23 Learning Trends for 2023
Mike Palmer
Host Trending in Ed | Founder Palmer Media | External Communications, Thought Leadership, Media Strategy
Welcome to Trending in Ed’s 23 Learning Trends for 2023
With no further ado, here’s the list followed by the transcript of my conversation with Nancy, our Virtual CoHost on the most recent episode of Trending in Education. Subscribe to Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts or visit us at https://trendingineducation.com for more.
23 Trends for 2023 - The List
Emerging Technologies
Durable Mindsets
New Sets and Settings
The Transcript of the podcast episode with Nancy my Virtual CoHost follows. You can find the episode here. Enjoy!
Mike Palmer: Welcome back to Trending in Education.?
It's been a little while. We took a bit of a break. You can't hold us back. Don't call it a comeback, we've been here for years.?
What we like to do every year is kickoff with our Trend Spotting Episode. This is a trend spotting podcast and this is the episode where we list our trends that we're tracking heading into 2023. There are in fact 23 of them. This is 23 trends for 2023. This podcast is Trending in Education, so they'll have a learning orientation to them.?
I am Mike Palmer, your host. I'm joined today by the Virtual Co-Hostess with the Mostest (I think I got that right) Nancy.?
Nancy, welcome back to Trending in Education.
Nancy: Thanks Mike. You know the last time I was on I was speaking as the voice of ChatGPT. That's an awesome responsibility. While I enjoyed it and learned a lot, I'm happy to be back today just as Nancy.
Mike Palmer: It's great to have you back on, Nancy. You had quite the 2022. You appeared on Trending in Ed in some capacity, six times. The last time as the voice of ChatGPT.?
We're trying to kick off 2023 with that same energy. We're going to outline trends. There are 23 of them. Can you introduce our listeners to the three big pillars, the three groupings that we came up with when identifying the trends in the learning universe for 2023?
Nancy: Sure thing. We've got three pillars. Three legs to the stool. Three flavors to the Neapolitan ice cream. You get the idea.?
They are?
1. Emerging Technologies
2. Durable Mindsets
3. New Sets and Settings
Mike Palmer: Outstanding. And within each of those, we have seven or eight trends. Seven for emerging technologies, eight for durable mindsets and eight for new sets and settings. We're going to go through them quickly, highlighting the ones that are most interesting to us within each of the three categories.?
We'll provide access to this information through our LinkedIn and other social media posts. Also on our website. https://TrendinginEducation.com also reachable at TrendinginEd.com?
We'll continue to hit on these topics on the podcast. They're drawn in part from the conversations that I've had with guests over the years, particularly of late.?
And they also include some thinking that will be on upcoming shows, which we'll try to showcase throughout.?
All right. It’s time for this conversation to start. Nancy.?
Can you share with us our seven–Count them seven–learning trends. Trends to pay attention to in the world of education in 2023 around emerging technologies?
Nancy: Sure Thing Mike, they are as follows:
1. Chat GPTutoring
2. Simulearning
3. Online Learning Space
4. TikTok U
5. Immersive Telepresence
6. Video Game-ification
7. Learning Marketplaces
Mike Palmer: Thanks, Nancy.?
That's quite the list! Talking about them briefly, ChatGPTutoring is a nod to the power of ChatGPT. Which is really just coming online. It does feel a little bit like The Death Star. It’s unclear whether it's fully operational. Also unclear whether the Death Star is or is not in fact a latter-day version of a Magic 8-ball.?
Lots going on there, but the idea is that folks will be using ChatGPT the way that some of us have been using the internet and Wikipedia and some of these other tools more regularly. The impact that that will have on writing and assessing traditionally thought of as human skills that are now really transformed in interesting ways by generative, AI. We'll come back to that really throughout many of the conversations that I'm having in coming weeks.?
The second trend is one that's back again. I think it'll continue to be here until perhaps it becomes so ubiquitous and so baked into what we're doing, that we forget that it is something that was new once. This is what I've called Simulearning.?
