Technology Outlook for STEM+ Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Sector Analysis
Author: Johnson, L.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Technology Uses in Education,Computer Uses in Education,Adoption (Ideas),Technological Advancement,Electronic Learning,Handheld Devices,Computer Simulation,Printing,Games,Internet,Artificial Intelligence,STEM Education,Influence of Technology,Elementary Secondary Education,Higher Education

The &quot;Technology Outlook for STEM+ Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Sector Analysis&quot; reflects a collaborative research effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC), the Centro Superior para la Enseñanza Virtual (CSEV), the Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Control at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Education Society (IEEE) to inform education leaders about significant developments in technologies supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. The addition of the &quot;+&quot; in the acronym incorporates the applications of communication and digital media technologies into the traditional four areas of study. All of the research underpinning the report makes use of the NMC's Delphi-based process for bringing groups of experts to a consensus viewpoint, in this case around the impact of emerging technologies on STEM+ education over the next five years. The same process underlies the NMC Horizon Report series, the most visible product of an ongoing research effort begun in 2002 to systematically identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on education around the globe. The &quot;Technology Outlook for STEM+ Education 2013-2018&quot; was produced to explore emerging technologies and forecast their potential impact expressly in a STEM+ context. In the effort that ran from August through September 2013, the carefully selected group of 39 experts who contributed to this report considered hundreds of relevant articles, news, blog posts, research, and project examples as part of the preparation that ultimately pinpointed the most notable emerging technology topics, trends, and challenges for STEM+ education over the next five years. The report presents 12 &quot;technologies to watch,&quot; profiled, each on a single page that describes and defines a technology ranked as very important for STEM+ education over the next year, two to three years, and four to five years. Each page opens with a carefully crafted definition of the highlighted technology, outlines its educational relevance, points to several real life examples of its current use, and ends with a short list of additional readings for those who wish to learn more. The key sections of this report, in general, constitute a reference and straightforward technology-planning guide for educators, researchers, administrators, policymakers, and technologists. It is our hope that this research will help to inform the choices that institutions are making about technology to improve, support, or extend teaching, learning, and research across STEM+ education. [This project was made possible by a grant from the Centro Superior para la Enseñanza Virtual (CSEV).]