Edtech Horizons

For my first blog post I am going to respond to the NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12 Edition.  This was a fascinating report issued by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and the New Media Consortium, which features the next 5 years in education in regards to trends and technology.  In this report they highlight six trends in education: coding as a literacy, students as creators, collaborative learning, deeper learning approaches, redesigning learning spaces and rethinking how schools work.  They also highlighted six developments in technologies: makerspaces, online learning, robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and wearable technology.  All of those trends and technologies show a tremendous potential to revolutionize learning in the modern classroom.  With all the money that is being spent on new school construction designed around the modern ideas of learning spaces, many older schools are trying to find innovative ways to incorporate these new trends without having new infrastructure, more and more are reaching outside of their districts to collaborate with others in redesigning learning spaces.

It’s exciting to see where these trends are going to take education.  Seeing a greater focus on student as creators and collaborative spaces, makes it easier to engage students in their own learning as well as allowing them the opportunities to work through real world problems in ways they may encounter when they leave school.  Makerspaces in libraries or old computer labs provide these authentic learning experiences, giving students the opportunities to creatively problem solve.  While we might not know what the jobs of the future are going to be, we know that in order to solve these problems we need to know how to think creatively and work together.  These strategies have a strong impact for ESL students in particular, because they are able to work with others and learn from these experiences.  Allowing them to work creatively allows them the chance to assimilate their native language into that of this new language.  Seeing what students can create in this new, creative, and collaborative way of learning should be inspiring enough to create a new wave in education, but there's still work that needs to be done.  As long as there are these tests at the end of the year, there will be holdout teachers who might not believe this new way of learning can effect positive change in the standardized tests at the end of the year.

Yet it is the technology that always gets me.  This summer we had the Pokemon Go trend that transformed every smartphone into an interactive treasure map to go forth and walk like you’ve never walked before and “Collect ‘em All”!  It was participating in this fad (still do daily on my lunch walk) with my son that really opened my eyes to the potential of what this type of game allowed.  It was more than just searching for some mythical anime type creator, but using this device to learn about your community and to get you off the coach and walking.  My son started to notice landforms and cultural reference points in our small community, not because he wanted to, but because the game forced him to.  It was using the game as a tool to spark interest that made it worth it.  Pokemon Go might not be the greatest Augmented reality game invented, in fact the other game that the makers of Pokemon Go released is actually much better.  However, the fact that it opened a new interest in the concept of augmented reality has made it a novel addition to the ever changing tech game.  It’s going to be neat to see what innovative educators and programmers can come up with to use this technology within the classroom walls to drive learning.  

The other technology that really drew me was that of virtual reality and where it might come into education.  The dream of being able to have your students visit anywhere in the world (and space) is soon becoming a reality.  While these ultimate virtual reality machines are expensive and in their early development, we can still see some of this already happening in the classroom.  Tools like Nearpod, an online presentation tool that allows you to add interactive elements to your presentation, use 360 degree pictures to take students on virtual fieldtrips.  Students can use their phones and tablets to move them around giving them a window into another world.  This can be a powerful tool to drive learning and understanding.  Not only do you tell your students about the Great Pyramids, but now you can take them there.  Google is also a great company that has been delving into this virtual world.  With Google cardboard and using some of the Google Expeditions they have created, students can go on even more immersive virtual experiences.  If you haven’t checked out the Google Rio expedition, you should take a look.  In this experience the user is a passenger on a scooter that goes through the Favelas of Rio, giving you a really cool experience of this place.

There is so much covered in this awesome report and I recommend the read to anyone in the educational field.  With every year I look forward to what is to come and this year proves no different.  So I leave you with one question… What excites you the most about technology in education?  

Source: The New Media Consortium, (2016) NMC/CoSN Horizon Report > 2016 K-12 Edition

http://www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-cosn-horizon-report-2016-k-12-edition/