Looking ahead

I remember…
… my dad’s story of watching the moonlanding of 1969 on their brand new black and white TV
… as a little girl, playing tetris and interactive barbie-doll games on our first computer
… getting my first handphone in 1999, and getting my blackberry in 2009
… going from vcr’s to vcd’s to dvd’s
… listening to music on cassette tapes, to cd’s, to ipods
… searching the world wide web using ‘Ask Jeeves’ (the first search engine I was introduced to)
… having my first skype session with family back home

As mentioned and illustrated in the video 'Did you know? Technology', we are living in exponential times. And how anxiously thrilling that is (both exciting and scary).

Advancements in digital technologies will not stop, nor will it ever disappear. Technology is a human endeavour and personally, I am quite excited about how digital technologies will develop over the next decade. Will it grow as rapidly as it did in the last decade? Time will tell. As it is, Web 3.0 or the ‘semantic web’ as coined by Tim Berners-Lee, is upon us. With all things new and unfamiliar, I suppose the challenge is to keep an open and positive mind.

The advantages of digital technologies in the context of learning are continual. For instance, M-learning is becoming a fairly common tool with more and more students having access to mobile phones and i-touches. In point in fact, according to this updated “Shift Happens” video, the mobile device will be the world’s primary connection tool to the internet in 2020.

Augmented realities are also fantastic tools in making it possible to interact with our surroundings. This is very useful for instance in guided tours. Virtual worlds also offer endless educational opportunities, e.g. attending a talk in UWA in Second Life, The British Council, etc. Simulated environments in the virtual world give us entry to places we otherwise could not physically access, e.g. famous museums, ancient Rome, the inner workings of the human blood system, and so on. Educating children means educating them for the future. And with digital technologies, that future is now, and will only continue to build and expand.

If interested, have a look at Dr. Patrick Dixon's blog, specifically on the future of digital technologies. Also, check out his latest video as he talks about becoming a hologram at a conference where he is able to have a conversation between himself in the past (the hologram) and his then present self.