The Horizon Report acknowledges that there are many factors that impact vision, planning and decision

making at the local level but seeks to identify issues and questions that are on the minds of K-12 educators around the world. These issues and questions have been drawn from a wide-ranging set of ongoing conversations with experts in business, industry and education; on published resources, current research and practice; and on the expertise of the New Media Consortium community and members of the Horizon Projects K-12 Advisory Board, an international body of experts in education, technology and other elds who bring a broad range of perspectives to the dialogue. The Report presents critical trends and challenges facing precollege educators that will affect teaching and learning over the next ve years. These trends and challenges are reective of both the realities of the educational community and the world at large. They are identied to The trends identied as key drivers of technology adoptions over the next 5 years, in the Advisory Boards ranked order of importance, are: The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators. A trend in recent years, this continues to receive a high ranking. With a mass of readily available information, institutions must carefully weigh the value and assess credibility of these resources. Mentoring and preparing students to be keen evaluators of information is equally critical. As IT support becomes more and more decentralized, the technologies we use are increasingly based not on school servers but in the cloud. As our storage habits change, so does our conceptualization of cloud-based applications. Where work is stored is less important what is important is that it is accessible anytime, anywhere. Around the world, we are becoming used to browser-based software that runs on the device we choose. Privacy and control issues need to be addressed, but cost savings will continue to drive this trend.

Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate and succeed. Whereas the digital divide once was tied to wealth, it is now seen as a factor of education and the opportunity to learn technology-related skillsincreasingly critical for almost any area. People expect to be able to work, learn and study whenever and wherever they want to. People demand easy, timely access to network information and also social networks that help interpret and maximize its value. The implications for informal learning, just in time learning and found learning are tremendous. The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing. Innovation is highly valued in business and must be embraced similarly in education.

Digital media literacy continues to rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession. Despite its perceived importance, the challenge is that training in this area is rare in teacher education and institutional professional development programs and therefore far from the norm. Economic pressures and new models of education are presenting unprecedented competition to traditional models of schools. Schools are challenged to do more with less, forcing new models to serve studentsthese must use technology-based tools and services to deeply engage students. The demand for personalized learning is not adequately supported by current technology or practices. One-size-ts-all methods are clearly not effective; the demand for personalized learning is driving the need for technologies with more learner choice, control and differentiated instruction. A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishmentaka the

A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishmentaka the system. There are increasing opportunities for students to take education into their own hands. The use of online education, and home-based learning are attracting students away from traditional educational settings. Many activities related to learning and education take place outside the walls of the classroom and thus are not part of our learning metrics. Students access a range of learning games and resources via home systems and social networks that contribute to their learning, but it is challenging to tie these experiences back to the classroom and topics being studied.

Using the key trends and critical challenges as a contextual foundation, The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition introduces six emerging technologies or practices that are likely to be seen in mainstream use in the K-12 community in the next ve years. These technologies and practices are sequenced and presented according to a predicted timeline or horizon by when they will become widely visible in our schools and educational institutions. Each of these technologies has the potential to strongly impact teaching, learning and creative expression. The Horizon Report is not a predictive tool. As the Report acknowledges, priorities are determined by local needs and concerns. Therefore, these emerging technologies and practices form a roadmap for discussion, local reection, conversation and consideration for how each might be used to address specic needs and problems facing a school or institution. Each is already the focus of work at a number of innovative schools around the world. The [Note as an alternative, the CoSN Toolkit videos on Cloud Computing and Mobiles could be used instead of the slides in this section.] The two technologies predicted to become mainstream practice in the K-12 environment within the next twelve months are Cloud Computing and Mobiles. Both of these appeared in the 2010 Report and continue to be signicant. Cloud Computing is a term used to describe the vast collections of networked computers, typically housed in regionally distributed and redundant data centers, that comprise the totality of the Internet. The focus on and interest in cloud computing has shifted from free productivity tools to the next level of cloud computing enterprise platforms and their cost-saving ways to address data storage, backups and infrastructure maintenance.

