How Can We Use Technology to Hyper Improve Education In Our Schools?

The other day, I was speaking with an educator about the future of our schools, specifically elementary school and high schools. He ask me what I thought about an interesting article posted to the Mind Shift Blog titled; “My Teacher Is an Avatar” and if I thought that would be the future potential eventuality of education. Okay so, let’s talk about technology in our modern society and how it is and will continue to change the way we teach.

Now then, just as Lego and other companies are partnering with the schools and as we are bringing 3-D printing into the High Schools this opens the door for tomorrow as to what may be possible. Kids who dream and play today will go out and build it tomorrow – that’s how it was for Burt Rutan flying model aircraft, and for Steve Jobs and Bill Gates playing with computers. So, I am all for it of course.

Indeed, I don’t even see any rational “luddite” debating points on any of this. It isn’t about replacing the teachers, it more about efficiency and productivity of the learning progress and learning cycle, like a booster rocket to break free of the gravity dwell in the learning sequence if you will. If kids can explore and discover with their Avatar the curiosity will mushroom, and just as Kids in India learned to use the computer Without ANY instruction at all and even taught themselves English to do it, we can expect this to work well.

In the Mind Shift blog the posting “My Teacher Is an Avatar” is interesting and yes, I have had similar concepts, and the telepresence concepts make sense, kids can learn this now and better acquaint themselves with the technologies of underwater ROVs, UAS, da Vinci like medical devices, even the future of robotic care for the elderly where the robot in the home is controlled by someone 1/2 a world away. All possible and highly probable, so I get it and agree. All the transfer technology from UAV programs today will guide our technologically advanced society tomorrow, why shouldn’t it, it’s best for all concerned.

The article in the NYTs and on Robots and Avatars website is basically preaching to the choir in my case, I concur. And for those naysayers, sure everyone wants to comment and all the psychologists want work, but I see it as a smooth transition with not nearly the disruption that smart phones and social networks have made in our society, not even close. It can easily be a seamless transition the way I see it. I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.