Melbourne, Australia (May 27, 2016) -- The New Media Consortium (NMC) and Open Universities Australia (OUA) are releasing the 2016 NMC Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education in Australia at a dedicated series of meetings and public conversations. The fifth edition of this Australia-focused regional report describes findings from the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on teaching, learning, and creative inquiry.
Nine key trends, nine significant challenges, and twelve important developments in technology are identified across three adoption horizons over the next five years, giving Australian university leaders, decision-makers, and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning. The report will provide these leaders with in-depth insight into how the trends and challenges are accelerating and impeding the adoption of educational technology for tertiary education institutions in Australia.
"Year after year, this report is one of my favorites because of how much innovation is happening at Australian institutions," said Samantha Becker, Senior Director of NMC Horizon Project. "There is a clear national priority around generating learning opportunities that tie course activities to real-world applications. Universities and VET programmes in Australia are continuing to find new ways to set students up for career success. This is especially evident in the expert panel's selection of makerspaces and authentic, deeper learning approaches as noteworthy topics featured in the report."
Brenda Frisk, Co-principle Investigator and Head of Learning Technology at OUA's Education Solutions, explains that Australia's focus on creating authentic learning experiences is being translated into a growth of education mechanisms and technology that facilitate immersive and entrepreneurial learning.
"Creating collaborative and multidisciplinary learning environments, such as virtual and physical makerspaces, are rising in importance for Australian institutions as an effective solution for equipping students with real-world skills and creating authentic experiences. Through technology, the goal is to create interconnected learning environments online, which behave like learning ecosystems."
Key Trends Accelerating Educational Technology Adoption in Australian Tertiary Education
The 2016 NMC Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education identifies "Increasing Value of the User Experience," "Rethinking How Institutions Work," and "Rise of More Authentic Assessment" as long-term trends that for years have affected decision-making and will continue to accelerate the adoption of educational technology in Australian institutions over the next five years. "Growing Focus on Measuring Learning," "Redesigning Learning Spaces," and "Shift to Deeper Learning Approaches" are mid-term trends expected to drive technology use in the next three to five years; meanwhile, "Growth of Competency-Based Education," Increasing Use of Blended Learning Designs," and "Increasing Use of Collaborative Learning Approaches" are short-term trends, anticipated to impact international schools in the region for the next one to two years before becoming commonplace or fading away.
Significant Challenges Impeding Educational Technology Adoption in Australian Tertiary Education
A number of challenges are acknowledged as barriers to the mainstream use of technology in Australian tertiary education. "Blending Formal and Formal Learning," "Creating Authentic Learning Opportunities," and "Improving Digital Literacy" are perceived as solvable challenges, meaning they are well-understood and solutions have been identified. "Competing Models of Education," "Rethinking the Roles of Educators," and "Under-resourced Campus Infrastructure" are considered difficult challenges, which are defined and well understood but with solutions that are elusive. Described as wicked challenges are "Balancing Our Connected and Unconnected Lives," "Keeping Formal Education Relevant," and "Scaling Instructional Innovations." Challenges in this category are complex to define, making them more difficult to address.
Important Developments in Educational Technology for Australian Tertiary Education
Additionally, the report identifies BYOD, flipped classroom, learning analytics, and online learning as digital strategies and technologies expected to enter mainstream use in the first horizon of one year or less. Adaptive learning technologies, location intelligence, makerspaces, and wearable technology are seen in the second horizon of two to three years; affective computing, augmented reality, machine learning, and networked objects are seen emerging in the third horizon of four to five years.
The report also explores how the topic selections of the 2016 Australian expert panel compare to those of the 2016 global expert panel as well as the 2015 Australian panel, as summarised in the below table.
The subject matter in this report was identified through a qualitative research process designed and conducted by the NMC that engaged an Australian body of experts in tertiary education, technology, business, and other fields around a set of research questions designed to surface significant trends and challenges. The Australian expert panel was also asked to identify emerging technologies that have a strong likelihood of adoption in Australian institutions. The report details the areas in which these experts were in strong agreement.
The 2016 NMC Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education is available online, free of charge, and is released under a Creative Commons license to facilitate its widespread use, easy duplication, and broad distribution.
<a _fcksavedurl="http://> Download the report " href="http://> Download the report ">> Download the report </a>(PDF)
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About the New Media Consortium (NMC)
Founded in 1993, the NMC is an international community of experts in educational technology -- from the practitioners who work with new technologies on campuses every day; to the visionaries who are shaping the future of learning at think tanks, labs, and research centers; to its staff and board of directors; to the expert panels and others helping the NMC conduct cutting edge research. The role of the NMC is to help hundreds of member universities, colleges, museums, and organizations drive innovation across their campuses. This is accomplished by the NMC performing research that catalyzes discussion, convening people around new ideas, and building communities that encourage exploration and experimentation. To learn more, visit www.nmc.org.
About Open Universities Australia
Owned by seven of Australia's premier universities, Open Universities Australia (OUA) is the national leader in quality online tertiary education. Enrolling more than 250,000 students since 1993, OUA provides access to over 1,700 units and 180 qualifications taught by more than 20 leading Australian universities and tertiary education providers. To learn more, visit www.open.edu.au.
