Word cloud from the 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition
Last week, I participated in a webcast from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) on Emerging Technology Trends in K-12. The webcast previewed the 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition, the second in a series of annual reports focused on emerging technology use in elementary and secondary education. Produced by the New Media Consortium in collaboration with CoSN, the report identifies six emerging technologies that likely will have an impact on K-12 education in the next one to five years.
Time to Adoption: One Year or Less
- Cloud Computing has transformed the way schools think about computing and communication, data storage and access, and collaborative work. Many cloud computing solutions are available today, and being deployed by a growing number of schools.
- Collaborative Environments give students tremendous opportunities to interact with peers and mentors, to experience other worldviews, and to model work patterns that characterize many real-world professions.
Time to Adoption: Two to Three Years
- Interest in Game-Based Learning has grown as research continues to demonstrate its instructional effectiveness. Games for education run the gamut from single-player or small-group board games, to those involving multiple online players and “alternate realities.”
- Mobile Devices represent an untapped resource for reaching students, providing a means to bridge the gap between learning that happens inside school and learning that happens elsewhere, as the boundary blurs between cellular networks and the Internet.
Time to Adoption: Four to Five Years
- Augmented Reality emerged from the convergence of three technologies – the Global Positioning System (GPS), online video, and pattern recognition. Combined with mobile technology, Augmented Reality becomes a portable tool for discovery-based learning.
- Flexible Displays and touch-based interfaces are converging in interesting ways. Though applications for schools are still several years away, integrated interactive displays will become part of many common electronic devices in the not-so-distant future.
For more information, view this related education trade coverage:
Converge: 2010 Horizon Report for K-12 Released
Education Week: What’s on the Horizon for Ed-Tech in K-12?
eSchool News: Six Technologies Soon to Affect Education
T.H.E. Journal: 6 Technologies That Will Shape Education