For the past 10 years, the New Media Consortium has released an annual Horizon Report, evaluating current trends in technology, and forecasting newer technologies' importance and uptake in education over a multi-year horizon. We will review previous Horizon Reports' predictions with a focus on the 2014 Horizon Report Higher Ed Edition's findings and forecasts. Particular emphasis will be placed on challenges in the educational technology realm, including faculty training and readiness, innovation scalability, and the ultimate question - when should new technologies be used? Are we jumping on the bandwagon? When should we jump off? http://stream.lib.utah.edu/index.php?c=details&id=10298
25. Google Docs: It Depends
Before Oct 2006: Writely (8/05) / Docs (8/06)
Before Oct 2006: Google Spreadsheets (6/06)
After Oct 2006: Google Docs presentations (9/07)
After Oct 2006: Google Docs released from beta (7/09)
42. Horizon Report
• Outlines timelines for adoption of technology
– 20% of educational institutions adopt
– 3 time horizons:
• 1 year
• 2-3 years
• 4-5 years
• Started in 2004, updated annually
• Team uses apps, iTunes U, wiki, RSS feeds
43. Learning Objects
Scalable Vector
Graphics
Extended Learning
Ubiquitous Wireless
Rapid Prototyping
Multimodal Interfaces
Social Computing
Personal Broadcasting
Intelligent Search
Educational Gaming
User-Created Content
Social Networking
Knowledge Webs
Phones in their Pockets
Educational Gaming
Grassroots Video
Collaboration Webs
Context-Aware Computing
Social Networks/Knowledge Webs
Context-Aware Computing/Augmented Reality
Mobile Phones
Virtual Worlds
Cloud Computing
Augmented Reality and
Enhanced Visualization
Context-Aware Environments
and Devices
Mobile Broadband
Data Mashups
Mobile Computing
Open Content
eBooks
Geo Everything
Personal Web
Mobiles
New Scholarship/Emerging Forms of Publication
Massively Multiplayer Educational Gaming
Collective Intelligence
Social Operating Systems
eBooks
Simple Augmented Reality
Mobile Apps
Tablet Computing
Semantic-Aware Applications
Smart Objects
Augmented Reality
Game-Based Learning
Massive Open Online
Courses
Tablet Computing
46. Learning Objects
Scalable Vector
Graphics
Extended Learning
Ubiquitous Wireless
Social Computing
Personal Broadcasting
User-Created Content
Social Networking
Grassroots Video
Collaboration Webs
Mobile Phones
Cloud Computing
Mobile Computing
Open Content
eBooks
Mobiles
Mobile Apps
Tablet Computing
Massive Open Online
Courses
Tablet Computing
47. Predicted to Happen This Year
• Gesture-Based Computing (also 2016, 2017)
• Visual Data Analysis
• Game-Based Learning (also 2016, 2017)
• Learning Analytics (also 2016)
• Flipped Classroom (also 2016)
49. Key Trends
• Ubiquitous Social Media
• Integration of Online, Hybrid, Collaborative
Learning
• Data-Driven Learning/Assessment
• Students as Creators
• Agile Change
• Online Learning Evolution
50. Key Technologies
• Flipped Classroom
• Learning Analytics
• 3D Printing
• Games and Gamification
• Quantified Self
• Virtual Assistants
51. Key Challenges
• Low Digital Fluency of Faculty
• Relative Lack of Rewards for Teaching
• Competition from New Models of Education
• Scaling Teaching Innovations
• Expanding Access
• Keeping Education Relevant
54. Key Technologies
• Flipped Classroom
• Learning Analytics
• 3D Printing
• Games and Gamification
• Quantified Self
• Virtual Assistants
55. Learning Objects
Scalable Vector
Graphics
Extended Learning
Ubiquitous Wireless
Rapid Prototyping
Multimodal Interfaces
Social Computing
Personal Broadcasting
Intelligent Search
Educational Gaming
User-Created Content
Social Networking
Knowledge Webs
Phones in their Pockets
Educational Gaming
Grassroots Video
Collaboration Webs
Context-Aware Computing
Social Networks/Knowledge Webs
Context-Aware Computing/Augmented Reality
Mobile Phones
Virtual Worlds
Cloud Computing
Augmented Reality and
Enhanced Visualization
Context-Aware Environments
and Devices
Mobile Broadband
Data Mashups
Mobile Computing
Open Content
eBooks
Geo Everything
Personal Web
Mobiles
New Scholarship/Emerging Forms of Publication
Massively Multiplayer Educational Gaming
Collective Intelligence
Social Operating Systems
eBooks
Simple Augmented Reality
Mobile Apps
Tablet Computing
Semantic-Aware Applications
Smart Objects
Augmented Reality
Game-Based Learning
Massive Open Online
Courses
Tablet Computing
But, hey, it was in Hawaii; ended up being a watershed moment for me in a few ways
Does anyone recognize what this is?
Earthquake one morning of the conference, took out power in Oahu for over 12 hours. Nothing quite as surreal as walking around Waikiki with absolutely no lights anywhere.
Watershed moment here: never travel without cash and food
We knew the project was a total failure by this time. Though we had a couple of ideas to sustain it so as to regain some of our lost time developing, promoting, and teaching this tool, the writing was on the wall. It was too hard to use for the purposes originally wanted. Students didn’t see a need, nor did the faculty or administration. Wanted a user-friendly experience with student part-time developers. It was a good lesson in letting go, yet learning from failure.
