The Higher education sector is always evolving with innovations in education and technology. There are plenty of challenges too. Also with the impact of the recent COVID pandemic, there are many new trends happening in this sector.

Here are some curated trends in the higher education sector. These trends will give you an overview of what is happening in the higher education sector in year 2020:

The trends in Higher Education system & process include:

1. Increase Acceptance of Online Learning

With the availability of fast and cheap internet everywhere, more and more institutions are implementing fully online education. The decreasing cost of hardware like laptops and student licensing of software is also helping this trend. With this, you can expect all institutions switching to flip class concept where students learn from home and practice in class.

TRY THESE TRENDS
• Video conference • Virtual Whiteboard
For an effective online teaching experience

2. Content Innovations

The e-learning content providers and platforms are coming up with innovations in the way content is created and shared, to keep the learners engaged and track progress in realtime.

CONTENT TRENDS
• Short Videos • Interactive contents
The major challenge in online learning is the attention span of students and making the content itself keep the students engaged for learning.

3. Online ERP

Higher Educational institutions can no longer operate without a fully Online ERP Solution.

ERP Software solutions help in the efficient operations of higher educational institutions by digitizing the day to day operations of the college and universities.

Online ERP solutions save the time of faculty and reduce the cost of administration.

RECOMMENDED TOOL
Fedena ERP – Starting from admission management to finance management, Fedena has got 50+ modules to take care of all the systems and processes in a college or university. The SaaS model provides instant signup and implementation of the ERP. fedena.com

4. Better LMS

Learning Management Systems are innovating from traditional standalone platforms to userfriendly interfaces.

RECOMMENDED TOOL
Uzity Everything you will ever need in a perfect e-learning software for a college or university. uzity.com

5. Artifical Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines that can be used to catalyze the operational activities of colleges and universities.

Al is connecting all the different digital tools in a higher educational institution to provide a single streamlined experience for the different stakeholders – teachers, students, parents, administrators, and leadership.

BENEFITS FOR HIGHER ED
• Automation of administration • Assist in teaching • Assist in learning • Smart content creation • Inclusion and diversity • Collective knowledge • Universal access • Speed in decision making • Saves time & reduce cost

6. Learning Analytics

Higher educations are implementing specialized analytical tools for studying the patterns in academic performance to guide the different activities in academics.

TRY OUT THESE TOOLS
• Existing LMS & ERP • BIRT • Tableau • ELK Stack • ClicData

7. Data Driven Decisions

In DDDM or Data-Driven Decision Making, decisions are made based on factual, verifiable information.

DDDM ‘supplements’ intuition with past trends and future projections. Here the software(machine) and management(human) works together to make decisions that can help the institution achieve the academic and business goals faster.

ERP FOR DDDM ERP is the go to tool for decision making by the leadership. Only in the absence of sensible reports, they look for alternate solutions to analyze the data. Online ERP provides enough reporting tools to help colleges and universities in decision making.

8. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality(AR) technology helps colleges and universities add layers of digital view on top of the real-time physical view.

This is achieved with the help of specialized tools for creating augmented reality.

Once the augmented reality is created, the users can navigate the augmented reality using digital tools like a smartphone or a tablet.
This is most widely used for creating real-time campus navigation maps.

OPEN SOURCE TOOL
Monado – Monado hopes to jump-start development of an open-source XP ecosystem and provide the fundamental building blocks for device vendors to target the GNU/Linux platform.

9. Virtual Reality

The virtual reality(VR) is an immersive simulation of digital reality that is completely separated from physical reality.

This is used for creating virtual campus tours from the browser. The students and parents seeking admission to the institution can use this simulation to know about the campus. VR is also widely used in e-learning content and activities.

10. Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion is a hot topic for discussion in higher education leadership.

We are now witnessing how technology can help to overcome the challenges in diversity and learning faced by students joining the campus from various backgrounds.

The leadership is aware of how diversity & inclusion enrich the educational experience and promotes best practices for a healthy society.

RECOMMENDED TECHNOLOGY
Al & MACHINE LEARNING
Al is catalyzing the inclusion and diversity initiatives across the globe. Al-enabled digital technologies can overcome the barriers of languages and minor learning difficulties.

11. Internet of Things

loT (Internet of Things) is the network of interconnected devices spread across the different locations on the campus.

loT is found helpful in improving the learning outcomes, operational efficiency, and safety of the campus. loT is expected to bring paradigm shift in higher education.

12. Privacy

Privacy is the fundamental right of all the users of campus digital technology tools. The users include students, parents, teachers, and other faculty.

Privacy can not be achieved with technology alone. Privacy includes the protection of personal data and ensuring that the users have control over their personal data. It is about policies and the system & process put in place to ensure the policies are followed.

Conclusion

The training initiatives going on to prepare the students for the future of work and the focus given on the physical well-being and mental health of students. Online education is getting increased acceptance and almost all the operations of the colleges and universities are being run using fully online ERP. There are innovations happening around e-learning content, learning management systems, and learning analytics. The sector is also seeing the improved acceptance of AI(Artificial Intelligence) based solutions and IOT(Internet of Things) devices. New technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality are also seeing increased acceptance in the higher education sector. With the implementation of too many technologies, data privacy is also gaining attention from leadership and government.

INFOGRAPHIC: Top Trends In Higher Education