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Rise of Khan Academy
2010 came with the rise of Khan Academy, an online platform that gave students and educators access to videos and exercises for a vast range of educational topics. -
iPads in Education
One year after the iPad's 2010 release, it became commonplace to see schools using the devices in classroom instruction. iPads became a popular educational tool due to their portability, access to the internet, and ease of use. Where classrooms were often limited in size to house numerous PCs, iPads were small enough so that every student could have their own designated device. -
Widespread Online Access to Professional Courses
2012 saw the creation of Coursera, a program that gave anybody with internet access the ability to enroll in university-sponsored courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects. Programs like Udemy aspired to create the same opportunities for students, but Coursera was by far the most successful of these programs. Online access to professional courses and certifications made education more mainstream that many could have ever imagined. -
Google Classroom
In 2014, Google Classroom launched as an educational app made free to all users. The app brought every aspect of an in person classroom to the digital world; students could access lectures, video and textual resources, assignments, grades, and feedback all in one online tool. Teachers could even communicate with students. Google Classroom revolutionized education, and made it easier for students to continue to learn at home. -
Augmented Reality in Education
Around 2016, augmented and (less commonly) virtual reality became something that was used in schools to help students conceptualize different topics. Topics that were difficult for students to realize, like understanding the size and scope of planets in relation to each other, became much more simple with AR. Students could transform their classroom into a virtual field trip and explore virtual landscapes. AR tools created an increasing sense of engagement and excitement for students. -
Blended Learning
Online classrooms, like Google Classroom and Class Dojo, were becoming rapidly more prominent. Many educators used these tools in tandem with their brick and mortar instruction to lend popularity to the blended model of learning; having access to materials any time online led the way for 'flipped' classrooms to come to fruition. The norm for many students was to have a blend of physical and online instruction. -
The Impact of COVID-19 on Technology
Schools shut down in the Spring of 2020 due to COVID-19. Education as a whole had a reliance on technology like it had never seen before; educational technology companies were scrambling to adapt to the changing needs of students and teachers, online meetings became the main form of educational instruction, and accessibility issues were heightened for underserved students. Due to this newfound reliance on technology, actions were taken to provide devices to students who were in need of them.