NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education
Following are just a few of the upcoming trends in technology use. Some seem obvious, others not. <To read the complete report, click on this web link.>
Fast moving trend likely to create substantive change (or burn out) in one to two years: Online, Hybrid, and Collaborative Learning
Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning, and collaborative models. Students already spend much of their free time on the Internet, learning and exchanging new information. Institutions that embrace face-to-face/online hybrid learning mode ls have the potential to leverage the online skills learners have already developed independent of academia. Online learning environments can offer different affordances than physical campuses, including opportunities for increased collaboration while equipping students with stronger digital skills. Hybrid models, when designed and implemented successfully, enable students to travel to campus for some activities, while using the network for others, taking advantage of the best of both environments.
Fast moving trend likely to create substantive change (or burn out) in one to two years: Social Media Use in Learning
Social media is changing the way people interact, present ideas and information, and judge the quality of content and contributions. More than one billion people use Facebook regularly; other social media platforms extend those numbers to nearly one third of all people on the planet. Educators, students, alumni, and even the general public routinely use social media to share news about scientific and other developments. The impact of these changes in scholarly communication and on the credibility of information remains to be seen, but it is clear that social media has found significant traction in almost every education sector.
