The sixth annual Horizon Report was released this week. Created and published by the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, each edition of the Horizon Report introduces six emerging technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use in learning-focused organizations within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years.
According to the report, 2009 will be impacted by:
- Mobile devices- This comes as no surprise for iphone and other portable devices that have taken that are doing the job our computors once did. (Time-to-adoption: One year or less)
- Cloud computing: cloud is the term for networked computers that distribute processing power, applications and large systems among many machines.( YouTube, Flickr, Google) More and more, we trust our work and our data to the cloud rather than backing up on local machines. This has big implications! (Time to adoption: Two to three years)
- Geo-everything: Google Earth and then some! We now have the power and capability using classes geolocation tools to determine and capture the exact location of physical objects and digital media. The report suggests these tools will soon be used by researchers to do far more than five a closer look at our next travel destination.
- The Personal Web: This is a term coined to represent a collection of technologies that give us the ability to reorganize, configure, and manage online content rather than just view it. This innovation already has major impact and potential for the way we gather, store, share and use information. (Time-to-adoption: Four to five years)
- Semantic-aware applications: These tools are designed to use the meaning, or semantics, of information on the Internet to make connections and provide answers that would otherwise entail a great deal of time and effort. Keyword searching, tagging, and bookmarking bring the promise of a better organized Web.
- Smart objects: This innovation will allow us to annotate physical items–like books–with contextual information for users to scan. People can be tagged as well, allowing us, perhaps, to more easily find folks who share common interests.
Although the report is focused on higher education, there are significant implications for K-12 education. Check out the 2009 Horizon Report to see what technologies are discussed . What holds the most potential for you and your students? How is your school prepared for the emergence and inclusion of these up and coming trends? What would it take to get you ready, 'cause ready or not….here they come!
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