Released today, the Horizon Report is an annual round-up of key trends in teaching, learning and creative expression within learning organizations. The 2008 edition spotlights 6 emerging technologies and three metatrends.

More detailed commentary to follow, but for now I’ll pull out their observations on 3D spaces as one of their three metatrends (the others being collective generation and sharing of knowledge, and connecting people to the network):

Moving the computer into three dimensions has been an equally interesting and recurring theme that is now clearly a metatrend, with a mapping currently spanning the years between 2004 and 2010. In this case, development has been extensive, with the emergence of vector-based animation tools allowing simple 3D representations in 2004, and the growth of physical 3D outputs in the form of rapid prototyping over 2005 and 2006. Virtual and augmented reality began to find traction around that time as well, and today nearly every learning organization is exploring some form of virtual reality, either in direct learning applications taking place in platforms like Open Croquet or Second Life, or in research settings, where enhanced visualization tools are probing the depths of rich data sets for new learning and knowledge.

There’s been a lot of talk that 2008 will be the year of virtual worlds primarily because of the explosive growth in its use by higher education. How 3D worlds are USED will be one of the defining questions of the year to come – anticipate seeing a lot of ‘classroom replication’ – teacher at podium, kids at desks, only this time you won’t know they’re asleep. It’s the work that’s done to break out of this mold that will be the source of innovation, and much like other great ideas from academia will be picked up by the commercial sector once its been tested and documented.

The Horizon Report is much broader than just coverage of virtual worlds, and the overall message is that leadership and innovation is required in education in the face of the challenges and opportunities of technology. Giving one example, they note that:

“The growing use of Web 2.0 and social networking— combined with collective intelligence and mass amateurization—is gradually but inexorably changing the practice of scholarship.”