Just Released: NMC Horizon Report > 2015 Higher Ed Edition

The NMC [New Media Consortium] Horizon Report > 2015 Higher Ed Edition was released today at a special meeting of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.
From NMC:

The 12th edition describes annual findings from the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education. This report is also the first NMC publication made possible in part through crowdfunding efforts.

Video: Report Overview/Highlights

Short-Term (1-2 Years), Mid-Term (3-5 Years), Long-Term (5-7) Trends

The NMC Horizon Report > 2015 Higher Education Edition identifies the “Increasing Use of Blended Learning” and “Redesigning Learning Spaces” as short-term trends accelerating the adoption of educational technology in higher education over the next one to two years. The “Proliferation of Open Educational Resources” and the “Growing Focus on Measuring Learning” are mid-term trends expected to drive technology use in the next three to five years; meanwhile, “Increasing Cross-Institution Collaboration” and “Advancing Cultures of Change and Innovation” are long-term trends, anticipated to impact institutions for the next five years or more.
Significant Challenges Impeding Higher Education Technology Adoption
A number of challenges are acknowledged as barriers to the mainstream use of technology in higher education. “Blending Formal and Informal Learning” and “Improving Digital Literacy” are perceived as solvable challenges – those which we both understand and know how to solve. “Teaching Complex Thinking” and “Personalizing Learning” are considered difficult challenges, which are defined and well understood but with solutions that are elusive. Described as wicked challenges are “Competing Models of Education” and “Rewarding Teaching,” which are complex to define, much less to address.
Important Developments in Educational Technology for Higher Education
Additionally, the report identifies bring your own device (BYOD) and flipped classroom as digital strategies and technologies expected to enter mainstream use in the near-term horizon of one year or less. Makerspaces and wearable technology are seen in the mid-term horizon of two to three years; adaptive learning technologies and the Internet of Things are seen emerging in the far-term horizon of four to five years.

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