About UCEA

The Future is Rushing to Meet Us

Kay Kohl, UCEA Executive Director and CEO
UCEA InFocus, February 2008 (PDF)

Some might wonder why the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Maryland Baltimore County chose YouTube to host their video content. One explanation is that both universities recognize the power of social networking and view YouTube as an economical way to reach people and develop new learner communities.

Ubiquitous wireless technology-access anytime/ anywhere-is what has enabled technologies such as social networking and extended learning to take off. Meanwhile, anyone involved in the delivery of professional and continuing education would be well advised to take account of still other emerging technologies and practices that the Horizon Project's 2008 annual trends report predicts are likely to have a significant impact on teaching and learning very soon.

Grassroots Video

The Project foresees rapid continued growth of grassroots video in the coming year. The availability of inexpensive equipment for capturing and editing video content and the ease of posting video content on the Internet have created millions of amateur videographers. What this can mean for professional and continuing education is a heightened demand for new media literacy and video production courses, among others. Already professors who demonstrate a knack for incorporating video skillfully in their teaching draw notice. For instance, when a couple of University of Minnesota professors created a simple 3-D animation to illustrate a mathematical concept, it was posted on YouTube where millions have since watched it. Increasingly, professors in a variety of fields may feel compelled to learn how to incorporate video components in their courses in order to meet rising student expectations.

Collaboration Webs

Collaboration webs are another development that the Project anticipates will have a big impact on higher education teaching this year. A main advantage of these webs is they do not necessitate the purchase or installation of special software. For that reason, universities are widely using the webs to facilitate collaboration on joint projects. Collaboration webs can enable student teams in an Executive MBA program, for example, to produce and share materials virtually. a highly valued capability among adult learners who place a high premium on convenience

Mobile Broadband

Mobile broadband is projected to supplant the laptop as the portable platform of choice within two to three years' time. Innovation is being driven rapidly in a market where over one billion mobiles are built annually. According to the Project, soon new mobiles will offer "full-featured Internet, remotely upgradeable software and high-quality display." Currently, Montclair State University relies on cell phones to help keep its large commuter student population connected with the campus community and University resources on a 24/7 basis. As of autumn 2008, Abilene Christian University will provide all incoming freshmen with iPhones to enable them to receive homework alerts, class quizzes, and check their meal and account balances, among many other applications.

Data Mashups

Yet another emerging technology-data mashups- is used by Rochester Institute of Technology students in a criminal justice course to discern relationships between different factors related to crime in that city. The RIT mashup integrates crime statistics and population data and uses GIS mapping software to create visualizations that help students perceive a crime problem in new ways. The value of mashups is that they promote fresh thinking by uniting large amounts of data and displaying it in maps or graphs that can help clarify concepts. The Horizon Project expects use of mashups in education to be widespread within two or three years, as "new authoring tools are being developed that will enable non-technical users to create sophisticated products without programming."

French writer Frederic Dard once observed: "The future is nothing but some present rushing to meet us." The Horizon Project report confirms that the future is upon us. Complacency is not an option if we hope to respond to our learners' expectations.

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2008-Horizon-Report.pdf