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Educational Trends & Predictions 2023

The following are my (Brent A. Anders, PhD) observations, thoughts, and predictions on the key trends and issues that will be affecting the world of education in general and higher education specifically in the year 2023.

AI will be THE Topic in Education:

The tool, topic, and ramifications of widely available and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) will dominate education. The release of ChatGPT on 30 November 2022 was a historic moment in that it marked the free release of a cutting-edge AI system directly to the masses (OpenAI, 2022). Anyone and everyone can now access ChatGPT and interact with it in plain English, without needing to know any type of code.

Everyone in Education will have to take notice and address this new tool that can be used to enhance learning if used properly. The AI’s ability to answer any question, do math while showing its work, write any type of essay (to include outlines, rough draft versions, in-text citations, and references), write computer code, as well as create any other types of creative text content (write stories, scripts, poems, songs, etc.) means that simply giving homework that requires students to answer a few questions is no longer a good type of assessment.

In reality, many students have already been using AI to help or do their homework for them (Derungs, 2022). Other AI tools such as Jasper, OpenAI’s Playground, AIWriter, and QuillBot, have already been available, but ChatGPT is different in that it is easier to use, more advanced, and freely available to all (Stokel-Walker, 2022). Teachers/Professors need to increase their AI Literacy and learn how to incorporate these tools into the classroom to improve the educational experience as a whole and help students gain the needed soft/power skill of being able to work with AI since it is a needed skill in the workplace (Bughin et al., 2018; Cetindamar et al., 2022).

Great 1-page info document on ChatGPT and how to use it in the classroom (Anders, 2022)

Webinar conducted by educational futurist Bryan Alexander on ChatGPT Part 1    

Webinar conducted by educational futurist Bryan Alexander on ChatGPT Part 2    

Virtual Reality Will Continue to Grow

Boosted by the Pandemic lockdowns, improvements in technology, and greater exposure, virtual reality (VR) continues to increase in popularity. Additionally, the overall global VR market size had a value of $21.83 billion in 2021 and is now expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.0% between 2022 to 2030 (FO, 2022; GVR, 2022). Well known educational organization and resource, Fierce Education, has also identified that VR is a powerful new trend for the future:

Virtual Reality (VR), together with Artificial Intelligence (AI), top the list of the technology trends in higher education. We can expect to see both VR and AI playing a paramount role in accelerating the Digital Transformation in 2023 toward the university of the future. (Fourtané, 2022, para. 1)

Students want better use/integration of technology as well as more and improved educational experiences. Virtual Reality addresses both of these issues and is what universities need to implement.

Non-Traditional Students Recognized

Non-Traditional Students will finally be fully recognized as the new traditional student. The idea of the fresh out of high school at 18-year-old, who doesn’t work, has no dependents, and goes to school full time until 22 years of age, is out of date and no longer the reality in the majority of universities (GAO, 2019; NCES, 2021). Many students (50% or more) are now older, now work at least part-time (a growing number now are working fulltime), and have additional responsibilities (wife and kids, take care of a sibling or parent). Due to this new normal Universities need to evolve.

I believe that in 2023 more and more universities will come to fully realize this and modify university policies and processes (instructional techniques used, delivery methods, services provided, and time offerings of classes), in order to address and serve this diverse and increasing population. If universities want to remain relevant, this is another important issue to address.  

Increased Use of Video and Online Learning

More and more research is showing that students want options such as online learning/hybrid and more video (Alpert & Hodkinson, 2018; Diaz-Infante et al., 2022; Galatsopoulou , 2022; Sederevičiūtė-Pačiauskienė  et al., 2022; Widenhorn et al., 2022). Since so many universities had to go online due to the COVID pandemic, practically all students were exposed to the many benefits that online learning offers, along with the impact of video in education. Instructors need to realize and maximize these items to increase their university’s capabilities, relevancy, competitiveness, and to provide the best educational experience possible.  

Video: Why VIDEO is Such a Powerful Educational Tool

What are your thoughts about these predictions and what are your educational predictions for 2023? Please add a comment below.

References

Alpert, F., & Hodkinson, C. S. (2018). Video use in lecture classes: Current practices, student perceptions and preferences. Education+ Training. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-12-2017-0185

Anders, B. (2022). ChatGPT (AI) in education – an overview. The American University of Armenia. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fTtmGz2Cp2nd65mNfQzPyo3beWXc9j9m/view?fbclid=IwAR1ca03NIEONeb8vmgzmkfSRdqKh7UEF0QtCK2i3i1gX1xQ_FoRc3m1StOc

Bughin, J., Hazan, E., Lund, S., Dahlström, P., Wiesinger, A., & Subramaniam, A. (2018). Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. McKinsey Global Institute, 1, 3-84.

Cetindamar, D., Kitto, K., Wu, M., Zhang, Y., Abedin, B., & Knight, S. (2022). Explicating AI literacy of employees at digital workplaces. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

Derungs, A. (2022, October). What’s the best AI essay writer? Here are 13 to help you create unique content. Niche Pursuits. https://www.nichepursuits.com/best-ai-essay-writers

Diaz-Infante, N., Lazar, M., Ram, S., & Ray, A. (2022). Demand for online education is growing. Are providers ready? McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/demand-for-online-education-is-growing-are-providers-ready

 FO. (2022). 74 virtual reality statistics you must know in 2022: Adoption, usage & market share. Finance Online. https://financesonline.com/virtual-reality-statistics

GAO. (2019). Higher education: More information could help student parents access additional federal student aid. United States Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Requesters. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-522.pdf

Galatsopoulou, F., Kenterelidou, C., Kotsakis, R., & Matsiola, M. (2022). Examining students’ perceptions towards video-based and video-assisted active learning scenarios in journalism and communication courses. Education Sciences, 12(2), 74.

GVR. (2022). Virtual reality market size, share & trends analysis. Grand View Research. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/virtual-reality-vr-market

Fourtané, S. (2022, December 23). Virtual reality: Trends in higher ed for 2023 and beyond. Fierce Education. https://www.fierceeducation.com/technology/virtual-reality-trends-higher-ed-2023-and-beyond

NCES. (2021). Table 303.40: Total fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions. National Center for Educational Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_303.40.asp

OpenAI. (2022, November). ChatGPT: Optimizing language models for dialogue. OpenAI LP. https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt

Sederevičiūtė-Pačiauskienė, Ž., Valantinaitė, I., & Asakavičiūtė, V. (2022). Should I turn on my video camera? The students’ perceptions of the use of video cameras in synchronous distant learning. Electronics, 11(5), 813.

Stokel-Walker, C. (2022, October). Students are using AI text generators to write papers: Are they cheating? The Information. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/students-are-using-ai-text-generators-to-write-papers-are-they-cheating?page=1

Widenhorn, M., Hardy, D., Armando, J., Botha, A., & Robinson, R. (2022). Comparing global university mindsets and student expectations: closing the gap to create the ideal learner experience. Anthology. https://www.anthology.com/sites/default/files/2022-06/UNESCO-Anthology-Whitepaper-v1.5.pdf

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