2019 EdTech Trends

10 Thought-Leaders Weigh In
A Word From the Editors

From data-driven decision making and asynchronous professional development to AR/VR experiences and
podcasting, 2018 was a year of growth for EdTech. People are beginning to have deeper conversations about
the “why” behind technology integration, instead of just the “how.” And not a second too soon, since today’s
students are continuously becoming more fluent in technology. As educators, we’re charged with meeting
them where they are.

So this time, we asked a bunch of EdTech influencers two questions:

1. What was your favorite EdTech trend from 2018? And Why?

2. Which EdTech trend do you think people will be talking about at the end of 2019?

Their answers are the basis of this eBook. Here’s an opportunity to try out that new trend you’ve been hearing
about, or better yet, get ahead of the game for the year to come.
EdTech in 2018
My favorite conversations this year have focused on student agency
and autonomy. Technology combined with blended learning models
allow for a fundamental shift in control from teacher to learner.
Students can and should be driving the learning in classrooms. The Catlin Tucker
increasing ubiquity of devices and access to the internet make it
Educator, Trainer, Coach,
possible for learners to connect with information and resources, Speaker & Author
collaborate across space and time, create digital products, and CatlinTucker.com;
publish their work for an authentic audience. It is time for students, Pepperdine University
not teachers, to do the lion’s share of the work in classrooms.
We must strive to place students at the center of learning using
technology.

EdTech in 2019
In 2019, I expect personalized professional learning to be a hot topic. Educators are grappling with what
personalization looks like in their classrooms, but it’s equally important for teachers to access personalized
learning opportunities. Educators, like students, have access to limitless information and resources. The challenge
for school districts will be rethinking their traditional one-size-fits-all approach to professional development.
Instead of crowding all teachers into a room for a day of training that may not meet most of their needs, school
leaders must encourage, recognize, and value informal teacher-driven learning. Educators should be setting
personalized goals, accessing resources to continue learning, and working with a coach to improve their skills. A
personalized approach to professional learning is crucial if teachers are going to keep pace with a rapidly changing
learning landscape.
EdTech in 2018
In 2018, I was pretty excited about the maker movement and how
3D printing, laser cutters, and coding foster creativity through
technology. While none of this is especially new, the fact that EdTech
was being associated with creativity was important and has brought Bill Bass
that more to the forefront of our collective attention.
Innovation Coordinator,
Parkway School District
EdTech in 2019 and President Of The Board
Of Directors
I see proximity notifications as becoming more useful and talked ISTE
about in 2019. Beacon technology is not new but it’s becoming more
secure and can be used in different ways to push out content and
information based on the location of the individual.
EdTech in 2018
I am excited about the advancements in access to coding. Making it
simple for all students, especially girls, to learn a valuable skill in a
fun and exciting way.
Steven W.
EdTech in 2019 Anderson
I hope our conversations shift away from technology in isolation CEO/Digital Learning
Evangelist
to more highly effective instructional strategies and pedagogical
Web20Classroom
practices that push deeper learning forward. We have to look
beyond the “1000 Tools You Need Right Now in 60 Mins” to more
digging into what the research actually says about technology
integration. And moreover how we can leverage what actually works
and make learning more meaningful through EdTech.
EdTech in 2018
My favorite EdTech trend in 2018 was the emergence of new and
better tools for students to create their own augmented reality and
virtual reality experiences. It’s great to see teachers having students
use AR and VR to create learning experiences rather than just Richard Byrne
consuming what others have made.
President

EdTech in 2019 Byrne Instructional

Media, LLC

I like to think that we’ll be talking about more opportunities for

students to design and build augmented reality and virtual reality
applications.
EdTech in 2018
In a time when our focus needs to be on helping students develop
the skills, literacies, and dispositions to be powerful learners, we
need to reframe what we look for in our technologies. Namely, we
need tools and devices that expand agency and freedom to learn, Will Richardson
not surveil and collect data. That conversation is finally beginning in
Co-Founder
earnest.
Modern Learners

EdTech in 2019
Probably VR, AR, AI and other initials. We have a tendency in
education to look for the next new thing without focusing the really
important old thing: what learning really is. In that light, what do
I hope they’ll be talking about? That EdTech is being reframed as
LearnTech. Kids and adults use technology in powerful ways outside
of classrooms to learn deeply about the things they care about and
have a passion for. We need to make technology use inside the four
walls look more like that. We need to see technology as an amplifier
of learner agency, not just a more productive way to teach.
 EdTech in 2018
I loved seeing more conversations around creation in the classroom.
Students are so used to viewing videos on YouTube, scrolling
through blog posts, and listening to podcasts. Throughout my
travels to conferences and school visits this year I was excited to Dr. Monica Burns
see more discussion around this topic. As educators work to place
Author, EdTech & Curriculum
"tasks before apps" there are many ways to use technology to
Consultant
increase opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding
Class Tech Tips, LLC
in an authentic manner.

