Arguably, the wide scale availability of computers and the internet has had profound effects on all aspects of modern society. In terms of education, these changes involve not only the way in which content is delivered, but the content itself. Increasingly, the education learners need is how to use the technology itself.
The relationship between the World Wide Web and the average consumer has never been an easy one. An article in Wired magazine asserted that it was highly likely that no single person knows everything about how a computer works (Weinberger, 2017). The wider application of technology has been more about bringing the proverbial mountain to Mohamed and not the other one around. For example, it took Facebook to fulfill the promise of giving anyone a website; no coding required.
As it pertains to education, the problem is twofold, Instructional Designers need access to easy to use resources, which can, in turn be employed in an educational setting in such a way that the technology supports the learning experience and doesn't hinder it. Designers need to focus on the pedagogy and the learner on the material, without also having to become technology professionals, or spend a fortune on advanced equipment, in the process.
To fill this need, there has been a tremendous proliferation of web-based tools, WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get), HTML interface editors that do the “heavy lifting”. These include such things as Powtoons, Prezi, Animatron and others. Such technology allows anyone to leave the digital Muggle world behind. These resources can even give the common folk the ability to live in a simulated world or create their own smartphone app. As Jason Tanz (2016) posits “code is dead” and modern computers will be trained, not programmed.
Like many things in life, however, the promise of doing something arises before the actual potential. As we are warned by Jeff Goldblum’s character in the movie Jurassic Park, we must be wary of standing on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something before we understand the ramifications more fully. The technology is not perfected, yet, and many issues of compatibility and platform stability remain, as anyone who has spent sometime around them can tell you.
Being cautious doesn't mean we should abandon the race. The future is coming, even if only the advanced guard has arrived. We must be ready. And it's really pretty cool, but as Ben McNeely (n.d.) suggests, we should be using technology as a learning tool, and not just because it’s the cool new thing.
Tanz, J (2016, May 15). Soon we won't program computers. we'll train them like dogs. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.wired.com/2016/05/the-end-of-code/
McNeely, B. (n.d.) Using technology as a learning tool, not just the cool new thing. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/books/educating-net-generation/using-technology-learning-tool-not-just-cool-new-thing
Weinberger, C (2017, April 18). Our machines now have knowledge we’ll never understand. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.wired.com/story/our-machines-now-have-knowledge-well-never-understand/
Learning Activity Proposal - 1
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The first step in developing an effective program of education is to assess the needs of the learners. In this regard, the world of education is changing as much as the world of technology. As the growth of technology increases, education will also increasingly be in demand, if only to keep up with the technology.
Technology is not the only major social shift, the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and “smaller”. With this globalization, people are more mobile, new economies emerge, power bases shift and demand for resources increase (World Economic Forum, 2018). While some may argue that civilization is always changing, much as the climate is, it is the pace of change we see today which is unique, just as it is the pace of climate change which is worrying.
Even as a species we are probably still evolving. People are certainly living longer when there is access to modern healthcare (Wallace, 2017), whereas cultural values, beliefs and behaviors are also changing; people are living differently than they once were. However, beyond this, studies indicate that the human brain is also still evolving (Balter, 2005). Increased media consumption and digital lifestyles reduce the ability for consumers to focus for extended periods of time. Tech savvy consumers are actually getting better at processing information and encoding that information to memory (Microsoft Canada, 2015), while some worry that attention spans are decreasing. In other words, people think differently today than the used to.
With respect to education, these trends are resulting in a need for ubiquitous access to knowledge and the opportunity for near constant learning. Moreover, this learning will become increasingly personalized with classrooms being “flipped”; the emphasis being more on learning and less about teaching. Rigid ideas of “degree programs” and classrooms with desks neatly in rows are giving way to “micro-credentialing” and the understanding that learning is a process which should not be limited to a specific place and time (Swearer, 2016).
In addition, the social perspective about education is also changing. The new economy requires task-specific skills, as well as a focus on developing decision making and problem-solving skills (The World Bank, 2001). This will require learners to think differently about their education and for colleges to think differently about their degree offerings. As a result, there will be a shift towards more relevant competency-based programs and aggressive competition for students. (Cole, 2015).
