CoSN’s crystal ball: Get ready for mobile learning, cloud computing
Latest Horizon report profiles six technologies soon to affect education
By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor
Many of CoSN’s 2011 sessions focused on mobile learning and cloud computing.
In one of the highest attended sessions of the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference in New Orleans, the New Media Consortium (NMC), in collaboration with CoSN, on March 16 previewed their 2011 Horizon report for K-12 education, which predicts six technologies that will become prevalent in five years or less.
Chief technology officers, superintendents, and other education stakeholders, though struggling with the session’s early starting time, managed to rally for an early glimpse of this year’s Horizon report. Many were pleased, and not that surprised, to see that mobile learning and cloud computing have a “time-to-adoption horizon” of one year or less.
“Mobile learning is fast becoming a reality, and has really skyrocketed from last year’s report,” said Laurence Johnson, CEO of the NMC, “in large part because of how useful mobile tech is in emergency preparedness on campuses.”
Other technologies covered in the report include game-based learning, open content, and personalized learning environments.
The Horizon report, sponsored via a grant from Hewlett-Packard, is produced each fall using a process that is informed by both primary and secondary research. Nearly 100 technologies, as well as dozens of trends and challenges, are examined for possible inclusion in the report each year; an internationally renowned Advisory Board examines each topic in more detail, reducing the set until the final listing of technologies, trends, and challenges is selected.
The entire process takes place online and is fully documented at horizon.wiki.nmc.org.
The condensed preview of the 2011 report was produced specifically for CoSN’s conference. The full report, as well as CoSN’s accompanying toolkit, will be available May 17.
What to expect
With many of CoSN’s sessions focusing on mobile learning and cloud computing, it was no surprise for many attendees that cloud computing and mobile learning have a “time-to-adoption horizon” of one year or less.
2 Responses to CoSN’s crystal ball: Get ready for mobile learning, cloud computing
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rclegg
March 17, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Notice that out of all these big trends, game based learning is the only one that really deals with content. Everything else is just a delivery system.
How will we compete with China and India when they do it better, cheaper, and on a much larger scale? Not just jobs, INDUSTRIES, are going over seas. It won’t matter how fast, how convenient, or how efficient we teach if we are teaching the same old thing. Algebra sliced, diced, and efficiently re-ordered and customized is still algebra.
rclegg
March 17, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Notice that out of all these big trends, game based learning is the only one that really deals with content. Everything else is just a delivery system.
How will we compete with China and India when they do it better, cheaper, and on a much larger scale? Not just jobs, INDUSTRIES, are going over seas. It won’t matter how fast, how convenient, or how efficient we teach if we are teaching the same old thing. Algebra sliced, diced, and efficiently re-ordered and customized is still algebra.
Jon Yunker
March 29, 2011 at 12:45 am
Cloud computing innovations are going to be huge for small to medium sized school districts that lack IT infastructure and support. Teachers will benifit immensly from professional development opportunities that are offered on the cloud and from data management programs in the cloud like Metria Learning.
Jon Yunker
March 29, 2011 at 12:45 am
Cloud computing innovations are going to be huge for small to medium sized school districts that lack IT infastructure and support. Teachers will benifit immensly from professional development opportunities that are offered on the cloud and from data management programs in the cloud like Metria Learning.