The 2009 Horizon Report was released this Spring. There are two versions available:
1. Web version that you can read online
2. PDF version that can be downloaded for printing offline
What is the Horizon Report? To quote directly from their wiki: The Horizon Report is produced each fall using a carefully constructed process that is informed by both primary and secondary research. Nearly a hundred technologies, as well as dozens of meaningful trends and challenges are examined for possible inclusion in the report each year; an internationally renowned Advisory Board examines each topic in progressively 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.nmc.org/wiki.
The five “key trends” to watch over the next 3-5 years have a DIRECT impact on teaching and learning:
1. Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed.
2. Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives.
3. The web is an increasingly personal experience.
4. The way we think of learning environments is changing.
5. The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing.
This is just a start, but my question for teachers is this: What are YOU doing to support these trends? Are your students communicating with other students, experts on a topic, or with other classrooms online? Are students publishing their learning on the web? If the web is becoming a “personal experience” how are teachers helping students develop these experiences? Are teachers allowing students to be creative contributors? Are students developing their own “personal learning networks?” Do teachers share their OWN learning online?
