The Horizon Report: A Look at Where Higher Education is Headed

Ruben Puentedura presents on the key trends that are driving education technology adoption.

Cyprien Lomas presents on important education technology developments.

A room full of educators working together on an activity during the “Horizon Report” seminar at EDUCAUSE.

One educator is the designated secretary during the activity.

Elizabeth Evans of the Duke Digital Initiative at Duke University lists items regarding the competition of new education models found in the horizon report.

Flipped classroom: Although they are more commonly seen in K-12 spaces, flipped classrooms are making their way into higher education. According to the horizon report, flipped classrooms in higher education would allot more opportunities for videos, e-texts, discussions for learning enrichment, lesser or changed class time, more time in the community and opportunities for sketch note taking.  However some complications with the flipped classroom include infrastructure implications, differentiating production value versus relevance, and questioning who would make instructional videos.

Learning analytics: These enable administrators to keep track of how a college or university is doing. The horizon report says learning analytics will enable colleges to track student progress through electronic resources, keep time on tasks and order and map discussion interactions. The horizon report also says some challenges regarding learning analytics include finding different metrics for quality, finding more surprising deliveries, and deciding whether or not to hire a learning analytics expert.

3-D printing: While 3-D printing is usually used in specialized programs like engineering, its usage will be trickling into other disciplines and more collaborative higher education spaces. According to the horizon report, 3-D printing will enable students and faculty to gain more experience with specialized materials, convey data representation, and supplement thought exercises. However, the horizon report says the challenges that can arise with 3-D printing include infrastructure implications, finding a space on campus for the 3-D printing technology to live and deciding who would own it.

Virtual assistants: Since most of today’s college students are already familiar with Siri and Cortana, the horizon report predicts virtual assistants will become more prominent in higher education. It also predicts that future virtual assistants will enable more mobile implications, develop a more concrete context in the classroom, and take the notion of “liking” a post to trigger changes. Some challenges with virtual assistants will include deciding how much customization will be needed for end users, working with alternating opinions, deciding who will control them and developing a trust with them.

Games & gamification: Even though this technology is also more popular in K-12, the horizon report predicts it will grow more popular in higher education. The horizon report also says that games and gamification will supplement learning in higher education through the inclusion of badging and leaderboards, introducing a learning quest, and increasing the skills of students who already know how to game. For challenges with games and gamification, the horizon report says that instructors will need to make sure that games were created “right,” decide who award students for game successes, decide how much time will be spent gaming and determine what danger factors could break the game.

The quantified self: This includes any technology used to better the self, such as a fitness or sleep tracker. The horizon report says “quantified self” technology will increase students’ self-awareness, and can help them change their lifestyle habits to benefit their learning experiences. It may also increase motivation and enable students to tap into the best times to study. However, the horizon report says some challenges that may arise with “quantified self” technology include the risk of students sharing too much personal information, collecting anonymized/aggregated data and the complications of feedback systems.