Implications and Challenges of Technology Adoption in Education: A 20-Year Analysis of Horizon Reports

There is a knowledge gap in tracing and analyzing historical records (e.g., annual or bi-annual) of educational technology, particularly, exploring emerging technology trends and their uptake in education. This study addresses this gap by reviewing technology adoption in education, based on bibliometric and content analyses of EDUCAUSE Horizon reports over 20 years, hence identifying the trends of educational technologies over this period, the driving factors of their adoption, and the associated challenges. The findings revealed that technological and social trends were the most frequently cited, such as ubiquitous learning, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mobile learning. The challenges encountered throughout the years have been related to the resistance to digital transformation, maintaining sustainable teaching practices, and personalized learning. The results offer guidance for future research aimed to provide a better understanding of how to increase the use and effectiveness of educational technology to transform teaching and learning.