1. T H E H O R I Z O N R E P O R T
2010 EDITION
a collaboration between
a collaboration between
The New Media CoNsorTiuM
and the
and the
eduCause Learning initiative
an eduCause Program
an eduCause Program
3. Ta b L e o f C o N T e N T s
executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Key Trends
Critical Challenges
Technologies to Watch
The Horizon Project
Time-to-adoption: one Year or Less
Mobile Computing ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Overview
Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
Mobile Computing in Practice
For Further Reading
Open Content .......................................................................................................................................... 13
Overview
Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
Open Content in Practice
For Further Reading
Time-to-adoption: Two to Three Years
Electronic Books...................................................................................................................................... 17
Overview
Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
Electronic Books in Practice
For Further Reading
Simple Augmented Reality ...................................................................................................................... 21
Overview
Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
Simple Augmented Reality in Practice
For Further Reading
Time-to-adoption: four to five Years
Gesture-Based Computing ...................................................................................................................... 25
Overview
Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
Gesture-Based Computing in Practice
For Further Reading
Visual Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 29
Overview
Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
Visual Data Analysis in Practice
For Further Reading
Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 33
2010 Horizon Project advisory board ......................................................................................................... 35
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 1
5. e Xe Cu TiV e s uM M a rY
The annual Horizon Report describes the continuing of emerging technologies to teaching, learning,
work of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Project, and creative inquiry. Each topic is introduced with
a qualitative research project established in 2002 an overview that describes what it is, followed by a
that identifies and describes emerging technologies discussion of the particular relevance of the topic to
likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or education, creativity, or research. Examples of how
creative inquiry on college and university campuses the technology is being, or could be applied to those
within the next five years. The 2010 Horizon Report activities are given. Finally, each section closes
is the seventh in the series and is produced as part with an annotated list of suggested readings and
of an ongoing collaboration between the New Media additional examples that expand on the discussion
Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning in the report and a link to the tagged resources
Initiative (ELI), an EDUCAUSE program. collected during the research process by project
staff, the Advisory Board, and others in the growing
In each edition of the Horizon Report, six emerging
Horizon Project community.
technologies or practices are described that are
likely to enter mainstream use on campuses within
Key Trends
three adoption horizons spread over the next one
The technologies featured in each edition of the
to five years. Each report also presents critical
Horizon Report are embedded within a contemporary
trends and challenges that will affect teaching and context that reflects the realities of the time, both in
learning over the same time frame. In the seven the sphere of academia and in the world at large.
years that the Horizon Project has been underway, To assure this perspective, each Advisory Board
more than 400 leaders in the fields of business, researches, identifies, and ranks key trends that are
industry, technology, and education have contributed currently affecting the practice of teaching, learning,
to this long-running primary research effort. They and creative inquiry, and uses these as a lens for
have drawn on a comprehensive body of published its later work. These trends are surfaced through
resources, current research and practice, their own an extensive review of current articles, interviews,
considerable expertise, and the expertise of the NMC papers, and new research. Once identified, the list
and ELI communities to identify technologies and of trends is ranked according to how significant an
practices that are beginning to appear on campuses impact they are likely to have on education in the
or are likely to be adopted in the next few years. The next five years. The following four trends have been
2010 Advisory Board, like those before it, considered identified as key drivers of technology adoptions for
a broad picture of emerging technology and its the period 2010 through 2015; they are listed here in
intersection with the academic world through a close the order they were ranked by the Advisory Board.
examination of primary sources as well as through
The abundance of resources and relationships
the lens of their own experiences and perspectives.
made easily accessible via the Internet is
The research methodology employed in producing
increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles
the report is detailed in a special section that follows
as educators in sense-making, coaching, and
the body of the report.
credentialing. Institutions must consider the
The report’s format is consistent from year to unique value that each adds to a world in which
year, opening with a discussion of the trends and information is everywhere. In such a world, sense-
challenges identified by the Advisory Board as making and the ability to assess the credibility
most critical for the next five years. The format of of information are paramount. Mentoring and
the main section closely reflects the focus of the preparing students for the world in which they
Horizon Project itself, centering on the applications will live, the central role of the university when it
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 3
6. e X e C u T i V e s u M M a r Y
achieved its modern form in the 14th century, is a climate in which students, their peers, and
again at the forefront. Universities have always their teachers are all working towards the same
been seen as the gold standard for educational goals, where research is something open even
credentialing, but emerging certification to first year students, the results have shown
programs from other sources are eroding the tantalizing promise. Increasingly, both students
value of that mission daily. and their professors see the challenges facing
the world as multidisciplinary, and the need for
People expect to be able to work, learn, and
collaboration great. Over the past few years, the
study whenever and wherever they want to. Life
emergence of a raft of new (and often free) tools
in an increasingly busy world where learners
has made collaboration easier than at any other
must balance demands from home, work,
point in history.
school, and family poses a host of logistical
challenges with which today’s ever more mobile
students must cope. A faster approach is often
Critical Challenges
Along with current trends, the Advisory Board notes
perceived as a better approach, and as such
critical challenges that face learning organizations,
people want easy and timely access not only to
especially those that are likely to continue to affect
the information on the network, but to their social
education over the five-year time period covered by
networks that can help them to interpret it and
this report. Like the trends, these are drawn from a
maximize its value. The implications for informal
careful analysis of current events, papers, articles,
learning are profound, as are the notions of
and similar sources, as well as from the personal
“just-in-time” learning and “found” learning, both
experience of the Advisory Board members in their
ways of maximizing the impact of learning by
roles as leaders in education and technology. Those
ensuring it is timely and efficient.
challenges ranked as most significant in terms of
The technologies we use are increasingly their impact on teaching, learning, and creative
cloud-based, and our notions of IT support inquiry in the coming years are listed here, in the
are decentralized. The continuing acceptance order of importance assigned them by the Advisory
and adoption of cloud-based applications and Board.
services is changing not only the ways we
The role of the academy — and the way we
configure and use software and file storage, but
prepare students for their future lives — is
even how we conceptualize those functions. It
changing. In a 2007 report, the American As-
does not matter where our work is stored; what
sociation of Colleges and Universities recom-
matters is that our information is accessible
mended strongly that emerging technologies
no matter where we are or what device we
be employed by students in order for them to
choose to use. Globally, in huge numbers, we
gain experience in “research, experimentation,
are growing used to a model of browser-based
problem-based learning, and other forms of
software that is device-independent. While some
creative work,” particularly in their chosen fields
challenges still remain, specifically with notions
of study. It is incumbent upon the academy to
of privacy and control, the promise of significant
adapt teaching and learning practices to meet
cost savings is an important driver in the search
the needs of today’s learners; to emphasize
for solutions.
critical inquiry and mental flexibility, and provide
The work of students is increasingly seen as students with necessary tools for those tasks; to
collaborative by nature, and there is more cross- connect learners to broad social issues through
campus collaboration between departments. civic engagement; and to encourage them to ap-
While this trend is not as widespread as the ply their learning to solve large-scale complex
others listed here, where schools have created problems.
