1. Online learning Will Continue to Grow Globally. This should be obvious to all, but some universities and other educational institutions have yet to fully invest in the power and ongoing development of online education. The ongoing growth is best expressed in a Global Market Insite (GMI) report stating “E-Learning Market size surpassed USD 250 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to grow at an exponential CAGR [Compound Annual Growth Rate] of over 21% between 2021 and 2027. The advent of several new technologies, such as AI, VR, and cloud based LMS, will drive the market growth” (2021, para. 2).
   
2. Competition and Quality Will Grow in the Online Learning Market: Given the exponential growth described in the first trend/prediction, universities will start to compete more and more for student enrollments and will therefore have to create higher quality online learning experiences (Nolan, 2021). With continued globalization and increased connection speeds more and more students will see that they do not need to simply settle for the nearest university with an online learning component (or forced COVID mandated online teaching implementation). More students will demand higher quality deliberate online learning offerings and will seek out better online instruction wherever it might be.
   
3. Project Based Learning Will Increase in Popularity: Students want to have a hands-on experience and want to make an impactful difference in the real world. The Project Based Learning (PBL) instructional technique can be done face-to-face or online, requires that students work in groups to address a real-world problem, come up with a feasible, research-backed solution and then present it to the class/public. This translates to a powerful hands-on experience the develops in-demand soft and hard skills such as knowledge about the topic/field, research/investigation capabilities, analysis, evaluation, presentation creation, teamwork, and conflict management. More universities and instructors will start to realize the importance and need to implement this type of instructional technique in order to best prepare students for post-graduation success.
   
4. Lifelong Learning Will Be the New Normal: Competition is growing in the global economy, not just from more people becoming highly educated, but also from AI being able to do more and more (Strack, 2021). Being a lifelong learner (regarding both soft and hard skills) is becoming the new normal and a requirement for people that want to remain relevant and able to compete against AI across virtually all sectors (Hiter, 2021).
   
5. Extended Reality (XR) to Include Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Will Continue to Grow: Many different sectors such as medicine, geology, oceanography, hotel restaurant management, engineering, kinesiology, and astrophysics within education are already highly invested in XR and many more areas in education will continue to invest in 2022 to offer a motivational, greater immersive experience for their students (Conestoga, 2021; Kubit, 2021; Shimalla, 2021; Tunur, 2021).
   
6. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Higher Education Will Continue to Grow: Everything from monitoring student progress (including courses of actions, nudging, and alerts), helping researchers’ analyses, recruitment chatbots, library improvement, and even to assisting with proctoring/plagiarism detection, will continue to be enhanced with further AI implementation. Although direct tutoring currently exists, this too along with more direct instruction will gain in use with more AI adoption (Brooks, 2021; Sousa et al., 2021). – This will also blend in with use of blockchain technology to ensure security and enhance ease of use.
   
7. 5G Will Revolutionize the Internet and Education (when it finally gets here): A holdover prediction from last year because of slower than expected implementation due to COVID issues (Council, 2021), 5G connectivity is a major technological marvel that will have far-reaching effects. As previously described, the unbelievable jump in connectivity will drastically affect all aspects of the internet and education specifically. Current, excellent speeds of 100 megabits per second will pale in comparison to 5G connectivity speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Bernstein, 2020)! The possibilities are endless regarding transfer speeds and engagement. Imagine what could be done with video communications, virtual reality, and even hologram utilization for educational purposes. Any university that wants to be and remain relevant must plan for and implement (when finally available) the enhanced learning experience that 5G connectivity will offer.

Add to the predictions. What are your thoughts on what this new year will hold for higher education? Please add a comment below and keep the conversation going.

References

Bernstein, L. (2020, January 16). How 5G will advance educational technology on campus. Edtech: Networking. https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/01/how-5g-will-advance-educational-technology-campus

Brooks, D. (2021, June 11). EDUCAUSE quick poll results: Artificial intelligence use in higher education. Educause. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2021/6/educause-quickpoll-results-artificial-intelligence-use-in-higher-education

Conestoga. (2021). Conestoga digital learning simulations: Featured teaching innovation. Conestoga. https://conestogalearnings.wixsite.com/teaching-bloom  

Council, J. (2021, May 25). Why the U.S. rollout of 5G is so slow — journal report. Investor Hub. https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NYSE/nokia-NOK/stock-news/85201832/why-the-u-s-rollout-of-5g-is-so-slow-journal-r

GMI. (2021). E-Learning market: Industry trends. Global Market Insight. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/elearning-market-size#:~:text=E-Learning%20Market%20size%20surpassed%20USD%20250%20billion%20in,cloud%20based%20LMS%2C%20will%20drive%20the%20market%20growth  

Hiter, S. (2021, October 8). Artificial intelligence and automation 2022. Datamation.

Kubit, M. (2021, August 24). Extended reality is ready to revolutionize higher education. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tmobile/2021/08/24/extended-reality-is-ready-to-revolutionize-higher-education/?sh=524efb3653c1

Nolan, B. (2021, March 5). Pandemic brings renewed focus to online quality assurance process. Indiana University: News at IU. https://news.iu.edu/stories/2021/03/iu/inside/05-quality-matters-renewed-focus-covid-19-pandemic.html

Shimalla, A. (2021, December 20). VR, AR and XR: What’s the difference, and how can they transform online learning? EdTech. https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2021/12/vr-ar-and-xr-whats-difference-and-how-can-they-transform-online-learning-perfcon  

Sousa, M., Dal Mas, F., Pesqueira, A., Lemos, C., Verde, J. M., & Cobianchi, L. (2021). The potential of AI in health higher education to increase the students’ learning outcomes. TEM Journal 10(2), 488-497.

Strack, R., Carrasco, M., Kolo, P., Nouri, N., Priddis, M., & George, R. (2021, March 18). The future of jobs in the era of AI. Boston Consulting Group. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/impact-of-new-technologies-on-jobs#demand-for-skills

Tunur, T., Hauze, S. W., Frazee, J. P., & Stuhr, P. T. (2021). XR-Immersive labs improve student motivation to learn kinesiology. Frontiers in Virtual Reality 2(15).