THEME: Bett UK - Horizon Report
The Horizon Report (the 'Teaching and Learning' version) is an annual report in which a panel of leading experts in higher education describe the technologies and trends that they expect to have the greatest impact on the future of teaching and learning. SDU Center for Teaching and Learning (SDUUP) has read the latest report and gives you below a brief summary of some of these development trends, e.g. hybrid teaching methods and AI, that also were noticed at this year's Bett UK.
AI for Learning Analytics
Within this area the focus is primarily on how institutions can use large amounts of data to analyse and, to some extent, understand and predict student behavior. This has for many years been a rapidly developing field. Within this area, the current development is partly towards cross using all the data collected on individual platforms, and partly towards using data for preventive and proactive interaction with the students.
AI for learning tools
This category deals with AI-based digital assistants and specific tools where the user uses AI to summarize and understand information, to create personally guided content and learning paths, to get feedback for e.g. writing processes and, not least, to create new content, based on sketches and relatively simple queries . The development within this area points in two directions. Partly an increased use of AI-based assistants, which generally become more efficient and targeted at the individual user to present materials or adapt tools' possibilities of use and content based on the user's actions, and partly towards better opportunities for the production of materials based on the individual user. It is gradually becoming standard that these AI-based assistants are built into all tools, but equally that they can work across tools and come up with suggestions for which tools will be relevant to use in a given context for content generation.
Hybrid learning rooms
According to the Horizon report's assessment, there is no doubt that the hybrid teaching format - with simultaneous teaching of students both inside and outside university premises - will be more and more in demand, primarily due to the increased flexibility that this teaching format provides. This presents a number of challenges in many areas; according to the report with one of the primary areas being the design of learning spaces/teaching rooms to support this format. Because, if the hybrid form of teaching is to be effective in any way and just have a chance to achieve the desired potential, the practice must change from streaming teaching to the students outside the university to a much higher degree of involvement. It requires optimally new teaching rooms designed specifically for this purpose or, as a minimum, that existing rooms be equipped with suitable user-friendly technology. This means more cameras, better sound, and more screens, etc., but also a focus on a general arrangement of rooms and pedagogical practices to support the hybrid teaching format.
Mainstreaming Hybrid/Remote Learning Modes
The experiences from various shutdowns have largely shown challenges in converting the regular attendance teaching to full online or hybrid teaching, but a number of students preferred these forms of teaching, especially in relation to general flexibility and flexible modalities. It is therefore assumed that there will be an increased demand for these teaching formats from the students' side, but the universities are generally neither physically, c.f. above, nor at the institutional level yet geared towards these teaching formats. In the following period, we will therefore be facing a challenge to find out how the individual programs can use the various modalities optimally and which formats best suit the given teaching. It is assumed in this context in the report that the best result is achieved by a 'both and' - not an 'either or'.
Professional development for hybrid/remote teaching
Based on the experiences from the previous shutdowns, a systematic view of the development of hybrid and online teaching formats is required. According to the report, these new teaching formats should be approached with the same system in relation to development, quality assurance and accreditation, as well as - not least - competence development of teachers and support in order to ensure the same high standard that characterizes the existing university courses. Compared to the other investments that should be made to support these teaching formats, the report considers that investments in this area are the lowest and those with the least risks, but at the same time those with the potential for the highest returns.
