Education professionals across Europe, the Middle East and Africa demand ‘accessibility for all’, but feel academic institutions are currently failing to maximise the potential of the technology available today, according to Polycom’s ‘Education in 2025 – Technology Innovation’ survey.
When faced with a list of priorities for the near future, the majority of education professionals feel the primary focus should be on improving the quality of teacher-learning (34%). Other factors that respondents feel need attention are personalising the student-learning experience (17%) and taking advantage of new technology (13%).
Andrew Graley, Polycom’s Director of Healthcare, Education and Government for EMEA, believes that technology is the catalyst for improving the education landscape: “By allowing an engaging, accessible, and cost-effective approach to education, technology opens up the prospect of higher education, personalised courses, and teacher-training to a much broader population.”
When looking into the future of education, the respondents predict that the learning environment will break free from the classroom: 64% of respondents believe students in 2015 primarily engage with content in the classroom, but only 25% predict it will still be the leading way for learning in 2025. Alongside this, the use of remote learning technologies in teaching is expected to rise significantly: 53% of education professionals believe real-time video collaboration and mobile devices will be the primary way students engage with content by 2025.