7. New scholarly forms of authoring, publishing, this atmosphere, it is critical for information
and researching continue to emerge but appro- and media professionals to emphasize
priate metrics for evaluating them increasingly the importance of continuing research into
and far too often lag behind. Citation-based emerging technologies as a means to achieve
metrics, to pick one example, are hard to apply key institutional goals. As one example, knowing
to research based in social media. New forms the facts about shifting server- and network-
of peer review and approval, such as reader intensive infrastructure, such as email or media
ratings, inclusion in and mention by influential streaming, off campus in the current climate
blogs, tagging, incoming links, and retweeting, might present the opportunity to generate
are arising from the natural actions of the global considerable annual savings.
community of educators, with increasingly rel-
These trends and challenges are having a profound
evant and interesting results. These forms of
effect on the way we experiment with, adopt, and
scholarly corroboration are not yet well under-
use emerging technologies. These aspects of the
stood by mainstream faculty and academic de-
world that surround and permeate academia serve
cision makers, creating a gap between what is
as a frame for considering the probable impacts of
possible and what is acceptable.
the emerging technologies listed in the sections that
Digital media literacy continues its rise in im- follow.
portance as a key skill in every discipline and
profession. The challenge is due to the fact Technologies to watch
that despite the widespread agreement on its The six technologies featured in each Horizon
importance, training in digital literacy skills and Report are placed along three adoption horizons
techniques is rare in any discipline, and espe- that indicate likely time frames for their entrance into
cially rare in teacher education programs. As mainstream use for teaching, learning, or creative
faculty and instructors begin to realize that they inquiry. The near-term horizon assumes the likelihood
are limiting their students by not helping them of entry into the mainstream for institutions within the
to develop and use digital media literacy skills next twelve months; the mid-term horizon, within two
across the curriculum, the lack of formal train- to three years; and the far-term, within four to five
ing is being offset through professional develop- years. It should be noted that the Horizon Report is
ment or informal learning, but we are far from not a predictive tool. It is meant, rather, to highlight
seeing digital media literacy as a norm. This
emerging technologies with considerable potential for
reality is exacerbated by the fact that as tech-
our focus areas of teaching, learning, and creative
nology continues to evolve, digital literacy must
inquiry. Each of them is already the focus of work at
necessarily be less about tools and more about
a number of innovative institutions around the world,
ways of thinking and seeing, and of crafting nar-
and the work we showcase here reveals the promise
rative. That is why skills and standards based
of a wider impact.
on tools and platforms have proven to be some-
what ephemeral and difficult to sustain. on the near-term horizon — that is, within the
next 12 months — are mobile computing and open
Institutions increasingly focus more narrowly on
content.
key goals, as a result of shrinking budgets in the
present economic climate. Across the board, Mobile computing, by which we mean use
institutions are looking for ways to control costs of the network-capable devices students are
while still providing a high quality of service. already carrying, is already established on many
Schools are challenged by the need to support campuses, although before we see widespread
a steady — or growing — number of students use, concerns about privacy, classroom
with fewer resources and staff than before. In management, and access will need to be
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 5
8. e X e C u T i V e s u M M a r Y
addressed. At the same time, the opportunity digital books, making it very easy to collect and
is great; virtually all higher education students carry hundreds of volumes in a space smaller
carry some form of mobile device, and the than a single paperback book. Already in the
cellular network that supports their connectivity mainstream of consumer use, electronic books
continues to grow. An increasing number are appearing on campuses with increasing
of faculty and instructional technology staff frequency. Thanks to a number of pilot programs,
are experimenting with the possibilities for much is already known about student preferences
collaboration and communication offered by with regards to the various platforms available.
mobile computing. Devices from smart phones Electronic books promise to reduce costs, save
to netbooks are portable tools for productivity, students from carrying pounds of textbooks, and
learning, and communication, offering an contribute to the environmental efforts of paper-
increasing range of activities fully supported by conscious campuses.
applications designed especially for mobiles. Simple augmented reality refers to the shift
Open content, also expected to reach that has made augmented reality accessible
mainstream use in the next twelve months, is the to almost anyone. Augmented reality used
current form of a movement that began nearly to require specialized equipment, none of
a decade ago, when schools like MIT began to which was very portable. Today, applications
make their course content freely available. Today, for laptops and smart phones overlay digital
there is a tremendous variety of open content, information onto the physical world quickly and
and in many parts of the world, open content easily. While still two to three years away from
represents a profound shift in the way students widespread use on campuses, augmented
study and learn. Far more than a collection of reality is establishing a foothold in the consumer
free online course materials, the open content sector, and in a form much easier to access than
movement is a response to the rising costs of originally envisioned.
education, the desire for access to learning in on the far-term horizon, set at four to five years
areas where such access is difficult, and an away for widespread adoption, but clearly already
expression of student choice about when and in use in some quarters, are gesture-based
how to learn. computing and visual data analysis. Neither of
The second adoption horizon is set two to three these two technologies is yet commonly found in
years out, where we will begin to see widespread campus settings, but the high level of interest and
adoptions of two well-established technologies that the tremendous amounts of research in both areas
have taken off by making use of the global cellular indicates that they are worth following closely.
networks — electronic books and simple augmented Gesture-based computing is already strong in
reality. Both of these technologies are entering the the consumer market and we are seeing a grow-
mainstream of popular culture; both are already used ing number of prototypical applications for train-
in practice at a surprising number of campuses; and ing, research, and study, though this technology
both are expected to see much broader use across is still some time away from common educa-
academia over the next two to three years. tional use. Devices that are controlled by natural
Electronic books have been available in some movements of the finger, hand, arm, and body
form for nearly four decades, but the past twelve are becoming more common. Game companies
months have seen a dramatic upswing in their in particular are exploring the potential offered
acceptance and use. Convenient and capable by consoles that require no handheld control-
electronic reading devices combine the activities ler, but instead recognize and interpret body
of acquiring, storing, reading, and annotating motions. As we work with devices that react to
9. us instead of requiring us to learn to work with Augmented reality first appeared in the 2005
them, our understanding of what it means to in- Horizon Report on the far-term horizon, returning in
teract with computers is beginning to change. 2006 with a focus on its applications for visualizing
Visual data analysis, a way of discovering and large data sets, a use that is now common in many
understanding patterns in large data sets via research labs. Today, augmented reality has become
visual interpretation, is currently used in the simple and available on the computers and mobile
scientific analysis of complex processes. As the devices we already own. Gesture-based computing
tools to interpret and display data have become is one offshoot of a group of technologies that was
more sophisticated, models can be manipulated noted in the first Horizon Report, published in 2004;
in real time and researchers are able to multimodal interfaces, as this group was called,
navigate and explore data in ways that were included gestural as well as other types of input.
not possible previously. Visual data analysis Gesture-based computing also has ties to context-
is an emerging field, a blend of statistics, data aware computing, featured in 2005 and as context-
mining, and visualization, that promises to make aware devices in 2006.
