learning skylines
Five: future visions
In the latest in our Learning Skylines series – a joint initiative between Brightwave and e.learning age – Charles Gould looks at what is influencing how we might learn and work in the future
4 1 Hardwear
Augmented reality was at risk of being a solution looking for a problem, but Google Glass takes it significantly further. It’s wearable in the same way that spectacles are. Hands-free, it promises to use natural language voice commands to let you view social media feeds, text, maps, as well as navigate with GPS and take photos – all as you move around. It might look silly now but soon we’ll all be wearing computers with this sort of technology in much the same way as we all have smartphones in our pockets now. If that happens, we have a glimpse of the next generation of mobile learning. We’ll look back and wonder how we wasted so much time fiddling with keypads and typing into search engines – or will we? l
google.com/glass/start
2
Learnware The concept of adaptive or intelligent learning systems dates back to the 1970s. It’s based on the premise that the system adjusts to the student/user’s learning method, giving a better and more effective learning experience. However, it’s only in the last couple of years that more sophisticated and powerful technologies – from companies such as Edmodo and Knewton – look like having significant impact on education. As learning systems capture increasingly vast amounts of data about learner behaviour, predictive analytics will get closer to the promise of genuinely personalised learning. l
edmodo.com;
knewton.com
3
Buttonware Digital badges are validated records of achievement designed to demonstrate and motivate learning. Learners can display the badges as evidence of learning on websites, social media pages, digital CVs or any other online media. The digital badge carries with it information about assessment, evidence and other metadata required by the badge issuer. The big challenge for the badges movement is ensuring credibility or validity. My view is that they will be as important as a personal motivator as they are a display of credentials. l
openbadges.org
e.learning age october 2013
Helpware We are all publishers now but could we all be teachers too and sell our expertise? Google thinks so with the imminent release of Helpouts, a service that is “a new way to connect people who need help with people who can give help, over live video, anytime, anywhere”. The idea is that you can schedule live video or chat sessions and charge eager learners using Google Wallets. Google takes 20% of the course fee.
Google thinks Helpouts could be handy for
teachers, doctors, home repair experts, personal trainers, hobby enthusiasts and more. I think it represents a growing trend towards empowering experts – through continuous social learning environments – to reach bigger audiences (or markets) than ever. l
helpouts.google.com
5
Airware Leap Motion is the maker of the Leap Motion Controller – “a new way to play, learn, create, and explore just by using hands in the air”. It uses proprietary advanced motion sensing technology for human-computer interaction to sense how you move your hands. So you can point, wave, reach and grab – even pick something up and put it down. In a learning context, it could provide highly realistic simulations of delicate dexterous tasks for which practising in real-life situations is too dangerous or costly – neurosurgery even? l
leapmotion.com
Charles Gould is managing director of Brightwave
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