Let me introduce you to Livescribe's "Smartpen," one of those new high-tech equipment that I believe will revolutionize education and even the workplace sometime in the near future. It allows users to write digitally and, according to analysts at Outsell Insights who reviewed it, the device "records live audio in sync with handwritten notes and allows all this to be easily transferred to a computer."
This is not the only "smartpen" in the market. Companies are daily introducing devices that will make transform how students learn and impact business users. Here's what Outsell analyst Ned May has to say about Livescribe's Echo smartpen:
"In simplest terms, the smartpen allows users to annotate and capture the audion soundtrack of their lives.Be it sitting in a lecture hall, attending an online webinar, or meeting in a room with colleagues, suddenly the disparate tasks of listening and noting become one and the same.
These pens are not cheap and there are some initial obstacles that need to be overcome for adoption to grow."
I Believe this is part of the future of eduction, however, i agree with SP, nothing can replace plain old textbooks.
However, i don't think its about replacing textbooks, but providing more interactive, cost effective and more efficient ways to educate students. Textbooks will remain, as will note books, but the power of technology will offer something that textbooks can't offer: interactivitity, interconnectivity across the globe and many more.
As for environmental issues, yes it will be a growing risk, but i think Anna young answered that well, its part of the challenge.
I know what technology did for my baby brother, He learnt to read and write in front of a desktop, learnt to operate a computer from power up to shut down, launch his own apps by himself at age 5, something at alot of adults down here can't do.
So the risks may be there, but the benefits will be mind blowing for educators and Tech companies.
The growth of IT in education sector is tremendous for the last couple of years. Recently I had a visit to one of the European country. So as a part of research conference, I just visited one of the departments in a famous school. There the teacher is taking class with the help of big LCD monitor, with supporting IT infrastructure. It’s teacher’s duty to prepare the study materials either in PPT with necessary animation or in some other supporting format. With the help of these documents teachers are taking classes and for clarifying doubts they can browse in internet at real-time. The students can also access the same study materials either by Bluetooth mechanism or WIFI methods.In my opinion, if technology is growing like this, in near future itself the text books way disappear.
SP, Technology may not replace human touch, but we are seeing technology perform functions that human had been used to carrying out. The reality is that technology is reaching areas in education where it would not have been possible to reach.
For example, in some African countries, the government is advocating a laptop per child.In my view this is the beginning of technology rearing it's head in developing countries Hence, the use of textbooks and notebook may gradually decrease, if it's less required in the classroom. Consequently,as this technology takes off in the west, it is bound to creep into other parts of the developing nations. I don't think Asian country or any other nation of the world would want to be left behind technologically.
Well this is a very interesting topic. I cant even imagine that kids gets up in the morning and open their laptops, starts an application, the teacher comes, greeting happens and the lesson for the day is done. So basically we there would be no need to go to school. It would be like correspondence courses where you hardly meet your teachers. In my opinion technology can never replace human touch. But I agree 20-40 years from now atleast in western part of the world there will be only e-reading and e-teaching. But in many Asian countries the trend of classroom teaching, using paper notebooks and books will continue.
I am fairly certain that within the next 20-40 years, e-readers will be so affordable that buying one would be about as big of a deal as purchasing a standard spiral notebook is today. I really don’t think this is a bold prediction, especially given the drastic price drops we've seen with e-readers just in the past year.
Even looking forward 5 years or so, is it really unrealistic to believe that e-readers may be less than $40? I really, really don't think so. And once you get into the $20-$40 price range, making them standard issues in schools becomes trivial. Especially at colleges, where students are expected to shell out hundreds of dollars for traditional textbooks anyhow.
There are so many advantages to phasing out outdated and expensive traditional textbooks. Once the cost of e-reader technology decreases, I expect to see widespread and rapid adoption throughout much of the developed world.
The classroom and the study material everything is transforming to digital. The one major benefit i can see out of this is there will be no paper, so trees are at save and in turn humans are saved. The future only going to be technology generated by people using technology and yet still there is lot that can be done with electronics.
What I find tantalizing is the wide range of products already commercialized that could be easily adapted by high-tech companies for the education market. Flat screen displays could be deployed in school hallways for students to get information on classes, appointments and other information. Homework could be done at home, e-mailed to teachers -- instead of submitted by hand -- who would be able to print them out or grade them online and wireless products could become a staple of educational instruction.
Teachers, on the other hand, could accelerate video-based tutoring. In some higher institutions today many students don't even show up in classes. They roll out of bed, slip on a dressing gown and sit in front of their computer to watch a lecturer talk to a half-empty classroom several blocks away. High-tech companies are going to provide the tools needed for this and we'll chronicle it hear.
I agree that this will amount to increase in revenue for high tech companies and all related businesses. However, on global warming issue raised, you're quite right. This is a point raised by my 11year old son, who felt that we'll be polluting the environment further. My response is that it will be a challenge certainly for the high-tech industry. It will be a time for further exploration into going green in this respect. Whatever "green" means now.
Although its a great progress in the field of technology and defintely a great revenue or profit making from business point of view, I personally think that nothing can replace textbooks. And its the best way to do lessons. Imagine how will an average earning household afford these gadgets. Yes it would definitely help if government bears the cost. Then we should be ready to pay more taxes. Another aspect is the real hardbooks would always be there when you want to study nomatter if there is power outage, or the system crashes or server is down. But I agree for university levels and post graduate programs it would be really a basic thing. We also talk about doing something for gloabl warming but at the end man wants more and more comfort and thats the biggest truth.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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