An article by Richard James Rogers (Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback).
Illustrated by Sutthiya Lertyongphati
A number of interesting trends in the automation and computerization of education have taken place in the past twelve months. These innovations build on the tech boom seen after the dot .com crisis recovery in the early 2000s and include:
- Coding
- Online learning
- Robotics and AI
- Cloud computing
- Smart devices and the Internet of Things
- FinTech
- Data Logging
- Adaptable ‘Smart Spaces’
To put all of this into context one only has to look as far back as last week’s edition of the Economist. Page 11 presents a daunting synopsis of the digital web we find ourselves in via an article aptly entitled ‘A Planetary Panopticon‘ [print edition]:
In a world in which more things are computerized, more companies will come to resemble computer firms. In expensive, high-tech industries, where the economics of the IoT have made sense for decades, the results of this are already visible. Rolls-Royce, a big British maker of jet engines, launched its “Power by the Hour” service in 1962, offering to maintain and repair it’s engines for a fixed cost per hour. It’s digital transformation began in earnest in 2002, built around the ability to do continuous, real-time monitoring of its products.
The article goes on to describe how:
- Data is becoming the new currency of developed countries (and even some developing ones, such as China, which has basically already become a cashless society)
- Surveillance is set to become more pervasive as firms set-out to monitor consumer behavior more closely in an effort to improve products, services and marketing strategies
- Smart-tech companies will become ever-more protective of their data: a valuable commodity. Apple, for example, “is famously unwilling to allow its customers to have broken iPhones repaired anywhere except in its own shops, going so far as to use software updates to disable replacement touchscreens installed by cheaper, third-party fixers.”
I would even go so far as to say that teachers, everywhere, need to skill-up in computer science quickly, or else we could find ourselves out of a job! I talk about this in my video below:
From the perspective of helping our students make the ‘digital transition’, I’ve written two blog posts with some tips here:
- Using ICT in the Classroom Part One: A Guide for Teachers
- Using ICT in the Classroom Part Two: A Guide for Teachers
You may also want to check out these great blogs and websites:
- Coding for Kids: 12 Free Coding Games Websites
- Online Learning: EdTech Magazine
- The Future of EdTech: New Applications for VR/AR, Robots and Virtual Classrooms in Education
- Applications of Cloud Computing in Education
- Smart Classroom Tools for Smart Teachers
- To Prepare for the FinTech Revolution, We Need to Start in Schools
- Data Logging in the Primary Classroom [some good ideas for secondary teachers too}
- Smart Spaces (EdTech Digest)
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