EdWorld’s Top 6 Tech Trends of 2011

With the year winding down, the EducationWorld team is reflecting on the educational technology trends we witnessed in 2011. Here we offer the six tech trends that sparked the most controversy, made educators’ jobs a little easier and generally got people talking in the teacher’s lounge.

#6 Digital Textbooks –Simmering beneath the surface for a while, this trend is starting to gain traction. The dramatic price drop in basic e-readers is making downloading textbooks more economically feasible for schools. E-books will become even more affordable in the near future.

#5 Smartphone Revolution –They can be the bane of many teachers, but the fact is that mobile phones are here to stay. Educators are beginning to reap some benefits of their increasing popularity with a glut of teacher-centric apps hitting the market in 2011. Many of the apps are free, and just about all of them are designed to help users stay on top of schedules, test scores, homework assignments and the like.

#4 School Web Sites Getting Better –It wasn’t that long ago that a school Web site was little more than a digital business card. Users logged on and got a pixelated image of the school, along with its address and phone number. Now many school sites are completely interactive, with teacher-specific pages offering info on assignments and test schedules. Some of the more advanced sites even offer mobile alerts for things like school closings and prep athletic scores.

#3 Student Sexting –First it was reported to be an epidemic. Then it was revealed that precious few teens actually commit the act. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but the fact remains that 2011 saw a slew of high-profile individuals (some of them teens) caught up in sexting scandals. These events only reinforce the need for schools to address the new buzzword “digital literacy.”

#2 Social Medial Crackdown –While Egypt and Libya were using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to spur revolutions, schools in America were busy doing everything they could to block access to them. The hard-line stance many districts have taken on the issue has sparked a national debate as to the educational benefits of social media and whether it’s worth relaxing the rules.

#1 iPad Explosion –In the world of technology, 2011 will forever be known as the year of the tablet. Seemingly everyone was producing a tablet device for the masses, yet only one has succeeded. The iPad is the clear winner of the tablet wars, and the release of iPad2 in March only solidified its title. The device is so coveted by students and teachers alike that entire schools are outfitting every student with one.

Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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