What the Future Will Look Like:Technology Landscape of 2023

By: Brian Moody

Where We Came From

The Past:

Communication technology was hindered and stopped due to boundary lines and relied solely on the whims of man and animal.

Oh How Things Have Changed

With today’s advances, the spread of information and technology knows no limits or bounds.

Alvin Toffler

Rational behavior ... depends upon a ceaseless flow of data from the environment. It depends upon the power of the individual to predict, with at least a fair success, the outcome of his own actions. To do this, he must be able to predict how the environment will respond to his acts. Sanity, itself, thus hinges on man's ability to predict his immediate, personal future on the basis of information fed him by the environment.

Uses and Gratifications

- Users actively seek out different mediums to fulfill their different needs.

- Media then takes that information and adapts it so that they produce one product that can fit any sort of needs:

The Smartphone

Laying in the palm of our hand is a product that can allow us to:

• Check the news• Check our Bank account• Call mom• Text your friend• Upload your vacation

photos• Much more

Social Learning Theory- Social Learning focuses on how a person learns, by using

others as models.- Monkey See, Monkey Do

Keeping up with the JonesKeeping in mind with the “Monkey See Monkey Do” aspect of Social Learning, we see people consuming similar products to that of their peers to “keep up appearances” and also so they don’t get behind with the technology as well.

Wanting to “Keep up with the Jones” created a technological boom since users are looking and receiving the reinforcement that keeping up with technology is the norm and accepted, and to stay behind is something of ridicule and scorn.

Video Games

You can do more than just play….

Today’s consoles can:• Share videos• Put you on a team with

someone from another country

• Allow you to talk to your friends

Future Technology:• Virtual Reality • Movement Sensors; will

no longer need a controller

• More portable system, easier to travel

• Face to Face interaction with other players

Video Games Vs Social Learning

• 56% of households contain a modern gaming system (Melanson), making it of the norm

• Some formats have failed and become tossed aside, others have used that information and taken it further to make it popular, i.e.

Nintendo Wii compared to

Playstation Move &Microsoft Kinect

Oh the Things You Will Learn….

Learning goes through an evolution as new technologies progress

• TVs saw the use of multimedia in learning

• Computers unlock information at our fingertips

• Still using books, paper, and chalkboards

Learning as it adapts• Education paths will far deviate

from the norm, as schools and educators start to tweak curriculum to fit students learning ability, but also their strengths

• See more emphasis on real world learning solutions, instead of being buried in a text

• Classrooms losing the traditional sense as students can “log in” to a class through the internet, making it easier for parents to enroll students into programs that may not be at their regular school.

Classrooms

• Traditional classrooms hinder the user and gratification theory, since most are cookie cutter, with little focus outside of the basics.

• Have to wait to get to a college setting to get into a career orientated curriculum

• Future classrooms will have the technology on hand to gain attention of all learning types

• Curriculums will be tailor made to fit each student for their learning potential as well as allowing them to follow a career orientated path

Social Learning’s take on Learning

Social Learning theory can cause a rollercoaster effect on education

What is acceptable and/or what is deemed as “need to know” can be at the whim of society by what they reinforce versus what they punish, i.e. the Darwinism debate

Future Learning

• Education will look far different in the future• Most children have their own personal cell phones and with

the growing acceptance/usage of tablets, classroom tablets will replace books and papers

• Schools will have to better their materials and resources to keep up with the personal technology, prompting new learning styles and environments

Sources

Matei, Sorin Adam. “What Can Uses and Gratifications Theory Tell Us About Social Media?”. I Think. 29-July-2010. Web. 29-April-2013.

Melanson, Donald. “Nielsen Report Finds 56 Percent of US Households Have a Modern Game Console, Total Gaming Time Up 7 Percent”. engadget. 9-May-2012. Web. 29-April-2013.

Toffler, Alvin. Future Shock. Random House. New York. 1970.