3 learning technology trends for 2023

The Vevox team have attended two key higher education conferences this year, hosted by The Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA) and The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) to hear the latest updates and upcoming trends in the learning technology community.

So what have we been hearing over the last year about what's upcoming and important for 2023?

1. The natural evolution of education now includes digital tools as part of the core teaching mix

Medical students from Imperial College London took to the stage at ALTC22 to discuss the enhancement of digital learning resources and spoke of their personal motivations to sourcing digital solutions to improve their learning experience.

Similarly, at ILTA, it was recognised that in pre-pandemic times, digital education experts had been considered niche specialists for their work in investigating alternative methods and tools of teaching to integrate into historic teaching patterns.

Now, when considering adding digital tools to the teaching mix, it is essential that it enhances and supports existing student learning experiences. It must also be easy to use (for both academics and students!) and integrate seamlessly into existing tech stacks to be effectively adopted within institutions.

2. The future of education is in total value delivered

The quality of higher education delivered is unquestionably at an all-time high, but the weight on the quality of teaching needs to shift to focus now on the total value delivered. This extends past immediate classroom engagement and includes increasing accessibility to learning and to digital tools, to make higher education a more affordable and inclusive choice for prospective students.

Higher education is not only required to deliver tangible value to students but should also look to improve the sustainability of its institutions, to ensure its longevity in the future. The implementation of tools and best practices is now required to be reflective of this.

3. Do Learning Technologists need to re-define their roles?

A common question raised by learning technologists in the Vevox Q&A sessions at the ALT conference: ‘Do institutions need to be more strategic in their approach to learning technology?’ See some examples below…

"Is the role of the Learning Technologist still one of persuasion, encouragement, lobbying, selling the benefits of learning technologies? Do institutions need to be more strategic in their approach to learning technology?"
"If those working within the learning technology sector don't clearly know what they do, how do we expect those we support to recognise what we do?"
"We are seen as different things to different people resulting in being the 'go-to' person who anything and everything! Do we need to more clearly define who we are and what we do?"
"How do we help our instituional leadership understand and better recognise learning technology professionals?"

It is without doubt that the pandemic permanently altered the way education is delivered. But with this, the role of the Learning Technologist became blurred too. Already a continually evolving and multi-faceted role, COVID bought a surge of new projects and challenges to LTs, to provide urgent processes and tools for lecturers to continue delivering education with minimal disruption. Learning Technologists need to find solutions to better define their role and responsibilities to effectively manage their workload.

Vevox now works in partnership with 48 UK and Irish Universities, and this number continues to grow. For more information on how we can support your return to classroom contact the team.

Vevox previously attended ALT's 2019 Conference in Edinburgh. Look back at our highlights from 2019.