November 2004 — Industry Perspective
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The Future of Anytime, Anywhere Education
Ubiquitous Wireless. By enabling education to happen anywhere, wireless technology may fundamentally shift the traditional “schoolhouse” mentality. Many of today’s wireline technologies are already being wirelessly enabled, and that trend will allow multimedia content and applications to be accessed from anywhere. Future schools could have
Wi-Fi networks on campus and high-speed wide-area wireless services off campus. Teachers, students and administrators are likely to have converged mobile devices, smart phones or laptops that can instantly detect various wireless networks and select the one with the fastest connection speed. With wireless speeds that will eclipse DSL speeds in the next few years, anytime, anywhere education will have limitless possibilities.
Integrated Communications Platforms. Integrated communications platforms that use Internet protocol (IP) to combine voice, video and data will be a key component of an on-demand multimedia education. Integrated platforms connect every room, help automate administrative duties, and allow teachers to show interactive video presentations at any time through a centralized media database controlled from the classroom. IP-based systems will allow schools to expand functionality and applications as new technologies arise. For example, schools may soon place IP video cameras in every room to help with security and safety. Principals will be able to instantly pull up video from any classroom on their wireless devices and monitor important developments using wirelessly enabled IP communications platforms.
Hosted Content Platforms. Hosted content platform technology exists today, but it will continue improving to enable access to multimedia instructional curricula and resources, collaboration utilities and productivity tools from outside the school. The idea that all teaching and learning takes place between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. will fade away as students, parents and teachers increasingly embrace the idea of accessing Web-based information at their convenience. Today, this access is mostly limited to a wireline connection. But as remote access to information becomes commonplace, many schools will begin making these tools available off campus via high-speed wireless networks.
Family Access Technologies.Today, communications systems are used to give families access to teachers and key information via touch-tone phones, voice-mail platforms and Web-based systems. Future systems will allow schools to enhance the communications features available to parents and begin enabling wireless access to those features. With the use of PDAs or smart phones, families will be able to stay informed and involved with their children’s education in a way that better fits their busy schedules.
Overall, as we look toward the future of education technology, the possibilities are very encouraging, especially given that schools are already enjoying the benefits that today’s technology brings, including increasing student achievement and keeping schools safe. As technology advances, administrators, teachers, parents and students will have a “no boundaries” approach to communicating and learning. As we see these advances, it’s important to remember that technology should be an enabler in education - allowing teachers to provide incredible learning environments that will grab the attention of tomorrow’s students in exciting new ways.
