Covid-19 is accelerating the digital transformation of education sector, where technology is spearheading the growth of the global Educational Technology (EdTech) and Smart Classroom market to $404 billion in 2025, according to research reports.

“EdTech is growing at 16.3% and will grow 2.5 times from 2019 to 2025, reaching $404 billion in total global expenditure. Even at this level, EdTech and digital expenditure will only make up 5.2% of the $7.3 trillion global education market in 2025,” said the report.

The global education system is going for a massive disruption, experts at the recently-held EdX Accelerate Education Summit and Awards 2020, organised by QNA Marcom, told delegates. Hundreds of delegates attended the day-long digital summit.

Krishnan Gopi, Group Chief Disruption Officer at GEMS Education, said, 75% of teachers believe that the digital learning content will replace printed text books in the next ten years!

“Data is the new currency and teachers are not the only source of knowledge for students. Disruption in education is being led by EdTech providers including the technology giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft,” he says.

“These, along with other technology providers are rapidly expanding the EdTech and connected classroom market from $89 billion to $404 billion by 2025 that will also drive the growth of the $2.5 trillion IoT market.

“We are heading towards a new education order where digital credentials of the educational institutions will play a crucial role – and we are going to see the emergence of the Digital Educational Passport – that will determine the credentials of educational institutions.”

GEMS Education is the world’s largest provider of education in the private sector with 230 schools in 13 countries.

Covid-19 has accelerated the digital disruption in the $67 billion (Dh246 billion) education sector of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, forcing teachers to take classes online, assign tasks online and conduct exams digitally, something that was a myth until recent years that has suddenly become the new normal.

The total number of students in the GCC is projected to reach 14.5 million in 2022, according to a recent report by Alpen Capital. This can be attributed to rising population base of school and college age students.

Praising the event, Krishnan Gopi said: “The edX Accelerate Education Summit and Awards 2020 was a well-crafted and executed event, which brought together education leaders and technologists. It presented a unique opportunity to listen to their industry insights and experiences on the changing dynamics of the education landscape. Overall, the event was informative, interactive, insightful, entertaining and enriching.”

Nithin Thomas, Head of IT at Amity Education Middle East, spoke about technology, planning and adopting new strategies for the future. Concluding the keynotes was ‘Education Reimagined by Sandeep Pezhery, Technical Consultant at Aruba.

On Panel 1, Jeffrey Smith, Director of School Partnerships, iCademy Middle East; Dr Catherine Hill, Dean, School of Education, American University of Dubai; Dr Alka Kalra, Academic Director, Eduscan Group; Shumaila Shahzadi, Social Studies and Moral Education Curriculum Head of Primary, Al Salam Private School; and Peter Davos, CEO, Hale Education discussed upskilling teachers and deploying new strategies in school. Rich Henderson, Director, Global Education Solutions at Lenovo spoke about 'EDU transformation and the need for Distance Learning'.

Dr Nadera Al Borno, Associate Professor of Education at the American University of Dubai; Ali Khawaja, Senior Instructor, Department of Management, School of Business Administration, American University of Sharjah; Refaat Kazoun, CEO of Stafford Global; and Majid Mneymneh, Vice President - Higher Education and Corporate, Pearson Middle East discussed the use of technology to enhance university learning in the second panel discussion.

Dr Nadera Al Borno, Associate Professor of Education at the American University of Dubai, says: “The summit provided an excellent opportunity to hear about the experiences of various education stakeholders, including educators and IT professionals. The keynote speakers introduced innovative and cutting-edge technologies that are driving the education sector, especially during the pandemic. However, the school and higher education panels highlighted the need to pay close attention to the emotional and social well-being of their students. Thank you for the opportunity to have these constructive discussions.”

In the third panel, Dr Imogen Cleaver, Senior Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge; Vandana Mahajan, Founder and CEO, Futures Abroad; Krishna Raj, Co-Founder and VP Strategy, LogisEye and Member of The Board of Advisors, Al Dar University College; Delia DeCourcy, Global Education Solutions Manager, Lenovo; Stephen King Lecturer, Media, Middlesex University Dubai; and Fehmi Sakkal, Regional Pre-Sales Lead – MESA, Consulting Systems Engineer at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, discussed the crucial topic of digital transformation in education.

Organised by QNA Marcom, a marketing and communications agency with a range of global clients including top-tier technology vendors, distributors and solution providers, the event was supported by Platinum Sponsor Lenovo, a global technology company with a presence in more than 160 countries, Aruba, Intel, Windows 10, CADD Emirates, ICT Circle, GenX Systems, and ThinkSense.ai.

Ankit Shukla, QNA Marcom Group Managing Director, says, “I am happy to say that the EdX Accelerate Education Summit and Awards 2020 was an out and out success. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of delegates participated at the event that reflects the fact that the deliberations were very timely and helpful.

“We were delighted to host all of our esteemed keynote speakers and panellists for this event – with over 200 attendees recorded – and have received feedback that would encourage us to organise more discussions of the same nature in the near future.”  

List of the Award Winners

 Team/Project Awards:

*GEMS Education;

*iCademy Middle East;

 Leadership Awards:

*American University of Dubai;

*Stafford Global;

*University of Cambridge.

Corporate Awards:

*Eduscan Group;

*Pearson Middle East.

 Vendor Awards:

*Lenovo;

*Aruba. -- Tradearabia News Service