More services will be running on cellphones or handheld computers, and more devices will be able to broadcast their location to others, says a new report from Educause’s Learning Initiative and the New Media Consortium.
The “2009 Horizon Report,” the latest edition of the annual list of technology trends to watch in education, is compiled based on news reports, research studies, and interviews with experts.
Topping the list of hot technologies are smart phones and other mobile devices. The authors noted that smart phones can now run third-party applications, which could revolutionize how such devices are used in education by consolidating numerous teaching, learning, and administrative tools into devices that fit into the palms of students’ hands.
Another top trend identified in the report is cloud computing, which refers to Web-based applications and services. Such services, many of which are free, will allow campus users to access more tools and information at a lower cost—although it may make users increasingly dependent on their hosts, the report says.
The prevalence of electronics that have “geo-locators“—that is, that are capable of knowing where they are—could have important applications for field research, specifically with regard to tracking the movement of animal populations or mapping data sets to study weather, migration, or urban development patterns, the report says. Similarly, “smart” objects—which are aware not only of their locations but of themselves and their environment—are already used in some libraries for tracking and tagging materials and may have analogous applications across a number of academic disciplines.
Though the Internet has proved to be a helpful resource for many students and professors, the sheer volume of its content can make finding relevant information a tedious chore at times. According to the report, the personal Web—i.e., widgets and services that help connect individual users to the Web-based information relevant to them—will allow students, professors, and administrators to use the Web more efficiently.
In a similar vein, semantic-aware applications will emerge to allow students to use one of the Internet’s more popular features—Web search—more efficiently, the authors predict. Semantic-aware applications refer to technology designed to analyze the meaning of phrases typed into search boxes, rather than just the keywords. Beyond search technology, the report says that semantic-aware applications may eventually help researchers organize and present their findings in ways that more easily describe conceptual relationships among collected data. —Steve Kolowich
29 Responses to ‘Horizon Report’ Names Top Technology Trends to Watch in Education
seamus123 - June 18, 2012 at 7:36 am
I suspect that Mr. McWhorter is critiquing Mitten’s false sense of folksiness. That the unnaturalness of these expressions in context seem too deliberate seems evident. Romney’s general social awkwardness, outside of his class, is made more palpable by the phoniness of these expressions.
dank48 - June 18, 2012 at 10:12 am
I wish they’d just go ahead and swear honestly and straightforwardly, but of course that could cost them votes with those who prefer softer expressions. I hadn’t heard “for crying in a bucket,” but I’ve never heard “for Christ’s blood” either. My mother was given to saying “Jeez Louise” on occasion.
It’s pretty good entertainment, when you come down to it, watching and listening to these ridiculous stuffed shirts attempt to come off as men of the people. Neither of my parents ever stooped to “shucks,” though; by the time that item had been reached, it was time to go for the real thing.
Crime-in-Italy, but these euphemisms can get confusing.
marcleavitt - June 18, 2012 at 10:18 am
Gosh, I think that Romney’s public persona, as evidenced by his use of all-American euphemisms, is sure straight-arrow. Gee whiz, how can anyone criticize that? Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!
3rdtyrant - June 18, 2012 at 10:20 am
From my experience as a fraud investigator, the use of “you know” repeatedly is (while not a certain sign), an indication of dissembling. It is silly for McWhorter to make these assertions, because I neither believe that Mitt Romney is a robot or that Barack Obama was dissembling. In either case, they’re clearly just reaching out and searching for words–unlike Beowulf, who could just open his word-hoard to speak. Vote Beowulf!
3rdtyrant - June 18, 2012 at 10:21 am
You don’t find the use of “Mittens” a bit puerile for this forum? Couch your disagreement and even disgust in solid argument, you’ll have plenty of people who agree with you. But why not reach out for a bit of civility?
3rdtyrant - June 18, 2012 at 10:23 am
”Christ’s blood” is a very old expression, reaching all the way back to the Elizabethans and beyond, when the expression was written as — ‘sblood –.
jpminnc - June 18, 2012 at 11:08 am
The implicit logic here seems to be that (a) ‘authenticity’ is desirable in our leaders; (b) authenticity is a function of how ‘natural’ their speech patterns seem; and (c) naturalness is a function of folksiness, since it means they aren’t thinkin’ too much ’bout their words. Is this the ultimate failure of democracy? Personally, when it comes to language, I would prefer a politician who uses great care in choosing his or her words. Even better, I would prefer a politician with great experience, wisdom and understanding of the world — qualities that, I’m sorry to say, folksiness fails to indicate. Awkwardness doesn’t bother me. Ignorance does.
dwsingrs - June 18, 2012 at 11:32 am
Mr. Romney also occasionally says, “My goodness!” This is perfectly fine by me, even though I am not a Romney supporter and otherwise he bugs me and I find him quite irksome.
Civil public discourse here in The Land of the Fee and The Home of the Craven is at quite a low.
What is it with these people who at the least whim utter “OMG,” especially those who claim to be adherents to the Judeo-Christian tradition? It is some state of affairs when a skeptic/agnostic feels embarrassed for them on account of their such ululations.
And how about that bloody word, “cool”? How is it somehow “uncool” to refrain from using eyebrow-raising language, at least in the presence of grandmothers and toddlers? (Many if not most of us have witnessed thoughtless Philistine Amuricuns – mostly male adults and self-absorbed adolescents of both sexes – so express themselves within earshot of kindergartners.) Let’s bring back “groovy”!
grward - June 18, 2012 at 12:10 pm
I’ve never been an investigator but I am a parent of two teenagers, and my take on the use of “you know” is very similar to yours.
chuckkle - June 18, 2012 at 12:13 pm
I’ve heard that English tends to regard words about body functions as “worse” than words with a religious reference, and it is the opposite in Latin languages. Is this true?
