This is an infographic posted on the Online Colleges website. This company’s purpose is to be a resource for students regarding online education. The infographic is based on predictions from edudemic.com and was published on January 23, 2013. The major technologies identified were:
- SMS
- Social media
- MOOC
- 3D printing
- digital text books
- virtual counseling
- game based learning
- BYOD
- Cloud storage
- open text books
Each item listed is followed by a few examples of how it can / or has been used in education.
Analysis
Pros: This gives the reader a brief overview of technologies that are predicted to expand within the educational community. The graphic and colorful nature of the article is easy to read and remember.
Cons: Due to its brevity, the article lacks several components that other trend reports have incorporated. These would include infrastructure/support/technical aspects needed to utilize the technology, data and statistics on past experiences with the technology in education (if there is any), challenges of incorporating the technology, impact on education, educators, institutions, etc.
Overall impression: I think this article is a good starting point, especially for educators in the broader community. It’s brief and to the point which is sometimes all we really want. It gives us an idea of what is out there and what to look out for. However as a learning tech specialist or venturer, the info on this page is sparse. It may be a good starting point but a much more detailed report would be more valuable. As a venturer or learning tech specialist, further research would need to be done. I would recommend this page for anyone looking for a quick overview and will visit it again in the future for this purpose. But if I wanted to look into incorporating one of these technologies in my practice/institution or invest in it, I would look at other resources.
From onlinecolleges.net
This was definitely one of the shorter of the different emerging market projections, but I thought, for its length, was quite concise.
I am more interested in the current trend of infographics in general. If I were to visit most of these tools, this one would stand out as I am drawn to the idea of the infographic and how good inffographics cause you to be drawn across/down the page. This infographic contained a cable-like line that connected the various graphics representations on the page.
Like you I think that this a great tool for the average educator, but specialists would need to “dig a little deeper” (my daughter would love that I used a lyric from “The Princess and the Frog” in my course!).
I like it, myself. Concise, pointed, clear.
I’m not always interested in an in-depth overview on the first pass. I’m more interested in the list and the relative rankings of the trends. If I want more info I might choose to do a deep dive in one or two areas.
I think we have optimize as much as possible as EVA’s, given the quantity of information available. You’ll start to think more about optimization as you begin to consider the essentials of a “pitch.”
I agree that the use of infographics as an emerging trend is very interesting. There is definitely a difference between good ones and bad ones. I am always amazed how much information can be presented in this form and still be appealing – if it is done properly.