My 8 learning predictions for 2010

In follow-up of the predictions I made in 2009, I take a go at predicting the learning evolutions for 2010 (oh, how I wish I had an oracle to advise me).

I also linked this post to the Big Question for January 2010 in a quest for plans or predictions, posted by Tony Karrer on the Learning Circuit blog.

Overall I feel that learning research in 2010 will favor pedagogy over technology as the prime focus, and ubiquitous learning will be the central goal. In a more elaborate sense, here are my 8 predictions for 2010:

Semantics: Learning will become the rave again. Web2.0, education2.0, mobile learning, eLearning, TELearning … we as learners will be focusing on Learning again for the simple reason that the learning is all around us, and done with every tool we have.

Ubiquitous learning: ubiquitous learning as a term becomes more common place, especially with net books and mobile devices still on the rise. Because ubiquitous learning is coming closer to our learning reality, and because it focuses more on the learning aspect and less on what type of technology is used, I think it will be one of the main educational foci in 2010.

Social media will become more streamlined, and all present: the last couple of year’s new social media applications sprung up. In 2010 I predict that it will become more streamlined, once people are used to certain software that serves a specific purpose; they tend to stay with it for a longer amount of time. Social media will become normal for any type of learning, because it favors networks and connections.

Pedagogy: for the last couple of years technology was at the center of innovative learning. In my opinion, now that these (social media) technologies have taken off, the focus will come back to the learner her/himself. Pedagogy will overtake technology as the main focus in new media learning research.

Cognitive factors: in 2008 and 2009 some new initiatives were taken to start using new technologies and resulting innovative pedagogies, e.g. Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course, Quest for learn. For 2010 I think the cognitive will be increasingly in the picture.

Low resource areas build more applications by themselves, and for themselves. Africa and other low resource areas are moving forward at a rapid pace. There is a growing number of African developers and activists that make a difference and enable citizens to participate in society, and engage in learning. This trend will increase, as more projects are developed or useful mash-ups are put together to get a message out to the world or boost their region and its people.

Augmented reality: as the applications for mobile devices grow, augmented reality is becoming a much more interesting area to explore. It allows all users to get a clearer view on topics that are of interest to them: is an engineering project on target? Which shops can I see from where I stand? What church is this? Just take a look at the Augmented Reality Team video’s.

Networking and connections gain even more ground: for any long term project that wants to take off, the strength will be in the network and the connections related to it. Building a strong and relevant personal network will be crucial for any work. But in order to be willing to build a network and exchange knowledge with all the connected people in it, trust will be crucial. Trust is a good characteristic for any type of living.

What are your predictions for 2010?

(Another great cartoon by Nick D Kim, nearingzero.net.)