W5 - Identifying Trends

Trends:

• Online and hybrid/blended learning are becoming more mainstream
• Technology costs dropping and students bringing more devices
• Globalization of education; access to language instruction from natives in their own country; access to education in rural areas
• More students graduating from high school and wanting higher education – continued growth
• Employer needs are changing – more flexibility/life-long-learning needed
• Student expectations changing

Two major trends:

• Student Expectations - students are expecting to be able to use modern technologies such as individual devices and cloud computing. They also expect to be able to utilise the wealth of information available on the internet.
• This is important because if we want our students to be life-long learners, we need to be a part of their reality and guide them in using these technologies effectively, as well as give them the freedom to guide their own learning.

• Globalisation - use of social medias and online learning opens up the potential for our students to be involved in a global community; sharing ideas and information as well as forming relationships.
• This is important because there is no doubt our world is becoming smaller and being able to embrace that will allow people to be more successful and live more flexibly in society.

These connect to my topic in particular - as teachers have started using Moodle to enhance the learning of their students (and facilitate independence - i.e. not as much need for the teacher for things like hand-outs, learning tools, etc), students have quickly adopted it and have begun asking (or demanding in some cases) that all their teachers utilise it.

Further, as NZ is a very globalized nation with a high percentage of citizens who travel, the ability to connect online globally will allow students to make connections and open up life opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have had.

Additional Source Websites to the Horizon Report:

https://www.rit.edu/provost/sites/rit.edu.provost/files/future_of_teaching_and_learning_reportv13.pdfhttp://www.mbaworld.com/~/media/Files/Events/Kjaer%20Global%20MBA%20Trends%20Poster.ashx