Monday’s Night with a Futurist offered perspectives on “Next Generation Learning” provided by Michael Cushman. To Cushman, the opportunity for improved learning and training derives from the historically static nature of education combined with the potential offered by the increased pace of technology development. While “our founding fathers were born with the same technology they died with,” current generations are faced with an environment that changes much more rapidly. Advances in the fields of wireless communications and virtual simulation promise a Copernican revolution in education methodology, which Cushman currently identifies as the key constraint in solving the world’s largest problems.
Cushman believes the problem lies not in the ability to learn but rather in the use of less than optimal teaching methods. Teaching today is primarily based on a classroom model. Yet taking students from a classroom and instead providing one-on-one tutoring has been shown to achieve vastly superior learning – students from the 50 percentile moved to the 98 percentile – a 2 sigma (2 standard deviations) move. Similar results for individual instruction have been demonstrated for skills training in US Navy studies. With the clear success of this method, the question becomes how this tutoring environment can be mimicked without the expense and logistical impossibility of providing one-on-one human-based support.
Technology is currently at a point where it can begin to offer this experience, providing individuals with personalized feedback based on their specific actions. In this simulation technology, students would step into a “blended reality integrating the real physical and virtual worlds.” Such blended realities already exist to a limited extent (instrumentation on a plane, navigating using a GPS enabled cell phone), but as of yet have not been deployed widely for education. Several barriers exist to this broad reach, including a resistant education system, the cost of development, and in some cases the need for creation of enabling technologies.
Cushman then went on to outline a number of the technological advances that may make the vision for a new type of learning possible. Increased and improved computing power including parallel processing, fail-safe designs, and higher speed wireless networks are all important to broad deployment. A better ability to make virtual worlds look and feel more like the real world will also enhance the overall user experience. Keys to this advance are spatial data aggregation, laser imaging cameras, and devices that can accurately capture human movements (e.g. headsets, goggles, gloves). Making the technology accessible is also important, as experts and students in a particular field are unlikely to be versed in the creation of complex software and hardware. The advent of Software-as-a-Service helps in this regard by creating “plug and play” interfaces perpetually upgraded by companies focused on the user experience. The final enabling factor is advancement that brings down the cost of development, such as technology that is able to create an avatar for a virtual world directly from an image (without any intermediate need for expensive drawing).
Simulation technology is nothing new and has been used in applications such as flight training for years, and more advanced applications for training are currently in use by the government for activities such as disaster preparedness. But in most instances a substantial divide still exists between any second-generation virtual world and our every day lives. This divide is most evident in traditional school environments where teaching methods have seen little change, a world where children experience the benefits of virtualization in their video games but not their classrooms. Cushman fundamentally believes that to solve the complexities of hunger or healthcare, we need to design a future where the expectations on education are reset to a radically enhanced standard.
A panel discussion moderated by Allison Taylor followed Cushman’s remarks. Along with Cushman, the panelists were:
- Raymond Hutchins, President of SimGame Exchange and the Interactive Gaming and Simulation Alliance
- Michael Sitarzewski, the founder of HyperSites.com
- Chris Meyers, experienced entrepreneur formerly with EchoStar
All of the panelists contributed their perspectives on the future of technology for learning. Meyers offered hope that newer learning technologies would be better at “tapping into other parts of the brain.” Sitarzewski noted that significant adoption of these alternate realities is still “5 to 7 years away,” and cited as a key challenge “getting technology out to people” through wireless broadband, especially in the developing world. Hutchins offered hope that as the first generation of game programmers moves towards middle-age with uncertain prospects in traditional gaming, they may start looking to training and learning as an option. Hutchins did note that the $30-50M it takes to develop a quality game remains a significant challenge to development in new arenas.
The DaVinci Institute produces a variety of events designed to share the knowledge of most talented thinkers and seasoned veterans who have fundamentally changed the business landscape. Upcoming events include a Startup Junkie Underground meeting on March 23rd at the MADCAP theatre featuring Perry Evans, serial entrepreneur with companies including MapQuest and Jabber.