Those lessons were great, but the thing I remember most, maybe even more than driving around the island looking for someplace with a generator so we could get food, were the cell phones.
Because the conference was in Hawaii, there was a large contingent of Japanese educators. Their cell phone technology was way ahead of ours at that point—or at least ahead of mine. I may have owned a pay as you go track phone. I went to one presentation where a group of educators had their students using their cell phones as audience response systems to increase class engagement. It kind of blew my mind.
But what blew my mind even more was seeing, for the first time, someone take a photo of a speaker’s powerpoint presentation. I think we can all agree that’s pretty old hat by this point, but the first time I saw it at the E-Learn conference, I was completely stunned. What a brilliant idea. Now I document everything with my smartphone: receipts, slides, notes, whiteboard scratchings, drawings, you name it.
So what does this have to do with the Horizon report? The Horizon report, which I will discuss in more detail in a few minutes, is all about technology trends. Trends that take a long time to materialize and trends that seem to come out of nowhere and yet completely change our educational landscape.
Let’s play a little game
So why discuss those dates? The Horizon Report is all about time.
Look at consumer-oriented technology as well as educational technology specifically.
Look at hardware, infrastructure, software, and web-based technology – all forms of emerging technology
Report on 6 technologies that have implications for education, even if not already in practice or intuitive
Beginning in 2005, the executive summary also included key trends in technology that set the context for the items in the report
In 2006, the Critical Challenges section was also added to the Executive Summary to specifically discuss barriers for why these might not be adopted
It wasn’t until 2014’s report that the Key Trends and Critical Challenges got as much print as the Technologies to Watch
This one feels a little like wishful thinking to me. We’ll see it make an appearance again after 2014.
Weren’t sure when it was coming or how they related or didn’t relate to each other, but they knew it was important.
These are all ones that were predicted to happen within one year.
Which key technologies will be most important to teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in the next 5 years?
which ones should all educational institutions be using broadly
which technologies from consumer, entertainment, or industry should educational institutions look for ways to apply?
what technologies are developing to the point where we should take notice?
Emphasize a few categories of technology: consumer technologies, digital strategies, internet technologies, learning technologies, social media technologies, visualization technologies, and enabling technologies
Ask for what digital fluency is
Learn from students – partner with them
Work with librarians to learn, build confidence
Boot camps
Faculty professional development communities, digital and/or in person
Institutional support
Ask for ideas
One of the reasons I think low digital fluency exists is that people don’t know when to jump on the bandwagon (or off the bandwagon), because technology changes so quickly.
It’s a fair question. How do you know whether to invest time in learning about these technologies? When are you just jumping on the bandwagon for the sake of following a trend?
Let’s go back to the key technologies that the 2014 Horizon Report predicts are coming our way. I think we may need a reminder that not all of these technologies are going to be applicable to all fields of study all of the time. 3D printing might not be applicable for all English majors, but it might be very relevant for medicine, architecture, design, and engineering. I suspect that a few English majors could even find a good use. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all faculty need to learn CAD software.
Taking a look back at the Horizon Reports’ predictions for past years makes it clear that education is not the driving force behind most or even many of the technologies or technology strategies. The commercial, entertainment, and industrial or military uses of some of these technologies are what drive their wide adoption. If educational institutions aren’t flexible enough to recognize their potential and plan for the technology trends of the future, however, students simply won’t see the relevance of their education to their lives.
Some of the key predictions of the Horizon Report have come to pass in ways that back in 2004 or 2005, maybe we wouldn’t have imagined the impact they would have on us. The predictions for 2006 in particular, which I realize are faint and miniature on this slide, are integral to the way we do business on this campus. They were ubiquitous wireless and extended learning, which was their term for blended learning, or having components of courses online. I am pretty sure that a couple of you in this room are benefitting from the ubiquitous wireless right now.
Mobile computing, mobile broadband, and mobile apps have completely changed the way that most of us, and our students, interact with the world. Our phones and tablets serve a huge role in our lives. I am not sure I remember what I did before I could search Google right from my phone. I think I must have just not looked up answers or saved all my questions for times when I had a computer.
As educators, we can’t ignore the technological reality that surrounds us and our students. My 3 year old is perfectly adept at swiping through the photos on my phone and doesn’t quite understand why or how you would talk to someone on a phone without video.
That means that if we try to stay current with technology, and even more so if we try to innovate with technology, we’re bound to sometimes fail. Maybe it’s even more likely that we’ll fail if we innovate.
My foray into social networking for medical students that was the subject of that 2006 presentation was a failure on many levels. It was too soon in some respects, but it was too old in others. The technology we used, LiveJournal, was too unfriendly to have anyone who wasn’t dedicated use it. Social networking, which the students who were lucky enough to go to schools with Facebook access, was certainly already at play, even though it wasn’t really mentioned in the Horizon Report until 2007.
The idea didn’t die, though. By 2009, less than 3 years after Facebook opened to the public, Mayo Medical School was using it as a replacement for new student orientation. They bragged about it on YouTube.
For most of us, teaching itself is an experiment. We continually try to adapt our teaching methods to achieve the learning outcomes we want our students to achieve. Using technology where it meets and helps achieve those learning outcomes can only help, even if sometimes we fail.
Sometimes you might be ahead of the bandwagon, sometimes you might be behind it, and sometimes you might even feel the need to jump right on, but I encourage you pay attention to the technological trends in our society and use them to enhance your teaching, learning, and creative inquiry.
And I also encourage you to carry some cash when you travel.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/athrasher/2823255013/