Dr Vikas Nand Kumar Batheja at Capital College explores how present and future technology will shape the business front of the education industry.

In recent years, technology has evolved to be an integral part of almost every industry, including the education sector. While some argue that the education system has not drastically changed over these centuries as conventional ways of teaching are yet recognised in the present times. However, with the global pandemic making headlines every day, education with the infusion of technology has built a foundation to retain the quality of education. Classrooms today have transpired into students looking at their computer screens, laptops and tablets to attend lectures. The pandemic has given rise to the largest remote learning experiment where many schools, universities and other education institutions had shut across 190 countries worldwide, impacting almost 90% of the students. Although there is a lot of conjecture if digital tools are a boon or a bane to the education system, what remains unanswered is how digitisation has impacted the overall business from an educator’s perspective.

Technology promotes entrepreneurship

Today, most of the students’ demography represent either the Millennial or Generation Z and many of them expect financial independence much ahead when compared to the older generation. While undertaking a higher education qualification, students are already looking at opportunities for their business and technology is enabling them to succeed. Digital tools in the form of Ed-Tech are accelerating a student’s education pathway and allowing them to take control over their professional journey.

Strong collaborations

Unlike the conventional times where collaborations were only considered a nice add on or more on an initiative basis, education institutions are welcoming other corporations and companies to establish fruitful collaborations. In today’s times, there are a plethora of tools available for schools and universities to do so as an engaging facility with their students. For instance, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, Todolist and many other giant tech-driven companies are open for partnerships.

Decline in teaching faculty

The field of artificial intelligence has already created a massive impact on both personal and professional space. Like every other industry, the education sector is also changing with rapid developments in the AI and innovation leagues. Education and technology are regarded as one of the fastest-growing industries as many people are looking to upskill and find employment growth in their careers with the aid of digital learning platforms. In line with this, research conducted by Microsoft, McKinsey Global Institute has declared that there will be roughly a 50% decline in teaching faculty by the end of 2030.

AR revolutionising education

There are several strong reasons to imply the drastic impact of augmented reality in the education sector. Augmented Reality has been an essential part of industrial revolution 4.0 where it’s worth is set to reach $198 billion by 2025. In this year alone, research suggested that this digital aspect has reached 1 billion users worldwide, a significant portion coming from the education industry. To support this prediction, global research suggests that the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster when compared to processing textual material. Is it going to affect the sector positively or negatively? Only time will tell.