Presentación inaugural de la XVI Jornada de Gestión de la Información, "La distancia no es el olvido: servicios, formación y trabajo no presenciales", que tuvo lugar en la Biblioteca Nacional de España el 6 de noviembre de 2014.

1. Education Improved in the USA:
Current Trends in E-Learning
Hugh Forrest
Director, SXSW Interactive Festival
March 13-17, 2015 in Austin, TX, USA
hugh@sxsw.com
@hugh_w_forrest

2. Overview of today’s talk
• What is SXSW Interactive
• What is SXSWedu
• The SXSWedu video
• The SXSWedu trivia game
• 10 education and e-learning trends in the US
• Conclusions and questions

3. Thank you for inviting me

4. And, thank you for attending today
• This is my second time to be in Spain
• In Barcelona earlier this week talking about
privacy
• Was in Madrid and Zaragosa last November
• Honored to be invited here again
• Always aiming to build an even stronger alliance
between Spain and our work at SXSW
• One of our big growth areas for SXSW Interactive
is international attendance

5. What is SXSW Interactive?
• Living breathing manifestation of the Internet
• Trade Show, Job Fair, Gaming Expo
• 800+ panels and presentations
• From code to food, we cover all kinds of topics
• In our best moments, we preview the future
• Creativity, inspiration and innovation
• About 30,000 total attendees
• Great place to make 1-on-1 connections

6. As SXSW Interactive has grown
• We have added several new events to the
SXSW family of events
• Goal of these new events is to gently push
some of the SXSW Interactive growth to
various other verticals
• SXSW Eco (October in Austin)
• SXSW V2V (July in Las Vegas)
• SXSWedu (in Austin, before SXSW Interactive)

7. Details on SXSWedu
• Started in Austin in March 2011
• So, 2015 is our fifth year: For 2015, SXSWedu
is scheduled Monday, March 9 through
Thursday, March 12 in Austin
• Mission statement: “SXSWedu Fosters
innovation in learning by hosting a diverse and
energetic community of stakeholders from a
variety of backgrounds in education.”

8. More details on SXSWedu
• Has about 5000 total attendees from across
the US and around the world
• SXSWedu is now the fastest-growing event in
the SXSW family of events
• Why such fast growth? Because so much
interest in this topic from on so many levels
• To get a better feel for SXSWedu, let’s watch
the two-minute promo video

9. SXSWedu Sizzle Reel

10. Video is a great taste of the event
• Believe it or not, being in Austin in March for
Edu is even more fun than this video
• But I really love how much energy this video
helps to create in space of two minutes

11. More Energy: The SXSW Trivia Game
• We do this to create more engagement and
interaction with the audience
• Also helps give the audience a little more
information / context about the event

12. SXSW Trivia Game: Ground rules
• No fair looking at your smart phone or your
laptop computer for the correct answer to the
trivia question
• First person who answers correctly gets two
free badges to SXSWedu 2015.
• This is a $950 value – but your winnings do
NOT include transportation to and / or lodging
while you are in Austin

13. SXSW Trivia Question

14. SXSW Trivia Question
• The women shown in the previous photo heads
up a very inspirational, very forward-thinking
non-profit organization
• Recently named to Forbes Magazine’s 30 under
30 list of best social entrepreneurs
• Her name is Shiza Shahid and she is one of the
Feature Speakers at SXSWedu 2015
• For two free badges to SXSWedu 2015, what is
the name of the non-profit organization that
Shiza Shahid currently leads?

15. SXSW Trivia Game: The answer

16. SXSW Trivia Game: The answer

17. Now to the main focus of today’s talk:
Identifying new industry trends
• Identifying trends and previewing the future is
what we always try to focus on at SXSW
Interactive and at SXSWedu
• With that in mind, for the remainder of my
speech, let’s talk about 10 significant trends in
education and e-learning in the US

18. Trend #1: MOOCs grow and grow

19. Trend #1: MOOCs grow and grow
• MOOC is the acronym for Massive Open Online
Course
• By definition, this is an online course aimed at
unlimited participation and open access via the
web.
• In addition to traditional course materials such as
videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs
provide interactive user forums that help build a
community for students, professors, and teaching
assistants

20. Trend #2: Blended / hybrid classrooms

21. Trend #2: Blended / hybrid classrooms
• The concept of learning as an intentional
mixture of both online and onsite learning is
being embraced and explored intensely
• Students do their independent learning
online, using class time with the teacher to
address ay lack of understanding, in a more
personalized way

22. Trend #3: Personalized learning

23. Trend #3: Personalized learning
• Like it or not, students are wired differently
and they tend to progress through the
curriculum at different rates
• Technological advances allow teachers to
more effectively personalize lesson plans to
individual students

24. Trend #4: Education + Startups = Love

25. Trend #4: Education + Startups = Love
• More and more startups are getting into the
education space.
• Why? Because many things in education have
not changed in the last 100 years
• Also because there are significant
opportunities for those who can change them
• Reverse is also true: We are seeing more focus
on entrepreneurism in education

26. Trend #5: Stronger focus on STEM

27. Trend #5: Stronger focus on STEM
• STEM is the acronym for Science Technology
Engineering and Math.
• Given how much focus there is in the US on
emerging technology (and startups), we are
seeing significantly more emphasis on STEM in
both traditional classroom settings as well as
e-learning approaches
• But, brings up the age-old question of what is
education

28. Trend #6: Learn to code

29. Trend #6: Learn to code
• Above and beyond STEM, more and more
institutions are teaching students how to
program and how to code
• This again speaks to the large need for this
kind of labor force in the United States and
elsewhere

30. Trend #7: Makers remaking learning

31. Trend #7: Makers remaking learning
• Maker movement in the US (and worldwide)
continues to gain momentum and popularity
• More and more of these maker principles are
being adopted in the classroom
• Also interesting to note how many libraries in
the US have been converted to maker spaces

32. Trend #8: Gamify everything

33. Trend #8: Gamify everything
• Video games are immensely popular with
younger (and older) audiences
• Can the popularity of this medium be
leveraged for learning?
• Lots of heated debate on the pros and cons of
this approach
• Nicholas Carr (The Shallows) vs Steven
Johnson (Everything Bad is Good For You)

34. Trend #9: New languages and cultures

35. Trend #9: New languages and cultures
• In the United States, we are continuing to see
an increased focus on Spanish as this language
(and this culture) becomes more and more
prevalent
• In the United States, we are also seeing an
increased focus on Mandarin as China edges
closer and closer to the world’s dominant
economy

36. Trend #10: Not all teachers love tablets

37. Trend #10: Not all teachers love tablets
• For all the triumphs of technology in the
classroom, we are also seeing a persistent
backlash against this development
• “We had the money to buy them, but maybe
not the best implementation,” said Mark
Toback, the current superintendent of
Hoboken (New Jersey) School District. “It
became unsustainable.”

38. Big picture conclusions
• Lots of new ideas -- and we will see this space
evolve even more in the near future
• More specifically, technology continues to
significantly change the landscape of learning
• In the classic sense of the word, the education
landscape remains ripe for disruption
• But, traditions die hard and this move towards
new forms is still not universally accepted

39. Thanks again for coming to this talk
• Happy to answer any questions that you may
have about any issues
• Can always e-mail me questions at
hugh@sxsw.com
• Follow me on Twitter at @hugh_w_forrest
• Find more info on SXSW 2015 at sxswedu.com
and sxsw.com/interactive

40. See you in Austin in March 2015