Hardware

Wearables Market Expected to Double in Next 4 Years

Those in education could reap the benefit of updates to wearable devices.

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Meghan is an associate editor with EdTech. She enjoys coffee, cats and science fiction TV.

In the education sector, wearables have some big potential for both K–12 and higher education. Recent data shows that even more wearable devices could be coming to the classroom and campus.

In the latest prediction data from IDC, the wearables market will increase 20.4 percent this year and nearly double by 2021.

Campus Technology reports that 240.1 million wearables are predicted to be shipped in 2021, with watches leading the charge.

"Since the market's inception, it's been a matter of getting product out there to generate awareness and interest," says Ramon Llamas, IDC's wearables research manager. "Now it's about getting the experience right — from the way the hardware looks and feels to how the software collects, analyzes and presents insightful data."

Llamas says that digital assistants and a diversity of affordable devices will see a rise in the next few years.