Cloud Computing = Data Centers that host thousands of servers Cloud computing has already transformed the way Internet users think about computing and communication, data storage, data access and collaborative work. Cloud computing transforms formerly expensive resources into more readily available, less expensive commodities. Web-based applications layered onto the cloud allow image editing, word processing, social networking and media creation. Three broad areas of development: 1. cloud based applications - which are desigend for many different tasks 2. development platforms for creating cloud-based applications 3. massive computing resources for storage and processing. Cloud computing has already allowed for more exibility, more space, more collaboration and -24/7 Access - Applications are always available, cloud is invisible to the user -Free/ low cost - email and other applications move to the cloud they no longer require much development intervention or additional expense. Cloud based data storage is extremely cheap! Kentucky Dep. of Ed suggested a cloud solution and it saving more than $6 million over the next 4 yrs. -Web 2.0 Tools - youtube, blogger, google docs are applications housed in the cloud that allow students to collaborate, create and distribute their work. 1:1 - use cloud computing as a virtual computer, dont have to have the latest computer,

ESRI developed ArcGIS Online allows teachers to create custom maps. History teachers can use this to create maps of battles, journey and other events.

Mobile choices currently include smartphones, tablets, laptops and the newest class of devices like the iPad that blend functions from all the others. Give access to information, social networks, learning and productivity tools and hundreds of thousands of applications. Web content developers now develop to seamlessly adjust for optimal display on a range of devices, increasing the proportion of Internet applications and information accessible to mobile users. Mobiles have proven more interesting and more capable each year and continue to hold surprises for researchers and consumers. by 2015, 80% of people accessing the Internet will do so via mobile devices. And with implications for education, Internet-capable mobile devices will outnumber computers within the next year. The shift in how people connect to the Internet is enabled by 3 trends: (1) the growing number Web Browsing Applications - ashcards, games, quizes, etc. apply to all content areas. store and display dozens of full-length books. students can highlight, take notes, bookmark e-books. Storage - can store data via text, voice or multimedia. share data and ndings with others. Content Delivery - students have these devices - enhanced since schools dont have to buy or maintain. Use as a reference & data storage. Affordable - less expensive, mobiles are becoming very popular for the 1:1 solution.

MLC school in sydney australia are using mobile devices to explore different areas of the city. they produced content documenting their experiences

[Note as an alternative, the CoSN Toolkit videos on Game-Based Learning and Open Content could be used instead of the slides in this section.] The Report identies two technologies, Game-Based Learning and Open Content, expected to gain entry into the mainstream of K-12 schools within the next two to three years, with each to offer signicant potential for teaching, learning and creative expression. Children born in the early 1980s, 1990s and 2000s have grown up in a world where digital games have been an important part of their lives. Games are part of mainstream popular culture, with research demonstrating their use as effective tools for learning. While developing in interesting ways, the growth of game-based learning has been constrained by the lack of quality educational games and game platforms, resulting in the predicted time-to-adoption being a little further out. Game-based learning provides a range of benets: It offers opportunities for discovery-based and goal-oriented learning. Characteristics identied by users as those contributing to the appeal of games include the feeling of working toward a goal; the possibility of attaining success; the ability to problem solve, collaborate with others and socialize; and the presence of an interesting story line. These would also be characteristics of appealing education content but more challenging to design. It can help develop team building skills. As discussed, increased collaboration, problem solving and communication are primary benets of game-based learning. Simulation and role-playing allow students to re-enact difcult situations to try new responses or pose creative solutions. Game design insights from years of research in simulation-based games in the militaries worldwide are beginning to inform simulation design for schools. Experimentation and exploration are encouraged, resulting in lessons learned. Failure too produces new learnings. Game-based learning can be used to teach cross-curricular concepts in an engaging way.

