IV. The Future of Online Learning and a Look at Emerging Technologies

1. IV. The Future of Online Learning and a Look at Emerging Technologies Curt Bonk, Ph.D. Indiana University CourseShare.com http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk cjbonk@indiana.edu

2. The Future Note: any predictions are bound to be too conservative!!!

3. Human Resource Portals/Business Development Resources Communities of Practice Electronic Books Instructor/Trainer Portals Knowledge Management Intelligent Agents Online Language Support Online Mentoring Online Simulations Peer-to-Peer Collaboration Reusable Knowledge Objects Virtual Worlds/Virtual Reality/AI Wearable Computing Wireless Technology 14 E-Learning Technologies of Future?

4. 4. Instructor/Trainer Portals

5. 5. Intelligent Agents/AI

6. 7. Online Language Support (pronunciation, communication, vocabulary, grammar, etc.)

7. Typical Features(e.g., Englishtown (millions of users from over 100 countries) • Online Conversation Classes • Experienced Teachers (certified ESL) • Expert Mentors • Peer-to-Peer Conversation • Private Conversation Classes • Placement Tests • Personalized Feedback • University Certification • Self-Paced Lessons

8. 8. Online Mentoring Expert mentors novice from remote location Carnegie Mellon Univ.

9. Adventure LearningPurpose: engage in adventurous study of the global environment.(e.g., Telepresence or virtual fieldtrips, ask an expert forums, cross-classroom collaboration, debate forums, MayaQuest)

10. A web’s that’s out of this world Alan Boyle, MSNBC, Nov. 8, 1999 • NASA and network gurus are working together to extend the Internet to other worlds in the next few years. But there are some limits that not even the World Wide Web can route around, such as the speed of light. So the builders of the Interplanetary Internet are going back to the basics, retooling protocols for future communications with Mars and beyond.

11. 9. Online Simulations (SimuLearn)

12. 10. Peer-to-Peer Collaboration(Group-enabled Project Management) Possibilities: • Data Sharing (www.napster.com) • Resource Sharing (www.intel.com/cure/overview.htm) • Workgroup Collaboration (www.groove.net)

13. Grove creates a shared space to explain problems, receive assignments, post course updates, hold group meetings, write and edit papers, and teach students research methods.

14. 11. Reusable Learning Objects • “Learning Objects are small or large resources that can be used to provide a learning experience. These assets can be lessons, video clips, images, or even people. The Learning Objects can represent tiny "chunks" of knowledge, or they can be whole courses.” Claude Ostyn, Click2Learn

15. Displaying Learning ObjectsStephen Downes, New Tools, New Media “Consider the impact of a resource like Martindale’s Health Science Guide, a resource center listing 60,000 teaching files and 129,000 medical cases. Such a resource if made available to medical schools around the world, would greatly facilitate the creation of courses in medicine….” (as well as sustainable revenue for the center)

16. ADL Functional Requirements (Bob Wisher, 2001) • Accessible:access instructional components from one location and deliver them to many other locations • Interoperable:use instructional components developed in one location with a different platform in another location • Reusable:incorporate instructional components into multiple applications • Durable: operate instructional components when base technology changes, without redesign or recoding • Affordable: increase learning effectiveness significantly while reducing time and costs

17. 12. Virtual Worlds/Virtual Reality • Avatars--representations of people • Objects--representations of objects • Maps--the landscape which can be explored • Bots--artificial intelligence

19. 13. Wearable Computing

21. IBM VisionPad Created as a small laptop Applications will determine how close it meets our model IBM Wearable ThinkPad

22. 14. Wireless Technology

23. So What Happens to Instructors and Students in the Future???

24. Faculty Member in 2020 • Track 1: Technical Specialist • Track 2: Personal Guide • Track 3: Online Facilitator • Track 4: Course Developer • Track 5: Course or Program Manager • Track 6: Work for Hire Online Lecturer • Track 7: High School Teacher • Track 8: Unemployed

25. Track 1: Technical Specialist • Help critique technical aspects of media and materials built into online courses. Here one would be part of a course development team or instructional design unit. Freelance learning object evaluator. Here one would likely operate alone or as part of a consulting company.

26. Track 2: Personal Guide • Provide program or course guidance to students on demand or preplanned. Becomes more of a generalist across university offerings. For example, one might help students see how different learning objects or modules fit together into a degree.

27. Track 3: Online Facilitator • Offers timely and informed support to students struggling to complete an online course or inserting questions and nudging development of students who are successfully completing different modules. This is the most similar to college teaching positions today.

28. Track 4: Course Developer • Help develop specific courses or topic areas for one or more universities. In many institutions, this will move beyond a course royalty system to a paid position.

29. Track 5: Course or Program Manager • Supervisor or manager of an entire new program or courses, most often leading to certificates or master’s degrees. Similar in stature to a development head or chairperson.

30. Track 6: Work for Hire Online Lecturer • Is a freelance instructor for one course or a range of course. May work on just one campus or on a range of campuses around the world. While this will be highly popular and rejuvenate careers, institutional policies are yet to be sorted out.

31. Track 7: High School Teacher • As universities begin to offer secondary degrees, some college faculty with online teaching experience and teaching degrees will find positions in those classes. Some may view such positions as being demoted to the minor leagues.

32. Track 8: Unemployed • If one does not find a niche in one or more of the above tracks or roles, he or she will likely be unemployed or highly unsuccessful.

33. Student Differences in 2020 • Live Longer • More Educated • Multiple Degrees • Accustomed to Multiple Learning Formats • Design own programs and courses • Specialists AND Generalists • Courses/Degrees for unknown occupations • Expect to Take Courses Where Live • Cyber-students (various digital aids attached to appendages)

34. Possible Scenarios in Year 2020 • Virtual U’s and Traditional U’s Coexist • Traditional Univ’s buy stake in Virtual U’s • Traditional Univ’s form Consortia • Some Trad U’s Move Ahead, Some Don’t • Other Technology arise well beyond Web • Large Virtual U’s Buy Competing Traditional U’s and shut them down

35. What Uses for Old Institutions of Higher Learning??? • Museums • Historical Monuments • Bomb Shelters • Resorts and Apartment Complexes • Nostalgic Retirement Homes • Green Space • Prisons

36. Some Final Advice… Or Maybe Some Questions???