Emerging Trends

This weekend and on through Wednesday, I will be attending the SIIA Ed Tech Industry Summit (#ETIS). As I look at the program, the central theme is "Going Mobile and Global." The focus will obviously be on mobile access and application of education content and resources with in the education space. (View program outline)

This leads me to the question as I'm sure many have asked and that is, "to what extent do mobile devices and social applications have in our classrooms?" And more importantly, what is a district's stance on allowing these devices with wifi or social media accessibility going to be in permitting schools with students and teachers? No question the ongoing debate is security and connectivity. We can argue that over and over.

I believe that the emerging trends are in the following areas...

1. Open Source / Access to Content
2. Cloud Computing
3. Mobile & Network Devices
4. eLearning / Virtual Ed
5. Digital content vs. Textbooks
6. Content as Learning Objects
7. Third Party / Independent Learning Platforms
8. Social Learning and secure or filtered Web 2.0

As I attend this ETIS, I would like to explore these topical trends and understand how organization, for profit and not, are addressing these issues within K12 education. As a content provider, the organization that I work for provides a tremendous amount of engaging content, but I think the viability and longevity is in open and transparent access not only to various platforms and learner management systems, but also to members of the community involved in supporting and educating a learner.



One hot topic session that I'm interested in learning more about is:

Online Learning and Learning Management Systems: A Crystal Ball to the Future

How will changes in LMSs, online content, social networking, and the mobile web affect the way schools operate and students learn? What do we need to know about current trends in the use of digital resources to run successful ed tech businesses?

Moderator: Kathy Clark, Chief Executive Officer, SMARTHINKING

That being said, I look forward to sharing and reporting what I learn at this conference.

To learn more, you can follow the event on Twitter at (#ETIS) or follow updates at http://www.siia.net/etis/2010/.