Open content is considered to have a number of benefits: Sharable materials reduce individual teacher workload. Individual teachers are not burdened to create materials from scratch. These same materials, whether online or legally shared, can inform a wide variety of learning modalities, not the least of which is the sheer joy of discovery. And they are easier to update than print materials. Because they are digital in nature, they can incorporate activities to support multiple modes of studyreading, listening, viewing, interacting. Open content promotes a set of skills that is critical in maintaining currency in any area of study finding, evaluating and putting new information to use. Learning to find useful resources on a topic, to assess the quality of what is found and to repurpose resources in support of a learning or research objective is a valuable set of skills.

Learning analytics refers to interpretation of a wide range of data produced by and gathered on behalf of students in order to study student engagement, performance and progress in practice, with the goal of using what is learned for real time revisions to curricula, teaching and assessment. Data are collected from explicit student actions (completing assignments; taking exams) and tacit actions (online social interactions; extracurricular activities; discussion forum posts). Analysis models that process and display the resulting data support teachers and other institutional leaders by interpreting data to support student learning. As the cry for accountability in schools increases, institutions are seeking ways to leverage the vast amount of data produced by students each day as they work through academic activities. Learning analytics differs from high stakes testing but can be misrepresented as such. Growing out of advances in data mining, interpretation and modeling, learning analytics promises to help improve teaching and learning and more effectively tailor education for each student. It takes into account each students learning goals, paces and needs, extracting information from the flow of learning activities.

Framework for understanding: we are exposed to analytics everyday in the form of online marketing!

Advertisers use analytic products and services to collect informations from our browser history and online purchases and run algorithms on that data to determine our interests and buying habits, and even predict them (like the Amazon or iTunes recommended lists)

Example: Business and Industry use analytics to formulate marketing strategies, recruit and retain customers, and to make informed decisions that drive their business.

So how can analytics apply to education and learning? Differs from standard data analysis b/c it interprets disparate data (discussion board posts... attendance... test scores... etc.) where as data analysis typically just uses one type of data or data from one measure or probe. (like standardized tests) Northern Arizona University. Combines academics, grades, attendance, and positive feedback to create a prole... alerts students with concerns (based on data trends) and how student can self-advocate. Support systems, like academic tutoring center, are already in place.
To identify students at risk academically, Signals combines predictive modeling with data-mining from Blackboard Vista. Each student is assigned a "risk group" determined by a predictive student success algorithm. One of three stoplight ratings, which correspond to the risk group, can be released on students' Blackboard homepage. Intervention emails, composed by the instructor and based on grades and effort in the course can be released to each risk group. Signals communicates to students to use available resources

Personal learning environments, or PLEs, as they are often called, are systems for enabling selfdirected and group-based learning. PLEs are student-designed learning approaches that encompass various types of contentvideos, apps, games, social media tools and moreto match the students personal learning style and pace. Though the word environment is used, the idea of a collection or a physical or online space is fairly irrelevant. PLEs are sometimes discussed in conjunction with conversations about learning management systems, but they are different. Learning management systems are more about the collectibles of learninggathering of course calendar, assignments and relevant content into one place for teacher and student accessthan the actual learning itself. PLEs are more about personalizing the environment and the experiences at an individual learner level. While the PLE concept is new and taking shape, it is clear PLEs are not simply about technology but rather an approach or process of individualizing learning. Students have more control over how they

Think of it as a personalized dashboard

Wikis Social networking Social bookmarking Blogs Podcasts Music Videos

Diigo Mindtap Symballo Elgg WordPress Pageflakes Widgetbox PebblePad- uk company

Consider the benefits of personal learning environments: They may cater to students with different learning styles. Visual learners would obtain material from a different source than auditory or tactile-kinesthetic learners. Students would better understand and advocate for how they best learn. Students may benefit from the practice of keeping track of and curating their own resource collections. PLEs are intended to shift the control of learningparticularly its pace, style and direction to the learner. Personal learning environments may empower students to take greater control of their learning networks and connections with peers, experts and others. Many educators see PLEs as having the potential to engage students in powerful ways that best serve their individual learning needs.