• The consolidation of AI will further facilitate the personalization of learning and the creation of more specific professional profiles.
• The development of emotional skills in the classroom will contribute to improving the personal well-being of teachers and students.
• The incorporation of bilingual teaching, digital competencies and emotional engineering skills will add value to teacher training initiatives.

The disruptive changes that society is undergoing in technological, social and environmental terms are bringing with them a series of transformations in employment, which will require workers to update their skills in the medium and long term. According to the latest Training Trends report, prepared by Randstad Research, 6 out of 10 workers will need training in the next three years to improve their skills and knowledge in their job performance.

In this sense, ODILO, the Spanish edtech that allows all types of organizations and institutions to create their own Unlimited Learning Ecosystem, has prepared the report ‘Learning Trends 2024’, where the key axes that will mark the path of training for this year are collected. 

“The rise of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and computational thinking or augmented reality are transforming the way we operate in education. Likewise, it is necessary to highlight the importance of education in emotional competencies as a vehicle for the pursuit of well-being of both students and teachers,” says Ainhoa Marcos, Country Manager of Education at ODILO.

1. The consolidation of AI as an educational tool

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a fundamental role in adapting learning by enabling materials, activities and teaching strategies to be adjusted to the particular needs of each learner.  Artificial intelligence makes it possible for learning platforms to provide adaptive and personalized learning, adjusting content to the needs or interests of the student.

By effectively integrating artificial intelligence, teachers can optimize lesson planning, focus on individual student needs and improve the overall efficiency of the educational process. 

But we must understand AI as a tool and not as an end, since teaching involves emotional, ethical, cultural and social aspects of teaching that AI will never be able to replace. 

2. The impact of screens

The results of Spanish students in the latest PISA Report have raised great concern, since we are talking about the worst figures since this study began to be published in 2000. In relation to this, 30% of the students surveyed believe that screens generate distractions at the time of learning. This has led many agents, both political and social, to negatively assess the role that screens are playing in education and the impact they have on student involvement.

The use of digital devices in schools is a controversial topic, with both positive and negative impacts on student performance and well-being. However, the OECD through PISA shows a positive relationship between the intentional integration of technology in school education and student achievement, as well as recognizing that entertainment devices such as cell phones can be distracting and have negative consequences, as digital distraction from entertainment devices is associated with lower learning outcomes.

So what can educational institutions do? The challenge lies in encouraging the deliberate and productive integration of digital technology into learning environments, while minimizing its potential distractions.

The problem is not the screens, but the lack of training to educate students in responsible and balanced consumption. On the one hand, because they provide a wide range of resources that go beyond the limitations of a textbook and, on the other hand, because they complement the lesson taught by the teacher, so that they help to better assimilate the contents.

3. The deepening of STEM content 

As technology advances as a transversal competence in the labor market, STEM education is consolidating as a novel model that promotes the integration and development of scientific-technical subjects within a single disciplinary framework. It proposes a didactic approach whose objective is to guarantee its presence in all subjects through the inclusion of essential content for professional development in the current global context: coding, programming, robotics, etc. Not surprisingly, LOMLOE proposes this model as a new way of understanding the world using scientific methods, mathematical and engineering thinking to transform the environment in a committed, responsible and sustainable way.

In recent years, other strands such as STEAM or ST2REAM have emerged, adding subjects such as the arts or reading. The premise is the same: to have students learn about critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, research, collaboration and leadership.  

In today’s digital era, programming and computational thinking are no longer the exclusive skills of technology experts, but have become fundamental tools in the integral education of students. The integration of these skills in all subjects and educational levels in a cross-cutting manner is an imperative need to prepare future generations for an increasingly technological and connected world.  It is not just about teaching programming, but about developing fundamental cognitive skills and preparing students for an ever-changing world. Collaboration across disciplines and the adoption of innovative pedagogical approaches are key to ensuring that every student acquires the tools necessary to thrive in tomorrow’s digital society.

4. The pursuit of student well-being

Tomorrow’s schools should not only focus on academic performance, but also aspire to develop students who are able to think independently, possess a strong sense of morality and navigate a globalized, digital world. PISA 2022 also covers a broader range of students’ cognitive, social and emotional outcomes, captured in the new PISA Happy Life Dashboard. The latest PISA results show that education systems can provide both high-quality instruction and equitable learning opportunities for all, and that they can support academic excellence not at the expense of student well-being, but through student well-being.  The task for governments is to help education systems rise to this challenge.

By understanding how the technologies that surround our lives work, students can make informed decisions, actively participate in the digital society and contribute to sustainable development.

5. The importance of teacher training

Teacher training is essential to provide quality education and ensure professional success in the future. In this regard, bilingualism is one of the main horizons for improvement, as it not only enriches the learning experience, but also prepares students to face today’s highly competitive job market. On the other hand, in an increasingly digitized world, it is crucial that educators effectively integrate emerging technologies into their approach to provide a complete and quality education.

The combination of these two dimensions, together with training in emotional engineering, strengthens the teaching profession and fosters an educational model that transcends linguistic and technological barriers, while cultivating the emotional well-being of students and teachers.

ABOUT ODILO

ODILO is a B2B2C company, which has created a new category in the education market: Unlimited Learning Ecosystems. In this way, the firm allows any organization to create its own fully customized learning ecosystems, and offer its users unlimited access to the world’s largest catalog of educational content and create all kinds of learning experiences without restrictions. In addition, through the use of Artificial Intelligence, ODILO enables the creation of unique learning paths and experiences for both organizations and users, as well as its unique Business Intelligence system that is capable of measuring all possible forms of learning, and also offers the advisory service of industry experts.

More than 8,500 organizations in 52 countries – including governments in Europe, North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia and Africa; academic leaders such as Peking University and top companies such as Vodafone, Nestlé and Banco Santander – have already created Unlimited Learning Ecosystems from the more than 4 million pieces of content available on the platform. In total, ODILO is part of the learning experiences of more than 170 million users worldwide.