Exploring the Future of Teaching and Learning

Title: 2020 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report, Teaching and Learning Edition

Source: EDUCAUSE

Author: Malcolm Brown, Mark McCormack, Jamie Reeves, D. Christopher Brooks, and Susan Grajek, with Bryan Alexander, Maha Bali, Stephanie Bulger, Shawna Dark, Nicole Engelbert, Kevin Gannon, Adrienne Gauthier, David Gibson, Rob Gibson, Brigitte Lundin, George Veletsianos, and Nicole Weber

A report published by EDUCAUSE examines major trends, new technologies, and emerging practices that might shape the future of teaching and learning. The authors also discuss challenges that higher education institutions might encounter and present suggestions for institutions to better prepare for future changes.

Key findings include:

• The report identified major trends from five dimensions, including social, technological, economic, higher education, and political. For example, the report points out that students’ mental health initiatives, as well as equity and diversity agendas, are becoming increasingly important and prevalent. Within the higher education space, as the student body becomes more diverse, it becomes critical for institutions to proactively consider how to best serve students from diverse backgrounds.

• The authors highlight that, as the adoption of technology in the classroom increases rapidly, it is critical to consider how these technological tools can be applied to facilitate students’ engagement and improve learning outcomes. For instance, the report reviews initiatives that utilize a learning management system or learning analytics to track student progress. It also examines how these tools could enable institutions to help students according to their unique needs or trajectories.

Click here to read the full report.

—Yuan He