EdTech is now BorED Tech

Boring is the new cool where EdTech is now BorED tech.

I came across the list of EdTech predictions by Transcend Network for 2023, where point #3 is about the year of ‘Boring EdTech’, and couldn't have agreed more.

Well, here are some boring and ‘real’ problems that I have been thinking about in education:

1. How to design assessments in a way where the learning really sticks.

2. How to give teachers their time back so they can do what they’ve been hired to do - which is teach!

3. How to get more people to want to get into a classroom / zoom room to teach.

4. How to help managers manage themselves and their teams.

5. How to help EVERYONE get better at their soft skills - communication, thinking, collaborating (ironically these are some of the hardest skills to build).

6. How to help young graduates & professionals declutter confusions about their careers.

7. How to get faculty in higher ed to do more research.

8. How to get people to switch on their cameras and engage in an online zoom class. 

9. How to enable and scale feedback in the teaching / learning process. 

10. How to motivate learners to take charge of their own growth, and ‘learn how to learn’.

If you’ve been in education for a while, you’ll know that while being boring, they are some of the most fun challenges to work on! While edtech is going through its moment of existential crisis, I haven't felt more bullish about the future as the correction will force all of us to work on the 'real' problems that matter.