Each year, I eagerly await the release of both of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Reports, the Higher Ed Report and the K12 Report. I enjoy seeing what new items are added to the list and which items move up or quickly accelerate upwards on the list. In years past, they have identified the move towards cloud computing and the shift towards mobile devices including tablets (iPads, Androids, etc.). As an educator and technology leader, I feel that it is important to not only focus on what we are doing today, but to keep mindful of change for the future.

In March, the Higher Ed Report was released. Here was their list:

Adoption 1 Year or Less – Massively Open Online Courses and Tablet Computing

Adoption 2-3 Years – Games and Gamification and Learning Analytics

Adoption 4-5 Years – 3d Printing and Wearable Technology

MOOCs (Online Learning), Tablet Computing (iPads, Andriods), Games and Gamification (Badges), Learning Analytics (Individualization and Personalization), 3d Printing and Wearable Technology (Innovation Lab) made the list. What is exciting is that these are the same areas we have identified in the Vision 20/20 Technology and Learning plan we are working on this year. It is nice to get affirmation that the areas of investigation and study are those which we selected in October are the same ones that NMC is suggestion that universities and colleges keep their eyes on.

This past week, the K12 Advisory Board announced its short list as presented at the COSN Conference. Here is the list released:

Near Term, 1 Year or Less – BYOD, Cloud Computing, Mobile Learning, Online Learning

Mid-Term, 2-3 Years – Adaptive Learning and Personal Learning Networks, Electronic Publishing, Learning Analytics, and Open Content

Long Term, 4-5 Years – 3d Printing, Augmented Reality, Virtual and Remote Laboratories, and Wearable Technology

Again, these are the same areas we have identified for investigation for our Vision 20/20 Technology and Learning Plan, plus several of the areas we are implementing for the 2013-14 academic year.

I look forward to sharing our plans for the upcoming year.