2011 horizon report k12

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Horizon Report>2011 K12 EditionNMC


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The NMC Horizon Project identifes and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on

teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe.


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1

Executive Summary 3

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less> Cloud Computing 10> Mobiles 14

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years> Game-Based Learning 18> Open Content 22

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years> Learning Analytics 26> Personal Learning Environments 30

Methodology 34

The NMC Horizon Project: 2011 K-12 Advisory Board 36

Contents


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NMC

The research behind The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition is a

collaborationbetweentheNewMediaConsortium(www.nmc.org),the

ConsortiumforSchoolNetworking(CoSN),andtheInternationalSociety

forTechnologyinEducation(ISTE).CoSNandISTEscriticalparticipation

intheproductionofthisreportandtheirstrongsupportfortheNMC

HorizonProjectisgratefullyacknowledged.TolearnmoreaboutCoSN

visitwww.cosn.org;tolearnmoreaboutISTE,seewww.iste.org.

2011,TheNewMediaConsortium.

ISBN978-0-9828290-9-7

PermissionisgrantedunderaCreativeCommonsAttributionLicenseto

replicate,copy,distribute,transmit,oradaptthisreportfreelyprovided

thatattributionisprovidedasillustratedinthecitationbelow.Toviewa copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or

sendalettertoCreativeCommons,559NathanAbbottWay,Stanford,

California94305,USA.

Citation

Johnson,L.,Adams,S.,andHaywood,K.,(2011).TheNMC Horizon Report:

2011 K-12 Edition.Austin,Texas:TheNewMediaConsortium.

Cover Photograph

MabulIslandChildrenbyLadyExpatonFlickr(www.ickr.com/photos/

ladyexpat/2842175845/).CreativeCommons.

InsideFront Cover Photograph

Photodisc/GettyImages

InsideBack Cover Photograph

HelpingChildren fromIndias Slums byBrianGlanz onFlickr (www.

ickr.com/photos/brianglanz/3303154926/).CreativeCommons.

Designbyemgusa.com

The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition is made possible via a

grant rom HP. HPcreatesnewpossibilitiesfortechnologytohavea

meaningfulimpact on people, businesses, governments and society.

Theworldslargesttechnologycompany,HPbringstogetheraportfolio

that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT

infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity,

creatingseamless,secure,context-awareexperiencesfora connected

world. More informationabout HP(NYSE:HPQ) isavailable atwww.

hp.com. Formore informationaboutGlobal Social Innovation atHP

pleasevisitwww.hp.com/go/socialinnovation.

The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition isapublicationoftheNewMediaConsortium.
http://www.nmc.org/http://www.cosn.org/http://www.cosn.org/http://www.iste.org/http://www.iste.org/http://www.iste.org/http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyexpat/2842175845/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyexpat/2842175845/http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianglanz/3303154926/http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianglanz/3303154926/http://www.emgusa.com/http://www.hp.com/http://www.hp.com/http://www.hp.com/go/socialinnovationhttp://www.hp.com/go/socialinnovationhttp://www.hp.com/http://www.hp.com/http://www.emgusa.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianglanz/3303154926/http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianglanz/3303154926/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyexpat/2842175845/http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyexpat/2842175845/http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/http://www.iste.org/http://www.cosn.org/http://www.nmc.org/


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he NMC Horizon Report series is the most

visibleoutcomeoftheNMCHorizonProject,anongoingresearcheortestablishedin2002that

identiesanddescribesemergingtechnologies

likely to have a large impact on teaching,

learning, research, or creative expression within

education around the globe. This volume, The NMC

Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition examines emerging

technologiesfortheirpotentialimpactonandusein

teaching,learning,andcreativeexpressionwithintheenvironment of pre-college education. The hope is

thatthereportisusefultoeducatorsworldwide,and

the international composition of the advisory board

reectsthecarewithwhichaglobalperspectivewas

assembled.Whiletherearemanylocalfactorsaecting

the practice of education, there are also issues that

transcend regional boundaries,questionswe all face

inK-12education,anditwaswiththeseinmindthatthisreportwascreated.TheNMC Horizon Report: 2011

K-12 Edition is the third in the K-12 series of reports

and is produced by the NMC in collaboration with

the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and

theInternationalSocietyforTechnologyinEducation

(ISTE), with the generous support of HPs Oce of

GlobalSocialInnovation.

EacheditionofTheNMC Horizon Reportintroducessix

emerging technologies or practices that are likely to

entermainstream use in the educational community

within three adoptionhorizons over the next one to

ve years. Each report also presents critical trends

and challenges thatwill aect teachingand learning

overthesametimeframe.Toidentifytheseareas,the

projecthasdrawnonanongoingconversationamong

knowledgeable persons in the elds of business,

industry, and education; on published resources,

currentresearch,andpractice;andontheexpertiseof

boththeNMCcommunityandthecommunitiesofthe

members of the NMC Horizon Projects K-12advisory

board, an international body ofexperts ineducation,technology,andotherelds.

The advisory board, chosen to broadly represent a

rangeofperspectivesinK-12education,engagedina

discussionaroundasetofresearchquestionsintendedto

surfacesignicanttrendsandchallengesandtoidentify

a wide array of potential technologies for the report.

Overthecourseofafewweeks,theadvisoryboardcametoaconsensusaboutthesixtopicsthatwillappearhere.

Theexamplesandreadingsundereachtopicareaare

meanttoprovidepracticalmodelsaswellasaccessto

moredetailedinformation.Whereverpossible,aneort

wasmade tohighlight the innovativework goingon

among elementary, middle, and high schools around

theworld.Thepreciseresearchmethodologyemployed

inproducingthereportisdetailedinaspecialsection

thatfollowsthebodyofthereport.

Thereportsformatisconsistentfromyeartoyear,opening

withadiscussionofthetrendsandchallengesidentied

ExecutiveSummary

3

TThe NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12Editionexamines emergingtechnologies for their potential

impact on and use in teaching,learning, and creative expressionwithin the environment ofpre-college education.


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bytheadvisoryboardasthemostimportanttoconsider

overthenextveyears.TheformatofthemainsectioncloselyreectsthefocusoftheNMCHorizonProjectitself,

centeringontheapplicationsofemergingtechnologies

to education and creativity. Each topic is introduced

withanoverviewthatdescribeswhat itis, followedby

a discussion of the particular relevance of the topic to

teaching, learning, or creativity. Examples of how the

technologyisbeing,orcouldbeappliedtothoseactivities

aregiven.Finally,eachsectioncloseswithanannotatedlistofsuggestedreadingsandadditionalexamplesthat

expandonthediscussioninthereportandalinktothe

project and discipline examples collected during the

researchprocessbyprojectsta,theadvisoryboard,and

othersinthegrowingNMCHorizonProjectcommunity.

Key Trends

ThetechnologiesfeaturedineacheditionofTheNMCHorizon Report are embeddedwithin a contemporary

context that reects the realities of the time,both in

the sphere ofeducationand in theworldat large.To

assurethisperspective,eachadvisoryboardresearches,

identies,andrankskeytrendsthatarecurrentlyaecting

the practice of teaching, learning, and creativity, and

usestheseasalensforitslaterwork.Thesetrendsare

surfacedthroughanextensivereviewofcurrentarticles,interviews, papers,andnew research.Once identied,

thelistoftrendsisrankedaccordingtohowsignicant

animpacttheyarelikelytohaveoneducationinthenext

veyears.Thefollowingvetrendshavebeenidentied

askeydriversoftechnologyadoptionsfortheperiodof

2011through2016;theyarelistedhereintheorderthey

wererankedbytheadvisoryboard.

1The abundance o resources and relationships made

easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly

challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.This

multi-yeartrendwasagainrankedveryhighly,indicating

its continued inuence. Institutions must consider the

uniquevaluethateachresourceaddstoaworldinwhichinformationiseverywhere.Insuchaworld,sense-making

andtheabilitytoassessthecredibilityofinformationare

paramount. Mentoring and preparing students for the

worldinwhichtheywillliveisagainattheforefront.

2As IT support becomes more and more

decentralized, the technologies we use are

increasingly based not on school servers, but inthe cloud. The continuing acceptance and adoption

of cloud-based applications and services is changing

notonlythewayswecongureandusesoftwareand

le storage, but even how we conceptualize those

functions.Itdoesnotmatterwhereourworkisstored;

whatmatters is that our information is accessible no

matterwhereweareorwhatdevicewechoosetouse.

Globally,inhugenumbers,wearegrowingaccustomedtoamodel ofbrowser-based software that isdevice-

independent. While some challenges still remain,

specically with notions of privacy and control, the

promise of signicant cost savings is an important

driverinthesearchforsolutions.

3

Technology continues to prooundly aect

the way we work, collaborate, communicate,and succeed. Increasingly, technology skills are also

critical to success in almost every arena, and those

who are more facile with technology will advance

whilethosewithoutaccessorskillswillnot.Thedigital

divide,onceseenasafactorofwealth,isnowseenas

afactorofeducation:thosewhohavetheopportunity

to learn technology skills are in a better position to

obtain andmake use of technology than thosewhodonot.Evolvingoccupations,multiplecareers,andan

increasinglymobileworkforcecontributetothistrend.

4People expect to be able to work, learn, and

study whenever and wherever they want to.This

highly ranked trend, also noted last year, continues

to permeate all aspects of daily living. Life in an

increasingly busyworldwhere learnersmust balance

demandsfromhome,work,school,andfamilyposesa

hostoflogisticalchallengeswithwhichmobilestudents

must cope. A faster approach is often perceived as

a better approach, and as such people want easy

The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition4

Sense-making and the ability to

assess the credibility of informationare paramount.


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and timely access not only to the informationonthe

network,buttotheirsocialnetworksthatcanhelpthemtointerpretitandmaximizeitsvalue.Theimplications

forinformallearningareprofound,asarethenotionsof

just-in-timelearningandfoundlearning,bothways

ofmaximizingtheimpactoflearningbyensuringitis

timelyandecient.

