Future

By [|Jason Hiner] Takeaway: Microsoft has released a video that imagines what the future of smartphones, tablets, and productivity will look like in 5-10 years. Think about how far smartphones have come over the past five years. In 2006, we were using bulky Palm Treos and BlackBerry devices that could barely make a phone call and pretty much just did email. Today, our smartphones have replaced digital cameras, GPS units, MP3 players, and even e-readers, newspapers, and magazines in many cases. Just think what our smartphones will look like five to ten years from now. Microsoft has a few pie-in-the-sky ideas about that and it has conceptualized them in a new video called “ Productivity Future Vision ” produced by the Microsoft Office division. If this sounds familiar, then you don’t have deja vu. Microsoft produced another video by the same name back in 2009 (it was also referred to as “Office 2019″ and you can click over to page 2 of this post to view it ). The new video released this week has a lot of the same stuff but it takes several of the ideas a step farther and introduces a few new concepts. David Jones, who works on “envisioning” at Microsoft and whose team made the video, said, “We see an expanded definition of productivity where it’s not just about getting things done. It’s also about doing the right things, and doing them well and enjoying the process with other people in a very natural way.”
 * Microsoft conjures up the future of mobile productivity **

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** 21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020  ** by [|Shelley Blake-Plock]

** 1. Desks ** The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning. Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room. Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: 'Our concept of what a computer is'. Because computing is going mobile and over the next decade we're going to see the full fury of individualized computing via handhelds come to the fore. Can't wait. The 21st century is a 24/7 environment. And the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear. And despite whatever Secretary Duncan might say, we don't need kids to 'go to school' more; we need them to 'learn' more. And this will be done 24/7 and on the move (see #3). The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn't far behind. Over the next ten years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor in college admissions. The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn't yet figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out of a job. Differentiation won't make you 'distinguished'; it'll just be a natural part of your work. Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If you are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it's time you get over yourself. Books were nice. In ten years' time, all reading will be via digital means. And yes, I know, you like the 'feel' of paper. Well, in ten years' time you'll hardly tell the difference as 'paper' itself becomes digitized. Bio scans. 'Nuff said. A coat-check, maybe. Ok, so this is another trick answer. More subtly put: IT Departments as we currently know them. Cloud computing and a decade's worth of increased wifi and satellite access will make some of the traditional roles of IT -- software, security, and connectivity -- a thing of the past. What will IT professionals do with all their free time? Innovate. Look to tech departments to instigate real change in the function of schools over the next twenty years. School buildings are going to become 'homebases' of learning, not the institutions where all learning happens. Buildings will get smaller and greener, student and teacher schedules will change to allow less people on campus at any one time, and more teachers and students will be going out into their communities to engage in experiential learning. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Education over the next ten years will become more individualized, leaving the bulk of grade-based learning in the past. Students will form peer groups by interest and these interest groups will petition for specialized learning. The structure of K-12 will be fundamentally altered. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">This is actually one that could occur over the next five years. Education Schools have to realize that if they are to remain relevant, they are going to have to demand that 21st century tech integration be modeled by the very professors who are supposed to be preparing our teachers. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">No one knows your school as well as you. With the power of a PLN in their backpockets, teachers will rise up to replace peripatetic professional development gurus as the source of schoolwide prof dev programs. This is already happening. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">There is no reason why every student needs to take however many credits in the same course of study as every other student. The root of curricular change will be the shift in middle schools to a role as foundational content providers and high schools as places for specialized learning. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Ongoing parent-teacher relations in virtual reality will make parent-teacher conference nights seem quaint. Over the next ten years, parents and teachers will become closer than ever as a result of virtual communication opportunities. And parents will drive schools to become ever more tech integrated. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Nutrition information + handhelds + cost comparison = the end of $3.00 bowls of microwaved mac and cheese. At least, I so hope so. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">You need a website/brochure/promo/etc.? Well, for goodness sake just let your kids do it. By the end of the decade -- in the best of schools -- they will be. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Within the decade, it will either become the norm to teach this course in middle school or we'll have finally woken up to the fact that there's no reason to give algebra weight over statistics and IT in high school for non-math majors (and they will have all taken it in middle school anyway). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">In ten years' time, schools will decrease their paper consumption by no less than 90%. And the printing industry and the copier industry and the paper industry itself will either adjust or perish.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Language Labs **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Computers **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Homework **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">5. The Role of Standardized Tests in College Admissions **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Differentiated Instruction as the Sign of a Distinguished Teacher **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Fear of Wikipedia **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">8. Paperbacks **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">9. Attendance Offices **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">10. Lockers **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">11. IT Departments **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">12. Centralized Institutions **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">13. Organization of Educational Services by Grade **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">14. Education School Classes that Fail to Integrate Social Technology **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">15. Paid/Outsourced Professional Development **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">16. Current Curricular Norms **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">17. Parent-Teacher Conference Night **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">18. Typical Cafeteria Food **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">19. Outsourced Graphic Design and Webmastering **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">20. High School Algebra I **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">21. Paper **