The latest in education technology trends: real or hype?

From time to time we check in on some of the education technology developments that are getting attention, by reviewing recent media reports and studies, and in this case exploring these topics with our Digital Learning Collaborative Executive Committee. Recently we have looked at virtual/augmented reality, gamification, and artificial intelligence, and specifically whether and how they are being used in K-12 education, if at all. Below we look at each of these.
 
Virtual/augmented reality
Let’s start with virtual/augmented reality, which we’ll call VR for short. Of the three topics, this is the most interesting because there are real signs of promise, mixed with a lack of common understanding of what VR means.
 
The misunderstandings are clear in the Education Week article Using Virtual Reality in Schools Is Easier Than You Think, which should have been titled “using some forms of technology which have little to do with virtual reality is easier than you think.” NASA defines VR as “the use of computer technology to create the effect of an interactive three-dimensional world in which the objects have a sense of spatial presence.” The Ed Week article talks about Google Earth and connecting with scientists via Skype. Google Earth and discussions with scientists may be valuable, but neither NASA nor most people would consider them to be VR.
 
Is that nit-picking? No, because of the risk that somebody has read the Ed Week headline and asked their school leader or district superintendent why the district/school isn’t using VR, given that it’s so easy according to Ed Week.
 
VR isn’t easy or inexpensive, but there are some examples showing promise. Arizona State University Prep Digital, a DLC member, is starting to use Dreamscape Learn with its own network of schools in the Phoenix area, as well as one of its partnership schools in Utah. Dreamscape was developed for ASU college students primarily, but its benefits would likely accrue to K-12 students as well. ASU researchers have found that students in lab sections of a general biology course using Dreamscape had promising learning gains (the final studies will be released at the end of the summer.) Similar studies have not been done on high school students, but there’s no reason to think that outcomes would differ between high school and college students.
 
Of course, not many K-12 schools are part of a leading national university and have easy access to technologies like Dreamscape Learn. Several DLC members mentioned, however, that they are using or exploring ZSpace, a company developing VR for education and other uses. These DLC members discussed how VR applications within career and technical education is a compelling use case. The main reason for using VR in CTE versus core subjects is cost. Applying VR to let’s say a history course almost certainly increases the cost of delivering the course, but using VR to help students understand career-related techniques and skills may be less expensive than buying non-virtual equipment or sending students to CTE centers. In addition, in academic courses that must adhere to curriculum standards, connecting the VR experience to the existing curriculum can be a barrier.
 
Still, most DLC members said they are not using VR, mostly because of questions about current implementation options, and cost. Keeping in mind that DLC members are among the schools and programs combining technology and scale, the lack of more VR use is telling, although it’s also the case that online schools would have additional costs and/or equity issues associated with shipping devices to students.
 
(We have no affiliation with ZSpace. In most cases we don’t mention specific companies in DLC blog posts and other materials, but in this instance several members mentioned this company as the example they are aware of.)
 
Gamification
Gamification may not be considered as new or cutting edge as the other technologies discussed here, and perhaps for that reason there are more examples of it being used. Some course developers are using aspects of gamification in online courses, and programs such as Georgia Virtual are using badging with their students. Rich Copeland of Georgia Virtual discussed the use of badging at the recent IMS Global conference, pointing out that the badging process itself was fairly easy for his program to implement, but getting other organizations—particularly post-secondary institutions—to account for and value the badges was an ongoing challenge.
 
Our DLC discussion also touched on how the concept of gamifying isn’t necessarily new nor even tech based. Teachers, especially elementary school teachers, use game concepts and even games as part of instruction.
 
Our conclusion based on these discussions and some limited research is that gamification, at least in some forms, is happening, and that the effects so far are useful but limited.
 
Artificial intelligence
We have yet to find, or hear about, AI being used at scale in K-12 public education, even after exploring this topic with our DLC members.
 
That fact doesn’t mean, of course, that no such examples exist. (More on this below.)
 
AI is being talked about and hyped, and there’s no doubt it holds great promise. But as with VR, there is confusion about what AI actually is. In particular, the use of fixed algorithms is commonly conflated with AI.
 
An example of these fixed algorithms is a system that identifies that if a student chooses a multiple-choice answer saying that 3 X 2 equals five, you can send them to a video that explains the difference between multiplying and adding. This type of algorithm is valuable, but it’s not AI. It’s also not easily applicable outside of math. (If you’re interested in digging into this topic this is a good source.)
 
Our assessment, in summary:

• VR: promising examples exist, cost is a concern, fairly near-term potential especially in CTE is high

• Gamification: exists in various forms including low-tech, scalable impacts are unclear

• AI: is tomorrow’s technology, and perhaps always will be. More likely, it’s just a long way off still. (Or maybe by the time you read this, Skynet will have found me.)

Are we missing some good examples of the use of these technologies in education? As I wrote earlier, this is a quick-and-dirty assessment based on our discussions with DLC members and some additional research. Let us know what we’re missing with a reply to this post or an email to DLC@evergreenedgroup.com.