The goal is more personalized instruction in educational settings.

The methodology is blended learning, including the popular flipped classroom approach.

And the technology that supports it is video.

And that video technology, say analysts at Gartner Research, is getting better all the time.

In a recent report, Technology Drives Education Towards Transformation, Gartner analysts explain how using blended learning technology as a partial substitute for in-person instruction is helping to personalize the learning experience.

“CIOs and other education leaders should see the rising demand for personalized instruction as an opportunity to leverage instructional technology as an assessment, diagnostic and instructional tool and use it as the primary means of instructional delivery. Anticipate using online instruction as a way of breaking the seat-time stranglehold on curriculum sequencing and using student competencies in individual disciplines as the means of moving from one level of academic pursuit to the next.”

The team also elaborates on the idea of personalization in instruction.

“Instruction will focus on the needs and preferences of the learner as the pace — that is, the time required to complete or gain mastery of learning tasks — is personalized to the student rather than to institutionalized seat-time requirements or the lock-step approach to instruction meant to keep an entire classroom working on the same activities at the same time.”

Finally, Gartner predicts that due to technological advances, that blended learning-based instruction will soon be “faster, better, and stronger”.

“Look for transformative practices — that is, significant differences in path and pace. …Innovations in education practice such as the flipped classroom, which represents a change in which learning activities are conducted off-campus and those that remain in the classroom.”

Blended Learning Isn’t a Technology: It’s a Strategy

Of course, our customers would be quick to note that technology isn’t the beginning and end of blended learning — it’s merely the toolset that enables the pedagogy.

Teachers and administrators are at the heart of any blended learning strategy, and enhancing the student learning experience is the constant objective. How technology enables that improvement may depend on the lesson, the location, or the learner — or all three.

Sometimes that’s a simple as lecture capture — recording the traditional classroom experience in full for students to revisit later as needed for study.

Increasingly, it’s new philosophies designed to engage students — notably, the flipped classroom construct that asks teachers to share recorded lectures for students to watch prior to class, thus opening classroom time for interactive discussion, activity, and exercises.

Many schools are taking blended learning right to their students, with using technology to facilitate student recording for assignments, peer reviews, and role play opportunities.

And of course, at the cutting edge are concepts like Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), that enable academic institutions to expand their classrooms to an almost unlimited student body.

Video is just one of the technologies teachers are using to revolutionize the way students learn. And as Gartner Research has noted, together with learning management solutions, social communities, and a host of other technology-enabled tools, the opportunity for universities, colleges, and schools around the world to enhance the learning experiences of their students has never been more exciting thanks to blended learning.

Try Panopto For Yourself
If you’re interested in experimenting with a blended learning approach for your classroom, Panopto can help. Contact our team to sign up for a free trial.