5The perceived value o innovation and creativity

is increasing. Innovation is valuedat the highestlevelsofbusinessandmustbeembracedinschoolsif

studentsaretosucceedbeyondtheirformaleducation.

Thewayswedesignlearningexperiencesmustreect

thegrowingimportanceofinnovationandcreativityas

professional skills. Innovation and creativity mustnot

be linkedonly toarts subjects,either; theseskillsare

equallyimportantinscienticinquiry,entrepreneurship,

andotherareasaswell.

Critical ChallengesAlongwith current trends, the advisory board notes

critical challenges that schools face, especially those

that are likely to continue to aect education over

the ve-year timeperiod covered bythis report. Like

thetrends,thesearedrawnfromacarefulanalysisof

currentevents,papers,articles,andsimilarsources,aswell as from the personal experience of the advisory

boardmembers in their rolesas leaders ineducation

and technology. Those challenges ranked as most

signicant in terms of their impact on teaching,

learning,andcreativeinquiryinthecomingyearsare

listedhere,intheorderofimportanceassignedtothem

bytheadvisoryboard.

1Digital media literacy continues its rise in

importance as a key skill in every discipline and

proession.Thechallengeisduetothefactthatdespite

thewidespreadagreementonitsimportance,training

indigitalliteracyskillsandtechniquesisrareinteacher

educationandschooldistrictprofessionaldevelopment

programs. As teachers begin to realize that they are

limitingtheirstudentsbynothelpingthemtodevelop

andusedigitalmedialiteracyskillsacrossthecurriculum,

the lack of formal training is being oset through

professionaldevelopmentorinformallearning,butwe

arefarfromseeingdigitalmedialiteracyasanorm.This

challengeisexacerbatedbythefactthatdigitalliteracy

islessabouttoolsandmoreaboutthinking,andthusskillsandstandardsbasedontoolsandplatformshave

proventobesomewhatephemeral.

2Economic pressures and new models o education

are presenting unprecedented competition

to traditional models o schools. Across the board,

institutionsarelookingforwaystocontrolcostswhile

still providing a high quality of service. Schools arechallenged by the need to support a steady or

growingnumberof studentswith fewer resources

andstathanbefore.Asaresult,creativeinstitutions

are developing new models to serve students, such

asprovidingopencontentoverthenetwork.Asthese

pressures continue, other models may emerge that

diverge from traditional ones. Simply capitalizing on

new technology, however, is not enough; the new

modelsmust use these tools and services toengage

studentsonadeeperlevel.

3The demand or personalized learning is not

adequately supported by current technology or

practices.Theincreasingdemandforeducationthatis

customizedtoeachstudentsuniqueneedsisdrivingthe

development ofnew technologies that providemore

learnerchoiceandcontrolandallowfordierentiated

instruction. It has become clear that one-size-ts-all

teachingmethodsareneithereectivenoracceptable

fortodaysdiversestudents.Technologycanandshould

support individual choices about access tomaterials

andexpertise,amountandtypeofeducationalcontent,

andmethodsofteaching.

4A key challenge is the undamental structure o

the K-12 education establishment aka the

system. As long as maintaining the basic elements

of the existing system remains the focus of eorts

to support education, therewill be resistance to any

profoundchangeinpractice.Learnershaveincreasing

5ExecutiveSummary

Digital literacy is less about tools and

more about thinking.


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opportunities to take their education into their own

hands, and options like informal education, onlineeducation, and home-based learning are attracting

students away from traditional educational settings.

If the system is toremain relevantitmust adapt, but

majorchangecomeshardineducation.

5Many activities related to learning and education

take place outside the walls o the classroom and

thus are not part o our learning metrics.Studentscantakeadvantageoflearningmaterialonline,through

games and programs they may have on systems at

home,and through theirextensiveand constantly

available social networks. The experiences that

happen in and around these venues are dicult to

tie back to the classroom, as they tend to happen

serendipitouslyandinresponsetoanimmediateneed

for knowledge, rather than being related to topicscurrentlybeingstudiedinschool.

These trends and challenges are having a profound

eectonthewayweexperimentwith,adopt,anduse

emergingtechnologies.Theseaspectsoftheworldthat

surroundandpermeateeducationserveasaframework

forconsideringtheprobableimpactsoftheemerging

technologieslistedinthesectionsthatfollow.

Technologies to WatchThesixtechnologiesfeaturedinThe NMCHorizon Report

areplacedalongthreeadoptionhorizonsthatindicate

likely time frames for their entrance intomainstream

use for teaching, learning, or creative applications in

theK-12environment.Thenear-termhorizonassumes

thelikelihoodofentryintothemainstreamforschools

withinthenexttwelvemonths;themid-termhorizon,

withintwotothreeyears;andthefar-term,withinfour

toveyears.Itshouldbenotedthat TheNMC Horizon

Report is not a predictive tool. It is meant, rather, to

highlight emerging technologies with considerable

potentialforourfocusareasofteaching,learning,and

creativeexpression.Eachofthemisalreadythefocus

ofworkatanumberofinnovativeschoolsaroundthe

world, and the work we showcase here reveals the

promiseofawiderimpact.

Near-term Horizon

On the near-termhorizon that is, within the next12monthsarecloudcomputingandmobiles.Both

appearedinTheNMC Horizon Report: 2010 K-12 Edition,

and theirreappearancehere isnotonlyanindication

ofcontinuedinterestinthesetechnologiesbut,more

signicantly,thatthetechnologiescontinuetoevolve.

Thestronginterestincloudcomputinghasshiftedfrom

itspreviousfocusonfreeproductivitytoolstoawayto

trimthecostsofrunningdistrictdatacenters,suchasdatastorage,backups,andinfrastructuremaintenance.

Mobiles,ontheotherhand,havemovedtothenear-

termhorizonthisyearasnew,always-connectedtablets

such as the iPad have changed the debate around

allowingpersonaldevicesoncampuses.

> Cloud computing has already transformed the

way users of the Internet think about computingand communication, data storage and access, and

collaborative work. Cloud-based applications and

servicesareavailabletomanyschoolstudentstoday,

andmoreschoolsareemployingcloud-basedtools

all the time.Now schools are looking tooutsource

signicantpartsoftheirinfrastructure,suchasemail

and backups, to cloud providers. Together, these

developmentshavecontributedconsiderablyto theadoption of cloud computing approaches at K-12

schoolsacrosstheglobe.

> Mobiles are a category that dees long-term

denitions. With more than 1.2 billion new mobile

devicesproduced each year, the pace of innovation

in the mobile markets is unprecedented. Mobiles,

especiallysmartphonesandtablets,enableubiquitous

access to information, social networks, tools for

learningandproductivity,andhundredsofthousands

ofcustomapplications.Mobileswerelistedinprevious

yearsbecausetheycouldcapturemultimedia,access

the Internet, or geolocate. Now they are eectively

specializedcomputersforthepalmofyourhand,with

ahugeandgrowingcollectionofsoftwaretoolsthat

makeuseoftheiraccelerometers,compasses,cameras,

microphones,GPS,andothersensors.



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Second Adoption Horizon

Thesecondadoptionhorizonissettwotothreeyearsout,wherewewillbegintoseewidespreadadoptions

oftwotechnologieswithagrowingimportance:game-

based learning and open content. Games are clearly

part ofmainstreampopular culture; consumeruse of

opencontentisgrowing.Bothhavebeendemonstrated

aseectivetools for learning inanumberofschools

already, and both are expected to seemuch broader

use in pre-college education over the next two tothree years. Game-based learning also appeared on

themid-termhorizoninTheNMC Horizon Report: 2010

K-12 Edition.Whilecontinuingtodevelopinsomevery

interestingways,thegrowthofgame-basedlearninghas

beenconstrainedduetothelackofqualityeducational

gamesandgameplatforms.Opencontentisnewtothe

K-12reportthisyear,withinterestdrivenbyagrowing

rangeofopensourcetextbooksandawiderrecognitionof the collaborative philosophy behind creating and

sharingfreecontent.

> Game-based learninghasgrowninrecentyearsas

researchcontinuestodemonstrate itseectiveness

for learning. Games for education span the range

from single-player or small-group card and board

games all the way tomassivelymultiplayer online

gamesandalternaterealitygames.Thoseattherst

end of the spectrumare easy to integrate into the

curriculum,andhavelongbeenan option inmany

schools; but the greatest potential of games for

learningliesintheirabilitytofostercollaborationand

engage studentsdeeply in the processof learning.

Once educational gaming providers can match

the volume and quality of their consumer-driven

counterparts,gameswillgarnermoreattention.

> Open content is the current formof amovement

that began a decade ago, when universities such

as MIT began to make their course content freely

available.Tenyearslater,schoolshavealsobegunto

shareasignicantamountofcurricula,resources,and

learningmaterials.Thereisagrowingvarietyofopen

contentfromK-12organizationsandschools,andin

manypartsoftheworld,opencontentrepresentsa

profoundshiftinthewaystudentsstudyandlearn.

Farmorethanjustacollectionoffreeonlinecourse

materials,theopencontentmovementisincreasingly

aresponsetotherisingcostsofeducation,thedesireto provide access to learning in areas where such

accessisdicult,andanexpressionofstudentchoice

aboutwhenandhowtolearn.

Far-term Horizon

Onthefar-termhorizon,setatfourtoveyearsaway

fromwidespread adoption are learninganalytics and

personal learningenvironments.Neitherof thesetwo

technologies is commonly found in school settings

today and both remain at the experimental and

conceptuallevels.Nonetheless,thehighlevelofinterest

andresearchineachoftheseareasnottomention

their game-changingpotential indicates that they

areworthfollowingclosely.

> Learning analytics loosely joins a variety of data-gathering tools and analytic techniques to study

student engagement, performance, and progress

in practice, with the goal of using what is learned

torevisecurricula,teaching,andassessmentinreal

time.Buildingonthekindsofinformationgenerated

byGoogleAnalyticsandothersimilartools,learning

analyticsaimstomobilizethepowerofdata-mining

tools in the service of learning and embrace the

complexity,diversity,andabundanceofinformation

thatdynamiclearningenvironmentscangenerate.

