{"id":156732,"date":"2023-12-13T13:37:01","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T18:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/districtadministration.com\/?p=156732"},"modified":"2023-12-13T13:37:01","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T18:37:01","slug":"edtech-trends-ai-dominates-spending-spree-winds-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/districtadministration.com\/edtech-trends-ai-dominates-spending-spree-winds-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech predictions: AI dominates and the spending spree winds down"},"content":{"rendered":"

What’s in store for 2024? To share some perspective from outside the classroom, District Administration asked vendors from across the K12 spectrum to forecast the edtech trends that will shape their spaces\u2014and yours\u2014in the coming year. Here’s what some of K12’s leading edtech providers predicted\u2014hint: Artificial intelligence isn’t going anywhere.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But the flood of edtech into classrooms may slow in 2024, thanks to the expiration of ESSER funding and tightening budgets. K12 leaders will be zeroing in on the products that move the needle on achievement and other priorities, says Jeremy Cowdrey<\/a>, the CEO of Discovery Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling this movement the great rationalization and consolidation,\u201d Cowdrey explains. \u201cThey will seek to renew products that have high usage, personalize learning, and drive deeper engagement in instruction. They will keep edtech resources that have shown a proven, measurable impact on students. ”<\/p>\n

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Leaders will maintain relationships with edtech providers who are purpose-driven and offer multiple solutions from one consolidated platform, he adds.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, artificial intelligence will likely continue to suck up most of the oxygen when it comes to edtech trends. \u201cAI will impact everything\u2014from creating relevant lesson plans to acting as a teacher\u2019s assistant and student learning,\u201d says Sara Gu, co-founder and COO of ClassIn, which provides blended, hybrid and remote learning platforms. \u201cAI tools are being developed for educators and launched into the market on a weekly basis. Many of these are designed to save teachers time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As many AI tools are designed to save teachers\u2019 time, Gu says she expects a comprehensive lesson-planning tool will emerge in the near future. \u201cWith the vast amount of material currently available on the internet and the number of databases that the [AIs] can pull from, a world where all teachers have to do is plug in their learning objectives and standards and get an array of choices in each of the categories\u2014materials, activities, and assessments\u2014can\u2019t be that far off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gu also predicts that student behavior will guide the development of AI codes of conduct and determine how the technology is used in schools. Gu sees a fine line between AI being used as a tool and being used to cheat.<\/p>\n

“There is not yet one commonly accepted approach to integrating AI tools and technology into a school or school district\u2019s code of conduct,\u201d she continues. \u201cEarly policies range from extremely strict \u201cstudent work submitted for academic credit and completed using AI will be considered plagiarism\u201d to encouraging teachers to use AI tools in their classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teachers will increasingly use AI to assess and grade students, and these tools could save time and reduce burnout, says Sari Factor, chief strategy officer at K12 curriculum provider Imagine Learning. \u201cEducators will have more equitable access to actionable, research-based measures of student success to better inform instruction, allowing educators to focus on providing personalized support to students,\u201d says Factor.<\/p>\n

Ethical school leaders will also have to ensure that principles such as transparency, accountability, fairness, and privacy are priorities when adopting AI-driven educational tools. \u201cLeveraging AI and digital-first curriculum to develop personalized lesson plans that cater to unique student needs, for example, will allow teachers to focus on delivering impactful lessons that inspire student success,\u201d Factor contends. \u201cAs a result, we\u2019ll see less teacher burnout over time.<\/p>\n

In other edtech trends, Gu expects more schools to lean on virtual and hybrid instruction to cope with teacher and staff shortages. She notes that a charter network in San Jose, California, has transferred math and science classes to Zoom where students are taught by teachers from around the country.<\/p>\n

“We also expect hybrid solutions to gain momentum in response to student demand as schools work to balance their finite resources while offering more flexibility,\u201d Gu predicts.
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