With the ever-changing landscape of the Australian EdTech Sector, we thought we’d kick-start the year by bringing together some thoughts from sector leaders to share how they think 2024 could play out for Australian EdTechs.

2023 can be best thought of as a post-COVID pause.  We saw huge demand from education providers, but a slower procurement process as they considered the efficacy of the products they adopted during the pandemic.

Everyone saw the challenge of online learning, and what good and bad experience looks like. Teaching models weren’t quite ready for a fully online model, which meant education providers were rethinking their digital offerings.

Education providers evaluated the tools they’d deployed in a hurry during the pandemic, with the view of streamlining the technology stack to quality products and services that addressed their

Specifically, in Australia, we saw the B2C EdTech sector grow driven by demand from parents to support their child’s learning outside the formal school setting.

With this in mind, 2024 shapes to feature some core EdTech fundamentals such as AI, digital credentials product efficacy, and a continuation of how EdTechs and education providers can strengthen their existing partnerships.

Before we dive in, allow us to introduce the following leaders who shared what they think EdTech may look like in 2024.

What do you think will be an emerging trend in 2024 for the Australian EdTech sector?

Ray: “AI everywhere”. Even though we’re still learning about the full capabilities of what AI is good for (and what it’s not) educators are realising the transformational potential to either save time, improve their outputs, or transform learning.

Jack: AI that educates, but doesn’t provide answers.

Nicholas: Allowing students an all-inclusive digital record of their skills and achievements in a learner profile that can be shared with future employers and further education providers – AKA a ‘Skills Wallet’. The wallet will be a prominent trend in the EdTech sector for 2024, driven by increasing interest from both federal and state governments in exploring its applications. It will offer learners a digital repository to collect, manage and share their qualifications in the form of digital, verifiable credentials. 

Gloria: A better understanding of accessibility and social inclusion needs and wants.

Cherie: There are several emerging trends for the Australian EdTech sector to keep in mind this year: 

1. Increased pressure to measure and demonstrate the efficacy of an EdTechs solution; 
2. The value proposition of the product/service and where it sits and integrates within the EdTech ecosystem;
3. Evidence and capability of strategic partnerships that optimise usage and innovation. In addition to the above, we are also likely to see larger technology companies refine their offering to the education sector as part of an industry vertical strategy.

David Eedle: AI, without a doubt, but counterbalanced with the huge shortage of teachers that’s been making headlines recently. The education sector is going to be wrestling with this teacher shortage crisis right across the year because it’s not something that falls into the quick-fix category. There is also a concern that AI could be used to plug staffing resource gaps, which can work to a certain extent but, yes, it’s not a quick fix. Security and privacy concerns, which will only increase with the emergence of AI, are also a trend that I think we’ll see being talked about a lot.

David Linke: We won’t see new things on the EdTech agenda across 2024, but most likely a reinforcement and amplification of trends from the past few years.

I think about EdTech from multiple views – the EdTech entrepreneur and the education executive.

The key trends out of education institutions I think will be top of mind include – consolidation of the technology stack used across the school or university space. The pandemic saw EdTech products adopted with haste, which has resulted in a ballooning in the number of EdTech products. I think education institutions will consolidate the tools, remove lots of duplication and consider a strategic EdTech roadmap.

A key to the education provider’s Strategic EdTech Roadmap will be evidence. EdTech products will need to show a track record of delivering positive impacts – efficacy. Institutions will place an ever increasing requirement for EdTech products to show efficacy on the users – which can be learners, educators or institutions.

Shifting to the EdTech leader’s view, I think smart EdTech leaders will see the need to measure the impact of their products, obtain independent verification of that impact and ensure their sales materials align with that narrative.

I have a unique seat in Australian EdTech, I get to speak with all the actors in the sector and pull together bits and pieces from them all. 2024 will see a lot of investment activity across the Australian sector. We’ll see venture capital increase over the coming year because there are lots of VCs with capital to deploy as they’ve invested less over the past few years – so that capital will get deployed.

