The technologies featured in the NMC Horizon Project are embedded within a contemporary context that reflects the realities of the time, both in the sphere of education and in the world at large. To assure this perspective, each advisory board researches, identifies, and ranks key trends that are currently affecting the practice of teaching, learning, research, and information management, and uses these as a lens for its later work.
These trends are surfaced through an extensive review of current articles, interviews, papers, and new research. Once identified, the list of trends is ranked according to how significant an impact they are likely to have on education in the next five years. The following trends have been identified as key drivers of technology adoptions in Australia for the period of 2012 through 2017; they are listed here in the order each was ranked by the advisory board.