What do you like about your role?

It is a beautiful task to help edtech initiatives expand internationally and enhance education in as many corners worldwide as possible.

Share three predictions on the future of Edtech.

1. The melting of the legacy LMS iceberg. Traditional LMSs with a technolog first bias (vs learning theories first bias) and a simple content delivery as their core will have to either fully re-invent or extinct
2. Interoperability at the core. Considering the breath of solutions being released and the difficulty to escale being a jack of all trades, successful initiatives will have a strong component of interoperability and standards in mind. Standards like LTI, LIS, xAPI, QTI OneRoster, Caliper, etc. will continue to raise and play a more relevant role
3. Nano degrees and informal learning. Considering the rapid shifting needs in skills for the professional of the future and the competition for uninterrupted time, nano degrees and anywhere informal learning is going to escale up its relevance both in higher education and the L&D spaces.

What technologies do you believe have the potential to transform the education industry?

1. Natural language processing algorythms
2. True immersive video collaboration (project based learning)
3. Next generation simulations and gamified experiences

As we are celebrating out 5th anniversary of EdTechXEurope, we are looking at the key trends over the past 5 years in edtech. What would you say have been the key areas of change that are impacting edtech today? Anything unexpected that surprised you? Trends that were overhyped and never met their expected potential?

AREAS OF CHANGE

1. Adaptive learning and personalized learning solutions

SURPRISES and overhyped initiatives

1. OER. Open Educational resources. There has been a lot of hype around this and even though there are successful growth initiatives there has been limited disruption by what OERs can and should offer to the education vertical
2. Tin-can / xAPI. Its adoption has been much slower than originally predicted.

Why is it important for all players in the edtech ecosystem to continuously connect, network and learn from each other?

Unlike other industries there is limited consolidation of larger players or operators. It is not unusual for a mid-sized country or state to have 30k or 40k Schools. We all need to act as loudspeakers of the opportunities and risks in the industry so every school, university and learning department has the opportunity to continue innovating and adopting new methodologies and technologies.

When you think about joining EdTechXEurope this year, what are you looking forward to? What makes you excited about our event in London?

I am looking forward to hearing the diversity of perspectives from heterogeneous groups in the industry. It is the mix of providers, operators, investors, buyers and users that makes the event unique, enriching and a must attend for anyone networking in the edtech space.

Join Pablo and our 100+ thought leader speakers at EdTechXEurope 2017 on 20 - 21st June 2017 - reserve your place now >> 

Explore the agenda and see all of our confirmed 2017 EdTechXEurope speakers - go to agenda >>