Tag Archives: The Internet.

The imparting and acquiring of knowledge. Is modern education spreading more ignorance than knowledge.

23 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Education

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Modern day education is aided with a variety of technology, computers, projectors, internet, and many more.

I am entirely certain that is fifty years or less from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools and universities today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so primitive.  Why?

Because the greatest innovation in the world is the demand for equality of opportunity and that comes primarily through education which unfortunately these days is lacking the words “How” “Look ” “Understand”.

These three missing words in our world of Education are causes ignorance.

They can only be brought back as the backbone of Education if we stop educating for the Market Place and educate for ability to make yourself do the things you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.

The Internet provides abysmal knowledge at just a click of the mouse; there is no end to it. 93 percent of students search online rather than go to the library, and Wikipedia is the most used research resource.

There is no doubting that Technology has had an amazing impact on education in the last few years. The impact of Internet on education can be felt in homes, schools, colleges, universities.

However the Internet has proven to be a double-edged sword for education and we must now ask the question, are traditional higher education approaches fit for purpose for the modern world?

A broader definition of learning is needed that better accounts for the intricate nature of learning in times of complex technological and social contexts.

What we’ve seen so far is nothing compared to the sea change that will be created by the Internet of Everything (IoE) in the coming decade.

The networked connections among people, processes, data and things will change not just how and where education is delivered, but will also redefine what students need to learn, and why.

People today generally agree that the purpose of education is to convey knowledge. But if all the world’s knowledge is instantaneously available online via smart phone or Google Glass, how does that affect what we need to teach in school?

Perhaps education will become less about acquiring knowledge, and more about how to analyze, evaluate, and use the unlimited information that is available to us.

Perhaps we will teach more critical thinking, collaboration, and social skills.

Perhaps we will not teach answers, but how to ask the right questions.

Regardless of gender, race, age, geographic location, language or any disability, the internet gives an equal chance to all to progress in the field of education.

Information Superhighway along with personal computers is fast transforming the world of Education.

Not only our planet but the whole universe has become accessible.

We are being fed with facts and knowledge. Not art, not books, but life itself is the true basis of teaching and learning.

Education is  producing a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.

Our Education Instituted were created in the era of the assembly line.  Built for an industrial era not for the Technological Revolution now taking place.

The very concept of what a university is, what academia is, has change.

Technological innovation is creating less uniformity in higher education.

These days or Tech experts believe market factors will push universities to expand online courses, create hybrid learning spaces, move toward ‘lifelong learning’ models and different credentialing structures by the year 2020.

But they disagree about how these whirlwind forces will influence education, for the better or the worse.

For a millennium, universities have been considered the main societal hub for knowledge and learning.

Universities have survived intact through the sweeping societal changes created by technology—the moveable-type printing press, the Industrial Revolution, the telegraph, telephone, radio, television, and computers. Like every thing else they are susceptible to tech disruption as other information-centric. (Industries such as the news media, magazines and journals, encyclopedias, music, motion pictures, and television.)

As a result the cost of university education is growing higher and higher which is totally unsustainable particularly in the light of the growing global demand for such education. For me it is the duty of the richer nations to educate its next generation for Free. This could be easily achieved by placing an education tax on all gambling.

(In the case of poorer nations it can only be achieved by capping Greed. ( see previous posts; 0.05% World Aid Commission on all High Frequency Trading, on all Sovereign Wealth Funds Acquisitions, and on all Foreign Exchange Transactions over $20,000.)

Students and parents, stretched by rising tuition costs, are increasingly challenging the affordability of a university degree as well as the diploma’s ultimate value as an employment credential.

As a result heightened inequalities may arise based upon instructional delivery formats.

The transmission of knowledge need no longer be tethered to a college campus.

The technical affordability of cloud-based computing, digital textbooks, mobile connectivity, high-quality streaming video, and “just-in time” information gathering have pushed vast amounts of knowledge to the “place less” Web and privately held, online instructional delivery firm.

