I'd prefer to ignore the personal implications of Web 3.0 at this point, as I am fearful of them. See the slideshow on communilytics on this blog and you will see what I mean. It is already happening, businesses are harnessing this technology already. I don't care mucha about fridges reading bar codes and ordering my milk for me. I need to get out more, walk to the shops and enjoy nature. But then maybe 100 years ago people were fearful of machines milking cows and cows being purged with hormones to produce milk in unnatural cycles of preganancy/lactation.
On the upside, having researched Wikis' for my assignment, I see the tremendous potential for harnessing collaborative intelligence and collaborative learning in classes. I have been thinking that this is how people learn best. How would it be if we took the competitive element out of assessment, and assessment became focused on on who knows the most, but is willing to share their knowlege with other students; demonstrating the best team spirit for the good of the whole? Isn't this what famous scientists and discoverers do?
Virtual worlds for future education, such as second life - I think they will have their uses but I don't think in the next ten years they will overtake traditional classes and lectures. Virtual Learning Environments though, I think complement traditional learning environments and I see this area growing e.g. 3D interactive whiteboards...Pity we are in the dark ages and still trying to get Smart Boards into public school classes!
Kids can have a lot of fun developing their own 3D world and avatar, and this could be used in an educational context such as teaching literacy - sequencing of a storyline, see Meez.
Cynthia Calonge is a University lecturer with experinece in using virutal worlds for teaching and her insights are worth reading and she explains that they do not replace the need for face to face human interaction. She gives me hope. However, in primary school settings, Teachers need to make sure young students have fundamental skills first before embarking on elaborate use of technology, which afterall remains purely "a tool".
M-learning or mobile learning with increasing use of iphones, notebooks etc. Whilst I an concerned about the digital divide, I guess we need to appreciate that in 3rd World Countries and in poorer communities, these devices are also becoming more common and is cheaper technolgy. Therefore it would be crazy to not embrace this form of technolgy in education and at least forge ahead.
Alot of my opinion on how virtual worlds and 3D learning will be is based on the premise of I won't know until I see it and give it a go! I'd like to think I have become a lot more open minded through doing this Unit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
)
I have wondered, like you, whether I am too fearful of future technologies when back in the dark ages, people were probably equally as fearful. We turned out quite normal, I suppose? Or maybe those people 100 years ago would look at our world, horrified because they could not understand what we were doing? It would be pretty interesting looking into the future from their perspective. Technology has certainly undergone a revolution in the past 100 years and it will be very interesting to see what happens over the next century.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that face-to-face interaction is still there and that it cannot be replaced by technology, because I think a world without face-to-face human interaction would be a very sad world. However, over this course, I have begun to appreciate the benefits of new technology and the need to embrace them, given that it is the way of the future and a natural mode of learning for young people of today.