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MayJune2013

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Higher Ed Sees Its Future What will higher education look like in five years? The New Media Consortium (NMC), an international community of educational technology experts and practitioners, has released its 2013 NMC New Horizons Report, which outlines the new technology that promises to transform the classroom. Within the next year, the report expects that the "flipped classroom"—where students access most course content online—will become more typical. Professors will spend classroom time on more hands-on project-based activities. The report also predicts a rapid increase in MOOCs, the use of mobile apps, and tablet computing. Within two to three years, educators will adopt augmented reality or "blended reality," in which students interact with virtual objects that "bring underlying data to life." The report predicts that educators will use learning analytics to gather data on their students' academic progress, and they'll use game-based learning—such as massively multiplayer online games and global social awareness games—to engage students. Finally, within four to five years, the report's authors predict that more educators will adopt three-dimensional printing for rapid prototyping, flexible computer displays, and efficient next-generation batteries. Wearable technology, which packs computer power into items such as glasses or backpacks, will be used to teach. The report mentions Google Glass, a device that Google is now testing. The single-lens device, worn like eyeglasses, displays information in the wearer's direct line of sight. For these advances to be used effectively, academic institutions need to create a more robust infrastructure to train educators in new technologies, the report's authors write. They conclude, "As this [process] unfolds, the focus should not be on the technologies themselves, but on the pedagogies that make them useful." The full report is available at www.nmc.org/ pdf/2013-horizon-report-HE.pdf. The number of stealth applicants is growing because of the availability of search engines and informational websites, in addition to traditional print guidebooks and schools' direct marketing products. Forty-five percent had visited a college's website on a mobile device and 10 percent had downloaded a college's app on a mobile device. Only 9 percent had texted with a representative of a school. However, 70 percent of respondents were open to communicating with admissions via text, as long as the respondents already had reached out to the school. Also, more than one in three indicated that online banner advertising was an effective way to reach them, and that they recalled these ads more favorably than all other forms of advertising combined. Although 88 percent of respondents have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media networks, only 8 percent used their accounts to speak with friends about the colleges they were most interested in. How- ever, 44 percent noted that they expected schools to check their social media accounts in the admissions process. Nearly 40 percent of respondents set up dedicated email accounts for their college searches; of these, 71 percent checked their accounts daily. Respondents also noted that, when choosing a school, the most important factors to them were scholarship and financial aid; strong academic reputation; affordable tuition and fees; and job placement success. "Stealth applicants apply to colleges under the radar of admissions teams," says Tom Abrahamson, chairman of Lipman Hearne. "Their unexpected applications can complicate schools' admissions planning and projections." For these reasons, he adds, colleges need to be more focused on reaching this largely unrecognized group of students. The full report, "The Super Investigator: Understanding Today's 'Always On' Prospective Student," is available by request at www.lipmanhearne.com/super investigators.aspx. BizEd May/June 2013 65

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