EdTech in 2019
I think that augmented reality will reenter the conversation in
EdTech. With an increase in options and lower price points,
I’m excited to see what will happen with AR this year. There
are now tools that make it easier for both students and
teachers to create augmented reality experiences. I think we'll
also see a shift from simply consuming AR experiences to
providing opportunities for students to create with
augmented reality and participate in teacher-created AR
experiences.
EdTech in 2018
FlipGrid - Video is king and when you can combine video with
collaboration then you have the recipe for something special.
FlipGrid allows teachers to create activities that encourage students
to express themselves in a more authentic way than a worksheet. Will Deyamport,
It also provides a space where students can collaborate beyond the
III, Ed.D.
Google Slide deck.
Instructional Technologist

EdTech in 2019 Hattiesburg Public School

District

Podcasting has taken off as a medium for individuals to inform,

entertain, and empower others. There is a growing number of
educators who are becoming podcasters, and I can see 2019 being
the year where students will be doing podcasting in the classroom.
What makes podcasting so great is the ability to produce a podcast
on a shoestring budget. If you have an iPhone or an iPad, there are
a multitude of free apps available to produce and host a podcast. If
students have access to a Chromebook or a PC, there are plenty of
free sites students can use to produce a podcast.
EdTech in 2018
It seems like more and more EdTech companies are shifting away
from the idea that technology in and of itself is valuable, and coming
to the understanding that EdTech is only valuable if it supports
the needs of students, teachers, and schools. In other words, more Mike Karlin
companies are understanding that learning should come first, and
Ph.D. Candidate & Associate
technology should come second. This year in particular, I’ve seen
Instructor
more EdTech companies beginning to adopt this mindset.
EdTech Roundup,
Indiana University
EdTech in 2019
I think the issue of student data and privacy will be one of the
biggest issues being discussed at the end of next year. While there
have been more conversations about this topic, I believe this is
something that will eventually need to be central to every single
EdTech conversation. While we have begun to address this issue
in some circles, I think by and large, student data and privacy is
something that is often brought up too late, and too superficially to
be beneficial. I think by the end of next year, we will hopefully have
provided more space and time to have important and necessary
conversations surrounding student data and privacy.
EdTech in 2018
My favorite EdTech trend from 2018 is the very slow movement toward
more substantive conversations about what learning technologies
should be doing for children and educators. As technology advocates,
we have to be able to offer more to teachers, students, and families than
‘oooh, isn’t this cool?’ If you attend any EdTech conference, you will see
multiple sessions highlighting ways to be more efficient, tips and tricks
on how to use miscellaneous tool features, ‘60 apps in 60 minutes,’ and
other short-sighted use cases. EdTech can and should be fun. And of
course, EdTech lets us do some nifty things and can help us be more
efficient. But all of that doesn’t change the learning-teaching process. If
we want deeper learning, greater student agency, more authentic work,
and rich technology infusion to happen in our classrooms, we have to
design for them. More people need to have more conversations that drive
us toward transformational schooling, not yet another app or tool feature.

EdTech in 2019
At the end of 2019 I think that people will continue to be talking about student privacy and monetization
of student data. As social media and other technology platforms continue to harvest our usage data for
marketing and business-to-business resale purposes, we will see more questions asked by parents and
policymakers about what limits there are on companies’ behavior. There will be some new laws and
policies over the next few years that better protect youth and consumers from the never-ending sale of their
private and quasi-private behavior to corporations.
EdTech in 2018
2018 was the year of next-gen learning spaces--double classrooms
in old buildings from California’s Central Valley to the west tip of
Texas in El Paso and multiage pods in new spaces from Redwood
City to Charlottesville. The flexible spaces facilitate project-based Tom Vander Ark
learning and competency-based progressions. Students move from CEO
project teams to skill groups to activity centers building skills and
Getting Smart
developing agency and self-management. Flexible seating--a mix
of high and low top, hard and soft--gives students choice in how
and where they work. Now that everyone is connected, facilitating
engaging learning experiences is the new work--and that’s
increasingly happening in next-gen learning spaces.

EdTech in 2019
A year from now people will be talking about competency
frameworks after SNHU and LRNG expand access to out of school
learning. Platforms will be scrambling to improve interoperability of
mixed assessments and integrate badge systems.
Conclusion

Across industries, the best trends tend to differentiate themselves from the pack in order to stick around for
the long run. Notice some of the commonalities in the responses from influencers in our field. Have you found
a way to introduce coding in your classroom? Do your students have experience with AR/VR technologies? Are
you using a learning management system (LMS) for more than a filing cabinet? If so, keep up the innovative
work and share your ideas with your network. If not, you’ve got a handful of new ideas to try, right here in this
eBook.

See why 20 million students and educators use Schoology’s

Learning Management System (LMS) as their hub for education.

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