Bold Predictions for Edtech in 2026

The longest running prediction blog for Edtech continues! (Never mind that it might also be the ONLY prediction blog for Edtech…) Each year since 2012, I’ve put together a list of things I predict will happen in the coming year. The majority of these predictions revolve around the field of educational technology (aka “Edtech”) but I sometimes throw in a couple of fun zingers too just to keep people on their toes. Here’s a look back at the past few years if you want to take a gander at some near-misses and complete misses. Remember, the idea here is to be bold, and while some of these will likely never happen, some will…eventually.

Let’s not waste any more time talking about the past — it’s the future we care about! Here are my 2026 bold predictions:

Companies will place ads in AI Images

As I’d like at least one of my predictions to come true, I’m going to start with a bit of a lay-up here. While this hasn’t “officially” started happening yet, companies are using AI to create images and videos to garner likes and clicks. The next step will be including their products in AI outputs even if the end-user didn’t request it. For instance, I asked Copilot to create an image of a buffalo drinking a pumpkin spice latte and here were the results:

You’ll note that while I didn’t actually say “Starbucks”, the AI still gave it some product placement. My prediction, companies and marketers will see AI image and video generation as antoher opportunity to sell their product in not-so-subtle ways. It’s been happening in every other medium (radio, TV, film) why not AI?

Facebook begins to disappear

Speaking of product placement and ads…it’s becoming more and more evident that social media platforms exist not to connect us, but rather, have our algorithms sell us on what we need to buy. Add to that the fact that we live in such a dichotomus society where you are either right or wrong and you can see why interacting with Meta’s largest platform is becoming more and more difficult.

The final nail in the coffin for me are the new AI-generated stories that the platform now creates using your own likes and dislikes and you can see why it might be time to move on from Facebook. But, where will we all go? I’m still not sure. Many educators are jumping into more specialized platforms like K12Leaders or BlueSky while others are finding better interactions on LinkedIn. Still, the DM spam on LinkedIn can be pretty overwhelming. So much so that I recently asked “real people” that knew me to connect and fill up my inbox on there just so I wouldn’t be scrolling through cold calls. Here were the results:

While this gives me some hope, I do think AI will ultimately be the demise for social platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Textbook and LMS companies become absorbed by AI

Many of these companies are already making the shift to AI by including some chat bot components to their platforms. That said, I see in the future a new platform that will arise. One that isn’t built on clunky components from the 2oth century either. Textbook and LMS companies have made their hay on selling an overly inflated product that teachers and students use a small percentage of.

Going forward, they will start to sell their own AI chat bots instead. Students don’t need to flip through the pages of a virtual textbook to find the answer — just ask the AI chat bot the company provides for a nominal fee. Rather than searching the LMS for an assignment, the LMS chat bot provides a quick link to the materials or assignment with a simple query. Then it can coach the stuggling student through the assignment, making sure they are thinking critically while still covering the required standards. This revolution will take time, but this prediction (and the next one) could facilitate that change at a more rapid rate.

A “Teacher Operating System” will become a thing

Companies like MagicSchool, SchoolAI, and Brisk have all been dabbling in the “AI Teacher Assistant” space for the last couple of years. These platforms have become a godsend for the overworked and sometimes AI-reluctant teacher. However, they still represent “one more thing” that a teacher has to go to for materials and ideas. Once they have those AI-generated ideas they still have to curate them, adjust them and then push them out to the students via an LMS (see previous post). Of course, they might need to also consult any IEPs before sending out any content they create and then, after the lesson, figure out how they will gather evidence of learning. Sure, you can post an exit ticket for a reflection, but that means going to yet another platform.

I predict that some company (maybe one of those previously mentioned or something new) comes out to create the ultimate “Teacher Operating System” (are you listening Apple?). Think of it as the ultimate teacher dashboard. It connects content creation with lesson planning and pacing. It creates a space for student feedback and learning evidence. It gives tips on instructional delivery and provides accommodations. The TeacherOS will create these all-in-one “learning experiences” or LXs for short, with the push of an AI button. Did I mention this also includes parent communication and way to identify resources for teachers’ professional growth? Something like this could help with learning outcomes AND save time for teachers to have more face-to-face and human interactions.

Paying for human experiences becomes a premium expense

Speaking of human interactions….Now that AI-generated music and videos are here, I think the next big thing will be humans paying a premium for human-created content. That could mean paying a little extra to check out that band or artist that you’ve always wanted to see. I think this is already happening in the music industry. Have you been to a concert lately? The ticket prices seem to be going through the roof! But the more artificial media becomes mainstream, the more I think we’ll be willing to pay to have that authentic human experience.

And I don’t think this could be specific to entertainment. It could mean paying a subscription to watch ad-free authentic news that is collected, curated, and vetted by humans without the need to sell ads. No slant or political angles needed for clicks, just the real stories and context around those stories that we need to make our own decisions and judgments. In the words of the classic TV show Dragnet, “Just the facts ma’am. Just the facts.”

Earbuds with real-time translation help ESL students

Smart rings to track student engagement & mental health

As education evolves beyond measuring a student solely by their test scores (hopefully), we’ll need tools to track and understand how each individual student learns and grows. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, student engagement has been a struggle as well as student emotional and mental health. This is not just because of the pandemic, but due to a larger social issues and academic pressures. These reasons and other external pressures are the main reason why I published the book ZENgaged last fall.

With those concerns in mind, I predict schools will start to look at different ways to track student engagement and mental health. Enter into the chat…the Smart Ring. These have been around for the last several years as a way to primarily track physical health. But in the not too near feature, they will be able to track even more than just how many steps you took in a day. Assuming the price is reasonable and charging is no longer a problem (like this company showed at CES last week), there becomes tremendous potential in actually capturing how the whole child learns. Then, that student data could become a driving force in how we can improve the learning environment in our schools. I’d argue that this particular data is much more powerful than the results of some high-stakes test based on curriculum from the 1900s.

School security goes airborne

The business of school security has been booming in recent years (unfortunately). Schools are locking up student phones in pouches and buying “safety pods” to have inside each classroom. Here in Texas, a law was passed back in 2022 that allows teachers to carry guns on campus and last year the state purposed $430 million dollars on the subject of school safety. While there’s still some debate as to what can truly prevent school violence, I predict this is an area where AI and machine learning can help.

A few years ago, the folks over at Ring developed this “Always home” flying camera:

And while the idea never completely “took off”, there is some potential benefit for schools looking for 24/7 safety support. Think about, you’ve got a flying 4K camera that can capture an intruder, identify their face, and indicate whether or not they are carrying a weapon. If they are quiet enough, they wouldn’t be nearly as disruptive as the constant lock-down/active-shooter drills put their students through. My prediction, the drone security guard becomes the next big thing in school safety.

Adam Phyall and I write a book together

In past years, I’ve used this last prediction to “blackmail” myself into doing or creating something. This year, I’m going to put a little extra sauce on the prediction and lock in my buddy Dr. Adam Phyall (@askadam3).

Last fall, Adam and I got to share the stage as keynote speakers at the TETA conference and that talk, centered around the idea of “we can’t do this alone”, spawned a slew of ideas between the two of us. As we have already started to share some notes about what a book might look like, I don’t know that this final prediction is really that bold. However, given our current lives, to say we’ll actually write it, edit it, and publish it before the end of the year is much more bold than you might think. Stay tuned into our podcast for more….

And with that, this prediction post comes to an end. I’m now off to make a video version of this exact post as that is personal goal (not a prediction) of something I want to do more of in 2026.

What about you? What is something you predict or hope will happen in 2026? Post comments below or just send me a message on LinkedIn…as long as it’s not spam.