the 2008 horizon report.

The 2008 Horizon Report (pdf) was released last week by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative and the New Media Consortium. The report is “a research-oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have considerable impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression,” and forecasts said impact over the coming one to three years. This year’s report highlights the following six areas:

grassroots video
collaboration webs
mobile broadband
data mashups
collective intelligence
social operating systems

Somewhat similarly, the 2007 Horizon Report identified the following areas:

user-created content
social networking
mobile phones
virtual worlds
new scholarship and emerging forms of publication
massively multiplayer educational gaming

And in 2006(pdf):

social computing
personal broadcasting
cell-phone-accessible educational content and services
educational gaming
augmented reality and enhanced visualization
context-aware environments and devices

One innovative feature of the 2008 report is its online release in partnership with the Institute for the Future of the Book – the report is also available in CommentPress online format, enabling commenting, feedback and richer linking options. Read more information on the Report from the NMC blog.