Yesterday I posted a link on my Posterous concerning the history of the printing press and how this revolutionary innovation affected and ultimately transformed society, culture, and the world.

Interestingly, hand written books were generally read aloud to groups. Recalling my time in Haiti and my research into the Haitian culture, I learned about “Krik-krak” the art of Haitian story-telling. Similarly, stories were recited around an evening fire when the work was done and the day was gone.

However, the printing press allowed the mass production of written material and corporate gathering for book-reading and story-telling gave way to independent study and ultimately to silent reading.

Aside: Silent reading was not readily accepted of course. People caught reading to themselves were considered demon-possessed by those observing them moving their lips without uttering a word.

Today, teachers as guides and facilitators are gathering their students around the fiery glow of the computer monitor to focus on units of learning centered around some theme or subject matter. Web 2.0 applications like VoiceThread allow students to read, hear, and interact by gathering around a subject matter rather than around the teacher as story-teller or disseminator of knowledge.

Yet the information is not necessarily student-centered either. Though it should be appropriate for the intended audience, the subject matter becomes the campfire around which the students gather to listen, observe, hypothesize, experiment, interact, collaborate, and report.

The usefulness of technology today is grounded it this ability to create rich, immersive environments for such gatherings. When this atmosphere is cultivated in the classroom, students and teachers are no longer in opposition to one another but are fellow-explorers navigating the new subject matter for a better understanding.

Lesson plans are designed to meet learning objectives by providing some form of measurable performance that demonstrates an increase in capability. The language of genuine performance objectives for lesson planning is listed below. Please note, however, the counterfeit learning watchwords here:

Examples of Counterfeit Tasks*
————————————–
Appreciate, Be Aware, Believe, Comprehend, Enjoy, Hear, Know, Learn, Like, Practice, Rehearse, Remember, See, Think, Understand

Next time you listen to a politician speak, count the number of times they use the counterfeit words above rather than the authentic task-centered words below. Much of society is busy processing information rather than education. Information reduces risk whereas education increases capability.

Below are the lists of measurable vocabulary for proper performance objectives than can be assessed and evaluated to determine degree of actual learning taking place…

Examples of Analytical Tasks
————————————-
Analyze, Alter, Appraise, Arrange, Assemble, Categorize, Change, Chart, Classify, Collect, Combine, Compare, Compile, Compose, Construct, Contract, Contrast, Create, Defend, Design, Detect, Diagram, Differentiate, Discriminate, Evaluate, Examine, Expand, Experiment, Explain, Extend, Formulate, Gather, Generalize, Generate, Group, Include, Inventory, Itemize, Manage, Modify, Organize, Paraphrase, Plan, Predict, Prepare, Present, Propose, Question, Rearrange, Reconstruct, Regroup, Rename, Reorganize, Restructure, Rewrite, Save, Set up, Shorten, Simplify, Sort, Structure, Systematize, Test

Examples of Application Tasks
—————————————
Calculate, Choose, Classify, Complete, Compute, Demonstrate, Dramatize, Employ, Illustrate, Interpret, Modify, Operate, Prepare, Schedule, Sketch, Solve, Use

Examples of Calculation Tasks
————————————–
Add, Check, Compute, Count, Derive, Divide, Estimate, Extract, Extrapolate, Graph, Group, Integrate, Measure, Multiply, Plot, Prove, Reduce, Sequence, Solve,  Square, Subtract, Tabulate, Tally, Verify

Examples of Comprehension Tasks
——————————————–
Arrange, Categorize, Cite, Define, Describe, Differentiate, Discuss, Document, Duplicate, Explain, Express, Find, Generalize, Identify, Indicate, Interpret, Label, List, Locate, Map, Match, Memorize, Name, Organize, Outline, Paraphrase, Quote, Recognize, Record, Repeat, Report, Reproduce, Restate, Return, Review, Select, Sequence, Signify, Sort, State, Suggest, Support, Tabulate, Tell, Translate, Underline, Volunteer, Write

Examples of Evaluation Tasks
————————————-
Assess, Compare, Conclude, Critique, Defend, Estimate, Evaluate, Grade, Judge, Justify, Measure, Predict, Prescribe, Rank, Rate, Recommend, Score, Select, Support, Validate

Examples of Interpersonal Tasks
—————————————–
Accept, Agree, Aid, Allow, Answer, Ask, Assist, Collaborate, Communicate, Compliment, Confront, Contribute, Cooperate, Disagree, Discuss, Explain, Excuse, Follow, Forgive, Greet, Guide, Help, Inform, Initiate,  Interact, Invite, Join, Laugh, Lead, Lend, Manage, Meet, Offer, Permit, Praise, Question, React, Relate, Respond, Serve, Share, Smile, Supply, Talk, Thank, Volunteer, Vote

Examples of Language Tasks
————————————
Abbreviate, Accent, Acknowledge, Alphabetize, Argue, Articulate, Capitalize, Compose, Define, Describe, Edit, Explain, Hyphenate, Indent, Outline, Present, Print, Pronounce, Punctuate, Read, Recite, Repeat,  Respond, Speak, Spell, State, Summarize, Translate, Type, Verbalize, Write

