Tech-Supported Learning Spaces — 2011

Michael Berman, CTO for the Art Center College of Design, is involved in planning the technology for a new building that is slatted for completion in 2011.

The building will include library resources, meeting spaces, instructional spaces, and a “shop” area for construction of models and prototypes. The context is a small college of art and design.

Michael submitted to one of the lists I monitor, a list of mostly assumptions about tech-supported learning spaces five years from now. I’d like to post them here, in light of some of the writings I’ve done lately and my latest podcast. Please feel free to respond with your insights.

Display technology

Large flat screens will dominate for teaching and meeting spaces, with projection technology limited to large, auditorium-type spaces and specialty uses. Users will expect flat screens on multiple walls, integrating content display with touch-screen whiteboard-like functionality. Resolution of 1080p minimum will be a given, with higher resolutions used where appropriate.

Audio input/output technology

…will be assumed in every room, to support media consumption and production, and telecommunication.

Immersive, “cave-like” environments

While not in every room, will be assumed to be available as an option, both to explore rich 3d models and to support remote presence.

Wireless communications

…will be the norm for nearly every device, with wired (or fiber) connectivity needed only for specialized niche applications. Wireless will continue to develop in a hierarchical manner, with wide area (WiMax, EVDO and successors), medium-range (802.11 & successors) and short-range (Bluetooth, RFID & successors) being used as desirable for the application.

IP-based communications

…will be universal so there will be no need for alternative communications infrastructure such as voice grade twisted pair or coax.
Nearly all student and faculty computing power will either be portable (ranging from laptops, tablets, and cell-phones to wearable or micro devices) or embedded within the network (servers, peer-to-peer) and devices (smart screens) so that “desktop” computers will be used for legacy or highly specialized needs.

Printing

While printing will not disappear, the widespread availability of large, high-resolution displays – both wall displays and personal “heads-up” displays – as well as better and more flexible portable display technology – will significantly reduce the number of printers needed.

Access to wide-area, IP-based teleconferencing capabilities

…will be assumed – you won’t go to a teleconferencing suite, rather you will use the display and sound technologies installed in each space, in conjunction with personal portable devices, to connect with anyone remotely on-demand.

Personal computing

While student access to portable computing hardware will be assumed, access to expensive specialized software (and other expensive IP) will continue to be a challenge, and colleges will still have to develop multi-faceted strategies to give students access to software.