A tes (Times Educational Supplement) article asked in March, “Is science ‘dying’ in our primary schools?”

The article cited concern among teachers that science is being “squeezed out” by English and maths. It quoted figures that underline the concern: Only 23 percent of year 6 pupils reached the expected standards in science in 2016. More than half of primary schools teach less than the recommended two hours of science a week.

A Westminster Report from earlier in the year stated that STEM industries across the UK were reporting “an alarming shortage of key skills” and said it is “essential” that school leavers be supplied with the qualifications – and the motivation – to choose STEM careers.

So presumably it will come as a relief to many education professionals that the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – are widely predicted to be one of the main areas of focus in 2018.

An Observer article on education trends in 2018 feels it will become an “all-hands-on-deck area of education”, given that the number of jobs in the sector has grown twice as quickly as roles in any other sector in the last decade.

A “Trends for the education sector” article on the Virtual College website talks about an “ongoing push to enhance the standard of technical education in British schools” as part of a strategy to better address the needs, not just of learners but also of employers. It also mentions an ambition to improve the uptake of the STEM subjects among girls and young women.

In point of fact, a great many of the conversations focus not so much on what schools are going to be teaching in 2018, as how.

The aforementioned Observer article calls 2018 the ‘year of digital disruption’ – a view that many experts share. The use of technology in the classroom is felt to be gathering speed, affecting teaching methods and management systems. Learning is set to become ever more interactive and immersive, relying on the rapid expansion of technologies such as VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality).

Although digital tools have already become well-established in classrooms across the UK – research by BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association) shows that children are more likely to bring a tablet to class than a pencil case (Edtechnology) – the technologies are expected to become increasingly geared toward a different teacher-student constellation. Interactive solutions allow teachers to “harness the power of group work” – the logical consequence of strong evidence that “socially shared cognition” improves a student’s ability to learn, and retain what has been learned.

“Flipped learning is here to stay”, says another Edtechnology blog – meaning students are increasingly encouraged to access materials outside the classroom or before lessons, so that they come prepared and take responsibility for their progress. Educators talk about the ‘ownership of learning’.

This not only encourages a more collaborative classroom; it also enables another trend that many professionals have identified, that of self-directed and distance learning. “Online courses have never been more popular”, says another Observer blog. And some articles point out that, properly managed, this trend can only broaden the access to education, particularly for students with long-term health problems or disabilities that prevent them from taking part in traditional schooling.

Many of the hopes and ambitions for the technologically enhanced classroom may seem a little distant still, a bit sci-fi – or, more mundanely, just too expensive for a lot of schools struggling just to equip the science labs.

But some of the trends that have been identified are already established to a degree – such as the move to bring more secondary schools into the BYOD (bring your own device) scheme. This is widely recognised as a win-win – managing to reduce costs for schools at the same time as it increases engagement.

Video communication is almost commonplace – “putting students into places and situations they wouldn’t otherwise experience” (edtechnology) and allowing lessons to be shared in real time with other schools and institutions.

And recent research by the National Literacy Trust showed a measurable impact of e-books, not just on reading skills but also on motivation among students.

A lot of the work in 2018 has to be about strengthening those developments which have already shown promise – and the prediction that falling costs will put these within the reach of more schools will hopefully prove to be one of the most accurate.