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Key Insights and Analysis from the 2016 Horizon Report

Michael Nutter

June 21, 2017

Though some of the trends predicted by Horizon might be as far as five years away, it’s crucial for educators and school administrators to plan today for the changes likely to shape tomorrow.

Released by the New Media Consortium and Consortium for School Networking, the annual Horizon Report predicts the shifts that will change how educators will incorporate technology into their practices, and the changes laid out in the most recent report are monumental. Below, we will review some of the technologies that the authors expect to change education in both the distant and near future.

New, Necessary Fluencies for 21st Century Students

One of the first items investigated in the Horizon report may also be the most vital; today, students need to learn programming languages. Some would argue that languages like HTML and Python are more important for students to learn than spoken ones like French or Spanish. The job market for computer science is exploding, and students need to be prepared for the largely tech-centric demands of today’s economy.

Apart from hiring instructors who can teach students how to code, schools will need to make an effort to integrate programming into more traditional studies so as to demonstrate the skill’s broader utility. The report also indicates that the study of robotics and artificial intelligence will soon make its way into primary education (within 2-3 years), and rudimentary programming knowledge is a prerequisite for entry into either of these fields.

Apart from teaching students to program, schools have also begun to adapt to the rapid development of online learning. Though many web-based course offerings in the past have been limited to certain curricula and specific groups of students, more and more educational institutions have been experimenting with introducing online learning into the mainstream. For instance, most universities include web-based interactive study platforms as a part of their curricula (alongside in-person seminars).

Because such a large part of our professional and personal lives now unfolds online, it’s very important to integrate interactive web experiences into instruction. Most schools are expected to embed online learning into their programs by the end of 2017.

Classrooms Should Facilitate Exploration, Collaboration, and Discussion

Another quickly approaching development highlighted by the Horizon Report is the advent of Makerspaces, collaborative environments where students are encouraged to experiment and drive their own learning. These communal workspaces have cropped up with notable success in Baltimore, Croatia, and British Columbia, and more Makerspaces are expected to be adopted across America within the year.

While some of the most visible Makerspaces include suites of 3D printers and other expensive gadgets, many schools have seen success simply by incorporating the philosophy and methodology of the Makerspace into their existing classroom structures. It’s likely that more and more schools will transition away from the traditional class setup — rows of desks with a lecturing teacher and whiteboard in the front — and toward spaces that encourage students to freely collaborate on creative projects and learn via communication.

The final technological advancement forecasted in the report was virtual reality. It’s reasonable to expect the integration of virtual reality to look something like the integration of video technology; educators will be able to leverage the interactive, simulated environments to help students explore other countries, deep under the ocean, or even the solar system. Although the cost of virtual reality technology currently prohibits many institutions from implementing it, it’s likely more schools will adopt it within the next five years.

Plan Ahead and Make the Shift

As with all paradigm shifts, these technological advancements are likely to change the world in incredible and unforeseeable ways. It will be near-impossible to train the next generation how to best use these tools, however, without a comprehensive yet flexible plan for educational change.

Schools and instructors who want to stay ahead of the curve should begin preparing by hiring staff who can teach students how to code, encouraging creative collaboration across disciplines, and taking steps to avoid walling off innovative learning environments into their own units within the district. The schools of tomorrow will be agile and capable of fostering an inventive and collaborative learner’s mindset, and it’s key that educators begin working toward that goal as soon as possible.

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