2009 Horizon Report Australia-New Zealand Edition

Technologies To Watch

The six technologies detailed in the Horizon Report: 2009 Australia-New Zealand Edition are placed along three adoption horizons that indicate likely timeframes for their widespread adoption on campuses — defined here as penetration rates of greater than 16-20% both within and among institutions. 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.

A wide range of mobile Internet devices is easily found on campuses today; the second technology in the first horizon, private clouds, is less visible, but being widely explored and within the next year is projected to be quite common on (and among) university campuses. Those in the middle horizon, open content and virtual and alternate realities, are commonly used in business and industry and by leading educational institutions. Not surprisingly, the two technologies located on the furthest horizon are those that have been least adopted and are still in the early stages of development: location-based learning and smart objects and devices.

Specific examples of each technology are included in the body of the report, but these become rarer and more experimental as we move out along the horizons toward the far term. The research of the Advisory Board indicates that each of these six featured areas will have significant impact on campuses in Australia and New Zealand within the next five years.

• Mobile Internet Devices Similar in name to next-generation mobile, a topic which appeared on the far horizon in the 2008 Australia-New Zealand Edition, mobile Internet devices are portable, small, and able to access nearly the full range of Internet content. In the last year, these devices — particularly mobile phones — have moved rapidly to the near-term horizon, driven by a variety of factors. Educational uses are increasing, thanks to online tools that blend the portability of mobile Internet devices with the features of web-based applications.
• Private Clouds Cloud-based applications and cloud computing practices have seen rapid growth in education, business, and industry since they appeared in this report a year ago. In response to challenges unique to Australia and New Zealand, we are now seeing the emergence of private clouds that offer the benefits of cloud computing while mitigating some of the risks associated with the use of offshore computing resources.
• Open Content As the costs associated with education continue to rise, an increasing number of educators are turning to open content as a way to provide less expensive, highly customised learning materials for students. Communities are springing up around open content that support institutionally and non-institutionally educated students, lifelong learners, and teachers. The opportunities for reusing and sharing course materials created by open content are changing our perspectives on educational publishing, textbook selection and distribution, and the types of resources available to students.
• Virtual, Augmented, and Alternate Realities With virtual worlds firmly established as valuable learning spaces, educational institutions are exploring additional ways to provide immersive experiences for education. Activities that blur the boundary between the virtual and the real, including simulations, augmented reality experiences, and alternate reality games, are proving to be effective means for attracting students’ interest and increasing their engagement.
• Location-Based Learning Mobile devices commonly carried by students provide a platform for anytime, anywhere learning that takes advantage of the student’s physical location. Since the devices know where they are, information that is relevant to a particular place can easily be delivered to students on location. From self-guided tours to friend finders, location-based learning is already in use in a number of social contexts, and deeper educational applications are not far behind.
• Smart Objects and Devices Smart objects and devices are able to connect the physical world with the world of information. This can be done very simply — for instance, by printing out a quick response (QR) code and attaching it to an object — or by means of more sophisticated technology such as an embedded microchip. Whatever the means for making an object “smart,” the effect is to connect that object to the larger world by linking it with other objects, information, and media. Smart objects are increasingly common in the consumer and entertainment arenas, and educational uses are beginning to emerge as well.

These six key emerging technologies were selected by the Advisory Board from over eighty technologies and practices identified during the process of preparing this report. They are presented here as they appear within the context of educational practice in Australia and New Zealand.