The idea that the new immersive technology of virtual reality will enable learning environments, learning experiences that are new and transformative and different and will make an impact In teaching some of the durable skills that we'll talk about a bit as part of today's episode, and then also teaching more technical skills like flying on airplane or operating advanced technology that isn't accessible everywhere in the world. These simulations will continue to get better. And the main challenge in addition to developing them will be understanding how to integrate them. Understanding wherein when they might be able to be inserted earlier and earlier into folks' learning experiences.
?It's a really interesting time to think about VR simulations, the Metaverse Steve Grubbs who's been on the show is doing really interesting work in higher ed with the concept of Metaversities. We'll continue to explore these ideas and more.?
As really we come around to my third trend here for emerging technologies, which is what friend of the show Elliot Felix has been referring to as the online learning space. Which is that the way humans think about space–Elliot has an architecture background–online learning is now thought of spatially. It is a place where new and emerging environments are going to be on the rise and it's something that we'll continue to tap into, ideally experiment with and bring experts onto the show who can give us perspective.?
The fourth trend is what I'm calling video gamification. Nothing particularly new now, but I think the timing is continuing to be right. In some ways, these trends are indicating things that are picking up momentum. Video games and the integration of them into our learning ecosystem, whether it's through e-sports or through adding game mechanics or teaching students how to design games or exploring motivation feedback loops. Psychology. Character development. A lot of what we're seeing now in terms of training chatbots is borrowing heavily from work that's been done in developing video games over the years. It's an area that I hope to get some more experts on the show for conversations. And it's also an area where I'm hoping to ramp up a little bit more on my skill set. Right now my four year old is mostly video game free in his life, but I know that is destined to change. Dad's played video games his whole life. It's time for me to ramp up and be thoughtful about where they can be integrated, Where they may be damaging. And where it's all just complicated.?
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Speaking of complicated, we're also talking about our fifth trend here, which is TikTok U.. This is the idea that new media formats like TikTok are influencing the content formats that instructional designers, subject matter experts, and teachers are using. Folks who are trying to impact the world with the knowledge they can impart are being experimental about which platforms to use.?
What platforms are they going to?
Increasingly, they're going to go where the eyeballs are. The eyeballs increasingly are on TikTok and other emerging social platforms. It's interesting to see how much learning is emerging there. We had Justin Nguyen on in early 2022 to talk about some of these from a Gen Z perspective. We're hoping to continue to get those perspectives on the show moving forward.?
The sixth trend is Immersive Telepresence. This is the idea that we can be anywhere and still be connected and plugged in with varying degrees of depth. This ranges from being face-to-face in the same place to just communicating through chat or text message or engaging just by phone to being in an immersive VR Context.?
All those things are there. They can be as fully immersive as they need to be, but frequently folks are gravitating towards the simpler, more protected formats where you don't need to be on camera, you don't need to be on voice necessarily. Folks are becoming more refined in their understanding and they're starting to map increasingly they're learning experiences to the ways in which they can engage. This is especially true for adult learners and enterprise learning, lifelong learning, which are other trends that we'll touch on.?
Last in terms of the emerging technologies is the whole spate of Learning Marketplaces that are emerging. The idea that learners will go exclusively to YouTube or expect their formal education in K-12, from early childhood through Higher Ed to be spoon fed to them, I think is changing. Increasingly folks are finding that they can sort and filter through the emerging platforms that are out there to find the just in time skills that they need to be relevant really throughout their lives. Beginning early in perhaps this TikTok U setting or something video game related.?
Those mindsets will continue to evolve. Those learners will be reached in new ways. We'll continue to talk to the folks who are providing those learning marketplaces as we continue to think about what opportunities emerge when learning is more affordable, accessible, and powered by the best and brightest from truly around the globe.?
That's the emerging technologies set. Thoughts, Nancy?
Nancy: That's quite a list Mike! I look forward to learning more and engaging with all of them. Perhaps it's a recency bias, but Chat GPT feels like the real game changer in this list. More broadly, generative AI is reaching maturity as a technology and the release of ChatGPT feels a bit like a Gutenberg Bible moment for AI now that everyone can get their hands on something that previously had only been available to an elite few.