Most interestingly, VCs are looking to exit investments, which most likely will involve private equity (PE) firms. I am seeing lots of PE activity from offshore players, those very large firms from the US and UK are active in the Australian market right now. I am convinced we will see a significant, if not record level, deal in the K12 EdTech sector in the coming 12 months – lots of activity and transactions are more likely to happen than not.

To end the investment piece, I see many EdTech founders looking for exits. They’ve done the hard work of building their companies, navigated the pandemic and now looking for an exit. Unfortunately, many of these assets are small and potentially sub-investment grade, which might need a different sales model from a traditional trade sale. 

What is your company and customers’ main priority/focus in 2024?

Ray: For InnovateGPT it’s keeping up with change – in the system, in students’ and parents’ expectations, and technology capability.

Jack: Studiosity’s focus will be on leading the sector in the use of Large Language models (LLMs) to deliver educational outcomes to students and institutions.

Nicholas: At Learning Vault we see in the realm of today’s workforce, skills gaps continue to increase. Skills and knowledge deficiencies are not just theoretical concepts, but concrete factors that impact academic and professional achievements. There’s a great need for more agency for learners, educators, and employers to bridge these gaps.

Gloria: At OceanBrowser it’s about understanding in more depth who our customers are and how we can better serve their needs and wants in online asynchronous distance education.

Cherie: We have a few at Western Sydney University which are:

• Creating seamless learning experiences.  
• Strengthening existing EdTech partnerships and ensuring that the technology is being utilised to its fullest potential. 
• Piloting and embedding Gen AI via a structured program of works.  
• Simplifying systems and processes to reduce administrative load and take advantage of tech advancements.  
• Measuring the efficacy of our EdTech solutions and offerings.

David Eedle: EdSmart will be focusing on supporting an under-resourced education system by finding ways to improve efficiency and productivity. That’s at the core of everything EdSmart does. We feel we’re part of the solution in tackling the teacher crisis, specifically in the admin area, so we’re working full-speed ahead to roll out technology to even more schools to address this issue. For example, we’re currently deploying a single digital messaging platform across all schools, libraries and state offices of the Tasmanian Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP), which will see a huge uptake in the usage of EdSmart. This is our second major government contract in Australia, and we’re keen to do more of these contracts and consequently help more schools increase their efficiencies.

David Linke: As the EdTech Industry Hub, EduGrowth will continue with our high-quality engagement program to support EdTech companies grow with services when they need them. 

2024 will see us build out the EdTech Innovation Network model with our partners at Western Sydney University (WSU). We will connect innovative EdTech leaders, to world-class researchers and authentic test-beds to build product market fit and evidence records. Over the coming 12 months we’ll add new partners to the network and launch competitive bid processes to test EdTech products in structure proof of concept and pilot programs. 

We have launched a new program to accelerate the advocacy for the Australian EdTech sector – the EdTech Policy Dialogue. We are working with 11 Australian EdTech companies to articulate a national agenda for Australian EdTech companies. We’ll take that agenda to a series of meetings with parliamentarians in Canberra from across the political spectrum. Later in the year, we’ll launch a Friends of EdTech parliamentary group and a series of working groups to ensure that Australian EdTech companies are part of the national narrative on the future of education in a digital world.

Are there any other EdTechs that you think are doing great things in the sector that we should keep an eye on? 

Ray: AI for Education which doesn’t yet have an Australian equivalent.

Nicholas: Year 13 is doing great things across the space, including their product vertical Careers Pass, which is also a skills wallet solution, offering learners a pathway to further education and employment.

Gloria: The Milken-Penn Winner 2023 Unlocked Labs, and also the partnership between Stylefit and Byted in New Zealand.

David Eedle: Wonde is quietly changing the world behind-the-scenes for companies like EdSmart. They’re creating the integration we need to access data from an increasing number of SMS technologies on the market, which then gives us the opportunity to offer EdSmart to more schools, which helps more schools tackle their workload concerns. So, you can see how Wonde is a powerful tool for us, but many educators wouldn’t even realise it exists.

