future

Moving college into the 21st century — politico.com

On 04/13/2010, in future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, online media, open courseware and systems, policy, by Daniel Christian

Moving college into the 21st century — politico.com (see quotes below)

Today, we’ve reached another turning point. The global economy is changing, and the United States needs to educate its way to a better economy for the 21st century. President Barack Obama has set a goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. To reach that goal, we need to bring 5 million more Americans into higher education and ensure that future generations will have the same opportunity for a college education and success in the work force.

The president has proposed a comprehensive agenda to keep a college education within reach, especially for America’s poorest families, and to dramatically increase college graduation rates in the next decade. President Obama’s agenda includes the largest increase in federal financial aid since the GI Bill — a 30 percent increase in fiscal 2010 alone. In addition, the president’s American Graduation Initiative would provide $12 billion more during the next 10 years to improve community colleges and help students gain access to higher education and ensure that they earn their degrees.

Beyond these investments in our future, one part of the AGI has the potential to have a lasting impact on the future of higher education: The president is proposing to invest $500 million over the next 10 years to create world-class online college and high school courses that will be available to all 24/7/365. Colleges, universities, publishers, other institutions and related consortia will be invited to compete to create state-of-the-art online courses that combine high-quality subject matter expertise with the latest advances in cognitive and computer sciences. Such courses will enable students to move through the material at their own pace. When students do not understand a particular lesson or concept, carefully designed assessments will identify the gap in their learning. They’ll relearn the material and have another chance to demonstrate mastery (emphasis DSC).

From DSC:

Along these same lines, see: The Forthcoming Walmart of Education.
If done well, these courses are going to be highly-engaging, while using state-of-the-art technologies and instructional methods. Can one faculty member compete with this team-based approach? No way! (And I mean no disrespect at all here — it’s just too much for one person to keep up with, be interested in, and have the time and resources to do all of this.)

Tagged with: future • future of higher education • legislation • ocw • policy

Top ten electronic education trends for the 21st Century — from BigGyan’s blog

On 04/11/2010, in 21st century, change, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, multimedia, personalized/customized learning, trends, by Daniel Christian

Top ten electronic education trends for the 21st Century — from BigGyan’s blog

Don’t miss this interesting list of the top ten Electronic Education Trends for the 21st Century from James Canton.

Posted on – April 11, 2010

Dr. James Canton is a renowned global futurist, social scientist, keynote presenter, author, and visionary business advisor. For over 30 years, he has been insightfully predicting the key trends that have shaped our world. He is a leading authority on future trends in innovation and The Economist recognizes him as one of the leading futurists, worldwide. He is the author of The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World in the 21st Century, Dutton 2006, and Technofutures: How Leading-Edge Innovations Will Transform Business in the 21st Century, Next Millennium Press, 2004.

The Top Ten Electronic Education Trends for the 21st Century

1. Electronic education via the Net will enable interconnected learning experiences, choices, and opportunities for billions worldwide.
2. Educational content will be delivered by new computer, interactive TV, satellite, and Internet technologies in the new millennium.
3. Interactive online multimedia and multidimensional content will revolutionize learning.
4. Self-paced, self-directed individualized virtual learning will dominate business training.
5. Students and teachers will prefer on-demand virtual learning to traditional school programs
6. Corporations will prefer Net-based training where workers can learn at their own pace.
7. Virtual Reality scenarios that depict real-world and fantasy experiences will increase the learning impact for all types of education.
8. Real-time Net chats with other global learners will make virtual education a satisfying social experience beyond the limits of time and distance.
9. Teachbots-smart agents-will transform education, providing personalized guidance when and where people need it.
10. People will learn to design their own electronic learning programs, which will increase their understanding, skills, creativity, and career choices.

Tagged with: 21st century • future • future of higher education • innovation • K-12 • Learning Agents • personalized learning • trends

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Tagged with: budgetary • funding • future • K-12

The future of the Internet — the Futurist

On 04/01/2010, in future, internet, by Daniel Christian

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EXPERTS CONSIDER THE INTERNET’S FUTURE
=========================================

Is the Internet making us smarter, stupider, more dependent on it, or
all of the above?

The Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s
Imagining the Internet Center asked dozens of experts–such as Google
research director Peter Norvig, futurist blogger Jamais Cascio, and
tech watcher Esther Dyson–to consider the future of the Internet-
connected world between now and 2020.

Most of the experts agreed that the Internet will make us smarter in
some way by 2020.

“In the coming years we will have to continue to teach people to think
critically so they can better understand the wealth of information
available to them,” said Jeska Dzwigalski of Linden Lab.