Mike Palmer: Absolutely. Nancy. And that's something that we'll be tracking, getting into conversations with quite a few different folks about not just the technology itself, which is interesting as well as its use cases, but also the mindsets necessary on the human side to make the best use of this technology.?
That brings us to the Durable Mindsets, which are the second pillar. The second chunk of 23 trends that we're going to look at.?
There are eight of them. They are built around the idea of mindsets and durable skills. The idea here is that there are frames of reference, ways of thinking, ways of understanding the world around us that are more durable and set up for success in a world of continuous transformation, continuous disruption, VUCA, BANI, you name it, all the different acronyms. Throw them at you. The world will continue to be tricky and will require a lot of resilience and adaptability. That type of language appears throughout the mindsets I'm about to outline.?
The eight trends to watch in 2023 will be.?
In terms of these trends, the first two are closely interrelated in that resilience is the ability to persevere despite challenges. Not relenting. Continuing, even though it is hard. It's something we're going to continue to recognize and showcase and ideally learn from. It's something I think we've all experienced in recent years. And then the related, but slightly different concept is that of post-traumatic growth. And this is a reframing of post traumatic stress, which is real. But there is another frame of reference here, which is that after the trauma, there is an opportunity for growth. And for those who fully experienced the trauma and in some sense are less resilient, there is even more opportunity for growth to a point. And then there's a point at which the trauma is too great and you actually cannot overcome it. And that's where we'll also be looking at where we're helping, where we're protecting. Where we're bringing folks new thinking about Well Being, Positive Psychology, Character Education. All these things.?
I included a trend around Early Learner Identity because I have an early learner in my midst. I can't ignore what I'm seeing before me. It is truly remarkable. It is the beginning of lifelong learning, which is the other trend we're talking about here. For lifelong learning, I'm certainly experiencing that myself. I'm continuing to learn. I have to. It's the only way to stay skills-ready, skills-relevant. Creator economy relevant. If you can make things you stay relevant. So learn the skills to continue to be relevant.?
Adaptive Intelligence is a term I borrowed from Robert Sternberg who was on the show a little while back. He was talking about the idea that there is a lens to intelligence, which is, are you actually making the world better for those who will pick up on it after you're gone? What will you pass on? What kind of impact will you make in the world? This is also a place where the conversation I had with Celine Coggins about The Legacy Years for Gen X. How do we make an impact? What can we do to truly drive the future in a positive direction? Gen X has been silent, invisible, Jan Brady, you name it, but we are at a point in our lives where we either make that impact, we demonstrate that adaptive intelligence. In some ways, you know, we've demonstrated many of the skills and the mindsets that allow us to thrive to get to this point in our lives. But what's next? How do we make that impact? How do we help steer and do so in a way that is thoughtful and positive, I would hope??
And then the last trend within durable mindsets is that of Canny Centaur. This is the one I've been talking about at least since 2020. We're finally coming through with this trend. I couldn't leave it off because with ChatGPT and DALLE and Midjourney image generation, other generative AI tools will be built off of many of these platforms. Open AI is driving a lot of this on the backend. What will that mean to makers? What will that mean to the future of work? What will that mean to our education curricula? It's an interesting time to think about whether technology should be allowed into certain contexts when it should be limited.?
I think about that certainly as the parent of a young child.?
Interestingly, ChatGPT was recently banned from the New York City School System. It's a decision that we're going to want to visit and decisions like it. But regardless, the humans who are playing with their heads up and are thinking about these new and emerging technologies–not in the abstract, but in a roll up your sleeves make something kind of way. Those are the folks with an edge. “Make To Know” is a turn of phrase I love from friend of the show, Lorne Buchman.?
