Ever since the SnakeOil post a lot of us have been watching and waiting for the inevitable changequake to occur in the education business.
Content is king
The medium is NOT the message
Analagous to the way technology - digitasl technology - has changed whole industries seemingly overnight
The changquake in the recording industry - the music is what they want not the package you force them into buying
music on demand
music consumers vs music producers
The changequake in the photography industry
Edwin Land was right
People want the picture and they want it now
90% of film development labs have gone out of business
Kodak, an iconic company, almost went out of business (and still might) as they swing entirely away from the old analog model pf picture taking to the new digital photography
This is extending into the film industry in ways not yet known until broadband big pipes become more widespread
the telephone industry is in the crosshairs at the VOIP crossroad.
same about to happen in the television industry
technology again is changing everything
television on demand
without commercials
television consumers versus television producers
control of time - time shifting - anytime
control of space - location shifting - anyplace
content control - on demand
when will technology channge the education industry to give us on demand learning anytime and anywhere? The pieces are in place. When will the information consumers tell the information producers what they really want? The technology will become part of the background. As musicians and producers are learning in the recording industry and television writers and producers and directors are learning in the broadcasting industry, it's not the station that counts, it's the show. It's not the CD label or artist that counts, it's the tune.
So it's not the educational technology that will count, it's the content. And some of the gates will be - Interactivity and Engagement; Relevance; Timeliness; Ease of Absorption - Adopt and Adapt; Collaboration and Community of Practice; eMentoring and eTutoring (to carry the content from the formal end of the contuinuum to the informal side (where 80% 0f the learning occurs). What will help me learn to do my job when I need it the most? How can I access the knowledge right now? Who can give me the know-how when I will be on the job and need it by tomorrow?
