By Brian Shaw
In 2026, emerging technologies will shift from experimental to intentional. District leaders are navigating compressed timelines, staffing gaps, and heighted expectations for measurable instructional gains. Leaders want to know: Does this improve instruction? Does it integrate with our LMS, SIS, and standards frameworks? How quickly will teachers feel the gains?
This marks a shift toward practicality. EdTech must be grounded in everyday impact by making quality instruction easier and learning more meaningful. Technology should serve the mission of educators and address students’ needs. Tools that exist only to dazzle won’t last.
From AI Experimentation to Purpose-Driven Adoption
Use of AI among educators will become part of standard, everyday routines. It will be less of a novelty and more of a necessity. I consistently hear from educators that technology must enhance their work. They want tools to help them plan faster, cut down on repetitive work, and free up time to focus on the students in front of them, all while keeping decision-making in their hands. AI will amplify, not replace, the teacher. This mindset will favor AI that’s built responsibly and genuinely useful in the day-to-day.
Thoughtful implementation will ensure educators can use these emerging technologies in daily scenarios.
- Planning: AI will speed up lesson planning, helping teachers align learning objectives, resources, and assessments to standards and student needs.
- Instruction: It will support delivery by generating real-time, formative checks for understanding, creating multiple representations of a concept, and recommending targeted differentiation and resources.
- Content: Curation will get smarter, with AI identifying resources based on personalization. It’s crucial that AI platforms source content that’s safe, vetted, and aligned to standards.
- Personalization: AI will unlock data-rich insights, recommend leveled texts and scaffolded practice, and tier appropriate supports aligned to MTSS, enabling educators to tailor instruction with greater precision.
AI will become foundational in education if built and implemented responsibly. Understandably, many districts are taking a “wait and see approach” to adoption today. Safeguards are essential. Through this lens, responsible AI means transparent data practices, age-appropriate experiences, and district- or teacher-directed controls.
EdTech companies must also consider current levels of AI literacy among educators and students and provide the training needed to meet people where they are. In 2026, safety, trust, and AI literacy are non-negotiables to drive AI adoption that enables great teaching and learning.
Immersive Learning, Integrated
In the coming year, the way immersive experiences are woven into classroom life will evolve as educators focus on meaningful integration into scope and sequence. As any teacher will tell you, there’s very little time for standalone “engagement moments” that don’t align to goals and standards.
Yet, sustaining student attention remains a constant instructional need; when engagement is grounded in what the science of learning tells us about how curiosity, relevance, and cognitive interest, students develop deeper understanding. We know that today’s learners are craving personal relevance in their lessons. The confluence of these factors will bring a shift in how immersive learning is defined and used.
Experiences that stick are the ones that are easy to embed with a clear impact on student learning. Instead of occasional immersive games or field trips alone, imagine routine, standards-aligned experiences that help students apply knowledge through interactive learning experiences that bring relevance to daily learning across subjects:
- Social Studies: Primary-source explorations with spatial context, enabling students to “stand inside” a historical time or place and evaluate perspective and evidence.
- Science: Interactive simulations that mirror real-world constraints, letting students iterate on variables and see immediate, data-rich outcomes.
- Career Connections: Task-based scenarios that model workplaces, embedding future-ready skills like collaboration and communication.
- Cross-Curricular: Immersive experiences with clear learning objectives, formative assessments, and easy-to-use hardware will foster meaning-making and background-building to support math and literacy through all subjects.
Educators are eager to help students connect what they’re learning through applied experiences, early exposure to career pathways, and opportunities to build durable skills. The recent proliferation of Chromebooks and iPads that can be used for augmented reality and the increased affordability of virtual reality has reduced the barriers that have previously prevented adoption. For these reasons, they’ll increasingly experiment with immersive learning with intention.
New immersive learning norms will coalesce, varying by grade level and context. For younger students, it will focus on age-appropriate exploration and activities that build grade-level skills along with collaboration and curiosity. In middle and high school, it will connect in-depth classroom learning with real-world problem-solving and practice opportunities. This integration will help educators achieve rigor with relevance, engagement, and future readiness across grades and subjects.
The Promise of 2026
This year, the benefits of education technology will be judged by instructional excellence and student growth that teachers can feel in classrooms and see in data. The solutions that will have lasting impact will enhance great teaching, save educator time, and support districts’ most pressing strategic goals.
Intentionality will shape EdTech innovation and district decision-making in 2026. AI, immersive learning, and other emerging technologies will have a lasting place if they are purpose-built, work within district systems and teacher workflows, and promise real instructional lift. When innovation is grounded in clear goals and measured for impact, it expands educator capacity and helps every student to succeed.
About the author
Brian Shaw is the Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Education, where he oversees the creation and implementation of the company’s award-winning, state-of-the-art digital services.
Prior to his current role, Brian served as Discovery Education’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Brian joined Discovery Education from Red Ventures, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based, technology-enabled portfolio of digital companies, where he led numerous strategic finance initiatives and managed M&A transactions.
Prior to his tenure at Red Ventures, Brian held leadership roles in financial planning, analysis, and accounting at Time Warner Cable, following earlier experience within the assurance services practice at Ernst & Young.
Brian holds both a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and a Master of Science in Accountancy from Wake Forest University. Along with his wife, daughter, and son, he makes his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
