Horizon2008:Critical Challenges
From Horizon Project
[edit] Academic review and faculty rewards are increasingly out of sync with new forms of scholarship
This trend has escalated over the past year and now presents a bona fide challenge. Traditional standards for peer review and publication fail to apply to the kinds of interdisciplinary scholarship and collaborative work being done today. The academy faces the challenge of providing incentives, methods for evaluation and publication, and rewards that encourage and value the scholarly use of emerging tools and approaches.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
[edit] Assessment of new forms of work continues to present a challenge to educators and peer reviewers
The 2007 Horizon Report described the challenge of how to assess learning that takes place in non-traditional settings (such as games, simulations, or social networking or media sharing sites). That challenge continues, and another facet has emerged: issues of privacy, access, and monitoring make it problematic to use data even when it is possible to generate and examine it. The technological capability exists to collect a vast amount of data, some of which is potentially useful for evaluation; but the question of who gathers, stores, and views that data, and for what purposes, is a crucial one. Aligning evaluative data with institutional standards also presents a challenge, especially when the standards predate the kinds of tools being used in teaching and learning.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
[edit] There is a skills gap between understanding how to use tools for media creation and how to create meaningful content
Although media creation tools are increasingly easy to use, the skills for framing an argument, telling a story, and composing a well-designed piece are still necessary. Information literacy and communications skills are essential for young people who are producing and consuming media on a daily basis. The challenge is to develop curricula and assessment rubrics that address not only traditional sorts of skills like developing an argument over the course of a long paper, but also how to apply those skills to other forms of communication such as short digital videos, blogs, or photo essays.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
[edit] There are significant shifts taking place in scholarship, research, creative expression, and learning, and a need for innovation and leadership at all levels of the academy
This challenge has evolved over the past year and is a crucial one for teaching and learning. As the gap grows between new scholarship and old, leadership and innovation are needed at all levels of the academy—from students to faculty to staff and administrative leadership. It is critical that the academic community as a whole embraces the potential of technologies and practices like those described in this Report. Experimentation must be encouraged and supported by policy; in order for that to happen, scholars, researchers, and teachers must demonstrate its value by taking advantage of opportunities for collaboration and interdisciplinary work.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
[edit] There is a growing need for formal instruction in 21st-century literacies, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy
Web-based tools are rapidly becoming the standard, both in education and in the workplace. Technologically mediated communication is the norm. Fluency in information, visual, and technological literacy is of vital importance, yet these literacies are not formally taught to most students because they are not an integral part of general education programs. We need new and expanded definitions of these literacies that are based on conceptualizations rather than skill sets, as skill sets do not readily transfer to new contexts, while conceptualizations do; and we need to develop and establish methods for teaching and evaluating these critical literacies at all levels of education.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
[edit] Higher education is facing a growing expectation to deliver services, content and media to mobile and personal devices =
This challenge is even more true today than it was a year ago. As new devices like the Apple iPhone and the LG Electronics Voyager are released that make content almost as easy to access and view on a mobile as on a computer, the demand for mobile content will continue to grow. Recent infrastructure changes have resulted in increased access areas for mobile devices, and there are clear applications of mobile technology for public safety, education, and entertainment. This is more than merely an expectation to provide content: this is an opportunity for higher education to reach its constituents wherever they may be.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
[edit] The renewed emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing the educational community to develop new forms of interaction and assessment
Collaborative experiences in virtual worlds are easy to find today compared to a year ago, when this challenge was first described. The results are encouraging, but more work is needed on the assessment side before the full potential of these kinds of activities can be realized. Issues like ownership of collaborative work and certification of authorship present difficulties for evaluation. Further development of social networking and other collaborative tools will continue to facilitate this kind of work, and opportunities for interaction will only increase; the challenge faced by the educational community is to seize those opportunities and develop effective ways to measure academic progress as it happens.
Add your thoughts, suggestions, examples to add here, and indicate who wrote it-- e.g. [Alan]
