Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Next Steps for a Beyond Horizons (2.0) Community

Horizon Report EditionIn December 2017, the world learned that the organization known as the New Media Consortium (NMC) was proceeding through chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings.  NMC was known for its Horizon Project, which created well-received reports on education technology (edtech).  After the shock of the news, the NMC community has begun to regroup.  Lisa Gustinelli, Jonathan Nalder, and Paul Signorelli collaboratively wrote and published a piece about the loss of NMC and the future of the NMC community.  As a teaser, I'm publishing part of the article below.  Please go to Paul's blog to read it in its entirety, if you are interested in how a technology community keeps going in the face of loss. 
Those of us who were part of the NMC (New Media Consortium) global family, tribe, and community of learning for many years were stunned, a couple of weeks ago, by the sudden, completely unexpected news that our NMC friends/staff/colleagues had been suddenly laid off during the holiday season and, as the official (unsigned) statement distributed by former Board President Gardner Campbell via email noted on December 18, 2017, the “NMC will be promptly commencing a chapter 7 bankruptcy case. A trustee will be appointed by the court to wind down NMC’s financial affairs, liquidate its assets and distribute any net proceeds to creditors…” Those who loved the ed-tech reports issued through NMC’s Horizon Project, which documented ed tech projects, developments, trends, and challenges across both formal and informal learning sectors, are concerned that a project with more than 16 years of insights and impact worldwide could die along with the NMC.
 Again, you can read the complete post on the Building Creative Bridges blog. And here is a link to the 2017 Horizon Report.

1 comment:

Paul Signorelli said...

Thanks a million, Jill.

And if any educators/teachers/trainers/doers interested in exploring the intersection of learning and ed-tech in a post New Media Consortium world want an invitation to our quickly-growing global Beyond the Horizon group on Slack, please email me at paul@paulsignorelli.com with a one-line description of your involvement in learning and ed-tech.