I just returned from the annual CoSN Conference in Washington D.C. At the conference CoSN announced a new initiative – Driving K-12 Innovation. In the world of Educational Technology leaders the annual K-12 CoSN Horizon Report has become a staple for planning and conversation. At the end of November the New Media Consortium announced that it had to declare bankruptcy. The Horizon Report not only for  K-12, but for Higher Ed and all other versions was in jeopardy. EDUCAUSE, the partner for the higher education version, decided to purchase the assets for the Horizon Report. Behind the scenes a team of CoSN Board Members, staff, and volunteers with the CoSN Emerging Technologies committee met to map out a possible strategy for a new direction for K-12.

I had a special insight into what worked and what did not work with the existing report. I was on the Board of Advisors for the 2017 CoSN K-12 report. I was happy to see the new format that now includes three reports that will come out at different times during the year. In addition, the new initiative will feature a slight change in the configuration. The new direction will attempt to take the best of the past with some needed adjustments. According to CoSN here’s the focus:

• Hurdles.  Obstacles that make participants slow down, evaluate, practice and then make the leap to better support teaching and learning
• Accelerators.  Megatrends that drive change – sometimes suddenly other time so gradually the implications aren’t readily apparent.
• Tech Enablers.  Tools that support smoother leaps over the hurdles and expansive changes in global K-12 education.

Stay tuned and if you’re interested and have expertise in the world of emerging technologies, please consider volunteering.