What's Next? (Enough About Laptops and Wireless)
filed under: Trends
The last weeks have been busy ones investigating LMS, meeting end of semester needs of the faculty, and the impending birth of a second child have really gotten in the way of posting. Fortunately Brian, Jason and Susan kept the conversations going. (This is not to say they aren't busy, just that I have not posted and I am thankful that they have posted.)
Today, I planned a little blog time into my schedule to catch up on my bloglines reading and post a little about mobile computing, which has been a focus of conversation lately. In reading my bloglines, I came across a weblogg-ed post titled 'One Phone Per Child (?)'.
The post pushes the idea that while the idea of one-laptop-one-learner is finally catching on, it's time to start thinking about one-phone-one-learner. Obviously, this line of thinking hit a cord with me as I have been thinking about the next generation of mobile computing devices and even wrote a little about it. (Okay I guess that it hasn't been as long as I thought since my last post. But I am still thankful for my colleagues and their contributions.)
Mobile phones are becoming fairly ubiquitous and more powerful now including mp3 players, internet access, and higher quality cameras. The author promotes the idea of finding ways to harness this computing power for learning particularly in the K-12 setting. The article and others in his The Shifts category are worth a read.
I agree with the quotes and commentary he uses that it is difficult to predict the future but that we are probably 5 years out from phones as mobile computers for a majority of users. We are seeing ripplings of this today in the techno-savvy pockets of our community with the pioneers finding great value in their personal computing devices. We are also seeing universities moving to find way to incorporate phones in to course work as personal response devices. We could be on the brink of moving to the next level of computing where people caring their computer comfortably in a pocket, on a belt, or in a handbag. It is quite exciting to think the next personal computer is something everyone knows how to use.
When was the last time you heard someone state with exasperation, "I am cell phone illiterate can you help me?"
What does the future look like?
Will this actually become reality?
Who knows, but it seems possible.
Comments
I feel myself being drawn into this smart phone thing. I hope Michael isn't paying attention.
Posted by: Susan | December 14, 2006 4:24 PM