it possible for anyone to sift through, display, and
understand complex concepts and relationships. The Horizon Project
Each of these technologies is described in detail in Since March 2002, under the banner of the Horizon
the body of the report. These sections open with a Project, the New Media Consortium has held an
discussion of what the technology is and why it is ongoing series of conversations and dialogs with
relevant to teaching, learning, and creative inquiry. hundreds of technology professionals, campus
Examples of the technology in practice, especially in technologists, faculty leaders from colleges
academia, are listed there to illustrate how it is being and universities, and representatives of leading
adopted at the current time. Our research indicates corporations from more than two dozen countries. In
that all six of these technologies, taken together, each of the past six years, these conversations have
will have a significant impact on learning-focused resulted in the publication each January of a report
organizations within the next five years. focused on emerging technologies relevant to higher
education. As the report is produced, an Advisory
Regular readers of the Horizon Report will note
Board engages in lively dialogs using a wide range
that some topics have strong ties to topics that
of articles, published and unpublished research,
were featured in past editions. Mobile computing,
in particular, is the latest aspect of a trend toward papers, scholarly blogs, and websites. The result of
smaller, more powerful computing devices that has these dialogs is a list of the key technologies, trends,
grown over the past three years. We have watched challenges, and issues that knowledgeable people
mobile phones become increasingly capable and in technology industries, higher education, and
flexible. As described here, the topic of mobile learning-focused organizations are thinking about.
computing encompasses handheld devices with the In 2008 and 2009, the NMC convened additional
ability to access the Internet, a group of devices that advisory boards to engage in a new series of regional
includes the mobile phones most people carry as well and sector-based companion editions of the Horizon
as other often specialized devices that are increasingly Report, with the dual goals of understanding how
powerful. The significance of mobile computing is technology is being absorbed using a smaller lens,
not so much in the device used, but in the ability to and also noting the contrasts between technology
easily access an expanding cellular network and fully- use in one area compared with another. To date,
featured tools from the palm of your hand. companion editions have been prepared that center
Simple augmented reality and gesture-based on Australia and New Zealand, on the K-12 sector,
computing also have roots in previous editions. and on small- to medium-sized businesses.
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 7
10. e X e C u T i V e s u M M a r Y
Each time a report is undertaken, the NMC America. Since 2007, with the aid of the Universitat
uses qualitative research methods to identify the Oberta de Catalunya, the Horizon Report has been
technologies selected for inclusion in that report, translated into Spanish and Catalan. In 2008, the
beginning with a survey of the work of other Horizon Project expanded with the publication of its
organizations and a review of the literature with an eye first-ever regional report, the 2008 Horizon Report:
to spotting interesting emerging technologies. When Australia-New Zealand Edition. The 2009 Horizon
the cycle starts, little is known, or even can be known, Report was also translated into Japanese, German,
about the appropriateness or efficacy of many of the and Chinese, as well as Spanish and Catalan, and
emerging technologies for these purposes, as the plans are in place to add to those translations for
Horizon Project expressly focuses on technologies the current report. In 2010, in partnership with the
not currently in widespread use in academe. In a Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, a new Spanish-
typical year, 75 or more of these technologies may language report is planned especially for Ibero-
be identified for further investigation; for the 2010 America that will look at the entire body of work from
report, more than 110 were considered. the project.
By engaging a wide community of interested parties, Each Horizon Report is produced over a period of
and diligently searching the Internet and other just a few months so that the information is timely
sources, enough information is gathered early in and relevant. This year, the effort to produce the
the process to allow the members of the Advisory report began in September 2009, and concluded
Board to form an understanding of how each of when the report was released in January 2010, a
the discovered technologies might be in use in period of just over four months. The six technologies
settings outside of academe, to develop a sense and applications that emerged at the top of the final
of the potential the technology may have for higher rankings — two per adoption horizon — are detailed
education settings, and to envision applications of in the chapters that follow.
the technology for teaching, learning, and creative
Each of those chapters includes detailed
inquiry. The findings are discussed in a variety of
descriptions, links to active demonstration projects,
settings — with faculty, industry experts, campus
and a wide array of additional resources related to
technologists, and of course, the Horizon Advisory
the six profiled technologies. Those profiles are the
Board. Of particular interest to the Advisory Board
heart of the 2010 Horizon Report, and will fuel the
every year is finding educational applications for
work of the Horizon Project throughout 2010-11. For
these technologies that may not be intuitive or
those wanting to know more about the processes
obvious.
used to generate the Horizon Report, many of which
Increasingly the Horizon Project is a global effort. are ongoing and extend the work in the report, we
Each year at least a third of the members of the refer you to the report’s final section on the research
advisory board represent countries outside of North methodology.
11. MobiLe CoMPuTiNg
Time-to-adoption Horizon: one Year or Less
The available choices for staying connected while on the go are many — smart phones, netbooks, laptops,
and a wide range of other devices access the Internet using cellular-based portable hotspots and mobile
broadband cards, in addition to wi-fi that is increasingly available wherever people congregate. At the same
time, the devices we carry are becoming ever more capable, and the boundaries between them more and
more blurred. In the developed world, mobile computing has become an indispensable part of day-to-day life
in the workforce, and a key driver is the increasing ease and speed with which it is possible to access the
Internet from virtually anywhere in the world via the ever-expanding cellular network.
overview
Mobiles as a category have proven more interesting Wesabe, and TripIt), collaborate and easily access
and more capable with each passing year, and and share files (Dropbox and CalenGoo are two of
continue to be a technology with new surprises. many possible examples), or keep abreast of social
The mobile market today has nearly 4 billion networks (Limbo, Facebook, Foursquare, Whrrl), and
subscribers, more than two-thirds of whom live in generally make checking and updating work, school,
developing countries. Well over a billion new phones or personal information flows something easily done
are produced each year, a flow of continuous on the fly.
enhancement and innovation that is unprecedented For many people all over the world, but especially
in modern times. The fastest-growing sales segment in developing countries, mobiles are increasingly
belongs to smart phones — which means that a the access point not only for common tools and
massive and increasing number of people all over communications, but also for information of all kinds,
the world now own and use a computer that fits in training materials, and more. An ever more common
their hand and is able to connect to the network pattern is for people to look to mobile computing
wirelessly from virtually anywhere. Thousands of platforms as their device of choice, as they are often
applications designed to support a wide range of far cheaper than desktop or laptop computers. For this
tasks on virtually any smart-phone operating system group, mobile computing devices are more affordable,
are readily available, with more entering the market more accessible, and easier to use than desktop
all the time. These mobile computing tools have computers, and provide more than enough functionality
become accepted aids in daily life, giving us on-the- to serve as their primary computing device.
go access to tools for business, video/audio capture
A middle ground for those who need a little more
and basic editing, sensing and measurement,
flexibility and power from a mobile platform includes
geolocation, social networking, personal productivity,
netbooks, smartbooks, or other specialized devices.
references, just-in-time learning — indeed, virtually
Smaller and lighter than a laptop, this category
anything that can be done on a desktop.
of devices can access the Internet via multiple
Users increasingly expect anytime, anywhere networks. Netbooks run typical productivity and
access to data and services that not very long ago communications applications, using a standard
were available only while sitting in front of a computer keyboard and a compact laptop-like design. More
linked to the network via a cable. In addition to the specialized devices, like ebooks, email readers,
typical software for email, communication, and and others are customized for a single purpose. The
calendaring, new tools allow users to manage advantages they offer are storage and portability; the
personal information (such as Evernote, Nozbe, Kindle, for instance, makes it easy to carry a library
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 9
12. o N e Y e a r o r L e s s
full of reading material, while the Peek email reader overall working with the course content online. At the
delivers email access on a very compact device. Open University of Catalunya (UOC), where many
students commute or attend classes around full-time
relevance for Teaching, Learning, work schedules, course materials are made available
or Creative inquiry not only in paper format, but also in audio, video,
The portability of mobile devices and their ability and text formats designed for mobile access. The
to connect to the Internet almost anywhere makes University of Waterloo, another campus with a large
them ideal as a store of reference materials and commuter population, piloted delivery of materials
learning experiences, as well as general-use tools for online courses to the BlackBerry platform. The
for fieldwork, where they can be used to record response was very positive, and students noted
observations via voice, text, or multimedia, and increased time spent accessing course materials as
access reference sources in real time. At Ball State well as higher levels of collaboration with classmates.
