NMC Releases First-Ever Horizon Report Europe > 2014 Schools Edition
The report was released online yesterday by the New Media Consortium.
From an Introduction on the NMC Web Site:
The NMC, in collaboration with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC), the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS), Inholland University, Qin AS, and Cellcove Ltd., released the NMCHorizon Report Europe > 2014 Schools Edition.
This is the first edition of the NMC Horizon Report that explores technology uptake in primary and secondary schools among the 28 European Union Member States.
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This report applies the process developed for the NMC Horizon Project, with a focus on identifying and describing emerging technologies likely to have an impact on teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in European schools. Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, giving European school leaders and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning.
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Significant Challenges Impeding Educational Technology Adoption in European Schools
A number of challenges are acknowledged for presenting barriers to the mainstream use of technology in European schools. “Integrating ICT in Teacher Education” and “Students’ Low Digital Competence” are perceived as solvable challenges — those which we both understand and know how to solve. “Blending of Formal and Non-Formal Learning” and “Creating Authentic Learning Opportunities” are considered difficult challenges, which are defined as well understood but with solutions that are elusive. Described as wicked challenges are “Complex Thinking and Communication” and “Students as Co-Designers of Learning,” which are complex to define, much less address.
Important Developments in Educational Technology for European Schools
The report identifies cloud computing and tablet computing as technologies expected to enter mainstream use in the first horizon of one year or less. Games and gamification and mobile learning are seen in the second horizon of two to three years; personalized learning and virtual and remote laboratories are seen emerging in the third horizon of four to five years.
Read the Complete Summary
Direct to Full Text Report (60 pages; PDF)
See Also: All NMC Horizon Reports

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.