The 2010 Horizon Report: Australia-New Zealand Edition has just been released and will be available in the next week via the Horizon Wiki, but for those who would like  a sneak peek and perhaps provide some feedback and comment, you can download it by clicking on the icon to the left.

I had the privilege again of participating in the process of this year’s report – and was really pleased to have a larger number of NZ participants this year, helping making it the most substantial Australia-New Zealand Edition yet.

On the Horizon in the 2010 report are..

Time-to-adoption: one Year or less

• Electronic Books
• Mobiles

Time-to-adoption: Two to Three Years

• Augmented Reality
• Open Content

Time-to-adoption: four to five Years

• Gesture-Based Computing
• Visual Data Analysis

In addition, the advisory group this year identified a number of critical challenges that will need to be addressed in the coming year(s) as we seek to accommodate these technologies into educational settings. These include:

• Even where technology for learning is strongly promoted, there remains a clear need for professional development opportunities around emerging technology.
• There is a conceptual mismatch between pedagogical practice and the design of many emerging technologies that makes it difficult for teachers to appreciate or use new tools
• The need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy, poses a continuing challenge to educational programs
• In today’s networked  world, learners are placing greater value on knowing where to find information than on knowing the information themselves

In my mind it is our response to these critical issues that will determine whether or not the educational promise of the technologies identified in this year’s report will be realised. In particular, the need for effective forms of professional development remains an issue. While we’re fortunate in NZ to have benefited from a sustained period of support for professional development in schools, our tertiary organisations have not – and in my experience, despite the best of efforts that are being made, both sectors are failing to keep up with where their learners are, and where the opportunities are.

Background:

The 32 members of this year’s Advisory Board were purposely chosen to represent a broad spectrum of Australian and New Zealand education; key writers and thinkers from business and industry rounded out the group. They engaged in a comprehensive review and analysis of research, articles, papers, blogs, and interviews; discussed existing applications, and brainstormed new ones; and ultimately ranked the items on the list of candidate technologies for their potential relevance to teaching, learning, and creative enquiry. This work took place entirely online and may be reviewed on the project wiki at http://anz.wiki.nmc.org.