Nonprofit learning organizations such as the Khan Academy, commercial providers of lecture series, online services such as iTunes U, and a host of specialized training centers that provide instruction and credentials for particular trades and professions.

All these can easily scale online instruction delivery more quickly than can brick-and-mortar institutions and will present themselves as challengers for-profit universities.

Requirements for graduation will be significantly shifted to customized outcomes leading to ‘customized’ education for people from different class backgrounds.

Significant numbers of learning activities will move to individualized, just-in-time learning approaches. There will be a transition to “hybrid” classes that combine online learning components with less-frequent on-campus, in-person class meetings. The technology will allow for more individualized, passion-based learning by the student, greater access to master teaching, and more opportunities for students to connect to others—mentors, peers, sources— for enhanced learning experiences.

There will be mass adoption of teleconferencing and distance learning to leverage expert resources. Distance learning.

As communications technologies improve and we learn how to use them better, the requirement for people to meet face-to-face for effective teaching and learning will diminish. The high cost of face to-face instruction, the improvement of AI will be major factors in individualizing education.

Research will increasingly be driven out from behind the high-premium-pay walls of academic journals and into the open, where scholars and the public can more easily benefit from government-funded and grant supported research projects.

While people will be accessing more resources in classrooms through the use of large screens, teleconferencing, and personal wireless smart devices, most universities will still mostly require in-person, on-campus attendance of students most of the time at courses featuring a lot of traditional lectures.

Most universities’ assessment of learning and their requirements for graduation will be about the same as they are now. Assessments will take into account more individually oriented outcomes and capacities that are relevant to subject mastery. Universities are not just portals where students access learning, they are places in which people develop as social beings.

In 2020, higher education will not be much different from the way it is today

The good man who can speak well will not be brought about by techno-based thinking. Teaching is not about holding on to huge amounts of information; it is more about giving direction to the thought in individual minds.

It is obvious that the Internet has and will continue to change the way we live. How it is changed, and how it will continue to do so is to be seen.

Around the world, millions of children are not in school: 57 million primary school children and 69 million secondary school children are denied a basic education.

I know that you do not have to be told that if we want to change this selfish chaotically world we have to strive for free education for all.

An education that emphases values.

The brain flourishes freely and ideas blossom marvelously when they are given an open sky and a broad horizon.

The most sought after skill today is creativity.

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The Internet is dissolving National borders. Are we heading towards Electronic Governance

23 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by in Technology

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I have a feeling that this post will require more than one visit to the keyboard.

Sorry this is rather a long-winded post.

As technology is influencing every aspect of living the problem is where to start.

I am at this very minute using technology that is advancing at such a rate it seems to have control over our lives. So let’s start by saying that I am not against Technology but I don’t want to end up with my Fridge controlling my Life. (Previous Post on Technology)

In this post I want to look at the effects of Technology on Society in general. The impact of technology on human behavior.

As the barriers to information come down, we are all already living longer, eating, drinking, going about our business differently with totally complacency as to the effects it is having or will have on our lives.

The impact of technology on society is deep. It is both positive and negative.

Is it now the principal driving force of society, determining societies mode of operation?  I would not say yes, however we are fast coming to the point of no return.  We need to protect ourselves from its negative and predatory influences before it’s too late.

The meanings assigned to technologies are determined by the norms and values of social groups which draw on the “wider context” of sociocultural and political environment.

The heterogeneous and hierarchical community of technological development functions as a mediator of social values and forces value orientation in society to change. They bring new technological constructs or their complete generation to life.

For example;

Capital mobility has increased incredibly, the economy has shifted to the service sector, innovation has become the primary source of productivity growth in relation to engineering, organizations, institutions as well as individual workers. The “technical construction of society” has become a major issue, that is social processes are mainly mediated by technological development.

The nature of economic competition has been undergoing huge changes, as more and more people think that there have been profound changes in the relation between economy and society and innovation requirements.

