On the Horizon: The Year of the MOOCs

Abstract

THE NEW MEDIA CONSORTIUM HORIZON REPORT 2013 IS NOW AVAILABLE. A STANDARD IN HIGHER EDUCATION SINCE 2002, THIS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON TEACHING, LEARNING, AND CREATIVE INQUIRY. Starting with trends and challenges to higher education, the report projects emerging tools on a timeline that corresponds to three adoption horizons.The six trends identified in the report this year (Johnson et al., 2013) are not surprising but will certainly cause some angst in traditional higher education circles. Here is a brief look at the six trends:* Openness as a Value A new vision is emerging that defines open as free, copyable, remixable, and without any barriers to access or interaction (p. 7).* Massively Open Online Courses MOOCs are center stage and seem to be trending as the word of the year.* Workforce Demands Acquired from Informal Learning The emphasis is on critical thinking and communication skills.* Data Analytics These are used to personalize learning and identify students in need of attention.* The Ever-Changing Role of Educators Mentoring emerges.* Educational Models These are shifting to include online learning, hybrids, and collaborative learning.The challenges noted in this report seem similar to those in the past: lack of faculty development or training in digital media literacy; new forms of scholarship that outpace traditional academic performance metrics; and resistance to change. The demand for the use of learning analytics, the continued growth of new educational models that compete with traditional higher education institutions, and the continuing resistance of faculty are challenges surfacing in higher education institutions.I can speak from personal experience as a member of a university- wide Emerging Technologies Committee that is struggling with how to keep pace with the demands of new technologies. And, as a member of a campus-wide committee charged with developing a vision for online learning, I know that faculty are uneasy about the need for online learning opportunities. Committee members even resist using technology to conduct our meetings, so we meet face to face. As one of my colleagues, Dr. David Hildebrand of the Philosophy Department, aptly stated: seems we should be doing more than shooting emails back and forth - since we are the envisioners of the future, we should at least not be operating with steam engines and handlooms!Before moving to the real substance of the Horizon Report 2013, let's look at the Table to see how emerging technologies were projected during the past five years. Looking back, we can observe definite patterns and some consistency. Gaming, learning analytics, and mobile applications are present across multiple years. Tablet computing has spiked in the last two years and ebooks are becoming commonplace. With the increased number of tablets and smartphones, geo-everything, semantic-aware, and augmented reality functions are now an integral part of what we expect of our tools. Interacting with our tools with a tap or swipe is a common form of gesture-based computing. But there is continued growth in the development of high-fidelity systems that will allow people to use subtle body gestures to engage in virtual activities. Visual data analysis has a definite connection with learning analytics and the ability to easily comprehend and display results from Big Data. Smart objects have evolved to the Internet of Things (IOT) and will eventually lead to wearable computing. As noted in a previous column (Skiba, 2013), IOT will not only impact higher education but will have a transformative effect on health care. So let's explore the 2013 technologies.Tablets in Higher Education It is hard to believe the penetration since the introduction of the iPad in 2010. Look at any classroom and see how many students are using tablets. Many medical schools require tablets and sometimes give them to their students. …