The COSN 2020 K12 Driving Innovation: Technology Enablers report, after multiple rounds of Delphi-like voting by more than 102 members of their International Advisory Board of distinguished educational technology experts, has a lot to say about trendsetting ed-tech developments. In this last in my series of three articles we will focus on five enablers that, according to the Driving K12 Innovation expert panel, will enable ed-tech adoption to grow deeper roots, be sustained over time and flourish. The full enablers report can be accessed here.
To begin, let’s clarify the notion of an ‘enabler’. The report defines ‘enablers’ as those tools that “grease the wheels” for schools to surmount the many Hurdles and leverage a few powerful Accelerators discussed in my previous articles in this series (links provided). My own sense of things, however, is to view ‘enablers’ as fertile soil that allows a company’s technology to take solid root, to sprout and grow, and not just wither away at the sight of the “next bright shiny object”. Enablers give you “staying power”.
Although the 2020 Driving Innovation: Technology Enablers report largely speaks for itself, in this piece I will offer a bit of translation and connection. With full disclosure, I must mention that I served as one of the 102 world-wide panelists who developed this report over many months. Serving as a panelist for the report for the last seven years (Driving K–12 Innovation is the successor to the New Media Consortium’s Horizon K–12 reports, a decade-long series that ended in 2017), I can add beneficial nuance to the findings, from an insider’s perspective.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the 2020 tech enablers:
Digital Collaboration Platforms. The 2020 Driving Innovation: Technology Enablers report identifies “digital spaces and tools that enable local and global collaboration” as the enabler carrying the most weight in the rankings. Collaborative technologies are becoming increasingly dominant in education settings.
Tools for Privacy and Safety Online. With the growing concerns of educators over student cybersafety, the report also emphasizes the importance of “tools and resources that help to ensure online privacy and safety of learners”.
Analytics and Adaptive Technologies. Although truly adaptive software is seen as more aspirational than immediately available, the panel experts define this category as “technology that measures, analyzes and customizes learning”. Measuring and analyzing technologies are currently widely available, but once that technology can fully automate the practices of individualizing and adjusting learning experiences for individual learners on the fly, things will change in a significant way.
Cloud Infrastructure. The report also highlights the current importance of virtual infrastructure as a true technology enabler. The report expects that “shifting to cloud services makes teaching and learning resources more readily available in any location — and it can reduce costs”. Panel experts particularly trumpet the notion that cloud infrastructure can therefore help reduce inequities in education.
Mobile Devices. Mobile devices round out the list of 2020 tech enablers, but in uniquely antithetical ways. Although the panelists recognize that “portable, wireless-internet enabled tools… can be easily used ‘in the moment’ in a wide range of contexts” and that these tools will clearly offer the most immediate impact of all the enablers discussed, they worried that “mobile devices also can exacerbate gaps in learning opportunities”. Once the ugly head of digital inequity is hoisted by educators, manufacturers should pay attention to create workarounds and barrier-reducing avenues to address the concern head on.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is how the enablers ranked in overall importance:
Perhaps more useful, here is a chart that shows the expected immediacy of adoption for each of these enablers:
My hope is that, by dissecting this report, it helps not only with an understanding of the memes now shaping the educational marketplace, we will also identify some of the key symbiotic technologies that will help your products take root and thrive in this fickle market. –Len Scrogan
