subjects of augmented reality and virtual reality (AR, VR, and EdTech) attracted a lot of attention. VR lets learners interact in an immersive, virtual classroom. For classroom learners, VR allows them to experience the environment of a real or artificial classroom without a computer. When students visit a physical classroom, AR has the potential to enrich the classroom experience with complementary information from digital sources.

Checkout the timeline in Graphical Format.

Latest Trends:

Mobile education: Mobile devices have made great progress in eLearning. No one has ever thought of a small & compatible computer which you can use while traveling. A/c to a report more than 3.8 billion people use a smartphone which is around 48.20% of the whole population. Seeing this trend people started taking smartphone users seriously & started optimizing the EdTech website for them.

Over the last decade, the development of EdTech has enabled eLearning to change and adapt to new delivery technologies, new skills, and new business methods. Edtech is your gateway to remain successful in the age of digital transformation.

The outbreak of coronavirus has driven students to alternate learning and online learning offers the advantages to reduce regular institutions' budget stress. Educational institutions are looking for platforms to offer online learning to educate students around the world. Advanced online learning, once considered a niche area, is increasingly attractive to universities and doctoral students around the world.

Based on the experience of the teachers, the participants learn best practices for the planning and organization of lessons for their students under the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. Many schools are working to improve online collaboration and prioritize the student's "needs and successes during the pandemic, but distance learning is still needed in many areas. Looking ahead to fall, many schools are considering hybrid learning models, both in-person and online.

According to both teachers and students, online learning is a flexible and effective source of learning and teaching, and most agree that it supports remote learning through easier management and accessibility and reduced resource and time use. In addition, the online format allows pupils and teachers on demand more freedom to participate in lessons. Online courses that need only be online for an hour can be seen as a compliment of the best way to learn during this crisis. Learn more about the differences between online and traditional classes.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, online education and online tuition for students have reached a new normal. The complete closure of educational establishments has caused significant disruption to the school year and created a large learning gap for pupils. Online education has transformed education into a student center where students participate in learning and teachers work with their superiors to guide them.

Teachers and students see online learning as a method that must be encouraged to continue teaching in difficult circumstances that prevent them from reaching university or school. In addition, most schools manage to organize online courses for pupils and offer safe learning at home.