Part 3 in my "Top 10 Ed-Tech Trends of 2011" series.
As I've planned this series of year-end posts, I've tried to approach the ed-tech trends of 2011 from a 30,000 foot view. In other words, rather than looking at too many specific companies or specific events or dwelling on the minutiae of the ed-tech sector, I want to outline some of the larger patterns that I've observed over the course of the last twelve months.
In a lot of ways, pointing to text-messaging as a major trend seems to runs counter to that.
Mobile Learning
Text-messaging could easily fall under the larger "mobile learning" category. After all, early in the year, the Horizon Report pegged mobile learning as something with imminent adoption. 2011 did seem like a transformational year for the adoption of mobile devices, among students and at schools -- and not just because of the iPad (trend number 1 in my series). It's because of the iPod Touch. It's because of the cellphone.
BYOD
Ah, the cellphone. The hand-wringing. Students bring them to school anyway, you know. They have them in their backpacks, their pockets.