7ExecutiveSummary

The six technologies featured in TheNMC Horizon Reportare placed alongthree adoption horizons that indicate

likely time frames for their entranceinto mainstream use for teaching,learning, or creative applications inthe K-12 environment.


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Internet, and other sources, enough information is

gathered early in the process to allow themembersof the advisory board to form an understanding of

how each of the discovered technologies might be

in use in settings outside of education, todevelop a

sense of the potential the technology may have for

educationalsettings,andtoenvisionapplicationsofthe

technology for teaching, learning, and creativity. The

ndingsare discussed ina variety ofsettingswith

teachers,industryexperts,technologists,andofcourse,the Horizon advisory board. Of particular interest to

the advisory board every year is nding educational

applications for these technologies that may not be

intuitiveorobvious.

The45membersofthisyearsK-12advisoryboardwere

purposely chosen to represent a broad spectrum of

K-12education,aswellaskeywritersandthinkersfrombusinessandindustry.Theyengagedinacomprehensive

reviewandanalysisofresearch,articles,papers,blogs,

and interviews; discussed existing applications, and

brainstormed new ones; and ultimately ranked the

items on the list of candidate technologies for their

potentialrelevancetoteaching,learning,andcreative

expression.Thisworktookplaceentirelyonlineandmay

bereviewedontheprojectwikiatk12.wiki.nmc.org.

Each NMC Horizon Report is produced over a period

ofjustafewmonthsso thattheinformation istimely

andrelevant.Thisyear,theeorttoproduce The NMC

Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition began in February

2011and concludedwhenthereportwasreleasedin

June2011,aperiodofjustoverthreemonths.Thesix

technologiesandapplicationsthatemergedatthetop

ofthenalrankingstwoperadoptionhorizonare

detailedinthesectionsthatfollow.

Eachof thosesections includes detailed descriptions,

links to active demonstration projects, and a wide

arrayofadditionalresourcesrelatedtothesixproled

technologies.Thoseprolesaretheheartof The NMC

Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition,andwillfuelthework

oftheNMCHorizonProjectthroughout2011-12.

AnimportantexampleofthatworkistheHorizon.K12

Toolkit.Forthesecondyear,theConsortiumforSchool

Networking (CoSN), with the support of HPs Oce

ofGlobal Social Innovation, isagain preparing aK-12toolkittoaccompanythereport,aimedatschooland

districtleaders,boardmembers,policymakers,teacher

groups,andothers.Thetoolkit,tobereleasedundera

CreativeCommonslicense,willhelpthesekeygroups

maximizetheimpactofthereportintheirschoolsand

helptheirconstituenciesgainanunderstandingofnew

applications of technology to support teaching and

learningandsuccessfullyplanfortheirimplementation.

Forthosewantingtoknowmoreabouttheprocesses

usedtogenerateThe NMC Horizon Reportseries,manyof

whichareongoingandextendtheworkinthereports,

wereferyoutothereportsnalsectionontheresearch

methodology.

9ExecutiveSummary
http://k12.wiki.nmc.org/http://k12.wiki.nmc.org/


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he emergence of very large data farms

specialized data centers that host thousands of servers has created a surplus of computing

resources that has come to be called the cloud.

Growing out of research in grid computing,

cloud computing transforms once-expensive resources

like disk storage and processing cycles into a readily

available, cheap commodity. Development platforms

layered onto the cloud infrastructure enable thin-

client, web-based applications for image editing, word

processing, social networking, and media creation.

Many of us use the cloud, or cloud-based applications,

without even being aware of it. Applications including

Flickr, Google, YouTube, and many others use the cloud

as their platform, using storage space and computing

resources from many available machines as needed.

OverviewThe cloud is a term used to describe the vastcollectionsofnetworkedcomputers,typicallyhousedin

regionallydistributedandredundantdatacentersthat

comprisethetotalityoftheInternet.Cloudcomputing

isasetofstrategiesthatdistributedata,applications,

and computing cycles across the many machines in

suchdatacenters,andevenacrossdatacenters.Cloud

computing currently includes three broad areas of

development: cloud-based applications, which are

designed for many dierent tasks and hosted in the

cloud;developmentplatformsforcreatingcloud-based

applications; and massive computing resources for

storageandprocessing.

In The NMC Horizon Report: 2010 K-12 Edition, cloud

computing was positioned in the one-to-two year

horizon because of the adoption of cloud-based

applications; for example,YouTube and Google docs

beganmakingentrancesinschoolsandfellintoawidely

acceptedpatternofmainstreamuse.K-12 institutions

weremotivatedbyeasywaysto enable studentsand

facultytoshareideasandassignmentsonline.Thisyear,the enthusiasm has been directed towards the next

level of cloud computing: enterprise platforms and

databackupandstorage.Schoolsaremovingresource-

intensive applications, such as email, o site backup,

andwebhostingintothecloud.GoogleApps(go.nmc.

org/xpthl) is leading the eort to make that an easy

transition,helpingcompaniestowritesoftwarethatwill

runwithintheGoogleAppsenvironment,allowingitto

appearalongsidestudentemailandsharedocuments.

As a result, learning management systems, such as

LearnBoost, are integrating Google Apps into their

programs(go.nmc.org/zketu).

One of the biggest attractions of cloud computing

isthatitissavingschoolsmoneyandresources.After

emailandotherinfrastructureapplicationshavebeen

moved to the cloud, they no longer require much

development intervention or extra expense. The

Kentucky Department of Education recently selected

acloudsolutionthatprovidesitsschoolswithtoolsfor

communicationandcollaboration.Theestimatedstate

savingsismorethan$6millionoverthenextfouryears

(go.nmc.org/bkuly). The interest in cloud computing

hascreated a resurgenceof client-serverapplications

which, while not truly cloud-based solutions, oer

manyofthesameaordancesofcloudcomputing.One

exampleisHPsSchoolCloud(go.nmc.org/tfwvo),which

provides many cloud features through a thin-client

solutionthatdoesnotrequireanInternetconnection.

Data storage is cheap in cloud-based environments

pennies per gigabyte so cheap that it is often

provided in surprising quantities for free. There are

cloud-basedcounterparts tomany common software

toolsfromemailtowordprocessingandspreadsheets.

Schoolsarebecomingbetterversedinthetechnology


CloudComputingTime-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

T
http://go.nmc.org/xpthlhttp://go.nmc.org/xpthlhttp://go.nmc.org/xpthlhttp://go.nmc.org/zketuhttp://go.nmc.org/zketuhttp://go.nmc.org/bkulyhttp://go.nmc.org/bkulyhttp://go.nmc.org/tfwvohttp://go.nmc.org/tfwvohttp://go.nmc.org/tfwvohttp://go.nmc.org/bkulyhttp://go.nmc.org/zketuhttp://go.nmc.org/xpthlhttp://go.nmc.org/xpthl


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thefocusisontheinstitution-leveleciencyandcost

savingsthatcloudcomputingfacilitates.Insomecases,schoolsturntocommercialprovidersforsuchservices,

but inothers, schools are working together tocreate

privateclouds.Forexample,TheLearningCurve,anot-

for-proteducationalconsortiumof40Massachusetts

schooldistricts,isworkingwithprivatesectorpartners

IMG Software and the EMC Corporation to provide

aordablecloudcomputingoptionsonsharedservers

thatwillfullyintegratethevariousdistrictsproprietarydatamanagementtools(go.nmc.org/hfqlh).

Inadditiontoproductivityapplications,servicessuchas

Flickr,YouTube,Blogger,andothers,compriseasetof

increasinglypowerfulcloud-basedtoolsforalmostany

taskausermightneedtodo.ApplicationslikeSplashup

(go.nmc.org/llnqb)orJayCut(go.nmc.org/bwnel)make

iteasyforstudentstoexperimentwithphotoandvideo

editing.With tools like SlideShare (go.nmc.org/xgsws)

or SlideRocket (go.nmc.org/dmcln), they can publish

presentations and slide shows. Further, itis very easy

tosharecontentcreatedwiththesetools,bothinterms

ofcollaboratingonitscreationandindistributingthe

nishedwork.

Browser-basedapplicationsareaccessibleforavariety

ofcomputerandevenmobileplatforms,makingthese

toolsavailableanywheretheInternetcanbeaccessed.In

additiontotheinherentconveniencecloudcomputing

oers,theoverallcost-eectivenessisamajorappeal.

Moving enterprise applications that have signicant

datastoragedemandstothecloudgreatlyreducesthe

needforschoolstosupport,maintain,andmanagethe

underlyinginfrastructure.

Becauseoftheubiquityoflowcostpersonalproductivity

and collaboration tools, coupled with the growing

number of low cost enterprise solutions, schools

11Time-to-AdoptionHorizon:OneYearorLess

and some are developing their own cloud-based

environments, utilizing solutions such as MobileMe(go.nmc.org/kdbpe).There isno singlecomputer that

canbepointedtoashousingtheseapplications.Tothe

enduser,thecloudisinvisible,andthetechnologythat

supportstheapplicationsdoesnotmatterthefact

thattheapplicationsarealwaysavailableiskey.

While the many advantages of the cloud are easy to

detail, there are cautions as well. Unlike traditionalsoftwarepackagesthatareinstalledonalocalcomputer,

can beeasily backed up,and are availableas longas

the operating system supports them, cloud-based

applicationsareonlineservicesandrequireapersistent

Internet connection. Entrustingwork and data to the

cloudisacommitmentoftrustthattheserviceprovider

will continue to be there, even in the face of the

changing market and other conditions. Nonetheless,

the economics of cloud computing are increasingly

compelling. For many institutions, cloud computing

oersacost-eectivesolutiontotheproblemofhowto

provideservices,datastorage,andcomputingpowerto

agrowingnumberofInternetuserswithoutinvesting

capitalinphysicalmachinesthatneedtobemaintained

andsupported.

Relevance or Teaching, Learning, orCreative ExpressionSchools are increasingly taking advantage of ready-

madeapplicationshostedonadynamic,ever-expanding

cloud that enables end users to perform tasks that

have traditionally required site licensing, installation,

and maintenance of individual software packages.

