NEAR-TERM TECHNOLOGIES
(ONE YEAR OR LESS)
Mobile devices: Access to the curriculum, anywhere and anytime
Mobile devices already give students the ability to study where and when they want. As Android tablet devices begin to battle Apple’s iPad for the mobile computing market, more educational programs will be developed and refined – such as electronic book readers, annotation tools and applications for creation and composition – further increasing students anytime / anywhere access to the curriculum.
Cloud computing: Much more than a silver lining
Cloud computing has been around for a while, but education is only just beginning to feel the benefits. According to the report, cloud computing gives schools and universities quick and easy access to ready-made teaching and learning applications directly over the internet – vastly increasing the variety of digital tools available in education.
MID-TERM TECHNOLOGIES
(TWO - THREE YEARS)
Game-based learning: Catching up with the high street
Game-based learning has made great strides in secondary education, but it still suffers from a scarcity of decent educational games. Educational developers are struggling to keep up with the technology used in consumer games, but as more schools look to incorporate games in the classroom, the educational developers will begin to catch up.
Open digital content: Making teaching resources free for all
Open textbooks offer numerous benefits, including reduced costs and quick adaption to new information. (One example is Free High School Science Texts, written by volunteer experts for disadvantaged schools in South Africa). As the books and exercises are offered online, educators will soon be able to pick and choose from new content on an almost daily basis.
LONG-TERM TECHNOLOGIES
(FOUR–FIVE YEARS)
Learning analytics: Data crunching for the classroom
Learning analytics may sound boring, but the power to monitor and respond to students’ academic performance offers great advantages to educators and learners. Until now, learning analytics has focused on identifying at-risk students who can then be coached to avoid dropping out of a course. But the technology has the potential to help educators determine the most effective pedagogical approaches for specific learning styles and differentiate instruction to suit individual needs.
Personal learning environments: Giving students control
Often delivered through learning platforms, personal learning environments (PLEs) give students control over the pace, style and direction of how they learn. Students using PLEs will be able to develop their own ‘resource libraries’, incorporating materials that suit their learning style.
Further research
Recent research conducted by the National Education Research Panel (NERP) on behalf of the British Educational Supplier’s Association (BESA) backs up findings from the Horizon Report. BESA’s report, Impact of New Technologies in English Maintained Schools, provides insight into the level of use of a variety of new hardware and software technologies now, as well as the anticipated use by 2012.
The report found that 86 per cent of primary and more than two-thirds of secondary schools make use of free online content currently, with use expected to increase significantly by 2012. BESA’s report also noted that “it is likely that there will be significant differences between those emerging technologies that enhance and replace technology (e.g. tablets replacing netbooks) and those technologies that are a new way to teach and learn but that do not necessarily replace existing technology (e.g. learning platforms).” In addition, the report states that new technologies that replace solutions with a cost-effective alternative, such as cloud computing, are likely to do well, while technologies that enhance but do so at a higher cost, such as large LCD displays replacing interactive whiteboards, are more likely to struggle to compete.
Whether we all agree with the findings of the Horizon Report, one thing is clear; all the technologies have the potential to change the way educators, students and institutions work, often without increasing costs – and some of them will be here sooner than we may think.
What is the Horizon Report?
Released by the New Media Consortium in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking, the Horizon Report investigates technologies that will have a major impact on education in the foreseeable future. You can find the full report at www.nmc.org.