University, students gather meteorological data
The potential of mobile computing is being
around campus, using Twitter on mobile devices
demonstrated in hundreds of projects at higher
to aggregate and disseminate their findings. At
education institutions. Students in the University
the University of Kansas, geology labs are being
of Alabama’s Computer-Based Honors program,
augmented by carefully designed field experiments
for example, are developing an application for the
that students can complete in blocks of three hours.
iPhone and iPod Touch that will deliver blood-sugar
As faculty use of mobile computing has grown, studies check reminders to patients with type 2 diabetes and
have begun to emerge documenting the efficacy of provide resources about diabetes management, as
both the tools and the techniques used to employ well as collect information on how patients using
them. At Abilene Christian University, for example, all the tool are succeeding in keeping their blood sugar
incoming freshmen were issued an iPhone or iPod under control. These data will be used in a research
Touch in 2009, providing a broad canvas upon which project comparing the effects of standard patient-
to explore the use of mobiles for instruction. One
care practices with self-management practices as
section of a chemistry course received laboratory
facilitated by the mobile application. A custom tool
preparation and safety lectures via podcast for mobile
developed at Purdue University, Hotseat (http://
devices rather than in the classroom; performance
purdue.edu/hotseat), allows students to use their
scores for these students indicated that the mobile
mobile devices to contribute to discussions, ask
lectures were equally effective. At Franklin & Marshall
and answer questions, and respond to teacher
College, sixteen faculty in the year-long mLearning
prompts through any of several channels, including
Pilot Project are using iPod Touches to explore ways
Facebook, Twitter, the Hotseat mobile application,
mobile computing can be used in teaching, learning,
or a web application. Students in a history course
and research in disciplines like history, psychology,
at the University of Texas-Dallas used Twitter to
religious studies, world languages, government,
discuss course topics during class; the tweets were
classics, and more.
displayed on a large screen to encourage cross-
A Houston Community College pilot held in spring group communication.
2009 compared study habits of two groups of
A sampling of other applications of mobile computing
students enrolled in the same anatomy course. One
across a variety of disciplines includes the following:
group, issued mobile devices, was found to work
on the course during spare moments such as while Chemistry. At Bluegrass Community & Technical
waiting for appointments. The other group, using only College, outdoor fieldwork has replaced many
desktop computers, appeared to spend less time “cookbook” chemistry labs. Students use tablet
13. PCs to record and analyze field research, Introduction to Teaching Course — which serves
present their findings, and compare results in nearly 650 freshmen and transfer students
real time. — use mobile devices to access reference
History. The Edinburgh College of Art, the material, respond to professors’ questions, and
University of Edinburgh, and the EDINA Data take polls during class.
Centre collaboratively developed a mobile iPhone the body electric
app called Walking Through Time. The app http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=092409-2
overlays historical maps onto current maps of At the University of Utah, researchers have
the viewer’s location, showing street views and developed a suite of mobile apps to allow
areas of interest from prior times. scientists, students, doctors, and patients to
information Technology. Students at the Uni- study human anatomy, visualize large data sets
versity of Michigan developed an application for in 3D, manipulate and analyze large numbers of
Google’s Android platform that measures power high-resolution images, and evaluate medical
consumption on mobiles. The app, called Pow- problems.
erTutor, is designed to help software developers Mobile Libraries
create more efficient applications. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/m/about.html
Medicine. Harvard Medical School has released The North Carolina State University library
an iPhone app about the H1N1 virus, including now offers a mobile application that provides
maps of outbreaks, a symptom checker, and a catalog search, information about computer
tips for avoiding infection or dealing with illness. availability in labs, and access to a reference
The app is the first in a planned series of mobile librarian.
applications developed at HMS in collaboration san francisco Museum of Modern art Mobile Tours
with medical school scientists and doctors. http://www.sfmoma.org/events/1556
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is
Mobile Computing in Practice offering two new mobile applications: Making
The following links provide examples of mobile Sense of Modern Art Mobile and the Rooftop
computing. Garden iPhone Tour. MSoMA Mobile is available
Cellular Colleges: The Next small Thing on iPod Touches that may be borrowed by
http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle. museum visitors and includes interviews with
aspx?articleid=1233 architects, artists, and curators; video footage;
(James Martin and James E. Samels, University and music and poetry related to the collection.
Business, February 2009.) Following the lead The Rooftop Garden tour is available at no cost
of Japan’s Fukuoka-based Cyber University, as an application in the iTunes Store.
several colleges in the United States are now smartphones fill Med school Prescription
planning full, media-rich courses delivered via http://www.allbusiness.com/health-care/
smart phone. health-care-professionals-physicians-
CMu students, Professors find benefits with surgeons/13161277-1.html
iPod Technology in Classroom At the University of Louisville School of
http://www.news .cmich.edu/20 09/10/cmu- Medicine, residents use smartphones instead of
students-professors-find-b/ prescription pads and multiple reference books.
(The News @ Central, 28 October 2009.) Patients and residents alike approve of the new
Students in Central Michigan University’s system.
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 11
14. o N e Y e a r o r L e s s
for further reading Teaching with Technology face-off: iPhones vs.
The following articles and resources are PCs
recommended for those who wish to learn more https://chronicle.com/blogPost/Teaching-With-
about mobile computing. Technology/4547
(Jeffrey R. Young, The Chronicle of Higher
gsM Coverage Maps
Education, 25 February 2009.) One professor
http://www.gsmworld.com/Roaming/Gsminfo/
found that students with access to an iPhone
Index.Shtml
studied more than those who used only a PC.
GSM World provides detailed information about
cellular network operators worldwide, as well as Delicious: Mobile Computing
up-to-date coverage maps for countries around http://delicious.com/tag/hz10+mobile
the globe. Specific details included are network, Follow this link to find additional resources
roaming, services (including broadband), and tagged for this topic and this edition of the
coverage information for over 860 networks in Horizon Report. To add to this list, simply tag
220 countries or areas of the world. resources with “hz10” and “mobile” when you
save them to Delicious.
The Mobile Campus
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/09/21/
iphones
(Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed, 21
September 2009.) One year after implementing
its campus-wide policy of issuing each freshman
an iPhone or iPod Touch, Abilene Christian
University challenged instructors to integrate
mobile learning into their classes and surveyed
the campus community about the results.
