The New Media Consortium is an international non-profit organization dedicated to discovering new applications of new media and new technologies. Its members included well-known academic institutions, world-class museums, major research institutions, and forward-looking corporations. For over 15 years, the New Media Consortium and its members have tried to invest in developing the innovative potential of applications of technology in learning, and the Consortium’s Horizon Report is a globally acknowledged authoritative publication on education technology.

Source: New Media Consortium’s website (http://www.nmc.org)

The New Media Consortium produces an annual report on trends in various areas of media technology, such as the 2009 Horizon Report: Economic Development Edition, which emphasized integration of technology in small- to mid-size businesses. The 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition highlighted the impact of information technology on education and its integration into elementary and secondary schools. The New Media Consortium also publishes special regional reports such as the 2010 Horizon Report: Australia-New Zealand Edition covering the impact of technology on education in elementary and secondary schools in New Zealand and Australia. The 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition is an annual report in the area of museum education.

This year’s 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition differentiates media technology in museums by the length of time in which they will be adopted in the future. Its major points are summarized below:

1 year or less: Mobile devices and interactive media
The origin of the word “mobile” is earlier than that of “device”, and out of the previously blurry boundary between cell phone signals and Internet connectivity, advanced countries developed phones that used 3G signal connections to access web functionality, which also made mobility more significant. Mobility is an area that has not yet been completely developed; it could be used to bridge the experiences museum patrons have inside the museum with conditions in the outside world. The museum’s mobile devices can create and transmit knowledge, and let viewers participate in learning, creating profound links between the exhibits, the environment, and the place.
Social media are a virtual communities peripheral to a museum and provide a virtual space outside of the actual museum, letting visitors to the museum give their opinions and views, and an opportunity to engage in dialogue with the museum. It is a different kind of learning experience. Major world museums such as the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and MOMA in the United States all have pages on the social networking site Facebook, to allow visitors to play a greater role in the museum community.

2-3 years: Augmented reality and on-site services
Because of the progress made in mobile devices using 3G, film and recognition systems have developed to a high degree. Augmented reality is becoming more and more popularized, and is gradually departing from a desktop model and transforming into a model of learning by discovery. The user can learn through mobile devices or interactive exhibits, such as 3D models of cultural artifacts. On site services use geographical positioning to give users the information they need based on their location. The information they receive is also highly personalized. For example, they can get on-site information about restaurants, locations of exhibition rooms, map guides, etc.

4-5 years: Computerized signs and semantic webs
Computerized recognition of gestures is already used in training and in research, but in educational applications it is still in need of further study. Devices are controlled using hand gestures or movements of the limbs, and device interactivity does not necessarily need more study. With regard to museums, computerized gesture recognition can provide the user with an interesting way to interact with actual objects. A semantic web reveals the relation between concepts, people, and objects in an information network, the semantic web mechanism using this kind of linguistic connection to find information. For example, when a user is using a search engine to search for data, a search engine company such as Google simultaneously manages that user’s browsing data, and as the user discloses more and more of his search preferences to the search engine, he/she gives meaning to web content in the process, creating an individual semantic web. Thus, a search engine can, using the information and preferences provided over the web by the user to the search engine, provide more precise search results to the user. For museums, the significance of semantic webs lies in the ability to retrieve data about the museum’s collection, allowing the user or researcher to effectively obtain relevant information about the museum’s resources.

The New Media Consortium’s website (http://www.nmc.org/news) provides a rich source of media resources on the media and technology trends. Those interested can download reports or obtain rich reference information.