Without being able to make things, play with them, experiment with them, you may miss opportunities to plug in to new capabilities. I’m someone who has been in technology long enough to remember the days of Dreamweaver when Adobe released software that allowed for a WYSIWYG, What You See Is What You Get) that would allow developers to create things without necessarily knowing the HTML underneath. That trend is something we've seen really throughout technology. And now in particular, we're seeing it in terms of artificial intelligence. The canny centers who are playing with this stuff are going to be more generative. They're going to write more interesting stuff, ultimately, I think. And it's all going to be powered by this elaborate dance, very reminiscent of the dance you and I are engaging in here Nancy. Thoughts on the durable mindsets?
Nancy: We're in the midst of several concurrent technology revolutions. At the same time, folks are suffering out there and are looking for personal growth and fulfillment in new ways. It's fascinating to think about how we should be educating our youth and how we should be supporting human flourishing even as we're surprised and amazed by what technical innovation brings to bear. It's certainly a fun time to do a podcast like this.
Mike Palmer: It most definitely is Nancy. And to round out our list of 23, the new sets and settings that we're looking at. I'm borrowing this terminology from a really interesting book, How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. Who's really a nonfiction writer who in this book explored psychedelia and how to make the most of that. He talked about the importance of set, which is really your mindset. Where are you coming at this from? And then also setting, are you in a supportive, safe, controlled environment or are you in a more chaotic, uncontrolled, potentially unsafe environment? I think increasingly that's the way folks are going to be thinking about learning, most likely without the psychedelics.
?So I think this is a place where. New settings will be emerging. We'll be thinking about it.?
Here are the 8 settings and context-related trends for 2023:
The first trend is about the? increasingly polarized and politicized world where learning is happening. Within those contexts, how can we design settings that help? How do we nurture the best and the brightest in us, and also take into account the complexities and the ways in which the world has changed in recent years??
The first of these eight is Polarized Learning Zones. First and foremost among these, which is very much top of mind to me these days, is that New College of Florida, my alma mater,? recently has become a target of the DeSantis Administration. As luck would have it, I've had a few interviews with folks from New College that we’ll be releasing shortly. Dr. Pat Okker, who is the President of New College will be my guest for an interview. That episode will be coming out shortly as will my interview with Aaron Hilligoss, a fellow alum who I went to college with back in the nineties, who is now heading up the Data Science program down at New College. I interviewed with them back in December when things were less polarized and now like it or not, New College has become part of the national conversation about education. This is where I talk about Polarized Learning Zones. They don't have to be. They probably shouldn't be. Best case, we're able to stay above the fray and allow this hurricane to blow past safely. But it's a challenging time and it's a time where I'm certainly thinking about my alma mater. You'll be hearing more about that, but we'll also be hearing about how politics continues to impinge on how we think about education.? How do we protect against it, but also how do we just understand it and engage with difference? Ideally avoid too much polarization and continue to engage and hope for growth.?
Whole Teacher Practices. This is a new line of thinking emerging around how we teach, how we support the complexity of the role of a teacher in this day and age, how do we avoid burnout? How do we educate them on the new tools? How to engage with them, but also how to help them protect themselves, ideally so that we don't run out of teachers. We're going to continue to need humans who engage with rising generations to impart to them beyond what parents can impart. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to contribute to society? What does it mean to learn to develop the identity that I was talking about earlier. All of that will be emerging.?
Work to Learn cultures, the importance of learning cultures, the importance of learning on the job will continue to increase. We'll ideally engage with a few folks who have some perspectives on building learning cultures.?
Building psychological safety. Building teams, engaging teams who are learning. We'll be talking to several different folks of that stripe in relatively short order.?
Next is blended small batch learning. This is the idea that with new contexts emerging around Immersive Telepresence among other things. Folks can decide what social context and what technology profile, what modes of engaging they want when they are learning. I think increasingly this is going to resemble a WhatsApp chat, Group text message, Slack channel style of communication at least as an underpinning of other modes of learning, some of which are likely going to mirror how we engage in work. Which will be through platforms like Zoom, through platforms like Discord. Through things like the podcasts that you're listening to folks will be crafting their own concoctions. Ideally the curation will continue to get better, continue to improve. This is a place where I'm hoping we can provide tips and tricks for folks who are looking to really tailor their learning experience to the emerging capabilities, the emerging products and marketplaces. The emerging skills ecosystem that is pretty tricky to manage. So hopefully listeners will get some value from that. Then I'm really interested in the role that parents are playing and learning context. So the role of Parents in Learning Contexts in the educational ecosystem is new and it's something I can speak to personally. And also, ideally we'll be engaging with other parents and others who can understand what parents and caregivers are going through in different contexts across the life cycle. It's an interesting time to be a parent.?