MoCa: gathering instant student feedback on
Mobile devices
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/about/
postcards
This case study from the University of Texas
at Austin describes the Mobile Ongoing
Course Assessment (MOCA) tool developed
by the Division of Instructional Innovation and
Assessment. MOCA is used to assess student
learning and engage students in discussion.
MOCA may be accessed from any web-capable
mobile device.
15. oPeN CoNTeNT
Time-to-adoption Horizon: one Year or Less
The movement toward open content reflects a growing shift in the way academics in many parts of the world
are conceptualizing education to a view that is more about the process of learning than the information
conveyed in their courses. Information is everywhere; the challenge is to make effective use of it. Part of
the appeal of open content is that it is also a response to both the rising costs of traditionally published
resources and the lack of educational resources in some regions, and a cost-effective alternative to textbooks
and other materials. As customizable educational content is made increasingly available for free over the
Internet, students are learning not only the material, but also skills related to finding, evaluating, interpreting,
and repurposing the resources they are studying in partnership with their teachers.
overview
A new educational perspective, focused on collective An outgrowth of that perspective is the emergence
knowledge and the sharing and reuse of learning of open-content textbooks that can be “remixed” —
and scholarly content, has been gaining ground that is, customized, modified, or combined with other
across the globe for nearly a decade. Open content materials — and a number of publishers are finding
has now come to the point that it is rapidly driving ways to support authors of such materials. One such
change in both the materials we use and the process publisher, Flat World Knowledge, provides access
of education. At its core, the notion of open content to textbooks authored for open use, making it very
is to take advantage of the Internet as a global easy for faculty to individually tailor a text for use in
dissemination platform for collective knowledge and their own class. Flat World Knowledge operates as a
wisdom, and to design learning experiences that publisher, reviewing book submissions and using a
maximize the use of it. traditional editing process before release; however,
electronic copies of the textbooks are free. Students
Open content, as described here, has its roots in
only pay for print copies, and authors receive
a number of seminal efforts, including the Open
royalties for these purchases whether the book has
Content Project, MIT’s Open Courseware Initiative
been customized or not.
(OCW), the Open Knowledge Foundation, and
work by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation At the center of many discussions of open content are
and others. Many of these projects focused on the challenges of sharing, repurposing, and reusing
creating collections of sharable resources and on scholarly works; related to those discussions are
devising licenses and metadata schemata. The concerns about intellectual property, copyright, and
groundswell of interest in open content described student-to-student collaboration, and solid work has
here is differentiated from early work by its primary been done by groups such as Creative Commons,
focus on the use of open content and its place in the the Academic Commons, Science Commons, and
curriculum. The role of open content producers has others to address many of the concerns commonly
evolved as well, away from the idea of authoritative voiced. Many believe that reward structures that
repositories of content and towards the broader support the sharing of work in progress, ongoing
notion of content being both free and ubiquitous. research, highly collaborative projects, and a broad
Building on the trailblazing models of institutions like view of what constitutes scholarly publication are
MIT, schools like Tufts University (and many others) key challenges that institutions need to solve. Also
now consider making their course materials available to be addressed are reputation systems, peer review
to the public a social responsibility. processes, and new models for citation of the new
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 13
16. o N e Y e a r o r L e s s
forms of content that are likely outgrowths of open org), Teachers Without Borders (http://www.
content initiatives. teacherswithoutborders.org), and other online
While a number of highly structured projects exist communities, while portals like Folksemantic (http://
to provide access to open content, in general, the www.folksemantic.com) offer a single point of entry to
many open content offerings. Learning communities
open content community is diffuse and distributed;
associated with services like Diigo or Twine can
learning to find useful resources within a given
point educators in the right direction via the social
discipline, assess the quality of content available,
networking equivalent of “word of mouth.”
and repurpose them in support of a learning or
research objective are in and of themselves valuable A sampling of other open content projects across
skills for any emerging scholar, and many adherents disciplines includes the following:
of open content list that aspect among the reasons art History. Smarthistory, an open educational
they support the use of shareable materials. resource dedicated to the study of art, seeks to
replace traditional art history textbooks with an
relevance for Teaching, Learning, interactive, well-organized website. Search by
or Creative inquiry time period, style, or artist (http://smarthistory.org).
Open content shifts the learning equation in a number
of interesting ways; the most important is that its use graduate studies. The Tokyo Institute of
promotes a set of skills that are critical in maintaining Technology offers 35 graduate level courses,
currency in any discipline — the ability to find, evaluate, open and free of charge, in the schools of science
and put new information to use. Almost as important and engineering, bioscience and biotechnology,
is that the same set of materials, once placed online innovation management, and others.
and made sharable via the appropriate licensing, can Health sciences. The Johns Hopkins Bloom-
inform a wide variety of learning modalities, not the berg School of Public Health provides open-
least of which is learning for the sheer joy of discovery. access classes to further the goal of improving
Communities of practice and learning communities global understanding of health-related issues.
have formed around open content in a great many Courses include the school’s most popular sub-
disciplines, and provide practitioners and independent jects, including adolescent health, infectious
learners alike an avenue for continuing education. disease, genetics, and aging.
OpenLearn (http://openlearn.open.ac.uk), a project Literature. Looking for Whitman (http://looking-
of the Open University in the U.K., offers anyone the forwhitman.org) is an open-access, multi-institu-
opportunity to join a study group while working through tional experiment, dedicated to the study of the
their open course content. OpenLearn practices a life and works of Walt Whitman.
method known as “supported open learning,” in which
students work through content at their own pace with open Content in Practice
help and guidance from a tutor. Faculty communities The following links provide examples of open content.
of practice are flourishing as well; at Trinity University,
american Literature before 1860
for example, faculty endorsed an Open Access policy
http://enh241.wetpaint.com
that enables them to place copies of their scholarly
Students in this course, held at Mesa Community
works in an open-access repository shared by several College, contribute to the open course material
liberal arts colleges. as part of their research. MCC also features a
Many sources of open content can easily be found number of lectures on YouTube (see http://www.
in Creative Commons (http://creativecommons. youtube.com/user/mesacc#p/p).
17. Carnegie Mellon university’s open Learning for further reading
initiative The following articles and resources are
http://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning recommended for those who wish to learn more
The Open Learning Initiative offers instructor- about open content.
led and self-paced courses; any instructor may
Center for social Media Publishes New Code of
teach with the materials, regardless of affiliation.
best Practices in oCw
In addition, the courses include student
http://criticalcommons.org/blog/content/center-
assessment and intelligent tutoring capability.
for-social-media-publishes-new-code-of-best-
Connexions practices-in-ocw
http://cnx.org (Critical Commons, 25 October 2009.) The advo-
Connexions offers small modules of information cacy group Critical Commons seeks to promote
and encourages users to piece together these the use of media in open educational resources.
chunks to meet their individual needs. Their Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open-
escholarship: university of California CourseWare is a guide for content developers who
http://escholarship.org/about_escholarship.html want to include fair-use material in their offerings.
