Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

I have often heard the adage, “In education, what’s old is new again.” While this is true of some initiatives, I’ve been in education long enough to know these strategies are improved upon as they come around each time. I also know that there are definite emerging trends that are completely new to the world of education for the current generation of students. I’m going to discuss four of the hottest right now, though they definitely have areas of overlap.

Annual report explores the trends, challenges, and technology developments poised to disrupt higher education worldwide.

The New Media Consortium (NMC) and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) jointly released the NMC Horizon Report – 2017 Higher Education Edition at the 2017 ELI Annual Meeting. This 14th edition describes annual findings from the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in higher education. Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational technology are placed directly in the context of their likely impact on the core missions of universities and colleges.

At its new Waterside Campus the University of Northampton is doing away with lecture theatres in favour of more flexible ‘teaching spaces’.

It’s the latest evidence of the university’s developing approach to using digital technology to enhance teaching and learning. Already, Northampton has redesigned two-thirds of its courses to support its ‘active blended learning’ approach and the new teaching spaces are part of a strategy to give students best value from face-to-face time with teachers.