The Future

What does he future look like for education? One thing that we can be certain of is that technology will continue to grow and be more prominent in classrooms than it is today. No doubt about it. The no cell phones allowed classrooms are disappearing while the BYOD classrooms are taking over. I think this is a great thing for education, considering all the benefits that technology can bring to the table.

The question is, what kinds of technology will we be seeing in the next few years? The NMC Horizon Report: K-12 edition (linked below) identifies and describes 6 emerging technologies that are expected to have a large impact on teaching and learning within education. These are:
1. Cloud Computing
2. Mobiles
3. Game-Based Learning
4. Learning Analytics
5. PLE's
6. Open Content

The item I was happy to see on that list was game-based learning. I am an advocate for this; I think it has a lot of merit. Games are a great way to get the students engaged in their learning. Often games will provide the repetition needed when learning and practising a skill, as well as the instant feedback. It is a great way to adhere to different learning styles as well. This reminded me of the video I put on my previous blog, of the very technologically enhanced classroom. In that video the teacher talked about a couple of different web-based game programs he uses for teaching math. And didn't it look convincing?! The horizon report suggests that games in education can be a great way to engage the learners in ways that other tools and approaches simply cannot. Also according to the report education still appears slightly hesitant on adopting game-based learning as mainstream practice, but it is definitely on the radar as something to watch for! I find this exciting because I do think they are valuable.

http://www.nmc.org/horizon-project/horizon-reports/horizon-report-k-12-edition

You never know what is really in store for education in the future. But if these things really are a premonition of the future, I feel good about that! Only time will tell.