Horizon Reports 2005-2008

I was so glad to see these as a reading assignment. This was one of my main sources in Dr. Green's class for our Final group project/presentation. -Creating a seamless web of education- The first key trend, The environment of higher education is changing rapidly, caught my interest. It directly relates to our current situations in education. Declining enrollment, declining funds, asking us to do more with less.....we have to look at alternative avenues. I haven't followed through, yet!, with my proposal, but I will.
The key trends and critical challenges are definitely noteworthy. I'm amazed at the vocabulary I've picked up. Wonder if I can integrate it into my daily conversations: ) It's very interesting to read the older reports and look at how accurate their predictions were. Even more interesting are the metatrends and how themes have been woven through the last 4 years and what's expected for the next 5 years. It is also somewhat disheartening to look at all the new technology and compare it to what is actually in place. In the 2008 report- critical challenges- 1) Significant shifts in scholarship, research, creative expression, and learning have created a need for innovation and leadership at all levels of the academy. 2) Higher Ed. is facing a growing expectation to deliver services, content and media to mobile and personal devices. 3) The renewed emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing the educational community to develop new forms of interaction and assessment. All of these relate to the participatory culture and our need to ensure we are using all the methods and technology available to educate not only our students of today, but our leaders of the future.
I am on the District Tech Committee for this academic year and plan to share all these reports with the group and the head of technology, as well as the members of our administrative cabinet. The administrators are definitely behind the gap, perhaps expanding the gap. We need to do something now!