People start moving on a different time scale, time has been speeded up. Space has become globalized, by turning into more unified and more complex at the same time. The society’s level of being informed, with exploiting the opportunities provided by information and communication technology, has been increased dramatically.

Socio-economic processes create new virtual spaces or even real spaces are modified: the processes are arranged in new ways in the interacting local, regional, national and supranational spaces. While integration processes are considered to be a general tendency, clear attempts for isolation also appear repeatedly.

Knowledge has become the main economic source, and learning abilities and skills have become a criterion of adaptation at the levels of individuals, companies, local communities, nations, supranational organizations and the world taken as a global system.

As the internet dissolves national borders how will we help indigenous cultures co-exist with an increasingly homogenous global culture?

The internet is stripping the world of privacy. More and more people store personal information on the internet, how will we ensure that information is kept secret?

It is causing massive changes to;

Social/Isolation/Social Skills/Obesity/Depression/Sleep Habits/E Waste/Cyber-bullying/Deceit/Reality/Stress/Social Boundaries/Sexual Boundaries/Social Bonds/Distraction/Attention Span /Addiction/Lack of Empathy/Violence/Energy Consumption/Neurosis.

People fail to realize that technology is the root cause of many of our modern troubles;

The current financial crisis might not of happened but for Technology. Internet gambling has become an addiction for many. Uncontrolled Porn is debasing us all. The development of smart weapons.

I believe that people have too readily embraced technology, seeking only the benefits, and ignoring the many downfalls.

The excessive use of machines in every field can result in an under-utilization of human brains. Over time, we may even lose our intellectual abilities. You know of the declining mathematical abilities in children due to use of calculators since school, don’t you?

Where is the digital divide going to take us? How is our ‘tomorrow’ going to be?

It has made life easy, but so easy that it may lose its charm one day. One can cherish an accomplishment only if it comes after effort. But everything has become so easily available due to technology that it has lost its value. There is a certain kind of enjoyment in achieving things after striving for them. But with everything a few clicks away, there is no striving, there’s only striking. With the developments in technology, we may be able to enjoy all the pricey luxuries in life but at the cost of losing its priceless joys.

If you read Google’s privacy policy carefully, it is clear that they retain the right to make significant decisions about our data without regard for our interests.

Nearly everything is being assimilated into technology Google Earth documented the entire map of the Earth; taxes, email, chatting, shopping, and work can be done over the internet; you can read on your Kindle; you can make home-made movies on Windows Movie Maker; and hundreds of other such ways.

According to a new creed, technologists are turning ourselves, the planet, our species, everything, into computer peripherals attached to the great computing clouds.

The news is no longer about us but about the big new computational product that is greater than us.

Is constant contact with the world really a good thing?

The continuous and self accelerating innovation processes characterized by the intense competition has brought about some changes in time relations.

If you are always in contact, there will be a decreasing amount of time to devote to yourself, and others will shape your opinions more and more.

The question is whether the hyper-connected life is taking us where we want to go.

It is it possible for technology to have value without facilitating a human goal?

We live more in our heads than any society has at any time in history, and for some the only reality is the one inside their heads.

By 2020 it will enabled the sending of messages via wireless headsets and visors”virtual telepathy”

At present, it is used largely for profit of individual or corporate gain.

It is used for short-term, monetary expediency, with little thought to the long-term survival of the human and other species on this planet.

Our present method of operations has become like a cancer, devouring its host.  It just cannot continue for much longer.

When we become habituated to the amazing technological achievements of recent years, we forget to be thrilled and amazed. We lose that great sense of wonder, of awe. We take brilliance for granted and so we ignore the human elements of fortitude, creativity, and intelligence” (Vaidnyanathan, 51-52).

When you stare at a screen too long, and it feels like your mind stops “Thinking.” You are socially and psychologically cut off from your fellow citizens.

You can see evidence everywhere.

