Check-It-Out @ ATSM Library Issue 7, 2015: 2015 Horizon
Report

As we are starting a Teaching and Learning Center and looking to effectively incorporate emerging technology into our instruction, it is important that we monitor new and emerging trends in academically related technology.  The New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report is a collaborative publication between the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) to identify such trends.   Each edition seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies, which will have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education.  The reports include six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational technology.   All of these are arranged by adaptability within Higher Education over the next five years.  To access the full report or to learn more about, go here.

Of particular interest is the section on the Technology Developments and Trends in Higher Education, which are broken down into six categories with a few relevant examples provided for each:

• Consumer Technologies
  • Examples include 3D Video, Mobile Apps, Electronic Publishing
• Digital Strategies
  • Bring your own Device, Games and Gamification, Flipped Classroom
• Enabling Technologies
  • Natural User Interfaces, Speech-to-Speech Translation, Virtual Assistants
• Internet Technologies
  • Semantic Applications, Single Sign-On, Syndication Tools
• Learning Technologies
  • Badges/Microcredit, Mobile Learning, Online Learning, Open Licensing
• Social Media Technologies
  • Collaborative Environments, Collective Intelligence, Digital Identity
• Visualization Technologies
  • 3D Printing/Rapid Prototyping, Augmented Reality, Information Visualization

An expert panel determined that the areas mentioned above would be considered and adopted in Higher Education over the next five years.  Also, within the report, Flipped Classrooms and great ideas of where to get additional information are discussed.  Two topics, which they predict will be adopted within the next three years are Wearable Technology and Makerspace.  The concept of wearable technology to provide better health care is intriguing.  Makerspace, while fascinating, deals more with programming, experimenting with hardware, and manufacturing tools, which will definitely be applicable when updating Electronic Health Records or considering ways to make the overall design more user-friendly for health care professionals and patients.

How does this relate to ATSU and the various degree programs?  The bolded words above are parts of the technology trend that are being used in current courses or are being explored or considered for future use at this time.

Remember – the role of the library is to support the use of evidence throughout all ATSU programs, which in turn will lead to the development of well-rounded and more adept Health Care Professionals.  

Margaret Hoogland

mhoogland@atsu.edu