The Future Role of New Media in School
Today I want to glimpse ahead and introduce my vision of the future of new media in schools and the use of technology in the year 2022.
First of all, I had to brainstorm a bit to come up with concrete ideas since predicting the future is actually a physical impossibility. Hence, I created a mind map with bubbl.us that illustrates pretty much all the ideas that came to my mind:
First of all, I had to brainstorm a bit to come up with concrete ideas since predicting the future is actually a physical impossibility. Hence, I created a mind map with bubbl.us that illustrates pretty much all the ideas that came to my mind:
In my opinion, the impact of new media and online-based technology, in particular, will definitely increase in the future. Technologies such as personal computers, the internet, smartphones, and the Web 2.0 in recent years have changed the way we live and communicate to such an extent that our daily life in this globalized, digital society would not be the same if the world wide web and computers did not exist. In the future, even better technology with more possibilities will emerge and continue evolving. If there will be revolutionary devices that change the world (like personal computers did) in the next ten years remains to be seen, though. However, when it comes to the use of new media in school, it is safe to say that new technology will find its way into our classrooms and the interaction between teacher and students will change accordingly:
First, teachers will be working more efficiently with regard to preparing and postprocessing lessons, i.e. they can expend less effort for planning, grading, marking and so forth as the interaction will be based on tablet computers and interactive whiteboards. Especially the concept of interactive whiteboards combining all sorts of media in one device will be even more common in ten years, I think. As tablet computers (e.g. iPads) are becoming more affordable, every student will be equipped with such a gadget. They will not only replace exercise books workbooks, and schoolbooks with cheaper and more versatile ebooks, but also pave the way for better learning materials, methods and teaching approaches. Moreover, the interaction between tablets and whiteboards - respectively students and teachers - will play an important role in future lessons. For instance, wireless communication between devices enables students to transfer their results from their tablets to a whiteboard or to project their ideas in front of the class. Another idea is using response systems (see http://smarttech.com/response) for quizzes and exams instead of writing on paper. Considering the latter, students might also be using smart pens (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_pen) instead of ordinary pens to digitalize their handwriting and record their notes.
Furthermore, visualizing ideas in a more student-oriented way will be an aspect of importance in the future. Three-dimensional holograms (see video below), for instance, might be the next major step towards even more realistic demonstrations of virtual objects. In other words, this technique paves the way for simulated experiments, haptic learning in simulated learning environments, and virtual interlocutors with high artificial intelligence helping students improve their learning progress and communicative skills. These thoughts are purely hypothetical of course, yet they do not seem too far fetched, given that many techniques to realize such scenarios already exist. I can also see myself using holograms for Skype conferences in class. In this way, EFL teaching can be enriched by involving native speakers (e.g. for projects) from different countries and more realistic learning scenarios.
First, teachers will be working more efficiently with regard to preparing and postprocessing lessons, i.e. they can expend less effort for planning, grading, marking and so forth as the interaction will be based on tablet computers and interactive whiteboards. Especially the concept of interactive whiteboards combining all sorts of media in one device will be even more common in ten years, I think. As tablet computers (e.g. iPads) are becoming more affordable, every student will be equipped with such a gadget. They will not only replace exercise books workbooks, and schoolbooks with cheaper and more versatile ebooks, but also pave the way for better learning materials, methods and teaching approaches. Moreover, the interaction between tablets and whiteboards - respectively students and teachers - will play an important role in future lessons. For instance, wireless communication between devices enables students to transfer their results from their tablets to a whiteboard or to project their ideas in front of the class. Another idea is using response systems (see http://smarttech.com/response) for quizzes and exams instead of writing on paper. Considering the latter, students might also be using smart pens (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_pen) instead of ordinary pens to digitalize their handwriting and record their notes.
Furthermore, visualizing ideas in a more student-oriented way will be an aspect of importance in the future. Three-dimensional holograms (see video below), for instance, might be the next major step towards even more realistic demonstrations of virtual objects. In other words, this technique paves the way for simulated experiments, haptic learning in simulated learning environments, and virtual interlocutors with high artificial intelligence helping students improve their learning progress and communicative skills. These thoughts are purely hypothetical of course, yet they do not seem too far fetched, given that many techniques to realize such scenarios already exist. I can also see myself using holograms for Skype conferences in class. In this way, EFL teaching can be enriched by involving native speakers (e.g. for projects) from different countries and more realistic learning scenarios.
Students in the year 2022 (c) Paul Hückel
Making use of video conferences, our daily school life might change significantly, i.e. the inverted classroom and blended learning concept will take on greater significance if we implement such techniques in school. That implies that learning will become more individual and online platforms become the centerpiece from where all the information and materials used in class are accessible from anywhere at any time. The latter also promotes the notion of cloud computing for educational purposes, that is web-based data storage and synchronization between various devices. To be more precise, teachers could upload homework assignments and exercises to the cloud and everything would show up immediately on the students' computers, smartphones, and tablet computers. Furthermore, students could turn in their assignments from any place without being actually present in class.
In short, new media offers a wide range of possibilities and potentials facilitating more individual learning environments. Every student can learn at his or her own pace and all kinds of learning types can be taken into account. Hence, learning could be custom-made considering the respective learning type and preferences of each student. This might also lead to different approaches with regard to knowledge acquisition, i.e. internet research replacing hardcopies could make learning by heart redundant or at least less important than nowadays. Thus, media competence and the ability to judge information found online will be even more essential in ten years than it is these days.
In short, new media offers a wide range of possibilities and potentials facilitating more individual learning environments. Every student can learn at his or her own pace and all kinds of learning types can be taken into account. Hence, learning could be custom-made considering the respective learning type and preferences of each student. This might also lead to different approaches with regard to knowledge acquisition, i.e. internet research replacing hardcopies could make learning by heart redundant or at least less important than nowadays. Thus, media competence and the ability to judge information found online will be even more essential in ten years than it is these days.
To conclude, new media will have a major impact on school life in ten years and possibly lead to different structures and teaching approaches. I am confident that our classrooms - if existent at all - will change their appearance, being equipped with more technological appliances and tools to keep better track of learning processes and to offer ways and means to make lessons more interesting and motivating for students. Since our current generation of students, respectively future teachers, can be considered more open-minded in terms of new media and tech-savvy, people will be even more accustomed to new media tools and willing to implement them in class. With respect to the role of teachers and teaching methods in the future, new media has a lot of potential to individualize learning and make lessons more student-oriented. Teachers, in this regard, would function as guides and coordinators creating media-based content and helping their students manage their learning process. Regarding EFL teaching, new media can contribute to more authentic learning environments both to improve language skills and intercultural competence when working with more authentic materials or interacting with native speakers in virtual online sessions. Of course, the future cannot be entirely foreseen, however, current trends in terms of media use in schools give rise to possible tendencies in the future. Advancement in technology is a never ending process and I am sure that the full potential of media has not been tapped yet. In addition to my thoughts, the following video by Microsoft gives interesting insights into the future of media and possible things to come:
Links and further information
- Cloud Computing: http://www.guardian.co.uk/cloud-computing/what-is-cloud-computing
- Digital Pens: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_pen
- Inverted Classroom (Robert Talbert): http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1183&context=colleagues
- SMART Response Systems: http://smarttech.com/response
- Web 2.0 and its potentials for education (Stefanie Panke): http://www.e-teaching.org/didaktik/theorie/informelleslernen/Web2.pdf