does the future inform the present?

Post #6 – where this writer has a pressing deadline

It’s Friday night and I need to write this post to ensure my commitment to #blogjune is maintained. A busy week and looking forward to the weekend. Is there anything of interest that I can scribble down to make your visit to this blog worthwhile? Maybe there is…

I think I need to reflect a little more about an experience I had during the week. I was challenged to think about how higher education is responding to the digital revolution (whatever that is). I was presented with a number of provocations on how technological developments might change the world as we know it. Wearable technology, mobile devices, personalised experiences, robots replacing humans, and in particular in cognitive computing and the development of a capacity to transfer our minds into artificial bodies. We were also reminded of the pending technological singularity when machines become as smart/er as/than humans. 

What I found disconcerting about all this was that it’s in the realm of speculation and hypothetical (for now), and didn’t relate much to the problems we’re trying to solve today. It is important to be aware of technological developments and to consider how these might effect aspects of higher education. It’s too easy to be distracted by the hype (cycle) and take your eye off the ball and forget that we’ve got things to do now. I’d rather discuss the best ways to leverage the systems, applications and devices we have to ensure best practice and outcomes for all. It’s important to ensure we keep an eye on the present, and tweak the tools we have to provide the best environment for learning we can. What about you? 

Spectrum

Winter sunshine created this spectrum as it focused through some glass onto a wall.

Word of the Day is: ‘peregrine’, I’ve felt very peregrine during some of my travels, particularly in Niger.

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