Things come to mind on the trends that the horizon report discusses. The way people learn while working in a demanding environment. People want to keep up to date on new technology or methodology being implemented. Learning in this type of environment it has come to the reports attention that the "faster approach is the most perceived approach". I would have to disagree with faster is better, due that if you have more of a formal approach a student is able to comprehend the educators teachings. This gives the students a solid base to comprehend after they leave the classroom. Foundation is the key and the challenge is to ensure productive response and learning in a real world setting classroom.
The challenges are in mobile computing and open content for schools. Everything is becoming digital and the digital age is growing as we move to smart phones, wireless lap pads(i Pad) and nook (Book Reading). Utilizing and integrating these technologies into our educational systems will help students learn while in a demanding environment of work, home and schooling. The utilization of smart phones to access school sites for educators and students like checking or grading assignments will be big asset to schools. The challenge that comes to this area is developing universal web apps that devices are able to access on the go.
Open content is another way for educators to develop a universal learning environment. They can develop against existing code that can enhance the way students learn. One example of this is the Moodle software for online learning schools. This is a web portal where educators and students can access information and collaborate on studies virtually. They can upload and down load content on demand. Using this on a computer is easy but for it to accessed through a mobile device the administrator will need to install the plug-in for use for mobile devices. This was a brief research effort and needs to be looked into further for compatibility and functionality. The site for this Moodle plug-in can be found MLE-Moodle (Moodle for mobile phones) for further research.
