There has been much discussion and hope of an impending learning revolution led by computer technologies that promise the augment, or replace, the teacher’s role in the classroom with the likes of which educators and learners have never seen. [..]
The explosion of computing devices connected to the internet has driven enormous shifts in the way we communicate and it is becoming increasingly acknowledged that the future is indeed going to be digital. [..]
The Internet represents the backbone of a rapidly changing online world that has undoubtedly changed the way in which we undertake many of our day to day activities in modern western society. Despite enormous technological hurdles, the uptake and growing ubiquity of the Internet has been considerably fast; it has been a mere fifteen years since the Internet first commonly appeared in homes and society has moved very quickly from a traditional voice-only telephony system to a radically interconnected media rich array of applications and protocols, the most common implementation of which is the World Wide Web [..]
The following Powerpoint presentation (the second time I’ve ever used Powerpoint) was constructed for a unit at Monash (3806 – Future Directions) and demonstrated as a presentation on a data-projector.
It’s a quick run down of how iPhones, iPods and Podcast might affect the future of Education and includes a sample of what Monash University’s MUSO website (a Blackboard implementation that I am perpetually displeased with) might look like as an iPhone/iPod app.
While it is reasonable to state that skills shortages are an inevitable part of any competitive market that doesn’t absolve stakeholders from making reasonable attempts to bridge the gaps. Intervention may be required when intolerable levels of unfiled vacancies are reached, or as a preventative measure for future growth and development. Any effort to alleviate skills gaps requires an accurate and thorough understanding of the factors that form the gaps in the current environment and an in depth exploration of possible solutions. [..]
It’s difficult to imagine where the 1.6 million individuals participating in a vocational training program each year in Australian would be without the TAFE (Tertiary and Further Education) system that accommodates three quarters of them. Where would individuals who may not meet other academic tertiary institutions’ entry requirements, or perhaps not find suitable educational programs offered by these institutions, be able to receive ongoing tertiary eduction? Surprisingly, as integral as TAFE training is in Australian education today, this has not always been the case. [..]