I was having an interesting conversation with a colleague at work the other day. We were discussing the use of technology in current education and what we saw as the serious limitations to technology curriculum implementation.
We commiserated that students are on the forefront of technology use with their phones, laptops and knowledge of how to get the best out of technology. We bemoaned the fact that in many schools students are not supposed to have their phones at school.
How can we use technology in the classroom if the students aren't allowed to use the devices that they know best. How can the home and school environments complement each other if the students can't utilise their own technology; the technology with which they are most familiar.
My colleague shared the vision of the Virtual Learning Network http://www.vln.school.nz/ and Excel Rotorua http://www.excelrotorua.co.nz/#!action-plan/cha7 ; for the development of E Learning in the region and within our schools.
I shared my own vision of the future with holographic computers utilised by gesture and similar to those shown in the film Minority Report. The staff room walls would be ablaze with holo-screens and teachers would be creating leaning experiences collaboratively and working on their own projects separately at the same time. https://vimeo.com/97753856
I mentioned that one barrier to technology in the classroom is the fragile nature of the current laptops and phones. I shared that I believe we need the technology to be built into student work tables and constructed in such a manner that it would immune to the rough use of daily classroom life. Tables constructed of clear carbon nano-tubes with the circuits encased in the carbon fibre. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/sep/17/itforschools.elearning
The amazing thing about all of this is that the technology to enable this futuristic digital learning environment exists today. Minority Report was based on the research of John Underkoffler the CEO at Oblong Industries and they have the product out in use at many corporations and police stations now.
The prototypes of the desk technology have been designed at Durham University in the United Kingdom and are being tested by young students already. In essence what I'm saying is the future of E Learning is being ushered in and the digital classrooms of tomorrow?
We commiserated that students are on the forefront of technology use with their phones, laptops and knowledge of how to get the best out of technology. We bemoaned the fact that in many schools students are not supposed to have their phones at school.
How can we use technology in the classroom if the students aren't allowed to use the devices that they know best. How can the home and school environments complement each other if the students can't utilise their own technology; the technology with which they are most familiar.
My colleague shared the vision of the Virtual Learning Network http://www.vln.school.nz/ and Excel Rotorua http://www.excelrotorua.co.nz/#!action-plan/cha7 ; for the development of E Learning in the region and within our schools.
I shared my own vision of the future with holographic computers utilised by gesture and similar to those shown in the film Minority Report. The staff room walls would be ablaze with holo-screens and teachers would be creating leaning experiences collaboratively and working on their own projects separately at the same time. https://vimeo.com/97753856I mentioned that one barrier to technology in the classroom is the fragile nature of the current laptops and phones. I shared that I believe we need the technology to be built into student work tables and constructed in such a manner that it would immune to the rough use of daily classroom life. Tables constructed of clear carbon nano-tubes with the circuits encased in the carbon fibre. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/sep/17/itforschools.elearning
The amazing thing about all of this is that the technology to enable this futuristic digital learning environment exists today. Minority Report was based on the research of John Underkoffler the CEO at Oblong Industries and they have the product out in use at many corporations and police stations now.
The prototypes of the desk technology have been designed at Durham University in the United Kingdom and are being tested by young students already. In essence what I'm saying is the future of E Learning is being ushered in and the digital classrooms of tomorrow?
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