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The Horizon Report is a 46 page document produced by 3 organizations: the New Media Consortium (NMC), the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  The report is part of a larger project that examines technologies that are emerging or are predicted to emerge within the next five years in education.  Three reports are created each year: Higher Education, Primary and Secondary Education (K-12), and Museum Education.   In the Primary and Secondary Education (K-12) edition, there are six key technologies mapped out in three categories.  The first category, "Near-term Horizon," includes devices, apps, and tablet computing.  These technologies were indicated to be implemented in education within a 12 month period when this report was published last year.  The second category, "Mid-term Horizon," is indicated to be two to three years away, and includes Game-based learning, and Personal Learning Environments (PLEs).  Finally, the report includes two sets of technology in the "Far-term Horizon," which are plotted as four to five years out.  These technologies are Augmented Reality (AR), and Natural User Interfaces.   This comprehensive report outlines not only these emerging technologies, but also addresses the trends and challenges in educational technology at the time of publication.  It will be very interesting to see what technologies are reported on when the 2013 edition is published this June.

This article focuses on the importance of using technology in schools. The author, Seymour Papert, compares how the introduction of computers into a school setting is very similar to providing pencils to people in a community who communicate entirely using oral language. How will the computers and pencils get used by the people in their communities? Papert expresses the realization that educators are often hesitant to change their practices and sometimes when implementing new concepts or tools, teachers find trivial ways to use them rather than seeing their full potential. Papert goes on to explain how technology can "intellectually engage" those not interested in the traditional learning that schools often offer to students. He gives an example of how a disengaged student can use technology to intellectually challenge himself, develop the ability to persist, and collaborate with people that have common learning interests. In addition, Papert says that the use of project based learning and technology allows students to "acquire knowledge for use" and not to just pass a test. The concept of being able to access learning regardless of the time of day and the learner's location is also discussed. Technology offers greater learning as it allows students to learn from a wide community of people and not just those the same age and grade. Even with the objective reasons provided by educators, to limit the amount of changes in schools, Papert believes that the students' knowledge and expertise that they acquire while using computers at home will drive schools to embrace technology. He knows that institutions believe change cannot happen due to the lack of funding available, limited teacher understanding and assumption of what "school" should look like. However, Papert believes that change will occur because children will require schools to keep up with the learning they are doing outside the school setting when it comes to the area of technology.

In this article, Dr. Teresa Franklin, discusses the importance of being mobile in today's society and how technology is shaping our beliefs and the way we learn. By using mobile devices our learning is not limited by the time of day or our current location. If and when we want to communicate with others or research information about a topic, we can. Today, the importance of being mobile has gotten to the point that it has become an "epidemic". Throughout the article, Franklin, defines many concepts. To ensure common understanding by all readers she explains the following terms: mobile learning, mobile devices (including, highly mobile devices, very mobile devices, and mobile devices) learners, social networks, apps, and the tipping point. In addition, Franklin, explains what it means to be a mobile user and why it is important in today's society.  The article focuses on three complexities that need to be considered when using mobile devices in an educational setting. The first complexity looks at the area of pedagogy and how it relates to the use of technology. Next, Franklin writes about the need for institutions to have the correct infrastructure in place to support these devices. The third complexity she explains is the challenge that schools have to create effective ways to communicate when using mobile devices. Franklin thinks a practical, collaborative approach with incremental steps is the key when creating a mobile delivery model. Lastly, the author looks at the role of the teacher and the concerns that technology creates for staff and students. She believes educators need to shift from traditional teaching practices to incorporate more relevant skills that will create positive citizens and prepare them for the ever changing workplace. In saying this, Franklin understands that there will be

Not sure if this is up for the challenge, but I liked this post and this blog that was tweeted to #cdnedchat