It has become incredibly easy with the rise of the internet to become popular just by making the biggest impression. Being the funniest, cruelest, the one with the saddest story are all similar ways of becoming an internet phenomenon.

It is even reflected in popular culture, where being the fastest rapper or wearing the sexiest fashions all makes the headlines. These are all the same; they are shallow. You really do not have to work hard at being sexy, or rapping, or even having a sad story.

This generation leans on technology to serve their pleasures, and claim to be successful, or at least act like it. The internet is leading to a decline in “normal” social behaviors.

The news is a great example: Presented without any indebted analyst.  You see or read an interesting story, think about it for a second, and then you brush it over your shoulder, without any critical thinking, or wondering how it will affect your life.

So should we be concerned that an informational inequality often exists between governments and citizens.  More and more governments are using information and communication technology especially Internet or web-based network, to provide services between government agencies and citizens, businesses, employees and other  nongovernmental agencies.

Government activities that take place over electronic communications among all levels of government, citizens, and the business community, including: acquiring
and providing products and services; placing and receiving orders; providing and obtaining information; and completing financial transactions.

E Government is becoming an integrated tool of Governance – comprising three enabling sets of new technology: infrastructure, solutions and the exploitation of public portals.

Is E-governance beyond the scope of e-government?

Can Smart government equal smart governance resulting in Trans formative government, lean government, cloud computing, open government data, participation governance, digital divide, universal and mobile access, trust, security, identity, interoperability, and social media among others.

It might create a digital divide between those with ready access to electronic media and those without. It is changing the way people and businesses interact with government.

One of the most important aspects of e-government is how it brings citizens and businesses closer to their governments. An e-government infrastructure enabling the implementation of specific applications to address specific problems and issues of government management.

So when providing Internet access and email services in public portals, the most positive impact will come from the solutions and services that can be accessed from the exploitation of public portals with these communication tools.

Most recently we have seen agreements established between the U.S. and the EU on the transfer of personal data of airline passengers well beyond the scope of reasonable requirements.

Data retention, National Identification systems, e-government and joined-up databases, among other risks to privacy. What is the meaning of “identity”; the implications of turning several identities into one (without questioning consequences); what are the different scenarios and contexts for identification? This is changing the way information enters and flows around the system of government, introducing new—and sometimes uncontrollable—influences into decision-making

If we truly want to be successful we need to engineer the machines. ‘Machines replacing human beings’ does not portray a rosy picture, does it?

Overexposure to the Internet has taken its toll. In this virtual world, you can be who you are not, you can be virtually living even after you die. Isn’t this weird?

How can we prevent the invention of new purposes? That are often based on flawed assumptions, including dangerous ones.

In the current climate of fight against terrorism and cyber crime this imbalance is currently shifting towards greater government control over citizen data.

Is IT  a good thing’ for government?

Consequences and implications for e-government from wide-ranging surveillance and spying of digital communication. Ignoring the evidence about downsides to technology and ignoring the evidence of the widespread costs of failure of e ­government about how one should gather data about the world in e­ government as elsewhere – has always been about self ­promotion as much as promotion of knowledge.

Virtually unknown a decade ago impacts associated with e­ government, cost­saving and improvements in public service quality.  computers in the public sector cause job losses

It can lead to serious issues like unemployment and crime.

 

These days, smartphones don’t just make calls, they’re an electronic extension of our lives.

 

 

Have you ever stopped to think about how many people use the Internet in this world? The answers are astounding.

  • One-third of the entire global popular uses the Internet every day.
  • There are more tweets sent every second than the amount of breaths you take in an hour.
  • $116,220 worth of iPhone apps are downloaded each hour. That’s not even considered Android or others!
  • 98 years worth of digital video are uploaded to YouTube every day.
  • We spend more hours each day on devices than sleeping.

These technologies have completely redefined how companies carry out their most essential activities.