Examples of Physical Tasks
———————————–
Assemble, Blend, Brush, Build, Calibrate, Carve, Color, Combine, Connect, Construct, Convert, Crush, Cut, Decrease, Demonstrate, Dissect, Draw, Drill, Finish, Fit, Fix, Fold, Form, Frame, Graft, Grind, Grow, Hammer, Handle, Heat, Illustrate, Increase, Insert, Lengthen, Limit, Make, Manipulate, Melt, Mend, Mix, Mold, Nail, Operate, Paint, Paste, Plant, Position, Pour, Prepare, Press, Reduce, Remove, Replace, Report, Reset, Roll, Rub, Sand, Saw, Set, Shake, Sharpen, Sketch, Smooth, Specify, Stamp, Stick, Stir, Straighten, Time, Trace, Transfer, Trim, Varnish, Weigh, Wipe, Wrap

*Source http://www.virtualtrainingpartners.com/visitvtpisland.html

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Social media, mobile delivery, and money shortage (the 3M’s; media, mobile, and money) are three obstacles of opportunity before today’s educational institutions. But ideas are funny little things. They don’t work unless we do. And we need to focus on the long-term, sustainable solution, not the short-term fix.

Illustration…

Assume you’re an ER doc and a patient presents with severe bleeding from a gunshot. Of course you would do everything you can to mitigate the bleeding; slow it down; even stop it. But that’s only the temporary fix to the deeper problem – the bullet.

Problem…

Education is losing vitality in several arenas. Public education suffers from lower tax revenues in a crippled economy of devalued property. They also suffer from increased competition for enrollments via charter schools and private institutions as well as new online opportunities.

Higher Ed is losing ground as well via lower endowments, lower enrollments, and increased competition from for-profits, community colleges, and online approaches.

Most are trying to slow the speed of loss (a short-term solution) just like in our earlier ER doc example. But even if they succeed in short term fixes, the long-term problem remains: Education is changing around the globe. Here’s a review of the three obstacles, why they present a problem for educators, and one way they can be turned into opportunities for long term, sustainable solutions.

Obstacles…

According to many mainstream educators, Social Media is a distraction. Students check Facebook before they check email. Many dispense with email altogether unless absolutely necessary. And text messaging is harmful. An entire generation is ignorant of the skill of written communication. How are they supposed to complete book reports and turn in essays?

Mobile phones are problematic, so say many school officials, because they encourage cheating. They also distract both individuals and entire classes. And as mentioned above, they reinforce poor writing skills by encouraging 160 character text messages with emoticons rather than Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

Money is in shorter supply and budgets are being cut across the board. How can we educate when we can’t afford the equipment, technology, textbooks, desks, electricity, staff, … and the list goes on. Therefore we inadvertently focus on fund raisers and government handouts to alleviate our pain.

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller

Opportunities…

Social media has changed our world into a relationship economy. Avoiding this revolutionary platform of interaction is like avoiding the subject of Economics when teaching History, Math, or the Social Sciences, etc. Social media is made up of user generated content within a defined space. Education must adapt to this new paradigm by offering students some customization and personalization options within the curriculum.

This does not mean students decide what to learn but it could mean they are given some choices regarding sequencing when such options are viable. How about personalizing learning spaces such as furniture arrangement, location for a class one day, or choosing a teammate for a project?

Mobile phones are more ubiquitous than computers. They are the single most useful device available to the masses (Africa now has the highest per capita concentration of them) since offering access to the Internet. Students find their cell phone to be the most relevant personal belonging (Identity) they own. Yet schools ban them unless they can exert some control over their use.

It’s vain to seek to destroy this perceived enemy of our traditional education process. Rather we best befriend this new platform and embrace its use because the new paradigm is about mobile delivery to a mobile generation (Remember! It’s a relationship economy).

Money woes could be reduced by embracing the new paradigm. E-textbooks are a fraction of the cost of traditional bound and printed matter. Aggregated relationship feeds can be monetized by the educational institutions themselves rather than waiting for Doritos and Budweiser to do it.

(I’m expecting some to raise a fuss about such a suggestion but perhaps they are not aware of the way our students are monetized already within the obese educational institution).

Summary…

What society values, it should propagate through education so the next generation may carry the torch onward. We used to value colonization and we indoctrinated others accordingly. Then we valued industrialization and we used behaviorism to educate the masses. When we entered the management revolution of the mid 20th century, we changed our tactics to cognitive learning approaches.

Today we are facing a new paradigm that requires constructivist and connectivist learning strategies to educate a sustainable society that is equipped to emerge wisely from our impending collision with a future where the human and the machine are merged in a bio- and nano-tech world.

The future will be social and mobile. If the institution of education wishes to survive economically, it must adopt and adapt the new platform of interaction.

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Not everyone agrees with Thomas Friedman’s descriptions of our networked world in his best seller, The World is Flat. However, most would agree that human-kind is indeed on a journey from our agrarian past, through our industrial and post-industrial 20th century, into our present 21st century techno-savvy culture.