eScholarship provides peer review and publishing Countries offer different Takes to open online
for scholarly articles, books, and papers, using an Learning
open content model. The service also includes http://chronicle.com/article/Countries-Offer-
tools for dissemination and research. Different/48775
MiT openCourseware (Simmi Aujla and Ben Terris, The Chronicle of
http://ocw.mit.edu Higher Education, 11 October 2009.) Many
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology countries are using open educational resources
publishes lectures and materials from most of to reach students who would otherwise be
its undergraduate and graduate courses online, unable to attend university.
where they are freely available for self-study. Creative Commons
open.Michigan’s dscribe Project http://www.creativecommons.org
https://open.umich.edu/projects/oer.php Creative Commons has created a set of legal
The University of Michigan’s Open.Michigan tools consistent with the rules of copyright that
initiative houses several open content projects. make it not only possible but easy for people to
One, dScribe, is a student-centered approach share and build upon the work of others. The
to creating open content. Students work with organization provides free licenses that allow
faculty to select and vet resources, easing the anyone to create, share, and use open content.
staffing and cost burden of content creation flat world Knowledge: a disruptive business Model
while involving the students in developing http://industry.bnet.com/media/10003790/flat-
materials for themselves and their peers. world-knowledge-a-disruptive-business-model
oTTer (David Weir, BNET, 20 August 2009.) Flat World
http://www.le.ac.uk/otter Knowledge is enjoying rapid growth, from 1,000
The University of Leicester’s OTTER project students in the spring of 2009 to 40,000 in the fall
(Open, Transferable and Technology-enabled semester using their materials. The company’s
Educational Resources) pilots and evaluates business model pays a higher royalty percentage
systems for releasing educational content under to textbook authors and charges students a great
an open license. deal less than traditional publishers.
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 15
18. o N e Y e a r o r L e s s
open Content and the emerging global Meta-
university
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/
EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume41/
OpenContentandtheEmergingGloba/158053
In this article drawn from his 2005 Clair Maple
Memorial Address at the Seminars on Academic
Computing, MIT President Emeritus Charles
Vest discusses open content and outlines the
promise and opportunity that drove the creation
of MIT OpenCourseWare.
Delicious: open Content
http://delicious.com/tag/hz10+opened
Follow this link to find additional resources
tagged for this topic and this edition of the
Horizon Report. To add to this list, simply tag
resources with “hz10” and “opened” when you
save them to Delicious.
19. eLeCTroNiC booKs
Time-to-adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
As the technology underlying electronic readers has improved and as more titles have become available,
electronic books are quickly reaching the point where their advantages over the printed book are compelling
to almost any observer. The convenience of carrying an entire library in a purse, pocket, or book bag appeals
to readers who find time for a few pages in between appointments or while commuting. Already firmly
established in the public sector, electronic books are gaining a foothold on campuses as well, where they
serve as a cost-effective and portable alternative to heavy textbooks and supplemental reading selections.
overview
Electronic books have reached mainstream adoption example, now account for half of Amazon’s sales
in the consumer sector; in 2009, the Kindle was of books available both in print and for the Kindle.
Amazon.com’s best selling product, with more than Readers of electronic books may be reading more, as
390,000 titles available. The very first electronic well. Kindle owners, according to Amazon, buy three
versions of books were those digitized by Project times as many books as they did before they had
Gutenberg in the 1970s. Electronic books were Kindles; Sony reports that Reader owners download
meant to be read using a computer until the late about eight books per month — as compared to
1990s; at that time, special devices for reading fewer than seven books per year purchased by the
electronic books, known as e-readers or simply average American book buyer in 2008¹.
readers, began to appear on the market. The latest
The list of available titles, already broad and growing
readers offer a high fidelity reading experience that
rapidly, is spurring that interest. Virtually all new books
offers most of the affordances of the printed book,
are available in electronic form, as well as classics,
with enhancements like wireless connectivity and
and popular books from the last 50 years. Collections
ample storage that allow the typical device to hold
of copyright-free texts, including great works of
more than 1,000 titles.
literature, are available at little or no cost. Publishers
This ready availability of a selection of capable readers are releasing more titles in electronic formats as
is one of the factors contributing to the success of the popularity grows, leading to a wider selection of
electronic books. Not only are there many models current books and new releases. Cost is generally a
available to please a variety of tastes — besides the little lower than buying a paperback edition.
Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, the new Barnes &
Wirelessly connected readers make purchasing an
Noble Nook, and a number of reader applications for
electronic book a simple matter, often delivering a new
iPhones, Android phones, and other smartphones have
volume in less than a minute. Purchases can be made
entered the market — but the capabilities of readers
at any time, from virtually any location, at no additional
have advanced to the point where the experience truly
cost, and with no subscription or access fee. The
rivals that of reading a paper book. Paper and ink color,
convenience of having an entire library of books,
font, type size, even the way pages are turned, are
magazines, and newspapers — each remembering
all customizable. Text is clear and crisp, with enough
exactly where you left off the last time you looked at
contrast to make it easy to read, and the devices are
them — and all in a single, small device is one of the
comfortable to hold for long periods of time.
most compelling aspects driving electronic reader sales.
Supported by such a wide variety of readers,
1 See E-Book Fans Are Proving to be Enthusiastic Readers,
electronic books have enjoyed a dramatic rise in NYTimes.com, 20 October 2009 (http://www.nytimes.
popularity over the last year — Kindle editions, for com/2009/10/21/technology/21books.html?_r=2).
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 17
20. T w o T o T H r e e Y e a r s
relevance for Teaching, Learning, The Kindle DX, a larger format version of the device
or Creative inquiry expressly built for academic texts, newspapers, and
While the typical electronic reader could conceivably journals, is being piloted at Arizona State University,
hold the entire sum of textbooks and readings for the Ball State University, Case Western Reserve University,
entirety of one’s academic experience, campuses Pace University, Princeton, Reed College, Syracuse
have been slower to adopt electronic books than the University, and the University of Virginia Darden School
general public for three primary reasons, but all of of Business. Northwest Missouri State University and
them are becoming less of a constraint. Penn State have embarked on pilots using the Sony
Reader. Johns Hopkins is piloting the enTourage
The primary obstacle was simply availability. While
eDGe, which combines the functions of an e-reader,
a great variety of consumer titles are available
a netbook, a notepad, and an audio/video recorder
electronically, textbooks or academic works have
and player in one handheld device. Many other similar
been published in electronic formats far less
projects could be listed here, as the number of campus-
frequently. Secondly, as the reader technology
based evaluation pilots is large and growing rapidly.
developed, the ability to easily render high quality
illustrations was initially limited. The last obstacle An obvious draw for students is the advantage of
was related to the publishing model. Where electronic having a single handheld reading device that can
versions were available, they were most commonly easily accommodate the entirety of readings involved
viewed as ancillary to the printed version, which had in one’s study, as well as all the essential reference
to be purchased before the electronic version could texts. In a pilot program, Seton Hall University’s
be accessed — and the early versions were not in Teaching, Learning & Technology Center found that
formats compatible with most readers. students appreciated the ability to store and review a
semester’s worth of material in electronic form.