If so, is “bloody” a reference to the body fluid of Jesus or to menstruation?
lslerner - June 18, 2012 at 3:23 pm
There is no doubt that growing up Mormon incorporates certain turns of phrase into one’s speech. When I was a graduate teaching assistant, one of my beginning grad students was a guy from rural Utah who was rapidly drifting away from Mormonism, what with drinking and smoking among other things. But he peppered his speech with loud, dramatic “Gosh darn it”s and the like. Finally, I mentioned to him that it sounded odd in the context of a major university physics department, and he made the switch to more common cuss words very quickly.
seamus123 - June 18, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Perhaps, but I find your response officious and stuffy. You must be a joy in the classroom.
Robert Oscar Lopez - June 18, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Hi I’m a native Spanish speaker and proficient in other Latin languages. It may depend on region, but in my neck of the words (the Caribbean), we muttered religious things all the time, whereas bodily functions were definitely swear words. C**ada isn’t something you were supposed to say, or pu•eta, which refers to masturbation. But folks would mutter “Santa María!” or “Dios Mio” quite a bit. “La culpa de Eva!” was something my relatives said when a woman did something wrong. Or “santo santo santo.”
dpn33 - June 18, 2012 at 4:34 pm
I believe that the Britishism “bloody” refers to the blood of Jesus.
dank48 - June 18, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Mitt Romney is a politician. Looking for phoniness in a politician is like searching for the wet, salty part of the ocean.
daniellelibrarian - June 18, 2012 at 5:12 pm
The real reason that Romney says, “Gosh,” “Golly,” and “Gee” is because he is Mormon. When adult Mormons go through the temple rite ceremony, they swear (on pain of a gory death) not to “take the name of the Lord in vain.” So, while Mormons try to avoid all swear words, the single, most taboo swear word to any Mormon is “God!” It is even worse than the F-word, because they have been warned specifically that the ”God” word will send them straight to hell, by way of aforementioned gory death.
And so, in predominantly Mormon communities, all sorts of “God” euphemisms flourish. This explains why lslerner’s grad student was so used to saying “Gosh darn it.” If he had said, “God damn it,” when he was growing up, he would have been shunned, even though he likely didn’t know the real reason. For the most part, only temple “endowed” Mormons know the root of this social rule in Utah. Everyone else just knows it is an unwritten rule, and that they will offend any Mormons in earshot if they utter the G-word.
For more fascinating info about our Mormon Presidential candidate, see http://mittromneycult.blogspot.com/
jffoster - June 18, 2012 at 11:14 pm
I suppose “Shucks!” would have gotten him dropped from the program.
jffoster - June 18, 2012 at 11:15 pm
One can hardly be blamed for preferring glory to gory.
daniellelibrarian - June 19, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Wait until you see what else Romney will do to get his glory instead of gory. In the temple rite ceremony, Romney also swore (on pain of aforementioned gory death) to use everything he has, “including his time, talents, and everything God has given him or might give him” to build up the Mormon Church. I’m sure that the office of POTUS would fall in the category of things he considers as a gift from God. (Why not–all the other Republican candidates think they were called by God to run for office). Romney has also sworn to obey the leaders of the Mormon Church, without question. Mormons take these oaths and the consequences of eternal damnation very seriously. Romney has sworn his allegiance to his Church in no uncertain terms, which makes you wonder what is left for the oath of office. When he swears, to the “best of [his] ability” to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” what is he promising? To try to preserve the Constitution, the best he can, given that he’s already sworn his eternal allegiance to the Mormon Church? That’s a very compromising position for the leader of the free world to be in.
Dave Haan - June 20, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Will we now be developing euphemisms for euphemisms?
jffoster - June 21, 2012 at 8:06 am
That’s what always happens once you start down the euphemism trail.
dank48 - June 21, 2012 at 10:18 am
Remember when Germaine Greer claimed that the f-word was originally a euphemism for the truly gross and disgusting “swyve” or “swive”? (Maybe we were reading different books back then.) It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t believe there’s much in the way of evidence for it.
Chris Rene Marrou - June 24, 2012 at 10:57 am
Jiminy Christmas, I say Mr. McWhorter is a biased son-of-a-beehive who doesn’t know his elbow from his Alka-Seltzer!
Yan Doodan - June 25, 2012 at 8:49 am
And now we see anti-Mormon racism from the Left. Let the Battle of the Racists begin!
Td Torquemada - June 25, 2012 at 8:54 am
I bet you won’t have voted for JFK either on the basis of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Oh, you would have? I guess that makes you just another God damned hypocrite.
11144703 - June 25, 2012 at 9:43 am
chukkle wrote, “If so, is “bloody” a reference to the body fluid of Jesus or to menstruation?”
‘swounds, I have the same question about Islam.
Do Muslim Republicans or Democrats say euphemistic phrases as “Allah’s alimentary canal!” or “Munchkin Mo[hammed]!” when exasperated behind closed doors? Over the years relatively liberal Muslims will surely utter this kind of phraseology in political discourse in the future.
nulla - June 25, 2012 at 5:12 pm
“Dinna curse him, sir; I have heard it said that a curse was like a stone flung up to the heavens, and most likely to return on the head of him that sent it.”
–Sir Walter Scott
Yan Doodan - June 26, 2012 at 8:09 am
Does that mean Walter Scott was a Mormon?
11144703 - June 26, 2012 at 8:51 am
Wally Scott was wrong. Surely millions of Muslims, like Jews and Christians and Sikhs, have cursed Allah (or the allahs when they wish to be particularly blasphemous) over the centuries without repercussions.