Perspective on Learning Technologies

EDUC370: Instructional Media and Computer Applications

January 30th, 2014

Jonathon Richter, Ed.D.University of Montana

"It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.It is possible to believe that all that the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening.”

~ H.G. Wells

Just as all education springs from some vision of

the future…

all education produces some image of the future

~ Alvin Toffler

Culture adoption lags behind technological innovation

Ogburn’s Theory of Cultural Lag

“All education springs from some image of the future. If the image of the future held by society is grossly inaccurate, its education system will betray its youth.”

Alvin Toffler

Increasingly fast-paced world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

Increasingly interconnected times

Increasingly complex issues

http://www.fredcavazza.net/2013/04/17/social-media-landscape-2013/

The future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed.

~ William Gibson

Gartner Report on Emerging Technologies, September 2012

http://digitalgames.playthinklearn.net/

Disrupted Class

Teachers dealing with Disruptive Innovation

1.Resistance and Struggle for Control2.Doing What is Necessary and

Integrating “Proven” Technologies3.Finding Ways to Get Technologies into

the Hands of Students – and Letting it Fly

Future Time Perspective

(Seijts, 1998)

Extension: how far into the future does your active work extend?

Coherence: how organized is your future-focused thinking?

Density: how many thoughts about the future are active?

Directionality: how well are you moving along from present to future?

Affectivity: are you gratified about your progress toward the future?

Future-focused learning• Extend students time horizons (length)

• Develop cohesive goals, anchored to action (cohesiveness)

• Populate individual goal horizons (density)

• Give students agency (directionality)

• Give them real reasons to feel good about their own futures (affective)

= “high achievement orientation” (Seijts)

The future belongs to those who givethe next generation reason to hope

~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Credits not appearing inline

• Global Internet Map: http://www.telegeography.com/telecom-resources/map-gallery/global-internet-map-2011/

• “Facebook: You’re Doing It Wrong”: http://www.worldcupblog.org• Gerard Seijts, “The importance of Future Time Perspective in theories of

work motivation”; Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied 132(2), pp. 154-168.