The Gartner Hype Cycle for technologies in 2017 suggests that we should be keeping our eye on artificial intelligence, augmented reality and blockchain technology. Gartner also publishes a version for education and you may be surprised what is on the rise or fall or simply not even understand what some of these things are. Here they are:
- On the Rise
- Li-Fi
- Blockchain in Education
- Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Applications in Education
- Artificial Intelligence Education Applications
- Tin Can API
- At the Peak
- Affective Computing in Education
- Exostructure Strategy
- Classroom 3D Printing
- Digital Assessment
- SaaS SIS
- Learning Analytics
- Sliding Into the Trough
- Competency-Based Education Platforms
- Bluetooth Beacons
- Citizen Developers
- Institutional Analytics
- Open Microcredentials
- Cloud Office
- Big Data in Education
- Alumni CRM
- Master Data Management
- Adaptive Learning Platforms
- Adaptive E-Textbooks
- IDaaS
- Student Retention CRM
- Climbing the Slope
- Gamification
- Integration Brokerage
I honestly don’t know where they get this stuff from or how the research is done because it simply does not make any sense to me. But let’s pick a couple any way.
Blockchain is the backend of bitcoin and while no one is quite sure where bitcoin is going the underlying technology which is basically distributed encryption and book keeping is amazing. For a simple explanation see the video here. The blockchain registrar is a an interesting concept whereby transcripts would form a part of a persons educational record stored in the blockchain.
Competency based education (CBE) is gaining traction in some institutions and not surprisingly the first VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) are starting to surface to support CBE e.g., LoudCloud.
The LMS (Learning Management System) is dead, long live the LMS. While is seems that everyone complains about Moodle, D2L, Canvas etc., the reality is that we all have them and use them (even if only a fraction of their capability). There is some complaint that the software itself restricts a faculty member from innovation. While this may be counter intuitive, I believe it. In “Revenge of the Analog” David Sax recounts the story of a design company abandoning the Adobe creative suite during the early stages of design as they were finding that the software inadvertently boxed in the designers. So the talk is Next Generation Digital Learning Environments (NGDLEs) an ecosystem (aargghh not another) of interoperable tools putting the student at the centre with the LMS relegated as book keeping support.
Sometimes the old and new can work together. The literature is awash with how good active learning is and how we all need to make it a part of our teaching – agreed. MIT is working on technology enabled active learning connected to MOOCs. Looks very interesting to me.
Now for the elephant in the room Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the advent of the massive computing power made available by GPUs (Graphic Processing Units) and steps forward in neural networks (concurrent, recurrent and deep belief) AI has moved from primitive (if-then) to simple machine learning (cat – not cat) to sophisticated deep learning (self driving car). While the ethics are challenging, most pundits agree that AI will revolutionize our world of work and the economy. There are two elements for education for me – the first is what should education look like in a world of sophisticated AI and secondly what can AI itself do for education.
If AI is truly going to automate in a way that we have not seen before then the fundamentals of education become even more important and many of the technical skills and knowledge less so. Does this mean a true return to the value of a liberal arts education? I would argue that it means that we have to get serious about teaching and enhancing creativity, problem solving, communication, collaboration, critical thinking – in other words concentrating on enhancing the things that machines cannot do (at least now).
AI is already making its way into education. Adaptive learning is being used at Arizona State U in an introductory math class using ALEKS (an AI). Deakin University is using IBMs AI Watson for student advising. We are clearly in early days, but as natural language interfaces and emotional recognition improves there will be more experimentation with AI for educational support.