Email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations,

collaboration,mediaediting,andmorecanallbedone

insideawebbrowser,whilethesoftwareandlesare

housed in the cloud. More advanced documentation

has been createdasan increasingamount ofschools

areusingthesetypesofresources.SkylineHighSchool

in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for example, compiled an

extensivehow-toguideforotherschoolstoreproduce

their successful Curriculum & Portfolio Integration

project(go.nmc.org/fmjmn).

Whereaslastyearmarkedatransitiontousingthecloud

for personal productivity and collaboration, this year

One of the biggest attractions ofcloud computing is that it is saving

schools money and resources.
http://go.nmc.org/hfqlhhttp://go.nmc.org/hfqlhhttp://go.nmc.org/llnqbhttp://go.nmc.org/llnqbhttp://go.nmc.org/bwnelhttp://go.nmc.org/bwnelhttp://go.nmc.org/xgswshttp://go.nmc.org/xgswshttp://go.nmc.org/dmclnhttp://go.nmc.org/dmclnhttp://go.nmc.org/kdbpehttp://go.nmc.org/kdbpehttp://go.nmc.org/kdbpehttp://go.nmc.org/fmjmnhttp://go.nmc.org/fmjmnhttp://go.nmc.org/fmjmnhttp://go.nmc.org/kdbpehttp://go.nmc.org/dmclnhttp://go.nmc.org/xgswshttp://go.nmc.org/bwnelhttp://go.nmc.org/llnqbhttp://go.nmc.org/hfqlh


14/40


havenewresourcestoapplytoaone-to-onelearning

environment. These parallel developments, bothdrawing on resources within the cloud, are changing

the way we are thinking about personal computing,

with profound applications for the classroom. VizZle

(go.nmc.org/qmkhg), for example, features peer-

reviewed libraries of interactive lessons,whiteboards,

touchscreens,andmoreinanonlinepackagedesigned

tomaketheproductionanduseofvisuallyrichlessons

easy. The reason cloud computing is so relevant in

the near-termhorizon isthatit has openeddoorsfor

more exibility, more space, more collaboration, and

ultimately,morecreativeusesofInternetresourcesfor

educatorstoincorporateintheirclassrooms.

Asamplingofapplicationsofcloudcomputingacross

thecurriculumincludesthefollowing:

> English. Saline Area Schools, comprisedof around

5,500studentsinsoutheastMichigan,areusingthe

entire suite of Google Apps to replace their email

infrastructure and share spreadsheets, videos, and

more,includingusingGoogleDocstoannotateand

editeachothersstories(go.nmc.org/bqwwr).

> History.ArcGISOnline,developedbyESRI,includes

a suite ofweb-based mapping tools that are used

across the curriculum. As one example, history

teachersusethetoolstoquicklycreatecustommaps

ofbattles,journeys,andothersignicantevents( go.nmc.org/bksvu).

> Science. Northwestern University has created iLab

Central,anauthentic,virtuallaboratorythatresidesin

thecloudandisaccessibletohighschoolstudentsof

all socio-economic backgrounds. Students can plug

invariablesandrunexperimentsonprofessionallab

equipmentthattheymaynototherwisehaveaccess

tointheirclassrooms(go.nmc.org/oanwi).

Cloud Computing in PracticeThe following links provide examples of how cloud

computingisbeingusedinschools.

Kerpoo

go.nmc.org/qkcvb

Targeted at elementary and middle school students,

Kerpoof Studio is a cloud-based application that

enables children tomake animatedmovies, artwork,

andmore.Thesitealsocontainsdownloadablelesson

plansforteachers.

LearnBoost

go.nmc.org/nkoan

LearnBoostisanewclassroommanagementplatform

run through the cloud that enables K-12 teachers to

track student grades and progress, create standards-

aligned lesson plans, generate analytics and reports,

shareprogresswithstudentsandparents,andorganize

theirschedulesfromacentraldashboard,withGoogle

Appintegration.

Murdock Middle Schools Multimedia Research

Model

go.nmc.org/ujjtt

MurdockMiddleSchoolisusingMobileMeasaplatform

for amultimedia researchmodel for students intheir

districttolearnbetterresearchskills.Theirsitecontains

demos, resources, and tools to aid students as they

developresearchprojectsfromstarttonish.

The reason cloud computing is sorelevant in the near-term horizonis that it has opened doors formore exibility, more space, more

collaboration, and ultimately, morecreative uses of Internet resourcesfor educators to incorporate in theirclassrooms.
http://go.nmc.org/qmkhghttp://go.nmc.org/qmkhghttp://go.nmc.org/bqwwrhttp://go.nmc.org/bqwwrhttp://go.nmc.org/bksvuhttp://go.nmc.org/bksvuhttp://go.nmc.org/bksvuhttp://go.nmc.org/oanwihttp://go.nmc.org/oanwihttp://go.nmc.org/qkcvbhttp://go.nmc.org/nkoanhttp://go.nmc.org/ujjtthttp://go.nmc.org/ujjtthttp://go.nmc.org/nkoanhttp://go.nmc.org/qkcvbhttp://go.nmc.org/oanwihttp://go.nmc.org/bksvuhttp://go.nmc.org/bksvuhttp://go.nmc.org/bqwwrhttp://go.nmc.org/qmkhg


15/40


Partnership Focuses on App Solutions or K-12

Studentsgo.nmc.org/aqzct

Throughthe partnership of the NewYork Institute of

TechnologyandtheNewYorkStateTeacherCentersand

associatedBoardsofCooperativeEducationalServices,

thestatehascommittedtoprovideGoogleAppsupport

to697publicschoolsacross the state,aswellasnon-

publicandcharterschools.

Primary Access

go.nmc.org/zrzcp

PrimaryAccessoersstudentsandteachersfrictionless

accesstoasuiteofonlinetools,includingdigitalmovies

and storyboards. With this cloud-based program,

studentscancreatedigitalnarratives,withtext,audio,

andlmfootage,withoutinstallinganysoftware.

Teachers o the Future

go.nmc.org/wgmdi

A sixth grade class atYokohama International School

in Japan is using Google Apps to complete all of

their assignments, including the creation of tutorials

designedinPresentationandsurveyscreatedinForms.

Eachstudentsworkisthenpublishedtotheweband

sharedthroughePortfolios.

For Further ReadingThefollowingarticlesandresourcesarerecommended

for those who wish to learn more about cloud

computing.

Cloud Migrations Trigger Organizational Challenges

go.nmc.org/fuwzr

(Vanessa Alvarez, InformationWeek.com, 9 February

2010.)Thisarticlediscusseshowcloudcomputingcan

workiforganizationsarewellstructuredinadvanceto

takeadvantageofitsaordances.

Google Goes to the Cloud or New Idea in PC System

go.nmc.org/awciy

(Walter S. Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal, 15

December 2010.)Technology writerWalter Mossberg

presentshisthoughtsonthenewcloud-basedGoogle

OS Chrome and how it will be used with Googles

experimentallaptop,theCr-48.

Jolicloud Becomes Joli OS, Announces Cross-

Platorm Appsgo.nmc.org/zsxqg

(Sarah Perez, ReadWriteWeb.com. 8 March 2011.) Joli

OSisawebbasedoperatingsystemthatenablesslower

machinestohavefastaccesstolesandservicesinthe

cloud.ThisOSallowsforolder,legacycomputerstotake

advantageofmoderncloudcomputing.Thecompany

also provides Jolicloud, an interface for accessing

manydierentwebservicesthroughapersonalcloud

desktopinterface.

Personal Cloud Will Replace Traditional Operating

Systems

go.nmc.org/cqwml

(CliSaran,ComputerWeekly.com,17May2010.)This

writerdiscussestheviewofForresterResearchanalyst

Frank Gillett who believes the traditional OS will

eventuallydisappearandbereplacedbyanincreasingly

sophisticatedpersonalcloud.

Strike Up the Band: Over 10 Million Have Gone

Google with Apps or Education

go.nmc.org/pheol

(Miriam Schneider,Ocial GoogleEnterpriseBlog, 14

October 2010.) In the four years since Google Apps

for Educationwas launched, over 10million students

now use the cloud-based productivity suite. Now,

K-12schoolsareincorporatingthesoftwareintotheir

curriculumforstudentstouse.

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing

go.nmc.org/lxqur

(SramanaMitraandSiddharthGarg,SramanaMitra.com,

12April2011.)MarkEgan,CIOofVMware,exploresall

the components thatmust be considered in a cloud

computingsolution,includingtheinfrastructurelevel,

theapplications,andtheend-userlevel.
http://go.nmc.org/aqzcthttp://go.nmc.org/zrzcphttp://go.nmc.org/wgmdihttp://go.nmc.org/fuwzrhttp://go.nmc.org/zsxqghttp://go.nmc.org/cqwmlhttp://go.nmc.org/pheolhttp://go.nmc.org/lxqurhttp://go.nmc.org/lxqurhttp://go.nmc.org/pheolhttp://go.nmc.org/cqwmlhttp://go.nmc.org/zsxqghttp://go.nmc.org/fuwzrhttp://go.nmc.org/wgmdihttp://go.nmc.org/zrzcphttp://go.nmc.org/aqzct


16/40

obiles as a category have proven more

interesting and more capable with each

passing year, and continue to surprise both

researchers and consumers. According to a

report from mobile manufacturer Ericsson,

studies show that soon 80% of people accessing the

Internet will be doing so from a mobile device. At

the 2011 Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric

Schmidt rearmed the prediction by revealing that

for every baby born, 30 Android phones are activated.

It is no arbitrary decision that the statistical point of

comparison is between new lives and mobiles; the

next generation of students will inevitably be armed

with smarter mobiles at younger ages. Perhaps

even more important for education is that Gartner

Research projects Internet-capable mobile devices

will outnumber PCs by 2013. In Japan, over 75% of

Internet users already use a mobile as their rst choice

for access. This shift in the means of connecting to

the Internet is being enabled by the convergence of

three trends: the growing number of Internet-capable

mobile devices, increasingly exible web content, and

continued development of the networks that support

connectivity.

