Presentation at Digital Education: From Sideshow to Centre StageI, LTA EdTech Winter Conference, 13th January, 2022.

1. A Helicopter View of Possible Futures:
An Analysis of Major Trends in Online Learning
Mark Brown,
Eamon Costello & Enda Donlon
Institute of Education
National Institute for Digital Learning
Dublin City University
13th January 2022

3. 2021

4. 2021
Not yet
published

5. Forthcoming…
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

6. Photo by Brad West on Unsplash
Informed
trends not
predictions!

8. 1.Convergence
2.Massification
3.Openness
4.Interactivity
5. Diversification
6. Big EdTech
7. Green EdTech
8. ?
The Trends…

9. 46 different
definitions!

10. 1. Convergence…
“What used to be a simple binary
of face-to-face or online has now
become so extremely complex
that our ability to understand each
other is impaired” (Irvine, 2020, p.
42).

13. 2. Massification…

14. “MOOCs have reached 220 million learners, excluding China. In
2021, providers launched over 3100 courses and 500
microcredentials. In 2021, 40M new learners signed up for at least
one MOOC, compared to 60M (fuelled by the pandemic) in 2020”
(Shah, 2021).

17. 3. Openness…

20. 4. Interactivity…
Learner-Content
Interaction
Learner-learner
Interaction
Teacher-Learner
Interaction
Places
Tools
Spaces
Interaction
Equivalency
Theorem
(Anderson, et al., 2003)

23. 5. Diversity…

24. 5. Diversity…

25. https://splot.ca

26. 6. Big EdTech…

29. 7. Green EdTech…

30. “The digital education ecosystem is
simultaneously converging, getting larger in
scale, more open and closed, and is growing in
diversity. Inherent tensions across these
contradictory trends, along with concerns about
the growth, influence and sustainability of the
EdTech industry, demonstrate how online
learning is part of a wider social practice”
(Brown, 2021, p. 118).
Conclusion…

31. • What new or surprises you?
• What’s missing?
• So what?
Questions…

32. Go raibh maith
agaibh!
Thank you