Research Reviews

Trends in the use of digital technologies in higher education are quite varied between universities and also between disciplines. In fact, trying to determine trends for the future is problematic because of the enormous number of differing contexts. However, for many years a collaboration between the New Media Consortium and Educause have produced annual documents predicting possible future trends based from the collective experience of educational technology experts in higher education.

The recently released report of experts’ opinions, titled the Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education is an excellent read for several reasons. Firstly, the views expressed in the report are based on the collective evidence of experts who lead educational technology research and implementation on a daily basis. These experts have to adapt their institutions’ network infrastructures and services in order to respond to a number of the major trends to meet the requirements of their researchers, teachers and students. Secondly, Educause is the peak USA body for higher education technology leaders and is a world leader in research into the application of digital technologies in research and higher education. The end notes of this document attest to the experts’ comprehensive knowledge. Finally, each prediction is supported by wide-ranging examples that illustrate success. These examples are a rich set of scenarios and case studies to provide exemplars highlighting the issues associated with the predictions and as such can be valuable to researchers.

The six trends include an increase in blended learning, redesigning learning spaces, a growing focus on measuring learning, the proliferation of open educational resources, advancing cultures of change and innovation, and increasing cross-institution collaboration. The trends are grouped with a time span within which they are predicted to occur.

The Horizon reports in higher education have been published annually since 2004. Question may arise, after more than a decade of reports, about their accuracy.

A leading academic researcher, educational technology specialist and commentator, Stephen Downes, recently brought to the attention of his readers, an analysis of the accuracy of Horizon predictions over the last six years. This thoughtfully revealing analysis does provoke questions about the extent of the knowledge and the research that has been brought to bear on the formulation of Horizon trends for higher education in 2015. The Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education is a rich document based on strong experience and expertise proffered by university leaders and consultants, and is well worth reading.

Research Report: 

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.