Janna Quitney Anderson of Elon University and Lee Rainie of Pew
Internet & American Life Center put the survey together. They’ll speak
on it and on the future of the Internet at WorldFuture 2010, the World
Future Society’s annual meeting in Boston in July.

LEARN MORE:
http://www.wfs.org/2010main.htm

SOURCE:
Pew Research article

Tagged with: future • internet

Writing in (and about) the future — from the Futurist

On 04/01/2010, in creativity, future, writing, by Daniel Christian

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WRITING IN (AND ABOUT) THE FUTURE
===================================

The journal-turned-magazine CREATIVE NONFICTION celebrated its
transformation by organizing a one-day symposium, held at the Writer’s
Center in Bethesda, Maryland, focused on how writing, reading, and
publishing may be transformed in the decade ahead.

On the program were two futurists: Jay Ogilvy, co-founder of the Global
Business Network, who described the usefulness of scenario thinking for
weighing both optimistic and pessimistic visions of the future, and Dan
Sarewitz, director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes
at Arizona State University, who warned of the unexpected consequences
of human enhancement that many enthusiasts are hailing as a golden age
of prosperity, pointing out that the greatest example of that
enhancement is the soldier.

The bulk of the conference focused on how writers fit into this future,
a time when people may be reading fewer books but communicating with
one another and, yes, reading via a wider variety of platforms–e.g.,
blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the multimedia digital Vook (video book)
described by Jack Sallay, the company’s vice president of marketing.

Writers of the future will bear more of the responsibility of reaching
their audiences, as publishers’ economic models become less supportive
of traditional functions like marketing and promotion, many of the
symposium participants argued. The good news is that there are more
innovative new ways of doing-it-yourself, like building a community of
supporters around an author’s blog.

As long as the written word is still valued (whether it is ultimately
read, viewed, or listened to by the audience), writing has a future.

DETAILS: CREATIVE NONFICTION, http://www.creativenonfiction.org
The Writer’s Center, http://www.writer.org

PHOTOS FROM THE CONFERENCE:
http://www.wfs.org/April-May2010/Update/photos.htm

Tagged with: creativity • future • writing

Becta is Fit for the Future (March 2010)

On 03/24/2010, in cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, future, future of higher education, global / globalization, higher education, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, pace of change, strategy, UK, by Daniel Christian

Becta is Fit for the Future (March 2010)
This project will identify opportunities that technology will bring to education over the next few years…

Fit for the future is an exciting new project which aims to identify the opportunities and challenges that technology will bring the education and skills sectors over the next 5-6 years and work with leaders, practitioners and the technology industry to develop practical, real-world solutions.

The rapid pace of change and innovation in technology means that the education and skills sector constantly needs to adapt to the technical and social impact of new developments. Fit for the Future is about looking several years ahead and making decisions today that will make us ready for tomorrow’s world (emphasis DSC — and a quick comment: this is a very smart strategy).

The project began in Autumn 2009 and will run until Summer 2011. Becta is currently working with key leading educationalists, technologists, thinkers and experts to develop propositions in response to the key trends identified in the DCSF-funded programme Beyond Current Horizons.

Focusing on five themes, the ideas that these response groups generate will then be tested in real-world situations to assess if and how they could work on a wider scale.

The five themes are:

Theme 1 – Learners’ personal cloud: this theme explores the capacity of learners to constantly connect or engage with a network or school at any time or place and investigates their experiences and expectations of personal virtual environments and personalised data.

Theme 2 – Learning beyond a single setting: this theme looks at how learning is increasingly taking place across multiple institutions or places (school, home libraries, museums, employers) and explores how technology can support this in a revised 14-19 curriculum.

Theme 3 – Making the most of data: looks at how technology can be used to make better use of the huge amount of data that is constantly generated in the life of a learner and increasingly being used to build profiles about them.

Theme 4 – New Knowledge Skills: Our future economy will be heavily reliant on innovation, research and development, problem solving and digital capability. This theme aims to better understand what competencies, skills and knowledge will be required of both students and teachers, particularly in relation to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Theme 5 – Education across borders: Learners and educators now have access to resources not just from their immediate surroundings but from across the globe. This theme explores the potential creation of educational franchises across national boundaries supported by technology-based resources and networks.

Tagged with: cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related • future • future of higher education • Global learning • higher education • K-12 • learning ecosystem • pace of change • strategy • UK

Managing tomorrow’s people — PricewaterhouseCoopers.com [via BizDeansTalk]

On 03/22/2010, in future, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Managing tomorrow’s people: The future of work to 2020

The first report in our tomorrow’s people series, uses scenario planning to envisage three business models or ‘worlds’ which we believe will co-exist in 2020.

