2008 Horizon Report Australia-New Zealand Edition

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Technologies to Watch

The technologies featured in this regional edition of the Horizon Report are placed along three adoption horizons that represent what the Advisory Board considers likely time frames for their widespread adoption on university and college campuses. The first adoption horizon assumes the likelihood of broad adoption within the next year; the second, adoption within two to three years; and the third, adoption within four to five years.

We find ready examples of established use on campuses of the two technologies that appear on the nearest adoption horizon, virtual worlds & other immersive digital environments and cloud- based applications. Those in the mid-term horizon, geolocation and alternative input devices, are are already commonly in use in the consumer world, and educational examples are not difficult to find on campuses working on the leading edge of technology. As would be expected, the furthest horizon contains the two topics that have been least adopted: deep tagging and next-generation mobile. Even in this horizon, examples of campus use do exist, although they tend to be in the early stages of development. In the body of the report, each featured technology includes specific examples, but as the horizon moves further out in time these become more isolated. Our research indicates that each of these six areas will have significant impact on college and university campuses in Australia and New Zealand within the next five years.

• Virtual Worlds & Other Immersive Digital Environments. The use of virtual worlds and other sorts of immersive digital environments in education has skyrocketed in the last few years. Hundreds of colleges and universities worldwide are using these spaces for all manner of projects. A continuing stream of new developments in the platforms and their underlying technologies promise to keep this an exciting, innovative space for some time to come.
• Cloud-Based Applications. Most of us use cloud-based applications daily, sometimes without being aware of it. Cloud computing promises nearly infinite storage space, vastly increased processing capability, and distributed services that are beginning to change the way we think about applications and data management. Geolocation Attaching information about physical location to both our media and ourselves is becoming ever easier to do, and increasingly is being done for us transparently by the devices we use. New and very useful applications for locative information are emerging in the form of data visualization tools, personalized place- based services, and procedures for searching and finding.
• Alternative Input Devices. We are witnessing the first major innovations in interaction design to take hold since the invention of the mouse — and they will change the way we work with computers. Accelerometers built into handheld controllers and mobiles allow the devices to react to motion and to the way they are being held. Multi-touch interfaces accept intuitive, gesture- based commands and open up possibilities for simultaneous, collaborative work.
• Deep Tagging. As the amount of rich media available to us increases, so does its potential utility for learning and research. But rich media is difficult to work with; it is problematic to search and find content embedded in long audio or video recordings or large multimedia pieces. Deep tagging, a technology still in development, promises to ameliorate that issue by enabling parts of larger media to be tagged and annotated, with obvious implications for improved search and retrieval.
• Next-Generation Mobile. With more than 1.2 billion new phones produced each year, the mobile phone markets are bubbling with innovation. Mobiles now routinely have the ability to access cellular, wifi, and even GPS networks; new touch- screen interfaces are redefining how we use the devices; and independently developed third-party applications increase their utility daily. Indeed, mobiles are beginning to rival laptop computers in the range of capabilities they possess. Virtually every student carries one, and in the coming years, mobiles will become a main source of educational and campus-based activities.

These six key emerging technologies were selected by the Advisory Board from over one hundred technologies and practices identified during the process of preparing this report. While it is striking that there is little overlap between these six topics and those in the global edition of the 2008 Horizon Report, it is worth noting that the superset of technologies examined by both Advisory Boards was essentially the same. Those whose focus is educational technology are watching the same developments with a careful eye, no matter where they are located. At the same time, it is apparent that there is value in considering the Horizon Project’s research questions through a regional lens in addition to the global one used for the past six years. The data seem clear that the prevailing trends and unique challenges of the area are shaping the way technology is adopted in post-compulsory educational settings in Australia and New Zealand.