The Courseware Tablet: Education’s Kindle?

Posted on | December 16, 2009 | 2 Comments

The Courseware Tablet: What the Kindle is to books, the courseware tablet will be to education. In much the same manner that book readers will soon make the ink-on-paper version of books a rare commodity, a new category of course-taking gadgets will soon hit the marketplace.

I use the word “tablet” because these will be highly flexible, portable devices capable of working with a wide range of inputs and outputs. They will enable users to simultaneously create hand drawn sketches; give voice commands; take tests; and engage in video capturing, editing, and viewing. They will even offer analytical tools for students to study the world around them. In addition, each will come with a direct feed to experts in the field who can answer virtually any question on any topic.

The device will help define the courseware, and the courseware will help define the device. Several products will enter the marketplace, but the advantage will go to the design group that truly understands the needs and working environments of the evolving next generation student.

DaVinci Institute futurist, Thomas Frey, offers the above amongst an underwhelming set of predictions on the future of colleges and universities. This would seem to be a future predicated on the continued health of the college ‘course’ as we have known it for so long. That assumption is questionable, as is the notion that someone will finally work out what courseware actually is and that it really has a place in higher education. I have never been convinced that adding a few digital bells and whistles to what is essentially still programmed learning offers anything very much to education at any level.

But the description of this ‘futuristic’ device is itself highly problematic. Pretty much any networked, web-enabled device – laptop, desktop, smartphone, and yes, even a tablet – would fit the ‘revolutionary’ outline above. As for the:

….direct feed to experts in the field who can answer virtually any question on any topic….

Quite laughable.

And the DaVinci Institute?

We are a community of revolutionary thinkers and innovators intent on unlocking your future, one idea, one invention, one business at a time.
We have seen the future and it is truly a magical place.

No hubris there, then.

Technorati Tags: davinci institute, thomas frey, futurist, courseware, higher education

Category: authority, comedy, education, higher education, innovation, learning, technology

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2 Responses to “The Courseware Tablet: Education’s Kindle?”

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December 16th, 2009 @ 7:50 pm

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December 16th, 2009 @ 9:12 pm

[...] The Courseware Tablet: Education’s Kindle? : John Connell: The Blog http://www.johnconnell.co.uk/blog/?p=2340 – view page – cached The Courseware Tablet: What the Kindle is to books, the courseware tablet will be to education. In much the same manner that book readers will soon make the ink-on-paper version of books a rare… Read moreThe Courseware Tablet: What the Kindle is to books, the courseware tablet will be to education. In much the same manner that book readers will soon make the ink-on-paper version of books a rare commodity, a new category of course-taking gadgets will soon hit the marketplace. View page [...]