Full Text (PDF) - Mississippi Library Association

Page 8 Vol. 75, No. 1, Spring 2012 Mississippi Libraries
engagement with course content, gamebased
learning has focused on several
trends: the rise of massively online (MMO)
games that allow participation across
national boundaries, the use of social
games that are played on smart phones
and again are not confined to the classroom,
and the focus on social issues and
role-play to create skills or awareness.
Four to Five Years
When discussing emerging technologies
in the four to five year adoption time
span, some crystal ball gazing is required.
These are often technologies that show a
great deal of promise but are still at a highly
theoretical level of development. The
first emerging technology in this category
is gesture-based computing. Ironically, the
early theoretical discussions of gesturebased
computing derived from television
(Star Trek) and movies (Minority Report).
The rise of devices capable of sensing gestures,
whether it’s a smart phone app that
can interpret movement or a game device
such as the Wii controller, has fueled development
in this area. Beyond gaming applications,
much of the work in this field is
focusing on the developing of simulation
models that allow the user to move
through three dimensional space.
The final emerging technology discussed
in this year’s Horizon Report is
learning analytics. Learning analytics is a
broad area that focuses on the collection
and manipulation of a wide range of student
data that provides a tailored environment
for each student. Thus far, the focus
of this area has typically been in student
intervention. For example, data mining
techniques that can tap into a large number
of sources might allow colleges and
universities to identify at-risk students
much earlier in the academic process and
allow for the development of individualized
intervention strategies designed to assist
the student. The focus of learning analytics
research is on the use of data mining tools
to create individualized outcomes.
Trends and Challenges
In addition to the six challenges discussed
in the 2011 Horizon Report, the
report also identifies some key trends and
critical challenges facing higher education
and emerging technology. Again, while
the focus of the report is specifically higher
education, these trends and challenges
are of importance to all types of libraries.
Four key trends were identified in this
year’s report. First, the overwhelming
amount of resources and relationships
accessible via the Internet requires educators
to revisit our roles within the educational
process. Second, people expect to
be able to work, study and learn whenever
and wherever they want, without the confines
of traditional buildings and schedules.
Third, the world of work is increasingly
collaborative in nature, requiring a reexamination
of how we train students. And
fourth, the rise of cloud-based technologies
provides challenges for both support
and training.
This year’s report also included critical
challenges. First, the emergence of digital
media literacy within all fields and disciplines
as a key skill and concerns about
how to support this type of literacy. Second,
the rise of new forms of scholarly
communication and productivity have not
been accompanied with appropriate metrics
of evaluation. Third, economic challenges
and pressures coupled with new
educational alternatives in the marketplace
are presenting an unprecedented challenge
to traditional educational structures.
And fourth, the challenge for both teachers/librarians
and students to keep abreast
of the rapid proliferation of applications,
software, and devices.
Using the Horizon Report
The 2011 Horizon Report, along with
prior reports, is available on the Internet at
http://www.nmc.org/horizon. The report
can be an excellent way to begin or continue
a discussion within your library about
the role of emerging technology within
your environment. It can also be an excellent
time to educate administrators on
some of the technologies that are having
an impact on both the workplace and the
classroom. While some of the technologies
are at a highly theoretical stage and
require a good deal of institutional commitment
(such as gesture-based computing)
others are probably sitting in your reference
room (smart phones and other
mobile devices!) The report includes additional
information on each technology as
well as example applications and resources
to explore each technology further. There
are also variant editions of the Horizon
Report: an Australia-New Zealand edition,
one for business and economic development,
the Iberoamerican edition, one for
K-12, and the museum edition. So check
out the latest Horizon Report and begin
the discussion of the role of emerging
technology within your library today!