OverviewMobiles are increasingly always-connected devices

and not just to text messages and phone

conversations,butalsodoorwaystothecontentand

socialtapestriesoftheInternet.Thedevicesavailable

todayareextremelymulti-functionalandrobust,and

growmoresowitheachpassingyear.The NMC Horizon

Report: 2010 K-12 Editionplacedmobilesonthemid-

termhorizon,duetothegrowingroleofcellular-based

Internetservices.

Thisyear,mobileshavemovedtothenear-termhorizon

because of the riseof a new class of devices, led by

the category-dening blockbuster that is the Apple

iPad. Competing models, including the HPTouchPad

slated to launch in the summer of 2011 and

MotorolasXoomandSamsungsGalaxyTab,havenot

yetenjoyedthesuccessoftheiPad,buttogether,these

companieshavesolidiedtabletsasthenewfamilyof

mobiles to watch. Immensely portable, tablets serve

as e-readers, video repositories, and web-browsing

deviceswithinstantaccesstothousandsofappsall

inonepackagethateasilytsinabookbag,andeven

replacestheneedforthephysicalbookstherein.

Indeveloped countries,it isquite common for young

people to carry their own personal mobile devices.

In the upper grades, it is not at all unusual to nd

schools in which virtually every student carries a

mobile,eveniftheyarenotallowedtousethemduring

class. The unprecedented pace of evolution of these

devicescontinuestogenerategreatinterest,andtheir

increasing capabilities make them more useful with

eachnewproductgeneration.Theabilitytorunthird-

party applications represents a fundamental change

inthewayweregardmobilesandopensthedoorto

myriadusesforeducation,entertainment,productivity,

andsocialinteraction.

The available choices for accessing the Internet and

runningapplicationsaremanysmartphones,laptops

andtabletPCs;thenewestclassofdevices,tabletssuch

astheiPad,blends the functionsofallof them.Ithas

becomecommonpracticetodevelopwebcontentthat

seamlessly adjusts for optimal display on whichever

of these devices is used to access it, increasing the

proportion of Internet applications and information

thatisaccessibletomobileusers.ThereleaseofHTML5,

for example, has generated excitement with this

sort ofdevice exibility inmind.Mobileandwireless

data networks continue to evolve, supporting faster


MobilesTime-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

M


17/40

connections and higher bandwidth throughput, as

evidencedbytherapidadoptionof4Gdevices.

Asmorepeoplechoosetoreachforamobileratherthan

sittingatadesk toaccesstheInternet,ourviewsand

behaviors about that access are shifting. Specialized

applications allow seamless access to nancial

information,socialnetworkingsites,email,media,and

more.Tasksthatonceweregatheredintoasinglepiece

ofsoftwarethewebbrowserarenowdistributed

amongmanyapplicationsspecicallyoptimizedforthe

mobileenvironment.

Easymobile access alsomeans that the full rangeof

networkedinformationandapplicationsaccompanyus

whereverwe go.The Internet isno longer something

that is piped into homes and oces via a cable

anchored to the wall; it is a pervasive, ever-present

entity,accessiblefromanywherethereisacellsignal.

Relevance or Teaching, Learning, orCreative ExpressionThe age at which students in the developed world

acquiretheirrstmobiledeviceisdropping,andaswe

noted previously, by secondary school, nearly every

student has one. With always-on Internet, mobiles

embodytheconvergenceofseveraltechnologiesthat

lendthemselvestoeducationaluse,includingelectronic

bookreaders,annotationtools,applicationsforcreation

andcomposition,andsocialnetworkingtools.GPSand

compassesallowsophisticatedlocationandpositioning,

accelerometersandmotionsensorsenablethedevice

to be used for gesture-based computing, digital

capture and editing bring rich tools for video, audio,

and imagingmore andmore,mobiles encompass

it all, and innovation in mobile device development

continuesatanunprecedentedpace.

The portability ofmobile devices and their ability to

connecttotheInternetalmostanywheremakesthem

ideal as a store of reference materials and learning

experiences,aswellasgeneral-usetoolsforeldwork,

where they can be used to record observations viavoice,text,ormultimedia,andaccessreferencesources

inrealtime.Despitepoliciesthatbanmobiledevicesin

most schools, the iPad is changing the conversations

oncampuses.K-12schoolsareincreasinglyseeingthe

potential of mobile devices and noting that not

only are the devices themselves less expensive than

mostlaptops,theyneedlessinfrastructuretosupport

them. All of these changes have moved mobiles to

theforefrontof technologyplanningformanyschool

districts. The Burrell School District in Pennsylvania,

for instance, now allows cell phones in classrooms

expressly for assignments related to instructional

lessons.Otherinstitutionsaregraduallyfollowingsuit.

However, with the emergence of iPads and other

tablets,schoolshavebeguntolookatthesedevicesas

goodcandidatesforaone-to-onesolution.Thereisan

inherentdierencein thewayeducatorsviewtablets

vs. smartphones.While the idea ofcellphones inthe

classroomtoooftenconjuresupimagesofdisruption,

tabletsareagame-changer;theyencompassmanyof

thetoolssmartphonesoerwhilepresentinganever-

expandingcollectionoftoolsforlearning.

StudentsatScoeldMagnetMiddleSchoolinStamford,

Connecticut,aspartoftheHPCatalystInitiative,areusing

tabletsforaprojectwheretheytrackandanalyzedata

ontheimpactofwaterqualityonurbandevelopment.

These devices aord students the exibility to work

outside the classroom while encouraging student

collaboration.

Inside the classroom, tablets are transforming

traditionallessons.TheiPadeditionofThe Elements(go.

nmc.org/slgzt),forexample,depictstheperiodictable

in an interactive, three-dimensional way that could

notbereplicatedbyanyiterationofthephysicalbook.

ElementssuchasBismuthcrystalsrotateonthescreensothatclassescanviewandcontrolthemateveryangle,

asiftheywereholdingthecrystals.Theideaoftaking

somethingthatnormallyappearsatandbringingitto


Mobiles as a category have provenmore interesting and more capablewith each passing year.
http://go.nmc.org/slgzthttp://go.nmc.org/slgzthttp://go.nmc.org/slgzthttp://go.nmc.org/slgzthttp://go.nmc.org/slgzt


18/40

lifeinadeviceyoucanholdinyourhandcreatessome

veryinterestingopportunitiesfordeeperengagement

amongstudents.

Anincreasinglycompellingfunctionofthenewmobiles

istheabilitytostoreanddisplaydozensoffull-length

books. Literature, textbooks, childrens books, novels,

articles,andjournalsallteasily inapocketorpurse.

Studentscanusevirtualbookmarkstomarkimportant

pages,highlightandannotatepassages,lookupwords,

and performother common study tasks right on the

mobiledevice.ItisalsoimportanttonotethateReaders

aloneare notmakingthe transition into schools. It is

thecollectionoffeaturesapplications,theInternet,

mediacaptureandplaybackandbooksthatare

makingtabletsinterestingtoschools.

Newfeaturesarebeingaddedtowhatmobilescando

almostcontinuously,andtheunprecedentedevolution

ofthesedo-it-alldevicesitselfisdrawingagreatdealof

interest.Theirever-increasingcapabilitiesareenhanced

bythecircumstancethatschoolsdonothavetobuyor

maintainthem.Inthecomingmonths,thevastpotential

of these devices for learning will begin to outweigh

concerns aboutmisuse that currentlydominatemost

conversations about their use in school settings. It

is the sheer power of these devices that make them

interesting,andthatpowerliesintheirubiquity,their

portability,thewiderangeofthingsthatcanbedonewiththem,andtheirabilitytoaccesstheInternetnearly

anywherethroughthegrowingcellularnetwork.

A sampling of applications of mobiles across the

curriculumincludesthefollowing:

> Art.FreshmenandjuniorsatMarymountSchoolinNew

YorkareusingSketchbookProoniPadstoproduceself-

portraitsalongwithsketchesataMetropolitanMuseum

of Art exhibit. The artwork was assembled into an

ebook,turningthestudentsintopublishedartists.The

entirejourneyofintegratingiPadsintothecurriculumis

chronicledontheschoolssite(go.nmc.org/wvdrf).

> Science. Using iPhones, fth through twelfth grade

students are gathering and tracking GPS-tagged bird

sightingsaspartoftheWildLabprogram.Theresultsof

students ndingsaidtheCornell LabofOrnithology in

theirscienticresearch(go.nmc.org/vatpv).

> Social Studies.InpartnershipwithReachtheWorld,

classes at the Rafael Hernandez Dual Language

School in New York City are completing digital

mappingexercisesontablets.Themapstheycreate

usingthetechnologyonthedeviceshighlightglobal

geographicissues(go.nmc.org/myctp).

Mobiles in PracticeThefollowinglinks provideexamplesofhowmobiles

arebeingusedinschools.

City Experience

go.nmc.org/myhup

StudentsatMCLSchoolinSydney,Australiaareusing

mobilestoexplorevariousareasofthecityandproduce

content documenting their experiences, including

videos,photos,andpresentations.

The Mobile Learning Experience

go.nmc.org/zng

The Mobile Learning Experience is a yearly event

in Phoenix, Arizona where educators interested in

incorporating mobiles into their classrooms can

congregate, share ideas, and learn about the latest

mobileapplicationsandinitiatives.


K-12 schools are increasingly seeingthe potential of mobile devices and noting that not only are thedevices themselves less expensivethan most laptops, they need lessinfrastructure to support them.
http://go.nmc.org/wvdrfhttp://go.nmc.org/wvdrfhttp://go.nmc.org/vatpvhttp://go.nmc.org/vatpvhttp://go.nmc.org/myctphttp://go.nmc.org/myctphttp://go.nmc.org/myhuphttp://go.nmc.org/fiznghttp://go.nmc.org/fiznghttp://go.nmc.org/myhuphttp://go.nmc.org/myctphttp://go.nmc.org/vatpvhttp://go.nmc.org/wvdrf


19/40

Mobile Maths

go.nmc.org/bnucq

Nokiaisdeliveringinteractivestudypackagestostudents

phonesinSouthAfrica.Thecontentpullsdirectlyfrom

the school curriculum and includes tutoring, peer-to-

peersupport,andotherhelpfulexercises.