Over the past year or so, however, those obstacles
have each started to fall away. Many academic A survey of current projects shows that electronic
titles are now available, and many more are in the books are being explored in virtually every discipline,
pipeline. Amazon, for example, now lists some although full-scale movement to electronic books is
30,000 academic titles; all of the major textbook still two to three years away. A sampling of projects
publishers have electronic versions in the Amazon includes the following:
education catalog. Advances in electronic reader extracurricular reading. The library at
technology have brought electronic versions of Fairleigh Dickinson University offers a selection
academic texts to a level with printed ones. The of electronic readers that students may check
newest readers can display graphics of all kinds out, including Amazon Kindles, Sony Readers,
and make it easy to bookmark and annotate pages and iPod Touches. Each reader includes a
and passages. Annotations can be exported, viewed selection of reference books, popular titles,
online, shared, and archived. In addition, electronic literature, and more.
readers offer keyword searching, instant dictionary
foreign Language. First-year French students
lookups and, in some cases, wireless Internet
at the University of Texas at Austin use an online
access. The experience of reading and note taking is
interactive textbook with a print-on-demand
becoming as easy in electronic form as it is in paper.
component, available in color or black-and-
Major publishers have largely uncoupled print and
white. The online portion includes audio clips of
electronic sales of academic texts as well. each part of the text and video clips to explore
An encouraging number of colleges and universities the culture of France (http://www.laits.utexas.
are running pilot programs with electronic books. edu/fi).
21. Humanities. The Humanities E-Book (HEB), sophie
offered to institutions on a subscription basis http://sophiecommons.org
by the American Council of Learned Societies, Sophie is an open source tool, maintained by
is a digital collection of 2,200 humanities texts. the University of Southern California’s School
Students at subscribing institutions may browse of Cinematic Arts, for creating and reading rich
and read the collection online or order printed media documents in a networked environment.
copies on demand. Sophie authors can easily combine a variety of
media — text, images, video, and audio — to
Physics. MIT, in conjunction with Ball State
develop sophisticated multimedia works.
University, produced an electronic book to
visually demonstrate the principles of electricity swapping Textbooks for e-books
and magnetism. (http://web.mit.edu/viz/EM/flash/ http://www.edtechmag.com/higher/march-
E&M_Master/E&M.swf). april-2009/swapping-textbooks-for-e-books.html
(Lee Copeland, EDTECH, March-April 2009.)
electronic books in Practice In a pilot program at Northwest Missouri State
The following links provide examples of the use of University, 500 of the school’s 6,500 students
electronic books for educational purposes. will receive electronic textbooks instead of, or in
some cases in addition to, printed copies.
darden students Test the amazon Kindle dX
http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease. for further reading
php?id=9509 The following articles and resources are
The University of Virginia’s Darden School recommended for those who want to learn more
of Business is participating in an Amazon- about electronic books.
sponsored program to test the Kindle DX. The
7 Things You Need To Know about sony readers
pilot aims to assess the effect of electronic books
in a Higher ed environment
on teaching and learning, determine whether
http://libraries.psu.edu/etc/medialib/
the school can reduce its carbon footprint by
psulpublicmedialibrary/lls/documents.Par.53256.
employing the devices, and explore potential
File.dat/7things_SonyReader.pdf
cost savings for students and the university.
This white paper from the Penn State University
deepdyve Libraries describes relevant uses of Sony’s
http://www.deepdyve.com Reader in the classroom, in the library, and as
DeepDyve is an extensive online collection a tool for the visually disabled. Pros and cons of
of scientific, technical, and medical research. using e-books are discussed.
Articles are either open access or premium;
Clive Thompson on the future of reading in a
premium articles may be rented and read online
digital world
for twenty-four hours at a cost of $0.99.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/
sony reader Project at The Penn state university magazine/17-06/st_thompson
Libraries (Clive Thompson, Wired Magazine, 22 May
http://libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/sony_reader.html 2009.) Thompson makes a case for digitizing
Students may check out a Sony Reader from books: in addition to enhancing sales of the
the library, complete with leisure reading titles printed book, e-books enable ongoing reader
including both fiction and non-fiction. dialogs.
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 19
22. T w o T o T H r e e Y e a r s
devices to Take Textbooks beyond Text Kindle for the academic
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/ http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/11/03/
business/06novel.html golub
(Anne Eisenberg, The New York Times, 5 (Alex Golub, Inside Higher Ed, 3 November
December 2009.) New e-book readers, in 2009.) The author discusses the pros and cons
addition to displaying standard text, offer liquid- of electronic readers, particularly the Kindle,
crystal displays to better show graphics and from the point of view of a reader of academic
other items found in color in textbooks. works (as opposed to textbooks or leisure
reading).
e-book fans are Proving to be enthusiastic
readers students give e-readers the old College Try
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/ http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/
technology/21books.html oct/20/students-give-ereaders-old-college-try
(Brad Stone, The New York Times, 20 October (Columbia Daily Tribune, 20 October 2009.)
2009.) Fans of e-readers suggest that the Students weigh in on the Kindle. Included
convenience of using these products, which are benefits and drawbacks from a number of
offer a sense of control and customization that participants in this year’s Kindle pilot program.
consumers have come to expect from all their Delicious: electronic books
media gadgets, has created a greater interest http://delicious.com/tag/hz10+ebooks
in books. Follow this link to find additional resources
How the e-book will Change the way we read tagged for this topic and this edition of the
and write Horizon Report. To add to this list, simply tag
http://online.wsj.com/article/ resources with “hz10” and “ebooks” when you
SB123980920727621353.html save them to Delicious.
(Steven Johnson, The Wall Street Journal, 20
April 2009.) While electronic readers satisfy
our desire for instant gratification, they may
compromise the sanctity of an author, a reader,
and a book. The author predicts that electronic
books will fundamentally change the way we
interact with the printed word.
23. s i M P L e au g M e N T e d r e a L i T Y
Time-to-adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
While the capability to deliver augmented reality experiences has been around for decades, it is only very
recently that those experiences have become easy and portable. Advances in mobile devices as well as in
the different technologies that combine the real world with virtual information have led to augmented reality
applications that are as near to hand as any other application on a laptop or a smart phone. New uses for
augmented reality are being explored and new experiments undertaken now that it is easy to do so. Emerging
augmented reality tools to date have been mainly designed for marketing, social purposes, amusement, or
location-based information, but new ones continue to appear as the technology becomes more popular.