As the needs of learners change, the role of the teacher changes. Rather than a teacher being the “sage on the stage”, students will go to class for individual mentoring and teachers will become more like coaches and facilitators, helping the learner to synthesize information (Swearer, 2016). Chalk boards and books will be set aside for tools such as the Smart Board and internet connected computers. New media means developing new content, such as videos, mobile apps and games.
In short, teachers will teach differently with different tools to students with unique needs looking to adapt to a rapidly changing world. The author and futurist, Arthur C. Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. While it might not look like magic, the education of the future is likely to look very different.
World Economic Forum (2016, February 9th). The fourth industrial revolution. [video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwBSWOqaM40
Wallace, A. (2017, June 29). CDC: Americans living longer, fewer dying from major diseases. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.upi.com/CDC-Americans-living-longer-fewer-dying-from-major-diseases/1031498747725/
Balter, M. (2005, September). Are human brains still evolving? Brain Genes Show Signs of Selection. [web log comment]. Retrieved from:
Microsoft Canada (2015). Attention span report. Retrieved from:
Swearer, R. (2016, May 2). 4 ways the future of learning is changing. [web log comment] Retrieved from: https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/future-of-learning/
The World Bank. (2001). The Knowledge Economy and the Changing Needs of the Labor
Market. Retrieved from: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLL/Resources/Lifelong-Learning-in-the-Global-Knowledge-Economy/chapter1.pdf
Cole, S (2015, March 5). 5 big ways education will change by 2020. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.fastcompany.com/3043387/5-big-ways-education-will-change-by-2020
A proliferation of new tools is blurring the lines between websites, games, learning tools and movies. The internet has changed how information is created, retained, organized and presented and these changes continue. These emerging tools are generally referred to as “Content Creation Tools”. Examples include Prezi, Powtoons, Animatron and countless others, with new ones coming out every day.
What these resources all have in common is that they integrate graphics, images, text, video and sound to author customized media presentations. The value of these tools for content creators is that they allow one to inexpensively develop web based material without the need to write code. Beyond these commonalities, the similarities stop. Different tools target unique users, audiences and platforms. For example, some tools gear themselves towards those looking to create content specific to Youtube or Facebook. Many of them are aimed at the business sector to create presentations or marketing campaigns. In the context of a course of instructional technology, one is likely to explore these new resources (curata.org., n.d.).
Its noteworthy that educational resources often have unique concerns. Full blown courses have to have mechanisms for communication with the instructor, educationally specific data analytics, assessments and a way of tracking grades. Furthermore, educational programs need to be held to a higher standard than a Facebook marketing video. For this reason, the Department of Defense (one of the partners which developed the internet in the first place), has established a set of protocols called “SCORM”. According to the SCORM website, “SCORM is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products. SCORM tells programmers how to write their code so that it can “play well” with other e-learning software”. SCORM is not about the content, but rather the technical elements (SCORM.org., n.d.).
While those who design content creation tools may have a specific use in mind, their use may not be merely limited to this idea and educators are increasingly turning to these tools to create engaging, interactive learning activities. In addition, the demand for elearning and mobile learning is driving instructional designers to consider these options. It isn't surprising that, in this regard, marketers and educators are turning to the same tools, in that both of these professions ultimately have the same goals; providing information and changing behavior. However, like the wild west, order depends on law. Some communities are like Las Vegas, seemingly, eternally rooted in frontier. While others, like elearning platforms, are more akin to Salt Lake City, where acceptable standards matter more.
Curata. (n.d.). [web log comment]. Retrieved from: http://www.curata.com/blog/content-marketing-tools-ultimate-list/
SCORM (n.d.). [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://scorm.com/scorm-explained/
The internet as we know it, is less than 30 years old, Facebook less than half that and the first iPhone came out just over ten years ago. Despite its prevalence, the World Wide Web it is still an emerging technology. Even in the early days, educational institutions figured prominently, not only in the development of the internet itself, but also in terms of content. J.C. Licklider of MIT in 1962, discussing his “Galactic Network” concept, envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any site. By the mid-70’s research facilities began communicating via what would become the internet to share information (Leiner, Cerf, Clark, Kahn, Kleinrock, Lynch, Postel, Roberts, and Wolff. 1997).
