It is clear to me that there are some overlapping themes in the reports. The common denominator seems to be the fact that technology has more and more influence on the way people behave, learn, teach, work and socialise and therefore must be incorporated effectively into teaching and learning.
The Horizon Report 2009
The Horizon report specifies 6 technologies. These technologies are split into short term, medium term and long term implementation.
Collaborative environments and Online communication tools will become more important in education. I see the value of both tools and have experienced them both positively as a learner. The problem for me as an educator of primary school children is how I can implement this in the classroom. VLE’s could potentially be very useful because they give students the possibility to experiment with online tools in a safe environment and enable them to see how these tools can enhance their learning.
Cloud computing will be an interesting development: “a computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limits (Prof. Ramnath K. Chellappa)”.
I think this “pay as you go” principle will be very important for institutions in terms of enabling them to lower their costs. It provides a more internet based approach which, I believe, is the way education is heading.
I am also convinced that data sharing will become more and more important as social applications are mostly based on this (Flickr, Delicious, Blogs etc).
Smart Objects, data sharing, peer to peer learning, tagging...all of this will support learning as well and requires new skills. These skills need to be acquired by both learners and teachers. Support (training) is needed to ensure that this happens.
The personal web (web 3.0?) is an interesting development. The internet based upon your personal interests. Students are familiar with personalising their online tools and expect to be able to do the same with their learning environment. Classrooms will need to be prepared for this.
I am still not sure how mobile devices fit into all of this at the moment. I can see their future potential as useful learning tools, particularly as the devices develop to include GPS, internet access etc, but this is currently only available at a fairly high cost and therefore not to everyone. Unless something happens to change this I can’t see how they can really be used successfully. They will remain tools that emphasise the divide between the fortunate and the less fortunate students even more.
The Horizon report also has an interesting approach to the Digital Divide in general: The digital divide, once seen as a factor of wealth, is now seen as a factor of education.
BECTA report 2008
The BECtA report also emphasised the use of technology in education: “Technology is increasingly used in other sectors to provide personalised
services. Learners of all ages use technology for informal learning, recreation and entertainment. This is matched by rising expectations from learners, parents and employers to make good use of technology to support education and training.”
Becta also stresses that implementing technology should be done in steps: “..so it becomes an integral tool in supporting and improving key processes in education. This can only be achieved by securing a technologically confident education and skills system where all participants have a good and self-improving capability with technology.”
I agree with this statement. Introducing something new in education is, in my experience, a difficult subject. It is human nature to compare things with the past, instead of looking forward and assessing how effective new technology could, and would, be.
Becta also describes the involvement of parents in this process: “Technology has an important role to play in ensuring greater participation by parents in children’s learning. It enables schools and colleges to report to parents on their child’s progress as it develops, rather than at a few fixed points in the year, and offers parents new opportunities to engage in dialogue with providers.”
Parents play an important role in the process of learning. They are a countable factor in educational institutions.
Home access is, in my opinion, very important as well: Home access supports and motivates learning. It gives learners a choice of where and how they study, it can improve parental involvement.
“Learners aged 11 to 19 report that three of the most commonly reported activities in class are still copying from the board or a book, ‘listening to a teacher talking for a long time’ and taking notes while the teacher talks. By contrast, learners’ reported preferred ways of learning are ‘in groups’, ‘by doing practical things’, ‘with friends’ and ‘by using computers’.”
We might expect that in 2009 this situation would be different. With all the technological innovation and investment, it is surprising to learn that students are still experiencing these main methods of teaching. Something is still preventing educational institutions from using technology to its full potential. Further support, training and guidance is still needed. The JISC or the government should play an active role in this.
Cheers,
Eugene