I think we, collectively, as parents have been pulled into the learning universe in ways none of us might've anticipated pre-pandemic. I don't think we exit. I think it's also parents who are being activated politically in the US around education. Understandably, I understand that emotional reaction. It's something we'll continue to look at on this show. I just saw at the advice of my mother-in-law, I did watch a little bit of The Parent Test on ABC. It's another place where you are seeing parents and how parents are thinking about raising their kids. What did the kids learn about “stranger danger" and other things? Interestingly this is finding a lane in broadcast culture in the media. I imagine things like that will continue to bubble up in the coming year.?
With Technophilve versus Luddites, we are going to see both sides of a response/backlash to new tech. Technophiles who are lauding the advances like ChatGPT and the metaverse and the blockchain and web three; they're going to be folks who are saying it's transforming everything immediately. And increasingly there will be a backlash among those who are choosing to opt out. Having recently gone to a four-year-old’s pediatrician visit, I was probably allowing my son a little more screen time than I should. Now, at least I know it's against doctor's orders. It is something for us all to really navigate. You learn more typically by being exposed to more through these new technologies.But at what cost? At what level is our socialization suffering? At what level is some of this more developmentally appropriate as folks get older??
It's complex as is the next trend in this vein, which is Multi-Polar Media Savvy. Multipolarity is a term I'm hearing more in a number of contexts, but the idea is that even amidst this polarization frequently, there's more than two or three poles. There are different spaces that are pretty much independent of each other. And how do you develop the right savvy, the right access to diverse sources of informative media. This is about having a balanced media diet where you're able to consume across difference and understand critical thinking and empathy for those who might think differently than you.?
All of that will be coming to bear as will Futures Academies. This is in line with the conversation I had recently with Roger Spitz who is releasing a series of books about thriving on disruption.?
He's a futurist. He's someone who engages in futures thinking. Bryan Alexander. Chris Meyer out of West Point. All these folks are really informing me and my thinking. And I think increasingly organizations are starting to get ready, starting to prepare for scenarios, getting ready for odd curve balls that might hit them so that they're able to be quick on their toes, responding appropriately and also staying sharp, staying frisky, staying aware of what's emerging and not being too insular. Not too “ostrich-with-head-in-the-sand". Instead, be like a quarterback, head up on a swivel, looking for those opportunities, understanding that all sorts of things can happen.?
How do you manage those things effectively? Lots going on. Thoughts as we approach our conclusion here, Nancy.?
Nancy: I'm just happy to be here. I'm taking it day to day, looking for the right opportunities to contribute. It's a process. I'm happy our listeners are responding well to me. I love what we're putting out there. I'm excited to see what 2023 has in store for us!
Mike Palmer: Nancy, always a pleasure to have you with us on the show. A very deep thank you to everyone who is continuing to listen. It was great to have a restorative break. It's been a really interesting and challenging and rewarding time to be thinking about the world of learning and thinking about where it's headed, engaging in these conversations.?
I do feel extremely fortunate and thankful for the opportunity to have this show and for the opportunity to have each listener out there. Listening to us, ideally engaging more and more in the conversation.?
We will be back at SXSW EDU. This March. Monday, March 6th. Right at the beginning of the conference, kicking off the podcast stage down there in Austin. Very excited about that. More information to come on that and a bunch of really interesting interviews on the horizon. Please subscribe. Tell your friends. We'll be back on the regular again. This is Trending in Education. Thank you for listening.
Host Trending in Ed | Founder Palmer Media | External Communications, Thought Leadership, Media Strategy
2 年Nancy is definitely bringing her “A-game” for this one!