OurPlayground

go.nmc.org/tkkgf

In development at the University of Chicago,

OurPlayground is an online environment that allows

studentsofallagestodesigntheirowndatacollection

projects based on questions they create.The data is

collected through mobile devices and incorporates

informationacquiredthroughsocialnetworks.

PollEverywhere

go.nmc.org/qnwch

PollEverywhere is an online polling system that is

usedinconjunctionwithmobilephones.Itisfreefor

educatorsand the ease ofusehasmade itattractive

for classroomexercises.Millard NorthHigh School in

Omaha,Nebraskaisoneexampleofaschoolusingthis.


forthosewhowishtolearnmoreaboutmobiles.

Acceptable Use Policies in Web 2.0 & Mobile Era

go.nmc.org/chbhj

(Consortium for School Networks, www.cosn.org,

accessed3March2011.)Thiswebsitegivesanoverview

oftheguidelinesandpolicesformobileuseinschools

aroundthe United States. It addresses issues such as

cyber-bullyingandInternetltering.

Inormation Security in Education/Security Policies

or Mobile Devices

go.nmc.org/jbdfw

(WikiBooks,wikibooks.org,lastmodied30April2010.)

Thiswikibookentrydetailsconsiderationsforcellphone

useinK-12schools.Itoutlineswhattoconsiderwhen

youarewritingaplanforaschoolandoerslinkstovariouspoliciesasexamples.Thesitealsodiscussesthe

prosandconsofallowingstudentstousetheircellular

andsmartphonesinclass.

Learning in the 21st Century: Taking It Mobile!

go.nmc.org/qoshl

(Project Tomorrow, www.tomorrow.org, 29 October

2010.) Project Tomorrow and Blackboard partnered

onaseriesofreportsdocumentinghowK-12students

use mobile technology and blend it with traditional

learning.Thereportsprovideaguidetoeducatorson

trendsanddevelopmentsrelatedtomobiletechnology

intheclassroom.

M-Learning: Promises, Perils, and Challenges or

K-12 Education

go.nmc.org/zhwhb

(PatriciaWallace,Ph.D.,JohnsHopkinsUniversitySchool

of Education New Horizons Learning Journal, Winter

2011.) This article details issues and considerations

whenintegratingmobilesinK-12classrooms.

Mobile Subscriptions Hit 5 Billion Mark

go.nmc.org.ejmsy

(Ericsson, Ericsson.com, 9 July 2010). The mobileequipment and serviceprovider released information

on global mobile adoption, citing that over ve

billionpeople nowhavemobile phonesubscriptions,

underscoringtheubiquitousglobalpenetrationofthis

technology.


In the coming months, the vastpotential of these devices for learningwill begin to outweigh concernsabout misuse that currently dominatemost conversations about their use inschool settings.

Th NMC H i R 2011 K 12 Edi i18
http://go.nmc.org/bnucqhttp://go.nmc.org/tkkgfhttp://go.nmc.org/qnwuhhttp://go.nmc.org/chbhjhttp://go.nmc.org/jbdfwhttp://go.nmc.org/qoshlhttp://go.nmc.org/zhwhbhttp://go.nmc.org/ejmsyhttp://go.nmc.org/ejmsyhttp://go.nmc.org/zhwhbhttp://go.nmc.org/qoshlhttp://go.nmc.org/jbdfwhttp://go.nmc.org/chbhjhttp://go.nmc.org/qnwuhhttp://go.nmc.org/tkkgfhttp://go.nmc.org/bnucq


20/40

ame-based learning has gained considerable

traction since 2003, when James Gee began

to describe the impact of game play on

cognitive development. Since then, research

and interest in the potential of gaming on

learning has exploded, as has the diversity of games

themselves, with the emergence of serious games as a

genre, the proliferation of gaming platforms, and the

evolution of games on mobile devices. Developers and

researchers are working in every area of game-based

learning, including games that are goal-oriented;

social game environments; non-digital games that

are easy to construct and play; games developed

expressly for education; and commercial games that

lend themselves to rening team and group skills.

Role-playing, collaborative problem solving, and

other forms of simulated experiences are recognized

for having broad applicability across a wide range of

disciplines.

OverviewThe rst digital games appearedwith the rst home

computersintheearly1980s.Tenyearslater,theweb

wasborn,andgamesbegantobedeliveredoverthe

Internet.In2003,therstfullInternetserviceformobile

phones arrived in the US, bringing games to mobile

devices. The three most recent cohorts of childrenthoseborn intheearly1980s,theearly1990s,and

the early 2000shave grown up in aworld where

digitalgameshavealwaysbeenan importantpartof

theirlives.Thosebornsincetheearly1990shavenever

lived in aworld without a global network.The most

recentkidstoenterschools,thosebornsincetheearly

2000s,haveneverknownaworldinwhichthatglobal

networkwasnotaccessiblefromthepalmofyourhand.According to a recent study from the Entertainment

SoftwareAssociation,64%ofparentsbelievegamesare

apositiveforceintheirchildrenslives.Therearenow

activegamersineverygeneration;theaverageageof

gamersintheUSis35yearsold,agurenotfarofrom

themedianageof36.8forallUSresidents.

Beyond the generation-specic appreciation for

gaming, advocates point to collaboration, problem

solving, and communication as the main benets

of game-based learning. In the National Education

Technology Plan, U.S. Secretary of Education Anne

Duncannamedgamingasanidealmethodofassessing

student knowledge comprehension, citing the ability

ofgamestoprovideimmediateperformancefeedback

to the players. Students are engaged because they

aremotivatedtodobetter,gettothenextlevel,and

succeed. Proponents also underscore the productive

role of play, which allows for experimentation, the

explorationofidentities,andevenfailure.

Earlystudiesofconsumergameshelpedtoidentifythe

aspectsofgamesthatmakethemespeciallyengaging

and appealingto playersofvariousages andofboth

genders: the feeling of working toward a goal; the

possibilityofattainingspectacularsuccesses;theability

toproblem-solve,collaboratewithothers,andsocialize;

aninterestingstoryline;andothercharacteristics.These

qualitiesarereplicableforeducationalcontent,though

theycanbediculttodesignwell.Thischallengeiswhygame-based learning continues to be placed on the

mid-termhorizon.

Onewaytoengagestudentswitheducationalgaming

istogivethemahandindesigninggames.TheNational

STEMVideoGameChallenge(go.nmc.org/zsyof)recently

selectedwinnersfortheYouthPrize,announcedbythe

UnitedStatesChiefTechnologyOcer,AneeshChopra,which targetedmiddle schoolstudents tocreate their

owngamesplayableonopenorfreegamingplatforms.

Theideabehindthechallengewasthatitwouldbuild


Game-BasedLearningTime-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

G

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both critical-thinking and creative design skills. The

contestshowedthatnotonlydostudentshaveaninterest

indesigninggames;itrevealedthattheacademy itself

hastakenmajorstridesinacceptingandpromoting

gamingasanimportantlearningvehicle.

Anotherareaofgamingthatisincreasinglyinterestingto

schoolsissimulation-basedgames.Militariesworldwide

haveadoptedgamesandsimulationsacrosstheentire

range of skills training they provide, and the game-

designinsightsfromthattremendousbodyofworkare

beginning to inform simulations designed for school

children. A good example is EVOKE, an educational

game with real-world applications, developed by

theWorld Bank Institute and theWorld Bank Group

anddirectedbygamemasterJaneMcGonigal.Foran

intenseten-weekperiod,playersages13andupwere

facedwithchallengestoinventandimplementcreative

solutions to pressing social issues, including food

security,disasterrelief,andhumanrights.Whengame

design isof suciently highquality, it is increasingly

clearthattheseapproachescandeeplyengagestudents

inlearning.

Relevance or Teaching, Learning, orCreative ExpressionDigitaleducationalgameshavebeen incommonuse

foralongtime,bothinclassroomsandathome.The

earliest forms were single-player drill and practice

gamessuchasReader RabbitorMath Blaster.Now,were

beginningtoseemoreexamplesandamuchmore

dedicated following at the university level. While

gamesandgame-basedlearningcontinuetogenerate

interest and relevancy in the K-12 sector, the scarcity

ofquality educationalgames is impedingmore rapidadoption.Theproductionrequirementsseeninpopular

consumer games thus far have exceeded education

providers abilities tobuild them. InThe NMC Horizon

Report: 2010 K-12 Editiongame-basedlearningwasalso

positionedonthemid-termhorizon,andthatremains

the case today, although itdoes seem tobegaining

acceptance.

Nonetheless, digital subject mastery games are

continuing to gain momentum in K-12 classes. A

good example is Immune Attack (go.nmc.org/jgsgz),

developed by the Federation of American Scientists,

whichintegrateskeybiologyconceptsaboutconnective

tissueand redandwhitebloodcellsinto theplot.On

thesurface,whatmakesgameslikethismoreengaging

tostudentsisthattheendgoaloflearningispackaged

in the formofanexciting, alternate reality, or, in the

caseof Immune Attack,analienworld.Thesetypesof

gamesmakesuccessfullearningaidsbecausestudents

arewillingtoplaythemmorefrequentlyandforlonger

periods oftime than theywouldotherwise studythe

materialinquestion.

Thisyear,therehasalsobeenagreatdealoftraction

surroundingonlinegamesandgameappsformobile

devices. Schools are beginning the transition from

blocking web-based games to integrating them into

their classrooms and curriculum. There are many

free games designed for K-12 students, such as The

Hexagon Story (go.nmc.org/aneal), an award-winningalternate reality game (ARG) inwhich studentsmust

solveamysterybyansweringinitiationquestionsacross

multipledisciplinesand following clues sent to them

viaemail,textmessages,etc.fromctitiouscharacters.

