ETEC 522 – September 2012

New Media Consortium 2012 Horizon Report

I looked at the New Media Consortium 2012 Horizon Report. Initially I spent some time trying to figure out a bit about the NMC. At times the internet feels a bit like the wild west, and I like to know before I read who is in charge of putting out what I’m reading, as that, in itself, can impact its relevance or value to me. As an educator I would want to know the “hidden agenda” before I started using tools in the classroom, as a learning technologies specialist I would want to know whether the research was done by professionals and as an investor I would want to know how valid the viewpoints of the individuals would be in the marketplace.

What I found out, I liked. The NMC has ties to major world players and relies on a wide variety of internet and text sources to get their information. They have a readership of 1,ooo,000 from 100 different countries and they have 47 individuals from varying education and technology backgrounds as their advisors.

Once I was comfortable with who NMC was I was also impressed with the way they presented their information. As an educator I want fast access to resources. I could easily find small examples of real-world use as well as possibilities for the future. I also liked the timeline of implementation. In addition, they keep their format the same each year they put out the report, which would make it easy to use in the future.

There were things on the report that I added to my iPhone as I read to look at more closely, so the accessibility and usefulness of the media was immediate for myself. I would certainly recommend it to others and I think it would be easy enough for less tech-savvy educators to understand and use.

I felt that the majority of information was useful and valuable. There was little space wasted and I could see it being of use to anyone involved or interested in learning technologies.