What Will Drive Technology Adoption in Colleges and Universities This Decade
The latest Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative has identified the top six trends that will drive changes in higher education for the remainder of this decade.
The report, the NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition, focuses on trends in education technology, barriers facing ed tech and new technological developments that will help shape teaching and learning in the near future. Horizon Reports are released annually by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative.
The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition identified six factors that will play a major role in driving technology changes in higher ed in the coming years, broken down by timeframe — the near term (one to two years), mid-term (three to five years) and longer term (five or more years).
The Near Term: Social Media and New Forms of Online Learning
Among them, the near omnipresence of social media is helping to shape the way technology is adopted on American campuses. Social media ubiquity is one of two trends identified as "Fast trends," or trends that will drive change in the next year or two.
Citing a study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth that "found that 100 percent of surveyed universities and colleges use social media for some purpose," the report's authors said there are significant implications for policy and leadership:
"There is room for leadership among universities and colleges to document creative social media projects that demonstrate the benefits of social media for education. Efforts such as Vanderbilt University's YouTube channel give students, faculty, and the general public a glimpse into important work happening on campus, for instance, while Texas State University leverages Facebook and Twitter as formal and informal discussion forums. Ultimately, social media is fostering opportunities for thousands of students to collaborate — even across institutions. A prime example is how Murdoch University in Australia partnered with Duke University on a social mapping project in which students could contribute their observations about Northwestern Australian ecosystems. Then there is the compelling dimension that field experts can be easily contacted on social networks to bring real world perspectives to the subject matter, which can supplement knowledge gained from formal lectures."
The other "fast trend" is the integration of online, hybrid and collaborative learning. According to the report:
"Education paradigms are shifting to include more online learning, blended and hybrid learning, and collaborative models. Students already spend much of their free time on the Internet, learning and exchanging new information. Institutions that embrace face-to-face, online, and hybrid learning models have the potential to leverage the online skills learners have already developed independent of academia. Online learning environments can offer different affordances than physical campuses, including opportunities for increased collaboration while equipping students with stronger digital skills. Hybrid models, when designed and implemented successfully, enable students to travel to campus for some activities, while using the network for others, taking advantage of the best of both environments."
Mid-Range Trends: Data-Driven Learning and Student Creators
In three to five years, according to the researchers, data-driven learning and assessment will be a key concern for academic institutions, particularly as it concerns policymaking.