Games in the form of apps have increased with the

explosionof smartphonesand tablets.Mind Snacks is

apopularappintheiTunesstorethatboostsstudents

foreignlanguageskillsanduency.PopMath Basic Mathisanotherwell-receivediPadgameappthatturnsthe

notionofashcardsintoatimedoruntimedgamelled

withcolorfulbubblestosharpenarithmeticskills.

AdigitalcounterparttotheseactivitiesistheGlobalKids

GamingInitiative,whichusesonlinegamestopromote

digitalliteracyskills,globalawareness,andcitizenship

amongyoungpeople.UrbanyouthtakingpartinGlobalKidsPlaying4Keepsprogramcreateandplaygames

aboutsocialissuesofglobalsignicance.Designingand

developinggamesisanotherwaytobringgamesinto

19Time-to-AdoptionHorizon:TwotoThreeYears

The productive role of play allowsfor experimentation, the explorationof identities, and even failure.

http://go.nmc.org/jgsgzhttp://go.nmc.org/jgsgzhttp://go.nmc.org/anealhttp://go.nmc.org/anealhttp://go.nmc.org/anealhttp://go.nmc.org/jgsgz


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the curriculum. Good game design involves research,

creativethinking,theabilitytoenvisionbothproblems

andsolutions,andmanyotherlearningskills.Thisyear,

GlobalKidsembarkedintrainingfortheSeriousGames

Leadership Program; participating children designed

gamesaroundrealworldissues,suchashydrationand

poverty, acquiring creative design and collaboration

skills,aswellasabetterknowledgeofglobalproblems.

As gaming and the science of engagement become

better understood, we are likely to see signicant

investment in large-scale educational games. The

compelling nature of Massively Multiplayer Online

(MMO)gamesinparticularisattractingresearchersand

educators whoappreciate the revolutionarypower of

including games in the curriculum.World of Warcraft

continuestobeapopulargamethatisintegratedinto

schools and a standard by which to measure other

MMOgames.Theroleofthesesortsofgames inK-12

education isto fostercollaborationanddigitalliteracy.

Inplayingthem,studentsmustlearnhowtoreachagoal

togetherwhere the obstacles are oftenother people.

Theyprovidelessonsinbothacademicsandreallife.

Researchandexperiencearestartingtoshowthatgames

canclearlybeappliedveryeectivelyinmanylearning

contexts.Gamescanengagelearnersinwaysothertoolsandapproachescannot,andtheirvalueforlearninghas

beenestablishedthroughresearch.Weknowmoreabout

howgamesworkandhowtoapplythemtoteachingand

learningthanweeverhave,and thatunderstandingis

increasing.Educationingeneralisstillafewyearsaway

from embracing games as mainstream practice, but

given the exciting results coming from game-based

research,theyareclearlyaspacetowatch.

A sampling of applications of game-based learning

acrossthecurriculumincludesthefollowing:

> Language Arts. In Florida, Palm Beach Gardens

High School is integratingyoungadult novels into

a language arts social network using Community

of Reading Engagement, a web-based game showformatmethodologybasedonhigherorderthinking

skills(go.nmc.org/ujriu).

> Mathematics.Studentsacrossthecountry,including

FoxRunElementarySchoolinSanAntonio,Texas,are

usingtheBrainPopwebsiteandappabestsellerin

theiTunesstoretowatchshort,animatedmovies

on topics, such as price comparison. The students

then take interactive quizzes to demonstrate the

knowledgetheyhavegained(go.nmc.org/hrllk).

> Media Literacy. The World of Warcraft (WoW) in

School Project engages at-risk students at Suern

Middle School in NewYork and Cape FearMiddle

SchoolinNorthCarolinainanafterschoolprogram

thatteachesskillsincommunication,digitalliteracy,

online safety,mathematics,and leadershipthrough

gameplay(go.nmc.org/ldz).

Game-Based Learning in PracticeThefollowinglinksprovideexamplesofhoweducational

gamesarebeingusedinschools.

A Crash Course in Saving the World

go.nmc.org/tjwmt

EVOKEdeveloped a free and open social networking

game that simulates real global issues to empower

peopletondnewandinnovativesolutions.

Finding Identitygo.nmc.org/zjjig

Finding Identity is a social science game that teaches

K-12 students about history, culture, and life values

using a 21st century approach to storytelling and

collaborativepuzzlesolving.

Ghosts o a Chance

go.nmc.org/rrbbwGhosts of a Chance allows visitors to the Smithsonian

American Art Museum a chance to decipher codes,

followtreasuremaps,sendtextmessages,anduncover

hiddenobjectsinthismultimediascavengerhunt.

Quest Atlantis

go.nmc.org/hisxo

Designed for students, ages 9-16, Quest Atlantis is asimulated, 3D learning environment that combines

strategies from commercial gaming with educational

researchonwhatmotivateschildrentolearn.Students


21Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
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participating in this game learn and apply skills in

multiple disciplines, including mathematics and

environmentalsciences.

Quest to Learn

go.nmc.org/gdayk

QuesttoLearnisanentirepublicschoolinNewYork

City founded in 2009 devoted to teaching children

through game play. Among other key features, the

schoolisfocusedonrigorouscollegepreparationand

inquiry-basedlearning.

World Without Oil

go.nmc.org/shzdy

World without Oil was a collaborative and social

imagining of the rst 32 weeks of a global oil crisis.

Thesimulationwasdesignedforparticipantstogaina

betterunderstandingofdisasterresponse.


for thosewhowish tolearnmoreaboutgame-based

learning.

By 2015, More Than 50 Percent o Organizations

That Manage Innovation Processes will Gamiy

those Processesgo.nmc.org/tvsop

(Gartner Newsroom, Gartner.com, 12 April 2011.)

Analysts at the 2011 Gartner Enterprise Architecture

Summit are exploring the employment of game

mechanics across various sectors of the workplace,

includingtraining,innovation,andmarketing.

Gaming Educationgo.nmc.org/levhm

(ElizabethCorcoran, OReilly Radar, 27October 2010.)

This insightful post discusses the three predominate

typesofgamingineducation:classicedu-techgames,

build-your-owngames,andthegamicationapproach

to teaching in general. The author looks at these

approachesandhowtheyalldierintheintegrationof

gamingintotheK-12learningexperience.

How Social Gaming is Improving Schools

go.nmc.org/wypau

(Greg Ferenstein, Mashable.com, 7 February 2010.)

This article points to collaborative, digital games

thataddressrealworldproblemsasameanstomake

educationmoreexcitingtostudentsthanthestandard

textbookmethods.

How Video Games Are Infltrating and Improving

Every Part o Our Lives

go.nmc.org/vmnqz

(Adam L. Penenberg, Fast Company, 13 December

2010.) This article discusses how gaming culture is

becomingpartofeverydaycultureandwillonlygrow

inimportanceinthefuture.CarnegieMellonprofessor

JesseSchellandInstitutefortheFutureresearcherJane

McGonigalareproledassomeoftheleadingthinkers

inthisarea.

The New Games People Play: How Game Mechanics

Have Changed In The Age O Social Media

go.nmc.org/uhppm

(AlexiaTsotsis,TechCrunch,1 August 2010.)This post

presentshowgaminghaschangedintheageofsocial

mediaandonlinecommunication.Issuesaroundwhat

makes games addictive and how they are integrated

into the realworld are addressed inaddition tohowgamemechanicsmaychangeinthefutureasaresult

ofsocialmedia.

Reality is Broken, Game Designers Can Fix It

go.nmc.org/egymq

(JaneMcGonigal,InstitutefortheFuture,2010.)ThisTED

talkadvocatesincorporatingprinciplesofgamedesign

intotherealworldtoeectsocialchange.Shepointstogamesaswaystolearnhowtocombathunger,poverty,

andclimatechangeandattaintheepicwin.

21Time to AdoptionHorizon:TwotoThreeYears

http://go.nmc.org/gdaykhttp://go.nmc.org/shzdyhttp://go.nmc.org/tvsophttp://go.nmc.org/levhmhttp://go.nmc.org/wypauhttp://go.nmc.org/vmnqzhttp://go.nmc.org/uhppmhttp://go.nmc.org/egymqhttp://go.nmc.org/egymqhttp://go.nmc.org/uhppmhttp://go.nmc.org/vmnqzhttp://go.nmc.org/wypauhttp://go.nmc.org/levhmhttp://go.nmc.org/tvsophttp://go.nmc.org/shzdyhttp://go.nmc.org/gdayk


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he movement toward open content reects a

growing shift in the way academics in many

parts of the world are conceptualizing education

to a view that is more about the process of

learning than the information conveyed in their

courses. Information is everywhere; the challenge is

to make eective use of it. Open content embraces

not only the sharing of information, but the sharing

of instructional practice and experiences as well.

Part of the appeal of open content is that it is also

a response to both the rising costs of traditionally published resources and the lack of educational

resources in some regions. It presents a cost-eective

alternative to textbooks and other materials. As

customizable educational content and insights

about how to teach and learn with it is increasingly

made available for free over the Internet, students are

learning not only the material, but also skills related

to nding, evaluating, interpreting, and repurposingthe resources they are studying in partnership with

their teachers.

OverviewOpencontent,asdescribedhere,hasitsrootsinanumber

ofseminal eorts, including the OpenContentProject,

MITs Open Courseware Initiative (OCW), the Open

KnowledgeFoundation,andworkbytheWilliamandFloraHewlettFoundationandothers.Manyoftheseprojects

focused on creating collections of sharable resources

and ondevising licenses and metadata schemata. The

groundswellofinterestinopencontentdescribedhereis

dierentiatedfromearlyworkbyitsprimaryfocusonthe

useofopencontentanditsplaceinthecurriculum.The

roleofopencontentproducershasevolvedaswell,away

fromtheideaofauthoritativerepositoriesofcontentandtowardsthebroadernotionofcontentbeingbothfree

andubiquitous.While universitiesultimately paved the

wayforopencontentasaninstrumentalclassroomtool,

itsrecententranceintheK-12sectorispartlyrootedinthe

nancialbenets.Forexample,launchedinSouthAfrica,

FreeHighSchoolScienceTextbooksservesdisadvantaged

schools by providing royalty-free, open source books

writtenbyvolunteerexperts.