David Linke: EduGrowth tracks 700+ Australian EdTech companies. So I couldn’t possibly pick a winner out of that group. 

Overall the sector is doing amazingly 

• 700 EdTech companies
• 18,000 employees
• $3.5B revenue
• 17% compounding annual growth rate

Which education provider in your view is leading in the digitisation of education using technology?

Ray: I believe the disruptors such as Duolingo, they are going to have an impact on the education system in 2024.

Nicholas: The Hunter School of Performing Arts are currently embracing a skills wallet solution co-created by Edalex and Learning Vault. Their skills wallet, called the Learner Dashboard, offers a credentialed progression towards mastery, provides real-time feedback, reduces administrative reporting and sets a pathway to employment for their students.

Gloria: In Australia, I could think of the University of Sydney’s Business School, Deakin University, and the University of Melbourne. In New Zealand, I could think of the Open Polytechnic. 

Cherie: I may be biased but I can’t go past the incredible work the team at Western Sydney University is doing 🙂 

What impact do you think AI will have on Australian education in 2024?

Ray: Although I expect the impact to be huge, I also believe Australia will trail other countries in adoption because we’re naturally more conservative in the adoption of unproven technology.

Jack: AI will have a more limited impact than it could, simply because of the inherent challenges universities face in agreeing to and implementing change.

Nicholas: The global workforce is on a transformative journey toward a skills-based economy, representing a monumental shift in how people learn and work. We believe that, with thoughtful implementation and regulation of machine learning, we can bridge the gap between education and employment. Digital credentials are a perfect example of how machine-learning is set to revolutionise workforce planning. 

Gloria: The impact will continue increasing as we find many ways to incorporate it into teaching and learning in a matter that makes sense to Higher Education.

Cherie: AI will have a significant impact on Australian education in 2024. With a preference for focusing on where AI (particularly Generative AI) can benefit education, 2024 will see progress being made on principles and policies for AI being developed and/or applied, greater access to use cases and exemplars of AI use in practice, and the roll out of more features that have been developed specifically for the education sector.

Challenges for the EdTech sector to consider when engaging with education providers or learners include the value proposition of their product/service in an emerging market, budgetary considerations, interoperability within the technology ecosystem, and the varying degrees of digital skills fluency and capability of students and staff (academic and professional).

David Eedle: It will be haphazard. At the moment, AI is banned in some states and some schools but embraced wholeheartedly by others. It’s The Wild West! A balance needs to be found between regulation and innovation and to prevent the former from stifling the latter. Some of the opportunities are amazing – schools using AI to draft school reports in minutes, for example, freeing up hours from already overloaded teachers.

David Linke: There is no doubt that Generative AI (Gen AI) will consume a large part of the narrative over the next few years. I think the biggest immediate impact will be in assessment – both good and bad impact.

If adopted well, then Gen AI will provide great insights into student performance, areas for improvement and support educators to have the greatest positive impact on learner outcomes.

If implemented poorly, then Gen AI will reinforce biases in the assessment models, overwhelm with data and lack any significant insights for the educators to action.

But, and there is a big but, I am not clear on how Gen AI will create a competitive advantage for EdTech companies, or the education institutions that adopt the tools. If everyone has Gen AI tools, then how do you differentiate and how do you pay for these services? I have more questions than possible answers on Gen AI in education over the coming few years. 

In summary, the outlook for the Australian EdTech sector in 2024 is characterised by a collective embrace of AI but due to the nature of some education providers accepting change, its enhancements may be limited. The ongoing digitisation of education will see digital credentials becoming more prominent and the partnership between EdTechs and education providers will continue to ensure that the technology is being utilised to its fullest potential.

We’d like to thank all EdTech leaders who participated in this initiative – we’ll revisit this at the end of the year to see what 2024 actually delivered to the Australian EdTech sector – stay tuned!!