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This 13th edition describes annual findings from the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in higher education.
NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher Education Edition
The report identifies six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational technology across three adoption horizons spanning over the next one to five years, giving campus leaders, educational technologists, and faculty a valuable guide for strategic technology planning. The report provides higher education leaders with in-depth insight into how trends and challenges are accelerating and impeding the adoption of educational technology, along with their implications for policy, leadership, and practice.
"The release of this report kicks off the 15th year of the NMC Horizon Project, which has sparked crucial conversations and progressive strategies in institutions all over the world,"says Larry Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of the NMC. "We are so appreciative of ELI's continued support and collaboration. Together we have been able to regularly provide timely analysis to universities and colleges."
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| Download the Report (PDF) |
"This year's report addresses a number of positive trends that are
taking root in higher education," notes ELI Director Malcolm Brown. "More
institutions are developing programs that enable students and faculty to create
and contribute innovations that advance national economies, and they are also
reimagining the spaces and resources accessible to them to spur this kind of
creativity."
Key Trends Accelerating Higher Education Technology Adoption
The NMC Horizon Report > 2016 Higher Education Edition
identifies "Advancing Cultures of Innovation" and "Rethinking How Institutions
Work" as long-term impact trends that for years affected decision-making and
will continue to accelerate the adoption of educational technology in higher
education over the next five years. "Redesigning Learning Spaces" and the "Shift
to Deeper Learning Approaches" are mid-term impact trends expected to drive
technology use in the next three to five years; meanwhile, "Growing Focus on
Measuring Learning" and "Increasing Use of Blended Learning" are short-term
impact trends, anticipated to impact institutions for the next one to two years
before becoming commonplace.
Significant Challenges Impeding Higher Education Technology Adoption
A number of challenges are acknowledged as barriers to the mainstream
use of technology in higher education. "Blending Formal and Informal Learning"
and "Improving Digital Literacy" are perceived as solvable challenges, meaning
they are well-understood and solutions have been identified. "Competing Models
of Education" and "Personalizing Learning" are considered difficult challenges,
which are defined and well understood but with solutions that are elusive.
Described as wicked challenges are "Balancing Our Connected and Unconnected
Lives" and "Keeping Education Relevant." Challenges in this category are complex
to define, making them more difficult to address.
Important Developments in Educational Technology for Higher Education
Important Developments in Educational Technology for Higher Education
Additionally, the report identifies bring your own device (BYOD) and
learning analytics and adaptive learning as digital strategies and technologies
expected to enter mainstream use in the near-term horizon of one year or less.
Augmented and virtual reality technologies and makerspaces are seen in the
mid-term horizon of two to three years; affective computing and robotics are
seen emerging in the far-term horizon of four to five years.
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The subject matter in this report was identified through a
qualitative research process designed by the NMC and collaboratively conducted
by the NMC and ELI that engaged an international body of experts in higher
education, technology, business, and other fields around a set of research
questions designed to surface significant trends and challenges and to identify
emerging technologies with a strong likelihood of adoption in higher education.
The NMC Horizon Report > 2016 Higher Education Edition details the
areas in which these experts were in strong agreement.
The NMC Horizon Report > 2016 Higher Education Edition is available online, free of charge, and is released under a Creative Commons license to facilitate its widespread use, easy duplication, and broad distribution. In the coming months, the report will be translated into several languages by esteemed NMC partners: Chinese (Beijing Open University); German (Multimedia Kontor Hamburg); Japanese (Open University of Japan); Korean (Korea Education & Research Information Service - KERIS); Portuguese (Unisuam University); Russian (Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO); and Spanish (Universidad Internacional de La Rioja - UNIR).
Founded in 1993, the NMC is an international community of experts in educational technology -- from the practitioners who work with new technologies on campuses every day; to the visionaries who are shaping the future of learning at think tanks, labs, and research centers; to its staff and board of directors; to the expert panels and others helping the NMC conduct cutting edge research. The role of the NMC is to help hundreds of member universities, colleges, museums, and organizations drive innovation across their campuses. This is accomplished by the NMC performing research that catalyzes discussion, convening people around new ideas, and building communities that encourage exploration and experimentation. To learn more, visit www.nmc.org.
About EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) is a community of higher education institutions and organizations committed to the advancement of learning through the innovative application of technology. For more information on the ELI, visit www.educause.edu/eli.
Source: New Media Consortium and NewMediaConsortium Channel (YouTube)
