The annual Consortium for School Networking conference aims to bring the future to the classroom. The event lineup indicates that 3D printing, drones and wearable tech are on the rise.

“Many attend CoSN's annual conference to get a sneak peek at what the future holds for education technology, and a Wednesday session from the New Media Consortium (NMC) put the future on display,” reports D. Frank Smith of EdTechMagazine.

CoSN prides itself in being one of the leaders in education innovation and according to the organizations homepage; they are the premier professional association for district technology leaders. The event is scheduled for the week of March 13 in Atlanta.

“The organization was previewing the K–12 edition of its annual Horizon Report, which tracks emerging technologies and how they intersect with education,” says Smith, who also reports that one of the key challenges that educators face is how to integrate new technology into education.

One of CoSN’s stated goals is to make the transition to new tech easier for educators through workshops. During the preview for the conference, Smith reports an “exponential growth” in 3D printing workshops and sessions exploring introducing Makerspace technology.

"Emerging technologies always draw a crowd. But as leaders we need to focus on solving real educational problems," says CoSN CEO Keith Krueger, according to Smith’s report.

The increased use of technology (and more so, advanced technology) may result in educators having gaps of knowledge in certain EdTech tools' uses and/or their utility in the classroom. The new innovative approaches to learning come with a slight gap for some; however, CoSN looks to work on filling that gap.

The preview session also offered those in attendance a look at the future of technology in the classroom for 2015-2020. The topics that provided a glimpse into every day classroom tech that one day might be taken for granted included Cloud Computing, Makerspaces, 3D Printing, Adaptive Learning Technologies, Drones and Wearable technology.

It’s to be noted that drones and wearable tech are expected to gain prominence much closer to 2019-2020, however, gloves and watches with extra features are already a topic of discussion. Educators have a lot of materials at their disposal and CoSN is working to make the use of tech much easier for teachers.

Read the full story and comment below. EdWorld wishes we were at CoSN. Spot any great technology? Let us know.

Article by Navindra Persaud, Education World Contributor