Also see:

PricewaterhouseCoopers 12th Annual Global CEO Survey: Redefining success
Views from 1,124 CEOs from more than 50 countries, the report discusses the impact of the downturn, biggest threats to business growth and the talent management challenges facing businesses across the world.
www.pwc.com/ceosurvey

Millennials at work: Perspectives from a new generation
Over 4,000 new graduates from 44 countries were interviewed to explore their hopes and expectations as they enter the workforce for the first time.

Tagged with: future • workplace

Conference: World Future 2010

On 03/17/2010, in future, future of higher education, by Daniel Christian

We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.

— Margaret Mead, one of the World Future Society’s early supporters

“The seismic financial shifts of the past 36 months are accelerating many long-term changes that have been gaining momentum over the last 20 years. This year’s Summit examines emergent forces of change in education, whose adoption rates will be dramatically increased by the demographic realities and economic necessities of the decade ahead.” (emphasis DSC)

— David Pearce Snyder, consulting futurist, Snyder Family Enterprise; author of numerous books on future trends; Bethesda, Maryland

New Paradigm View of Education — by Jerry Fluellen, adjunct professor, Psychology and Education, Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, Florida
Since its early development, the power teaching prototype (P=fm) has evolved to connect a set of factors: Ellen Langer’s mindful learning, Harvard Project methods for designing and delivering instruction, information literacy, and Howard Gardner’s five minds for the future. These factors interact to create a new paradigm approach featuring research-based practices and fostering practice-based research.

Fostering 21st-Century Skills through Problem Solving International — by Marianne Solomon, executive director, Future Problem Solving Program International, Inc., Melbourne, Florida and Vicki Stein, program director, Future Problem Solving Program International, Inc., Melbourne, Florida
(Includes students from the Boston area to discuss their projects) Learn about a program that utilizes creative problem solving, encourages students to research and analyze global issues of the present and the future, and provides the materials/tools for collaborative team work. The program also extends learning through the service learning component, Community Problem Solving, and the creative writing component, Scenario Writing, which is based 20–30 years into the future.

Levers of Change in Higher Education — by Maria H. Andersen, Math Faculty, Muskegon Community College, Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan
We’ve seen many major industries undergo dramatic change in the last decade (e.g., manufacturing, newspapers, and customer service). While education seems “untouchable” to those within the system, there are many “levers of change” that have the potential for dramatic restructuring of higher education as well. Online courses, adaptive computer assessment systems, open-source textbooks, edupunks, pay-by-the-month degrees—these are just some of the levers that are prying at the corners of higher education. In this presentation, I will identify many of the levers of change that have the potential to shift higher education, resources to learn more about these, and a few scenarios that describe some of the possible futures of higher education.

Integrative Futures Education at the College Level — by Tom Lombardo, faculty director of the PASS Program at Rio Salado College, Director of the Center for Future Consciousness, Tempe, Arizona
Futures education provides the ideal framework for providing college students with a high quality integrative and holistic education. I will describe the evolution of such an educational program at Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona. Many lines of thought and diverse themes, often a result of work I have done within the Center for Future Consciousness, have contributed to the development, organization, and focus of this program. I will highlight some of these features of the program, including the enhancement of future consciousness, character virtues and wisdom, deep learning and higher cognitive skills, sustainability and environmental ethics, and the synthesis of the humanities, sciences, and technology.

The Robot in the Classroom — by Thomas P. Abeles, president Sagacity, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
On which side of the lectern will we find the robot in the classroom? What classroom? The rise of increasingly powerful computers,—“fast adders”—requires that both human and computer intelligence depend on heuristics, demanding that both acquire a strong moral compass. Can these “fast adders,” Star Trek’s Data, develop the sensibilities of a Captain Kirk without the aberrant behavior of “The Borg”?

Tagged with: educational technology • future • future of higher education

A thought from George Siemens’ presentation

On 03/16/2010, in change, disruption, future, future of higher education, higher education, pace of change, by Daniel Christian

From ICT integration to systemic transformation — from elearnspace by George Siemens

“I’m in Madrid, delivering a presentation on moving from ICT integration to systemic transformation. Spain currently has the EU Presidency and they’ve made education a core focus. Slides are available on slideshare.”

Graphics below from DSC: The graphic above shows the dramatic increase in the pace of technological adoption/change. The graphics below point to that same pace of change…can you hear the engines on the track? Can you hear the pounding waves hitting the shoreline?