– 91% of employers screen prospective employees through social media

– 76% of employers screen prospective employees through Facebook

– 53% of employers screen prospective employees through Twitter

– 48% of employers screen prospective employees through LinkedIn

No matter what type of advancement we make, we’ll always have something to complain about and I can hear a lot of you saying I am just another nerd doing exactly that.

There is no doubt that we need technology but we must guard against technology that does not need us. I cannot imagine a single technology that only has upsides.

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100 Years - Then and Now

100 Years - Then and Now

 

 

 

 

 

Not long now when Machines will talk back to you.

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Not my usual subject matter but I could not resist imagining a world where every appliance starts talking.

Your man Jason Silva on You tube inspired this post by god wobbling on about the next big revolution of technology. Is he Bonkers.

The Concept of Everyday object aging and giving us feed back from their own consciousness he says ” promises to blur the distinction between self and world.” ” The entire World will have mind in it ”

He is right to suggests that it rattles his imagination.

He should stop waffling and pontificating utter dribble on the subject.  If he thinks humans need a link to tools to explore the Universe he has lost the capacity for long range imagination.

Man can barley communicate with each other never mind the internet of thing. It time he addressed the real world problems.

Have a look http://youtu.be/wL34vk-On3o

Anyway lets looks.

Lying in the vast Promised Land between connected things that are obviously useful and things that are uselessly awful, are connected appliances. Yes. Appliances. That connect to the Internet.

This night mare is not in the so distant future.

So lets imagine a sentient refrigerator that automatically inventories items as you load it, knowing not only what the item is but everything about it, such as when it expires or what it could be used for.

Start pulling out eggs and flour and chocolate chips and the home prompts you with a chocolate chip cookie recipe and tells the oven to pre-heat itself. (That’s right, oven. You listen up when ‘fridge is talkin’!) And, since we’re in the future, the recipe will display on the counter from an overhead projector.

You’d never misplace anything again, because your clothes will have RFID tags and the home will know exactly where your missing sock went. Of course, it won’t tell you, because your wife figured out how to program it and is screwing with you.

On the surface, you might scoff at the idea of a smart refrigerator. “Why do I need a machine to tell me that my milk has gone bad?! And maybe I like day old milk. Did the ‘smart fridge’ ever think of that?! The lumps are where the flavor lives! Not so smart now, are you fridge?!”

Web browsing and integrates with Google calendar, allowing the family to keep their schedules in sync. You can use the screen to keep tabs on items you need at the store, so you won’t forget that you drank that last of your Beer and desperately need more. You can also input items into the screen, letting the fridge know your food inventory. In turn, it can suggest recipes, generate supermarket coupons and notify you when something is about to spoil.

You can then use your smart phone to increase ice production prior to that big party, ensuring you avoid the humiliating “What do you mean no ice for my scotch?!”  The modules can also put the system into energy-saving mode during vacations or notify you of any service issues. Also, you can get an email informing you that a door has been left open, which is helpful if you’re still home but will fill you with dread all day long if you’re already at work. If you’re so smart, fridge, shut the damn door yourself!

As technology advances, the ability for the fridge to automatically know the food you have on hand – either via RFID or maybe just scanning your receipt – could be incredibly helpful; it might even find an answer to the eternal question of, “What can I make with four carrots, a jar of mayo, two tins of ketchup, something that is possibly with an onion and six cases of beer?” Also, the fridge could become like a personal diet coach, shaming you with stern texts as you go for that midnight ice cream or just locking you out altogether.

Isn’t the future amazing, and you wonder what Google ambitions are.

Do you really need a smart appliance? Probably not.

Do you think that’s going to keep appliance manufacturers from bringing more and more of them to market in the coming years? Of course not! This tech is on the horizon, whether we want it or not, so you may as well get ready for it. At the very least, it might make your daily chores a little less soul destroying.

If nothing else just think of all the fun that the Anonymous hackers can have!

O! and by the way that is only the fridge wait till everything starts communication with everything else.