The NMC Horizon Report 2013 (Higher Education Edition) Report is out and there is lot of information that can help education leaders, trustees, policy makers, and others easily understand the impact of key emerging technologies on education. Full Report
The NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition is a collaboration between the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, an EDUCAUSE Program.
Key points (Summary) from the Report are mentioned below:
The six technologies featured in the NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition are placed along three adoption horizons that indicate likely timeframes for their entrance into mainstream use for teaching, learning, and creative inquiry. The near-term horizon assumes the likelihood of entry into the mainstream for higher education institutions within the next 12 months; the mid-term horizon, within two to three years; and the far-term, within four to five years.
Near-Term:
Within the next 12 months massively open online courses (MOOCs) and tablet computing will see widespread adoption in higher education.
- Massively open online courses have received their fair share of hype in 2012, and are expected to grow in number and influence within the next year. Big name providers including Coursera, edX, and Udacity count hundreds of thousands of enrolled students, totals that when added together illustrate their popularity. One of the most appealing promises of MOOCs is that they offer the possibility for continued, advanced learning at zero cost, allowing students, life-long learners, and professionals to acquire new skills and improve their knowledge and employability.
- Tablet computing has carved its own niche in education as a portable and always-connected family of devices that can be used in almost any setting. Equipped with WiFi and cellular network connectivity, high-resolution screens, and with a wealth of mobile apps available, tablets are proving to be powerful tools for learning inside and outside of the classroom.
Mid-Term:
The second adoption horizon, two to three years out, is where we expect to see widespread adoptions of two technologies that are experiencing growing interest within higher education: games and gamification, and the further refinement of learning analytics.
- Games and gamification are two sides of the same approach. Educational games immerse the student in the game, where content and curricula are delivered or juxtaposed. Gamification aims to incorporate elements of games, such as levels and badges (but also via quests and other strategies) into non-game activities.
- Learning analytics is the field associated with deciphering trends and patterns from educational big data, or huge sets of student-related data, to further the advancement of a personalized, supportive system of higher education. Preliminary uses of student data were directed toward targeting at-risk learners in order to improve student retention.
Far-Term:
On the far-term horizon, set at four to five years away from widespread adoption, are 3D printing and wearable technology.
- 3D printing has become much more affordable and accessible in recent years in large part due to the efforts of MakerBot Industries. Founded in 2009, this company has promoted the idea of openness by offering products that can be built by anyone with minimal technical expertise. With MakerBot Replicators selling in the range of $1,500 to $3,000, it now only requires a small financial investment to own a 3D printer.
- Wearable technology will increase in impact as enabling technologies, such as augmented reality and thin film displays, gain traction in the consumer market. Bendable OLED displays can wrap around furniture and other curved surfaces, which makes it easy to imagine computing devices and accessories that meld with the human body. Perhaps the most anticipated wearable technology is Google’s “Project Glass,” augmented reality enabled glasses that operate via voice command, presenting the wearer with an information-laden view of their surroundings.
You can find the last year’s NMC report here: NMC Horizon Report 2013 (K-12 Edition).
