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5 Tech Trends that Could Supercharge Education in 2016

January 19, 2016

2016 graphic.

Photo Courtesy of EdTech

"Science-fiction author William Gibson once said, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."

The technologies of tomorrow are already being tested in select classrooms today, laying the seeds for the future of how students could learn. With 2016 fast approaching, technology analysts have been busy prognosticating the top technology trends. A few of these technologies have already made headway into education, and others are poised for mass distribution, with the promise of ground-shaking change in their wake.

We’ve reviewed a few of these trends through the lens of how they could affect classrooms in both K–12 and higher education.

Virtual Reality (VR) Adds New Dimension to Learning

VR is shaping up to be one of the largest technology turf wars of 2016. Several global companies have staked millions of dollars developing their brand of the technology, including Google, Samsung, HTC, Sony and the Facebook-backed Oculus. And in 2016 many of these iterations of the VR craze are set to go to market.

At ISTE 2015, representatives of Google Cardboard and Samsung's Gear VR were on hand to demonstrate how the technology could change how students learn. VR even stole the show during journalist Soledad O’Brien’s keynote, in which she said the technology allows students to test the waters of different careers — educational experiences that could alter the trajectory of their studies and their lives."

Read more at EdTech