Typing will be replaced with…

Typing will soon become a thing of the past.

That was the prediction debated by a group of speakers the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

New technology is here to replace that tip-tap sound of typing echoing throughout your office and home, as well as buttons, knobs and other user interfaces. What will it look like? Mostly like two technologies we’re already familiar with: Siri and Kinect.

That is, voice and gesture recognition. More here.

Free learning design kit

St. Petersburg College and Smart Sparrow have partnered to launch the Learning Design Starter Kit, a free tool designed to help faculty create their own digital learning resources.

“Smart use of adaptive learning has to start with faculty-led planning and instructional design,” said Dawn Joyce, professor of communications at St. Petersburg College, in a prepared statement. “The Learning Design Starter Kit is an important resource because it gives faculty an opportunity to see how engaging adaptive learning technology is for students. Change is always intimidating, but the Learning Design Starter Kit helps faculty in this transitional phase by providing resources and support every step of the way.”

“With the toolkit, faculty will learn how to design online resources rooted in cutting-edge learning science, capture user data to evaluate student engagement, and create rich, interactive, and adaptive courseware,” according to a news release.

Features of the toolkit include:

  • Resources on learning design;
  • Adaptive lessons focused on planning and designing for each student;
  • Case studies from faculty and instructional designers;
  • The opportunity to create rich, adaptive and interactive courseware; and
  • Other tools and support.”

Details about and access to the Learning Design Starter Kit is available here.

10 Products from CES That Will Impact the Classroom

The annual tech-fest known as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) showcased many products.  Below are 10 products that might influence education.

  1. DAQRI Smart Helmet
  2. Kodak Super 8 Revival Initiative
  3. KlaxoonBox
  4. Samsung Galaxy TabPro S
  5. Lenovo AirClass Interactive Virtual Classroom
  6. Top of FormASUS C202
  7. Panasonic Rug Speakers
  8. Hanvon Pentech ERT Technology
  9. XYZ STEAM
  10. XYZmaker

More here.

2016 Top 10 IT Issues and Strategic Technologies

According to Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE’s vice president for data, research and analytics, these are the top 10 (the full report is available at EDUCAUSE website):

The top 10 IT issues of 2016 are:

  1. Information Security
  2. Optimizing Educational Technology
  3. Student Success Technologies 
  4. IT Workforce 
  5. Institutional Data Management 
  6. IT Funding Models 
  7. BI and Analytics
  8. Enterprise Application Integrations
  9. IT Organizational Development 
  10. E-Learning and Online Education

11 EdTech Advances That Will Not Happen by 2020

We have discussed all those crystal ball predictions that will be happening, but here is the list of what is not going to be happening:

#1 – A Communications Platform That Will Cut Down on E-Mail

#2 – A Portfolio System That Everyone Uses

#3 –  A Virtual Case File System for Instructional Design

#4 – A Mobile Learning Platform that Will Displace The Browser Based LMS

#5 – Instructor Accessible Analytics That Will Enable Data Driven Teaching

#6 – A Learning Object Repository That Is Actually Used

#7 – A Cloud Based SIS / ERP That A Majority of Schools Are Willing to Migrate

#8 – A Synchronous Online Teaching / Webinar Platform Where Audio and Video Always Works

#9 – An LMS Gradebook That Is Both Elegant and Powerful

#10 – An Enterprise Educational Online Discussion Tool As Good As Consumer Communications Platforms

#11 – An Online Meeting Platform That Actually Cuts Down On the Number of Face-to-Face Meetings and Conferences

The Top 10 Higher Ed IT Issues of 2016

A panel of higher education leaders identifies the major technology challenges that their universities will have to deal with next year. The table below also has a comparison of 2015 and 2016. More here.

2015 2016
1. Evolving staffing models 1. Information security
2. Optimizing technology in teaching and learning 2. Optimizing educational technology
3. Funding IT strategically 3. Student success technologies
4. Improving student outcomes 4. IT workforce
5. Demonstrating IT’s value 5. Institutional data management
6. Increasing capacity for change 6. IT funding models
7. Providing user support 7. Business intelligence and analytics
8. Developing security policies for the institution 8. Enterprise application integrations
9. Developing enterprise IT architecture 9. IT organizational development
10. Balancing information security and openness 10. E-learning and online education

 

10 Emerging Technology Predictions That Were Ridiculously, Famously Wrong

Quite a catchy title from the EmergingEdTech!

This one is pretty well known: “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

I could not find any newer data, but according to US data census in 2013,”83.8 percent of U.S. households reported computer ownership, with 78.5 percent of all households having a desktop or laptop computer, and 63.6 percent having a handheld computer”.  Speaking about ridiculously, famously wrong…

Another one along the same lines: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.