And many – at least those who have studied the history of education – agree we have traveled a long way from our behaviorist past (focusing on reward and punishment), through the cognitive 20th century (brain centered learning), to our constructivist present (knowledge is constructed both within and without; both personally and socially).

The crystal balls of those in the know seem to be affirming the same conclusion: We are at a critical nexus with regard to technology innovation in just about every possible arena of social interaction whether medical, governmental, educational, business or military as depicted below…

Medicine … Nano- and Bio-tech advances
Education … Online and Mobile delivery platform migration
Government … OpenGov2.0
Business … Relationship economy driven by social media platforms
Military … Drone technogies

Just how far have we come? We cannot measure how far we’ve come unless we know how far we can go. Futurists (wfs.org) use various trend detecting techniques to peer into the future. Based on current research, where we are today is in keeping with Thomas Friedman’s claim that we are at the end of the beginning. In other words, where we are today with our emerging tech-culture and nearly five decades of Internet under our belt, is only at the end of the first phase of the tech revolution. When it comes to merging the electro-chemical human with electro-mechanical technology, we are just getting started.

It is precisely this initial transitory phase that has kept us disoriented; in the beginning due to future-shock (fear and resistance) and now due to future-disconnect (denial and reckless abandon). How will we enter this next phase of innovation that will lead us beyond the so-called Web 2.0 with its community-encouraging connectedness, into an age where the real is augmented (AR), intelligence is supplemented (AI), and human needs are predictably anticipated rather than simply computed?

The human culture vessel has been sailing for some decades across this ocean of change from industrial to technological. There have been and still are many in the crows nest with an eye on the horizon. The good news is, land is in sight. However there remains the unnerving prospect of uncertainty regarding the promise and/or peril that awaits. And we can’t control all of the events with which we will collide. Therefore, we owe it to ourselves to arm our most powerful weapon over which we do have control; the mind. A mind trained to think critically is a formidable opponent.

The explorers of centuries past faced the same plight that stares us down today. Uncertainty was the common lot, then as now. To educate and equip the next generation to face their unknown future is our prime directive. But the education I’m speaking of goes beyond being social-media adept or rich in cultural experiences. It requires more than tolerance and understanding. These qualities would be sufficient if we only faced increasing interactivity among the human race. But the human is merging with its technology.

Just as the industrial era produced machines to mimic and exceed human physical power, so tech advances will mimic and exceed human cognitive power. How will we engage these innovations for the common good? How will we increase human capability (education) and skill (training) within the new paradigm?

As near as I can predict, based on what I’ve been hearing, reading, and researching in the Educational Technology field these past couple of years, the major trends to watch through this next academic year (in no particular order) are:

1. Cloud computing – as demand for scalable networks spreads dynamically during the ebbs and flows of our recovering economy, the power struggle for control (or at least not losing any perceived footholds already assumed) will continue to be a hot topic for debate and a popular hook of tech-tabloid headlines.
2. Green technology – The aforementioned economic turbulence will continue to drive demand for such innovations as eTextbooks, paperless assignments, redesign and allocation of formerly tech-centered spaces toward more socially inviting ones, and power consumption reduction solutions.
3. Web 2.0 collaboration – I expect to see increased migration among faculties and staff toward web-based collaboration apps including off-site storage, social-bookmarking, and eportfolio creation tools.
4. Security – IT departments will have their hands full dealing with security and privacy issues both real and imagined.
5. mLearning – pushing information to handheld devices as well as delivering instruction to mobile platforms will be one of the hot attention-getters world-wide this year (it’s about reaching the masses).
6. Bandwidth – The battle for bandwidth will continue as new technologies are developed to speed delivery through existing channels as well as create new models for wireless delivery.
7. Tablet readers – The publishing elite and their parasitic entourage will be working around the clock to deliver content to this new platform du jour.
8. Social media networking – Social Media will continue to buzz about “who” you know (not “what”), and “how” you are connected.
9. Monetizing the web – The new relationship economy will continue to churn creative models of monetizing the web via lite app upgrades, click-thru ads, push content, subscription feeds, paid apps, and ??
10. Knowledge management – The data deluge will increasingly pressure enterprises of all types to ensure digital literacy among their constituents through new models of continuous professional development delivery promising baseline technology adoption, adaptation and integration within their defined best practices.

Five years ago, the buzzwords were all about email, spam, phishing, cookies, and adware. Cutting edge technology gurus were explaining Podcasting and RSS feeds. But many of these problems and interests were addressed by software-centric solutions.

The new models are trending toward virtualization of servers, networks, and storage which simply means the top 10 trends to watch will resolve themselves in some virtualized solution as opposed to a device-centric fix. In other words, the networked crowd will benefit from a distance.

So grab your smart device and find a seat near the babbling data stream. Watch the ebb and flow of these trendy buzzwords as they move with the tide. And add your valuable input by interacting with the networked crowd. More data is better if we want an accurate picture of the future.

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