Over
the next few years we will see the blurring of the line between computers
and other devices. Technological advances, such as 'Bluetooth', will
allow machines to seamlessly communicate with each other. The Internet
will become less of a network accessed through your PC, and more of
an environment in which information is passed and processed by industrial,
business, educational and household devices. Expect advancements in
the breadth and power of courseware (applications for teaching and
learning), allowing the creation of new learning tools. By the end
of this decade, brick and mortar classrooms may no longer be the norm
for many disciplines in the developed world. Think through the pedagogical
implications of that.
The internet is still in its infancy. It can be argued that computing
itself is in its early days. Although the technology has come a long
way since the mammoth valved apparatus of the 1940's, the potential
is still largely untapped. Currently, silicon chip technology is stretched
to its limit. However, a new paradigm in processing is poised to begin
- the age of Nanobots. Nanotechnology is the science of atomic-sized
devices. A nonometer is one billionth of a meter and the first nanocomputers
are now being tested. Over time, these microscopic computers will
possess memory and power significantly higher than anything on offer
today. Within twenty years, they may well be in commercial production,
revolutionizing areas of medicine, production and education.
Raymond Kurzweil, a pioneer of speech recognition and scanning technologies,
looks further ahead in "The age of spiritual machines: When computers
exceed human intelligence". He predicts that "invasive virtual reality"
will take hold in a few decades. Nanobots, microscopic robots built
with nanotechnology, will directly stimulate the brain's neural system,
creating a virtual reality for all the senses. Kurzweil's Internet
of 2050 will be an environment of sights, sounds , tastes, smells,
tactile feelings and even emotions. The technology could be used to
manufacture food and eliminate diseases and as computing advances
further, he believes that devices will learn independently and postulate
outcomes. There will also be opportunities for misuse. The way will
be opened for miniature programmed computers to attack the neural
system - the computer virus will become the human virus. If all this
sounds too far fetched, think back ten years. In 1990, could you have
envisaged your current level of computer use?
For now, we cope with a bi-sensory web. Even that has changed radically
in the past five years. Therefore, as educators, we need to be aware
of the dynamism of the Internet. Useful websites are mushrooming daily.
More importantly, the range of applications presented at these sites
is broadening. Creative use of the web in the next few years will
put a valuable tool at our disposal and help shape future learning
patterns.
Hotlinks: For more on the technological future
http://www.bluetooth.com
http://nanozine.com
http://www.penguinputnam.com/kurzweil
http://nanocomputer.org
