There’s no question that the Education and Technology space is growing and innovating: experts predict a staggering market size of $605 billion by 2027 if an estimated CAGR of 15.52% takes place. In a post-pandemic world, we’re all discussing key trends and growth drivers: huge education funding streams, historically low unemployment, ubiquitous distance learning, workforce training, and even an educator shortage, to name a few.
To further explore the direction of the Education and Technology market, we recently asked a “virtual panel” of three growth-minded leaders these questions:
- What are the key growth trends that you see in EdTech right now?
- Where do you see the market going in the next few years?
The Contributors
Salik Rahman – Chief Sales Officer for Centegix, the leader in incident response solutions, creating safer spaces by innovating technology to empower and protect people.
Mike Roseman – Senior Vice President of District Partnerships for Effective School Solutions, providing quality, cost-saving, in-district clinical programs for students with emotional and behavioral challenges
Leah Moschella – Senior Director of Partnerships for the Wadhwani Foundation, an innovative non-profit that leverages technology to empower students to learn job-ready skills.
We are sharing 10 quotes from our interviews that directly address current growth drivers and those factors affecting the future of EdTech.
Key EdTech Growth Trends
1. Leah Moschella (Wadhwani Foundation) – “Improved focus on learner-centered product design. Learners are experiencing more options than ever before when it comes to their education and training. At the same time, learners are seeking outcomes in their learning experiences. EdTech offerings will thrive when they engage learners, particularly learners from marginalized populations, in the product design cycles. Learners are experts of their own needs, and hopefully, products can be improved through continuous learner engagement, feedback, and iteration.”
2. Salik Rahman (Centegix) – “There is a heightened awareness to arm schools, districts, colleges, and universities with safety and security solutions to help avoid instances like what we experienced with Uvalde ISD and the nameless other schools, districts, colleges, and universities that are not being mentioned. We only hear about the worst incidents. Furthermore, we’re finally hearing about budgets and laws being passed to help the education community with funding challenges. Bills like Alyssa’s Law are a good example. This law is making its way around the country, being recently passed in New York.”
3. Mike Roseman (Effective School Solutions) – “Given that I work on the mental and behavioral health side, I’ll comment specifically about this area and how I think it will grow. First, in the same way that measurable outcome data became critical for academics with districts starting to use that data to inform instructional decisions, I see the same trend happening as it relates to mental and behavioral health. Districts will expect objective data from interventions that are implemented in terms of impact on areas like grades, discipline, and attendance.”
4. Leah Moschella (Wadhwani Foundation) – “Increase in partnerships across employers and EdTech. I believe we are likely to see an increasing number of employers and industry associations working alongside EdTech to develop solutions to effectively meet the needs of upskilling, training, and employee retention. With the increased demand for qualified employees, EdTech, traditional education providers, and employers are likely to strengthen partnerships.”
5. Mike Roseman (Effective School Solutions) – “While universal screening is somewhat of a political hot potato, I do see explosive growth here in terms of being able to use technology to identify at-risk students that need support. Having said that, with the dearth of mental health professionals in many areas, the challenge becomes what to do about the data and how to support all students in need.”
Future Market Conditions in EdTech
6. Mike Roseman (Effective School Solutions) – “I think you’ll see more data visualization on student performance that incorporates academic and social/emotional learning indicators to create a holistic picture of students.”
7. Leah Moschella (Wadhwani Foundation) – “Increase in tech-enabled short-term workforce training followed by hands-on learning experiences. EdTech is likely to continue to grow as a solution to providing short-term upskilling and training opportunities for new and emerging occupations. However, educators and employers alike recognize the continued need for hands-on learning experiences. One trend we are likely to see as employers and EdTech leaders continue to collaborate is the opportunity to develop digital training as a starting opportunity that leads to an apprenticeship or deeper on-the-job training experience, particularly where there is a growing demand for workers in occupations such as logistics and electric vehicles. Imagine starting your training to become an electric vehicle technician using an online course that prepares you for a paid internship working on cars directly afterward.”
8. Salik Rahman (Centegix) – “The market will continue to grow, although there will likely be a shift in where the growth occurs. For instance, before and during the pandemic, the focus was on a supplemental curriculum of all kinds. While I don’t think a shift will necessarily occur away from a supplemental curriculum, I do think that more spending will happen towards solutions for Social and Emotional Learning along with protecting our students and staff. We’re already beginning to see this trend emerge.”
9. Leah Moschella (Wadhwani Foundation) – “Focus on career navigation. While learning outcomes are critical to success in the EdTech world, there is an increased focus on supporting learners of all ages in navigating the growing number of options when it comes to college and careers. EdTech, policymakers, philanthropy, and education leaders continue to explore and promote options for learners beyond a four-year college degree. As students explore a wider array of learning and training options, technology can be leveraged as a solution for career exploration, digital skills exploration, and virtual mentoring. Recently, JFF (Jobs for the Future) released an in-depth market scan of career navigation resources, and these are likely to play a more significant role among educators, learners, guidance counselors, and families.”
10. Leah Moschella (Wadhwani Foundation) – “More effective collaboration rather than building anew. The market is quickly saturated with education solutions for all ages and market needs. I believe that we will see fewer new products released and more collaborations to increase efficacy.”
We want to thank Salik, Leah, and Mike for sharing their insights for this virtual panel discussion. With leaders like these three focused on growing the dynamic EdTech industry, the potential is unlimited for more innovation, improved vision, and greater impact.
Hiring in 2023
Helping to drive growth through talent acquisition within the world of education and learning is both exciting and challenging for the team here at The Renaissance Network. The scarcity of talent and sophistication of organizations continues to make this industry exhilarating and demanding. We are enthusiastic about the future, especially considering new technology, the potential of increasing employee diversity, and the intersection of education and workforce development.
To learn more about how TRN’s proven process can help you build your world-class team, contact TRN today!