From Daniel S. Christian

Tagged with: change • future • future of higher education • pace of change

A vision of the future Smart Classroom — Daniel S. Christian

On 03/12/2010, in 21st century, 3D, Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), blended learning, change, colleges, computer science, convergence, creativity, dangers of the status quo, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, disruption, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, geography / geology, global / globalization, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, internet, learning, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, liberal arts, online learning, online media, pace of change, participation, passions, pedagogy, smart classrooms, strategy, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

A vision of the future Smart Classroom — Daniel S. Christian

Tagged with: blended learning • educational technology • future • future of higher education • hybrid learning • Keeping students engaged • smart classrooms

Education technology: A student’s perspective — from ISTE by Sierra Reed

On 03/04/2010, in education technology, educational games / serious games, future, K-12 related, languages and translation, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Education technology: A student’s perspective — from ISTE by Sierra Reed

The exciting prospect in the future is that it seems more and more that education will include more technology over time. As such; using computer games for testing, but over a long period of time, more updated research on the computer rather than old information from textbooks; which, is even more the case for poor schools. Tablets for translating handwriting and foreign languages into text during class in K-12 education.

Coming to the conference gave me insights on how HP works and how education could be better if people work at it. I am very appreciative that I could come.

Tagged with: educational technology • future • game-changing environment • K-12

The future of learning — from Startl

On 03/03/2010, in future, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: future

Tagged with: future • Keeping students engaged • student expectations • student-related

The game-changing environment continues; an update on my vision of the “Forthcoming Walmart of Education”

On 02/09/2010, in budgets, business side of he, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, informal learning, innovation, internet, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new media literacies, online learning, online media, open courseware and systems, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, teaching & learning, traditional / tradition, trends, using teams, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The following article got me to thinking of the future again…

Thousands to lose jobs as universities prepare to cope with cuts — from guardian.co.uk (original posting from Stephen Downes)
Post-graduates to replace professors | Staff poised to strike over proposals of cuts

I post this here because I believe that we are at the embryonic stages of some massive changes that will take place within the world of higher education. The timeframe for these changes, as always, is a bit uncertain. However, I would expect to see some of the following changes to occur (or continue to occur) yet this year:

Cost cutting
The cutting of programs
Laying off of staff and faculty
Not filling open positions
More outsourcing
The move towards using more cloud-based-computing models
The movement of students to lower-cost alternatives
Greater utilization of informal learning
The rise of online-exchange oriented offerings (i.e. the matching up of those who teach a subject and those who want to learn that subject)
The threat to traditional ways of doing things and to traditional organizations — including accreditation agencies — will cause people within those agencies to be open to thinking differently (though this one will take longer to materialize)
The continued growth of online learning — albeit at a greatly-reduced price
…and more.

This isn’t just about a recession. The Internet is changing the game on yet another industry — this time, it’s affecting those of us in the world of higher education. When the recession’s over, we won’t be going back to the way higher education was set up previous to the year 2010.

What did those us of in higher education learn from what happened to the music industry? What did we learn from what happened to the video distribution/entertainment business? To the journalism industry? To the brokerage business? To the travel and hospitality industries? To the bookstores of the world?

Along these lines…back at the end of 2008, I posted a vision entitled, The Forthcoming Walmart of Education. So, where are we on that vision? Well…so far we have:

Straighterline.com
A significant open courseware movement, including MIT Open Courseware, the Open Courseware Consortium, Connexions, Open Content Alliance, OpenLearn, Intute, Globe, Open Yale Courses, Open Education, The Internet Archive and many others
University of the People
YouTube.edu
iTunes U
Academic Earth
and more…

I realize that several of these items were in place before or during 2008…however, at that time, there was no dominant, inexpensive alternative. And there still isn’t one that has jumped into the lead (the University of Phoenix with their 150,000+ students doesn’t qualify, as their pricing is not yet nearly aggressive enough as what I’m predicting will occur).

Though we aren’t there yet, there has been significant change that has already taken place. So…if I were an administrator right now, I’d be asking myself the following key questions:

Can we reduce tuition and fees by at least 50%? If not, how can some of our offerings be delivered at half the price (or more)?
How are we going to differentiate ourselves?
How are we going to deliver value?
How are we going to keep from becoming a commodity?
Are we using teams to create and deliver our courses? If not, why not? What’s our plans for staying competitive if we don’t use teams?

Most likely, further massive changes are forthcoming. So fasten your seatbelts and try to stay marketable!

Tagged with: budgetary • change • future • game-changing environment • higher education • innovation • internet • PLE • student-related

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Learning Ecosystems

Moving college into the 21st century — politico.com

The future of the Internet — the Futurist

Writing in (and about) the future — from the Futurist

Managing tomorrow’s people — PricewaterhouseCoopers.com [via BizDeansTalk]

Conference: World Future 2010

A thought from George Siemens’ presentation

A vision of the future Smart Classroom — Daniel S. Christian

The future of learning — from Startl

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