The New Media Consortium, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), have once again released their annual Horizon Report > 2013 K-12 Education Edition.
Six emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, as well as key trends and challenges expected to continue over the same period, giving educators, school administrators, and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning.
The NMC Horizon Report > 2013 K-12 Edition recognizes cloud computing and mobile learning as technologies expected to enter mainstream use in the first horizon of one year or less. Learning analytics and open content are seen in the second horizon of two to three years; and 3D printing and virtual and remote laboratories emerged in the third horizon of four to five years.
I was privileged to be on the Advisory Board for the publication. It was a very interesting experience suggesting different emerging technologies, trends and challenges, in a group space and then voting the top ones in. While it is always a challenge to include the opinions of someone who is working in, say, the New York school district, with that of someone running a project in Nigeria, overall, I fully support the six key emerging technologies in 2013. The time for mobile learning, whether in Singapore or in Abuja, has come. Also of interest is open content, which after many years of pushing by the growing OER movement, has also finally come into the popular limelight and will only grow further in the future.
Steven Vosloo 