Horizon Report - 2009

This report was awesome - current, relevant, and useful. Like many other sources we have read this year, this report points out that the best learning with technology incorporates real-life experience. However, the report states that this kind of learning "is not occurring enough and is undervalued when it does take place." (2009). The first thing I did was write "standards" in the margin. Then soon after, I read Kleiman's follow-up article (2004) in which he states, "The focus on standardized testing as the sole measure of success by students, teachers, and schools has cuased many educators to focus on how technology can be used to increase scores, rather than how they can best prepare children for their lives in the 21st century." EXACTLY! Schools are missing the boat on how to best use technology. However, the Horizon Report looks at the technology of the future and how schools might utilize that technology.

The horizon report:2009, k-12 edition. (2009). The New Media Consortium. Retrieved December 3, 2009 from http://nmc.org/pdf/2009-Horizon-Report-k-12.pdf

Kleiman, G.M. (2004). Myths and realities about technology in k-12 schools: Five years later. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 4(2), 248-53. Retrieved December 3, 2009 from http://www.citejournal.org/articles/v4i2seminal2.pdf.







The report lists six technologies and how they might impact schools. Some of those technologies are readily available now, while others are in beginning stages of development and use.





The first is collaborative environments. The report says that this will have a significant impact within a year or less. With sites such as google docs, all this one will take is teacher training. Collaboration is an important element of mlt.





The second is online communication tools, which students use all the time for social reasons. Now, to take that energy and use it for education!





The third is mobiles. The students who have phones are getting younger and younger. My 8-year-old is begging for one and can't seem to wrap his head around the fact that I was 30 when I got my first phone! At any rate, the mobile phones these days are really amazing. GPS, internet, kindle for my iphone, the app choices are just about endless. This is another tool that teenagers would respond really well to in classroom use.





The fourth is cloud computing, which basically allows the user to use applications with ample online storage space very cheaply (or free). The online tools readily available to students these days are amazing. My wiki just on the presentation tools alone does not even scratch the surface.





The fifth is SMART objects. I thought immediately of the smart board here, but it appears that is just the beginning.





The last is the personal web. No longer do we just visit sites. We can now tailor the internet to our own personal needs and interests. Google home pages, delicious book marks that keep track of our every online whim.





What I liked most about this article was the list after list of resources a teacher could use to further explore any of these technologies. You can bet in my free time (I have so much of it!) I will begin to check out some of these sites and create my own list on delicious!