Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Regional Analysis

The "Technology Outlook Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Regional Analysis" reflects a collaborative research effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and Open Universities Australia to help inform Australian educational leaders about significant developments in technologies supporting teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in tertiary education. 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 teaching, learning, or creative inquiry in Australian tertiary education over the next five years. The "Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018" was produced to explore emerging technologies and forecast their potential impact expressly in a tertiary education context. In the effort that took place over February and March 2013, a carefully selected group of experts was asked to consider 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 Australian tertiary education over the next five years. Known as the 2013 Horizon Project Australia Advisory Board, that group of experts consists of notably knowledgeable individuals, all highly regarded in their fields. Collectively the advisory board represents a range of diverse perspectives across the education sector. Presented are 12 "technologies to watch," that are profiled, each on a single page that describes and defines a technology ranked as very important for Australian tertiary 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. This report in general, constitutes 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 creative inquiry in Australian tertiary education.