The 6 Most Important Technologies To Impact Teaching and Learning in the Next 5 Years
Virtual assistants, flipped classrooms and "the quantified self" are three of the six technological developments that will have a significant impact on higher education within the next five years, according to the NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition, released by the New Media Consortium and Educause Monday.
The annual NMC Horizon Report is compiled by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative. It examines key trends in education technology, barriers to implementation, and technologies that are expected to have a significant impact on education in the near future.
The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition identified six key technologies that are likely to impact teaching and learning in the near term (one year or less), mid-term (two to three years) and longer term (four to five years).
Half of the technologies identified in this year's report have made the list in previous reports and won't come as a major shock to anyone working in education. But there are three new additions to this year's report — along with some notable omissions. For example, MOOCs, which topped the list last year, didn't make the 2014 list at all. Neither did tablets or wearable technologies, both of which were in the 2013 report. The Internet of Things, which made the 2013 K-12 Horizon Report, also failed to make the 2014 higher ed report.
The Near Term: One Year or Less
Topping the 2014 list of important technological developments in the near term are the flipped classroom and learning analytics.
The flipped classroom, which has been a major phenomenon in K-12 education for the last few years, is a model of teaching in which recorded lectures (and other types of classroom instruction) are viewed outside of the classroom — and where classroom time is spent discussing, rather than presenting, the day's lesson.
"Seven years after the first iteration of flipped learning and the launch of the Khan Academy, educators all over the world have successfully adopted the model, substantiating the topic's near-term position on the horizon," according to the report.. "Whereas many learning technology trends first take off in higher education before seeing applications in schools, the flipped classroom reflects an opposite trajectory. Today, many universities and colleges have embraced this approach, enabling students to spend valuable class-time immersed in hands-on activities that often demonstrate the real world applications of the subject they are learning."
The report indicated that the flipped classroom is becoming increasingly popular in higher education because it allows professors t use classroom time more efficiently and because it helps students develop collaborative sills that they may need in the workplace.
"Beyond watching recorded video lectures, other technologies such as digital readings with collaborative annotation and discussion software enable instructors to be more in tune with their students' learning patterns and needs," according to the report. "By reviewing the comments and questions that students pose online, instructors can better prepare for class and address particularly challenging ideas during face-to-face time. The learning environment transforms into a dynamic and more social space where students can participate in critiques or work through problems in teams. An instructor at Marshall University noted that he no longer needed to spend precious class time with an individual student if they missed a class; he could instead hand him a tablet loaded with content and continue working on hands-on projects among the whole class."