Augmented reality has become simple, and is now poised to enter the mainstream in the consumer sector.
overview
The expression augmented reality (AR) is credited Augmented reality applications can either be marker-
to former Boeing researcher Tom Caudell, who based, which means that the camera must perceive
is believed to have coined the term in 1990. The a specific visual cue in order for the software to call
concept of blending (augmenting) virtual data — up the correct information, or markerless. Markerless
information, rich media, and even live action — with applications use positional data, such as a mobile’s
what we see in the real world, for the purpose of GPS and compass, or image recognition, where
enhancing the information we can perceive with input to the camera is compared against a library
our senses is a powerful one. Augmented reality of images to find a match. Markerless applications
itself is older than the term; the first applications of have wider applicability since they function anywhere
AR appeared in the late 1960s and 1970s. By the without the need for special labeling or supplemental
1990s, augmented reality was being put to use by reference points.
a number of major companies for visualization,
Currently, many augmented reality efforts are
training, and other purposes. Now, the technologies
focused on entertainment and marketing, but these
that make augmented reality possible are powerful
and compact enough to deliver AR experiences will spill into other areas as the technology matures
to personal computers and mobile devices. Early and becomes even more simplified. Layar (http://
mobile applications began to appear in 2008, and layar.com) has been a leader in this space with
several augmented reality mapping and social tools AR applications for Android and iPhones. Layar’s
are now on the market. mobile application features content layers that may
include ratings, reviews, advertising, or other such
Wireless mobile devices are increasingly driving
information to assist consumers on location in
this technology into the mobile space where the
shopping or dining areas. Other mobile applications
applications offer a great deal of promise. Initially, AR
that make use of AR for social or commercial
required unwieldy headsets and kept users largely
purposes include Yelp, another review and rating
tethered to their desktop computers. The camera and
service; Wikitude, which overlays information from
screen embedded in smart phones and other mobile
Wikipedia and other sources onto a view of the real
devices now serve as the means to combine real
world; and a handful of Twitter clients. The mobile
world data with virtual data; using GPS capability,
media company Ogmento develops AR games for
image recognition, and a compass, AR applications
mobiles.
can pinpoint where the mobile’s camera is pointing
and overlay relevant information at appropriate The improvement in technology allows more
points on the screen. streamlined approaches and wider user adoption.
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 21
24. T w o T o T H r e e Y e a r s
Market projections for augmented reality on mobile comparing prices in a shopping center, for instance,
devices predict revenues of $2 million in 2010, rising or identifying trees.
to several hundred million by 2014 ($350 million, Of particular relevance to education is augmented
according to ABI Research; Juniper Research’s reality gaming. Games that are based in the real
projections are even higher). Augmented reality is world and augmented with networked data can give
poised to enter the mainstream in the consumer educators powerful new ways to show relationships
sector, and the social, gaming, and location-based and connections. Games using marker technology
applications that are emerging point to a strong often include a flat game board or map which
potential for educational applications in the next few becomes a 3D setting when viewed with a mobile
years. device or a webcam. This kind of game could easily
be applied to a range of disciplines, including
relevance for Teaching, Learning, archaeology, history, anthropology, or geography, to
or Creative inquiry name a few. Another approach to AR gaming allows
Augmented reality has strong potential to provide players or game masters to create virtual people and
both powerful contextual, in situ learning experiences objects, tying them to a specific location in the real
and serendipitous exploration and discovery of the world. Players interact with these constructs, which
connected nature of information in the real world. appear when the player approaches a linked location
Mechanics in the military and at companies like in the real world.
Boeing already use AR goggles while they work
Augmented reality can also be used to model
on vehicles; the goggles demonstrate each step
objects, allowing learners to envision how a given
in a repair, identify the tools needed, and include
item would look in different settings. Models can
textual instructions as well. This kind of augmented
be generated rapidly, manipulated, and rotated.
experience especially lends itself to training for
Students receive immediate visual feedback about
specific tasks.
their designs and ideas in a way that allows them
Applications that convey information about a place to spot inconsistencies or problems that need
open the door to discovery-based learning. Visitors to to be addressed. Researchers in the Human
historic sites can access AR applications that overlay Interface Technology Laboratory at the University
maps and information about how the location looked of Canterbury in New Zealand have created a tool
at different points of history. An application currently that translates sketches into 3D objects and uses
in development by the EU-funded iTacitus project augmented reality to allow students to explore the
(http://itacitus.org/) will allow visitors to pan across physical properties and interactions between objects.
a location — the Coliseum, say — and see what it Simple controls, drawn on slips of paper, are used
looked like during an historical event, complete with to alter the properties of the sketched objects (see
cheering spectators and competing athletes. People, a demonstration video at http://www.youtube.com/
too, will soon be explored through augmented watch?v=M4qZ0GLO5_A). At Mauricio De Nassau
reality. The TAT Augmented ID application, still in College in Brazil, architecture students are exploring
development, uses facial recognition technology to the possibilities of using augmented reality to project
display certain, pre-approved information about a scale models of buildings, cutting down on the time
person when he or she is viewed through the camera required to construct and present architectural
of a mobile device. SREngine is another augmented proposals. For another idea of how augmented
reality application, also in development, that will reality could be applied to the study of architecture,
use object recognition to display information about see the concept video Realtà Aumentata (http://
everyday things one encounters in the real world — vimeo.com/2341387), created as a thesis project by
25. a student at the Valle Giulia Faculty of Architecture student guides. Graz University of Technology,
in Italy. Austria, has developed campus and museum
tours using augmented reality. Looking through
Augmented books, now just beginning to enter
the camera on a mobile phone while walking
the market, are another interesting application of
the campus, students see tagged classrooms
this technology. The German company Metaio is
inside the buildings. At the museum, a virtual
developing books that include AR elements, such
tour guide accompanies users through the halls.
as globes that pop up on the pages. The books are
printed normally; after purchase, consumers install simple augmented reality in Practice
special software on their computers and point a The following links provide examples of simple
webcam at the book to see the visualizations. The augmented reality.
technology allows any existing book to be developed
arhrrrr - an augmented reality shooter
into an augmented reality edition after publication; an
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNu4CluFOcw
atlas featuring 3D views of geographic locations is
&feature=player_embedded
currently in development.
This video demonstrates an augmented reality
A sampling of applications of simple augmented game created at Georgia Tech Augmented
reality across disciplines includes the following: Environments Lab and the Savannah College of
Art and Design Atlanta. The dynamic, interactive
astronomy. Google’s SkyMap is an augmented
game uses a handheld mobile device and a
reality application that overlays information
table map — and Skittles.
about the stars and constellations as a user
views the sky through the camera on his or her aris Mobile Media Learning games
mobile phone. Other astronomy applications, http://arisgames.org
such as pUniverse, key detailed (and precisely ARIS is an alternate reality gaming engine
oriented) maps of the sky to a user’s location created by the University of Wisconsin’s Games,
and orientation. Learning and Society research group. Virtual
objects and characters can be placed at certain
architecture. ARSights is a website and tool locations in the physical world; players can
that allows users to visualize 3D models created interact with them using their mobile devices.
in Google’s SketchUp. Pointing a webcam at a
Mirror worlds
2D printout causes a 3D model to appear on
http://www.augmentedenvironments.org/
the screen. It can be turned and manipulated
lab/2009/10
by moving the sheet of paper (see http://www.
Students at Georgia Tech have created a tour
inglobetechnologies.com/en/products/arplugin_
of campus that switches between a view of an
su/info.php). avatar in a virtual world and augmented reality
Computer science. The FourEyes Lab at superimposed on the real world. Users choose
the University of California Santa Barbara is their view and can move back and forth between
creating a finger-sensing augmented reality the two.
program. The software determines the finger Video: TaT’s augmented reality Concept unveiled
positions of the user’s hand (spread out, close- http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/09/video-tats-
fisted, etc.) and moves an illustration on the augmented-reality-concept-unveiled/
screen accordingly (causing a rabbit to crouch (Joseph L. Flatley, Engadget, 9 July 2009.)
or jump, for example). Swedish company The Astonishing Tribe (TAT)
T H e H o r i Z o N r e P o r T – 2 0 1 0 23