Guest post by Steve Baule, Educational Leadership Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Superior: As we seem to be living in a world where in-depth white papers and deep conversations are being replaced by 140-character thought pieces and 30- second sound bites, there are some interesting educational technology statistics that are important to education leaders:
Educational technology startups have received more than 290% increase in funding over the past five years. This is a larger increase than has occurred in either the biotech or cybersecurity spaces according to this article on Medium. However, most of this investment is outside of traditional educational venues. Globally, only about 20% of the $9.52 billion is being invested in K-20 according to GeekWire. Why isn’t the K-12 market driving more of this spending?
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The laptop computer narrowly edges out the desktop computer and tablet as the most popular classroom technology. The complete breakdown is available at Statista. They also predict a decrease in spending on self-paced online learning which would seem to indicate an increase in spending on mediated or teacher directed online learning. As fully functional laptops merge with tablets, this seems a trend that may continue.
Thirty-three percent of college students are taking at least one online course according to the Center for Online Education. That is up slightly from 2016 when the Online Learning Consortium identified 28% of college students taking an online course. Some courses, even at large state universities are online offered online. My daughter, a traditional nursing student taking on campus courses has one blended and one online course as that is the only format in which they are offered. If K-12 schools are preparing students for college or careers, online experiences are essential for students.
For more about the Internet’s impact on our ability to read and understand longer information sources, consider picking up a copy of Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our Brains.