This philosophy ofopen contentandopen education

acknowledges that information isnot the only useful

and distributable commodity among educators.

Understanding, insight, and experience can also be

collectedandshared.Anoutgrowthofthatperspectiveis the emergence of open-content textbooks that

can beremixed that is, customized, modied, or

combinedwithothermaterialsandtheresultingnew

combinations shared in turn. A number ofpublishers

are nding ways to support authors and consumers

of suchmaterials.The publishing companyFlatWorld

Knowledge providesaccess to textbooksauthoredfor

openuse,makingitveryeasyforfacultytoindividuallytailor a text for use in their own classand thenshare

thatcustomtextwiththelargercommunity.FlatWorld

Knowledge operatesas any publisherdoes, reviewing

book submissions and using a traditional editing

processbeforerelease;however,electroniccopiesofthe

textbooksarefree.Studentsonlypayforprintcopiesif

desired,andauthorsreceiveroyaltiesforthesepurchases

whetherthebookhasbeencustomizedornot.

Atthecenterofmanydiscussionsofopencontentarethe

challengesofsharing,repurposing,andreusingscholarly

works; related tothosediscussionsare concernsabout

intellectual property, copyright, andstudent-to-student

collaboration.GroupssuchasCreativeCommons,Creative

Commons Australia, the Academic Commons, Science

Commons,andothershavedonesolidworkinthisareato address these concerns. Many believe that reward

structuresthatsupportthesharingofworkinprogress,

ongoing research, and highly collaborative projects,

p

OpenContentTime-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

T



25/40

alongwith a broad view ofwhat constitutes scholarly

publication,arekeychallengesthatinstitutionsneedto

solve.Additionally,moreresearchandworkneedtobe

devoted to reputation systems, peer review processes,

andmodelsforcitationofthenewformsofcontentthat

arelikelyoutgrowthsofopencontentinitiatives.

Whileanumberof highly structured projects exist to

provide access toopen content, ingeneral,the open

contentcommunityisdiusedanddistributed.Learning

to nd useful resources within a given discipline, to

assessthequalityofcontentavailable,andtorepurpose

theminsupportofa learningorresearchobjectiveare

valuableskillsforanyemergingscholar.Manyadherents

ofopencontentlistthataspectamongthereasonsthey

support the use of shareable materials. Nonetheless,

broad use of open learning materials, specically in

K-12schools,remainsatleasttwoyearsaway,andthe

larger promise ofopen content inwhichteachingand learning experiences and insights are shared as

easilyasinformationwilltakeevenlongertorealize.

Forthepresent,thecreationoflearningmaterialsisstill

more a process of designdrivenby individual tastes

andopinionsthanacollaborativeprocessinvolvingthe

contributionsandviewsofmany.

Relevance or Teaching, Learning, orCreative ExpressionSharablematerials reduce teacher workloads as they

donotneedtoberecreatedfromscratch.Thesameset

ofmaterials,onceplacedonlineandmadesharablevia

theappropriatelicensing,canalsoinformawidevariety

oflearningmodalities,nottheleastofwhichislearning

forthesheerjoyofdiscovery.Additionally,theuseof

opencontentpromotesasetofskillsthatarecriticalinmaintainingcurrencyinanyareaofstudytheability

tond,evaluate,andputnewinformationtouse.The

same cannot be said for many textbooks, which can

be cumbersome, unchanging, and particularly costly

for K-12 schools. Not-for-prot providers Curriki and

Wikibooks are building ever-growing platforms lled

withfree,opensourcetextbooksthatareeasytond.

Asmore faculty and administrators become aware of

andexperienceopencontent,itscomparativebenets

and challenges vis--vis traditional learning resources

are becomingbetter understood. Open resources are

generally,thoughnotalways,electronic.Theyareeasier

toupdatethanprintmaterials.Becausetheyaredigitalin

nature,openlearningmaterialscanincorporateactivities

tosupportmultiplemodesofstudyreading,listening,

interactingthoughtheycanbechallengingtocreate

asaresult.Asnewcoursesaredeveloped,facultyhavea

responsibilitytocarefullyconsiderthebestsupporting

materials and activities to oer to students, and a

thorough understandingofwhat is available through

openchannelswillassistwiththis.

Becauseopencontentismorewidespread,schoolsarebeginning tofeela social responsibility tocreateand

share their content.Utilizing anddeveloping content

isnolongeraboutbeingexperimental;ithasbecome

themarkofaworld-classinstitution.Takingthisnotion

even further, some universities, including Universitat

ObertadeCatalunya,havebuilttheirentirecurriculum

aroundopensourcematerials.AhandfulofK-12schools

are beginning to follow suit. The Open High Schoolof Utah reects the recent embracement of open

contentintheK-12space.Thisonlineschoolmanages

to conduct one-on-one tutoring with every student

acrossalldisciplineswithafocusonfosteringpersonal

responsibility perhaps one of the most important

valuesofopencontent.TheBeringStraitSchoolDistrict

in Alaska launched an open content initiative that

includesmathematicsandsocialstudiescurriculumasasupplementtotraditionalclasses.WhileK-12examples

of this caliber are rare, those that doexist are being

followedwithagreatdealofinterest.

The role of open content producershas evolved as well, away from theidea of authoritative repositoriesof content and towards the broadernotion of content being both free andubiquitous.

The NMC Horizon Repor t: 2011 K-12 Edition24


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Open content continues to inuence course

development and planning on several levels. Few

teacherswill reusematerialas-is;mostwillcustomize

theopencontent theyndtosuit theirlocal context.

Inmanycases,thebenetsofadaptingopenmaterials

obviouslyoutweighthecostofcreatingnewones,but

thisisnottheonlyfactorunderconsideration;thereisa

strongimpulsetodesignfromscratchorrelyonfamiliar

resources.The typical processof coursedevelopment

doesnotalwayslenditselftotheuseofopencontent.

Asamplingofapplicationsforopencontentacrossthe

curriculumincludesthefollowing:

> History.UsingthepresentationfeatureofneoK12,a

resourceoffreevideos,quizzes,andmore,students

select Creative Commons photos of the American

CivilWarfromFlickrtobuildhighlyvisualslidesfor

classpresentations.Thepresentationcanbecreated,edited, and saved in a web browser (go.nmc.org/

wkfeu).

> Science.TheK-12wikiprojectCurrikiisanexample

of extensiveopen content that has been provided

throughanetworkofeducationpartnersforuseby

educatorsandstudents.Educatorsacrosstheworld

have contributed K-12 science exercises, includingNational Geographics Water Footprint Calculator,

which teaches students the importance of water

conservation(go.nmc.org/gmgvm).

> STEM Education.CK-12isanon-protorganization,

striving to provide a robust selection of textbooks

at signicantly lower costs. With CK-12 Flexbooks,

students and teachers choose from a wide range

of open content textbooks, specic to science,

technology,engineering,andmathematics( go.nmc.

org/lajit).

Open Content in PracticeThe following links provide examples of how open

contentisbeingusedinschools.

K12EdCom An Educational Commons

go.nmc.org/njtrx

K12EdCom An Educational Commons is a project

designed to promote and publish OpenCourseWare

contentforK-12schools.

Open High School, Utahgo.nmc.org/wesdn

The Open High School of Utah is an online charter

high school that leverages next-generation learning

technology and strategic one-on-one tutoring to

provide students with signicantly better learning

experiences.

Open Resourcesgo.nmc.org/heziv

InSouthAfrica,FreeHighSchoolScienceTextscreateda

programwheremathandsciencetextbooksareopenly

licensedandroyalty-free.

Thinkfnity

go.nmc.org/zdxch

ThinknityisaprojectbytheVerizonFoundationtoputmanyK-12educationresourcesonlineforfreeaccessby

studentsandteachers.Itisanaggregationofcontent

thatreectsdiscplinesfromarttomathematics.

Wikibooks

go.nmc.org/abqyz

Theseopencontentbookstaketextbookannotationsto

thenextlevelstudentscaneditthecontentandsharetheircontributionswitheachotherinreal-time.Thesite

oersaplethoraoftextbooksacrossmostdisciplines.

Schools are beginning to feel asocial responsibility to create andshare their content. Utilizing anddeveloping content is no longerabout being experimental; it hasbecome the mark of a world-classinstitution.

http://go.nmc.org/wkfeuhttp://go.nmc.org/wkfeuhttp://go.nmc.org/wkfeuhttp://go.nmc.org/gmgvmhttp://go.nmc.org/gmgvmhttp://go.nmc.org/lajithttp://go.nmc.org/lajithttp://go.nmc.org/lajithttp://go.nmc.org/njtrxhttp://go.nmc.org/wesdnhttp://go.nmc.org/hezivhttp://go.nmc.org/zdxchhttp://go.nmc.org/abqyzhttp://go.nmc.org/abqyzhttp://go.nmc.org/zdxchhttp://go.nmc.org/hezivhttp://go.nmc.org/wesdnhttp://go.nmc.org/njtrxhttp://go.nmc.org/lajithttp://go.nmc.org/lajithttp://go.nmc.org/gmgvmhttp://go.nmc.org/wkfeuhttp://go.nmc.org/wkfeu


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forthosewhowishtolearnmoreaboutopencontent.

Currikis Christine Mytko: Open Education and Policy

go.nmc.org/xextv

(Jane Park, CreativeCommons.org, 5 August 2010.)

Cristine Mytko, lead science reviewer with the open

sourcewikiprojectCurriki,discussestheroleofCurriki

andopencontentpolicyinK-12education.

How To Get Started with Open Source in K-12

go.nmc.org/hvnpf

(NatashaWanchek,thejournal.com,15July2010.)This

article explores how K-12 schools can integrate and

useopencontent.Anumberofexpertsintheareagive

examplesofwaysthatschoolscanembracethisform

ofcontent.

A K12 Educators Guide t

2011 horizon report k12

Documents