Increasingly, students, teachers and instructional designers are turning to the internet for research and to facilitate learning. Udemy, one popular online educational platform claims to offer 65,000 courses to more than 10 million students. It is estimated that by 2019 at least 50% of all classes will be delivered online and in America roughly 77% of companies offer training online to help train their employees with 81% of learners partaking in online study for personal development (iMod Education, 2016).
As it pertains to education, in general, the internet provides newly developed opportunities to collect data, organize it and present it. The following are just some of examples:
The internet has broken the teacher and the student free from the limitations of the classroom. Education can occur almost anywhere at anytime. Studies have shown that learning can be effectively facilitated through a community who may be geographically and temporally separated to “construct meaning through sustained communication’’ via the web (Garrison et al., 2000, p. 89 as in Wankel, 2011. p. 21).
Not only has the internet moved learning beyond the classroom, it has moved content away from the reading/writing paradigm as well. Many courses do not have textbooks anymore, relying instead on web-based resources. Educational materials are now much more highly interactive and visual. This increases the challenge for the instructional designer in order to use these tools effectively. Content, packaging and delivery need to align and function across a variety of platforms, including smart-phones.
However, like any tool, there are potential downsides for this manner of education. Concerns include ensuring the veracity of information and protecting intellectual property rights of authors. Students in one study “were concerned of the possibility of mixing personal, trivial, or potentially inappropriate messages with class-related messages”, which in turn may lead to issues around identity theft or other forms of e-extortion (Wankel, 2011).
Several recent developments underscore why concerns are justified. For example, just yesterday (3/23/18), the FBI announced indictments against eight Iranian nationals, accused of hacking into computers around the world and stealing intellectual property. This comes just after it came to light that Cambridge Analytica, a data mining and analysis company, had used Facebook to access the personal information of millions of people. As more and more people live a part of their lives over the internet, incidents such as this raise concerns about the security of information transmitted over the world wide web.
Despite these concerns, it is highly unlikely that the internet genie will be put back into the proverbial bottle. The positive attributes of the web too far outweigh the negative and it is not uncommon for technological innovation to outpace sociological change. It wasn't until several years after the first cars were on the road before lawmakers began to consider topics such as excessive speed and engineers developed the stop sign. The Sociologist William Ogburn coined the term “cultural lag” to describe how elements of culture typically trail behind the changes that come from invention (William Fielding Ogburn, n.d.).
To paraphrase Shakespeare, the future is an undiscovered country. As it pertains to the internet, it is a wild and unsettled land; a Terra Incognita. As we move forward to the manifest destiny the this presents, it will be incumbent on teachers and instructional designers to educate learners about how to use the internet safely and correctly, in addition to whatever other subjects they may be teaching, just as a tradesman needs to learn how to properly use their tools.
Leiner, B. Cerf, V., Clark, D., Kahn, R., Kleinrock, L., Lynch, D., Postel, J., Roberts, L., and Wolff, S. (1997). A Brief history of the internet. [web log comment] Retrieved from: https://www.internetsociety.org/internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet/
iMod Education (2016, July 27). The Popularity of Online Courses & E-Learning in 2016 Based On Trends & Statistics. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.imodeducation.com/popularity-online-courses-e-learning-2016-based-trends-statistics/
Wankel, C. (2011). Educating Educators with Social Media. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
William Fielding Ogburn (n.d.) [web log comment]. Retrieved from: http://www.asanet.org/about-asa/asa-story/asa-history/past-asa-officers/past-asa-presidents/william-f-ogburn
Visualizing the Early Internet (n.d.). [Web image]. Retrieved from: http://avl.ncsa.illinois.edu/project-archive/visualizing-the-early-internet
Kraft, John (2016, November 6). Terra Incognita. [web image]. Retrieved from: https://flatlanderspursuit.blogspot.com/2016/11/terra-incognita.html