Today, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) and the New Media Consortium (NMC) released the 2011 Horizon Report, the eighth edition of this annual joint publication. Each year, the Horizon Report describes six areas of emerging technology that will have significant impact on higher education and creative expression over the next one to five years.
The report identifies six technologies that are expected “to enter mainstream use in learning-focused organizations.” Each of the six is assigned to one of three adoption horizons: one year or less, two to three years, and four to five years. For 2011, electronic books and mobiles are identified in the one-year horizon; augmented reality and game-based learning in the two- to three-year horizon; and gesture-based computing and learning analytics in the four- to five-year horizon.
The advisory board for the project identified these technologies through comprehensive review, analysis, and discussion of research, articles, papers, and interviews. It then drafted a roster of over 100 candidate technologies, which it gradually refined to the six key technologies appearing in the 2011 report. This year, the advisory board consisted of 43 experts from numerous fields and was more internationally diverse than it has ever been. It included representatives from 10 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.