Tag Archives: Horizon Report

Horizon Report for K-12 Becomes Driving Innovation

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.

Preview of 2017 K-12 Horizon Report

[This year I was part of the team selecting the Emerging Technologies, Trends, and Challenges for the global K-12 world. The team had members around the world. I served on the team representing the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). When I served as the Coordinator of Educational Technology for the Fox Chapel Area School District, I used the report annually to benchmark the district goals for integrating technology into the learning process. In my teaching at Carnegie Mellon University I always shared the document with my students who worked on their technology plans or other planning document. ]

Photo by Norton Gusky CC BY 4.0

The expert panel has completed voting and the topics for the NMC/CoSN Horizon Report > 2017 K-12 Edition have been selected — below. The K12 Project as whole is led by the New Media Consortium, in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and made possible by mindSpark Learning (formerly known as Share Fair Nation). The report is set to be released in August, 2017. We’re now looking for any projects, programs, policies, or leadership initiatives that fit any of the below chosen areas, to be submitted here. Download the official NMC/CoSN Horizon Report Preview > 2017 K-12 Edition to view definitions of the topics below or check out the related discussions of all of the final topics in the 2017 Horizon.k12 Workspace.

I. Key Trends Accelerating K-12 Tech Adoption

 Long-Term Trends: Driving edtech adoption in K-12 education for five or more years

  • Advancing Cultures of Innovation
  • Deeper Learning Approaches

Mid-Term Trends: Driving edtech adoption in K-12 education for the next three to five years

  • Growing Focus on Measuring Learning
  • Redesigning Learning Spaces

Short-Term Trends: Driving edtech adoption in K-12 education for the next one to two years

  • Coding as a Literacy
  • Rise of STEAM Learning

II. Significant Challenges Impeding K-12 Tech Adoption

Solvable Challenges: Those which we both understand and know how to solve

  • Authentic Learning Experiences
  • Improving Digital Literacy

Difficult Challenges: Those we understand but for which solutions are elusive

  • Rethinking the Roles of Teachers
  • Teaching Complex Thinking

Wicked Challenges: Those that are complex to even define, much less address

  • The Achievement Gap
  • Sustaining Innovation through Leadership Changes

III.  Important Developments in Educational Technology for K-12

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

  • Makerspaces
  • Robotics

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

  • Analytics Technologies
  • Virtual Reality

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Internet of Things