5 Trends To Watch In 2025
In this portion of the conversation, we will take a look at trends in video production that will have a great impact on your classroom. From advanced production techniques that are simple enough to be done in K-12 to how the industry’s sales goals will trickle down to your classroom, let’s take a look at the 5 trends to watch in 2025.
Easy To Use AR/VR/XR Applications
Last year, I was invited to Austin Texas to the US headquarters of Brainstorm as a part of their sales training for their products. We had a project pending with their top of the line, Infinity Set, but I walked away with something that I knew was perfect for education, Edison.
Long story short, these products are augmented and/or virtual reality tools that allow you to do set extensions, complex virtual sets and much more. Of the two, I felt Edison was perfect for the classroom because of how easy it is to use. The virtual sets were was really excited me because it meant that a large studio with tons of lights were no longer needed to do some really exciting things.
I believe we are going to see many more AR/VR/XR in 2025 that will work in the classroom. These tools will be most likely in app form to start but will move to larger set ups.
Prosumer Tools That Work In EDU
As video production has become more mainstream, the products needed to produce those products have done the same. The idea of grandparents creating viral content is no longer a strange idea… To that end, companies are working harder to create tools that are most easily used by the masses.
This means higher grade cameras at lower prices. Blackmagic Design started the trend many years ago and continued this year with the lowering of the price for their Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to sub-$1,000.
The podcast boom has driven Mackie and the like to make several of their products simpler to use and more cost effective. For example, the Mackie DLZ series mixers have an auto mix mode that once basic gain settings are done, the board will mix the audio accordingly. (I debate on if this is good or bad but that’s a conversation for another day.
Keep an eye out around February for NAB announcements to come out about the new products being released in Vegas this year and see if I’m right…
More Social Media Tools
Everything has a social media integration of some sort. That is going to continue but become easier. If your program doesn’t have a program specific social media presence, it’s time to start that fight! As mobile content creation continues to grow, the drive to be the first to get content out is going to speed up even more. Not only are people/programs going to want to push out more content but they are going to want to push it out to more places faster. This is going to become more common in all apps!
I will do something specific to program social media content later but know that integrating that into all aspects of your program is going to be essential to grow your program as you are selling kids and their parents on why they need to take your classes.
Content Specific Templates
Have you been on CapCut lately? Really any of the apps…. It’s harder to create custom content. But it is really easy to drop footage and photos into a template and hit export. The graphics, effects, and audio are all ready to go.
While this is great for your program’s social media, it’s not that great for you as a teacher. The students expect all video products to be that simple and if you have edited for more than a week, you know that isn’t the truth. This is going to be a challenge you are going to have to overcome for many years to come. The key is to get the students interested in how those templates are created so they can make their own. Sell the students on the idea of “mailbox money” and the internal pride of know that hundreds if not thousands of people are using their template.
As the technology needed to produce decent looking content gets easier, your job is going to get more difficult.
More/Better “Mobile” Camera Options
This is something that I am actually really excited about… maybe it’s because I don’t have to deal with students and their phones but I am truly excited about the camera options and related tools that are hitting the market at super inexpensive prices.
I mentioned in the first part of this series that I bought some gear off Temu recently. I was just looking at the tripod that I bought and thought about how for $4 I got not only a 64 inch stand with an optional phone mount but also it has a big fat handle so I can do handheld stuff and a bluetooth button to activate the camera on my phone without having to go to the camera itself. Pairing that with the camera app on my Apple watch which I use as a monitor, I have a full production toolset for less than a cheeseburger!
This is going to continue and truthfully, I expect to see more known brands attack this model and push to sell quantity over quality. I have heard time and time again in the last year, "It's only $xxx so if it breaks, I can just buy another one.” In the classroom setting, finding a moderately ok piece of gear that holds up to the rigors of working with students at a decent price means you can leverage your student’s current technology to help make your classroom a more productive space.
(Disclaimer: I don’t know your school’s specific rules for mobile device use but I know that if you point to your state’s standards which should all have a line or two about mobile production and you get the right admin to back you, you can probably have the rules bent for your classroom if mobile devices are banned in your classrooms.)
The trends of 2025 are mixed - some good, some bad. Overall though, I think the need for video production programs is continuing to be realized by more and more schools and will continue to grow in 2025.
Meet the Author, Tom White
Tom White is the Education and House of Worship Specialist at Amitrace. Tom's role is to help educators build better programs through better training, planning, and equipment.
Before joining Amitrace, Tom was the Broadcast Engineer at Grady College of Journalism and Communication at the University of Georgia. Prior to that role, Tom taught at Morgan County High School and Rockdale Career Academy where he and his student produced thousands of live streams for sports, news, and community events.
Tom’s program at the Rockdale Career Academy received the NFHS Network Program Of The Year in 2016 and his program at Morgan County High School received the New Program of the Year title in 2018. Tom has been a long time contributor to many publications and is the host of Teaching to The Test Pattern Podcast.
A new year is often seen as a time to start new things - diets, workout plans, etc. I think sometimes it’s just as important to stop doing things. Especially if they are negatively impacting you or your classroom. Here are the top 5 things I believe you should stop doing in 2025 to keep your sanity, engage more students, and grow your program.