Connecting the Dots AND Knowledge in the Air

For four days Dresden is host of a unique conference. The sub-conferences bound neatly together create Wissensgemeinschaften 2010 (Knowledge Communities 2011) - #delfi11 #geneme11 #gmw11 or #wige11 (which combines all).

Yesterday a pre-conference day with doctoral presentations and workshop put the setting and learning into gear. Issues like gesture use through smartphones in education and AR (augmented reality) as well as Ambient Displays were some of the most interesting topics. Some thoughts by workshop leader Mostafa Akbari on the relevant blog (translation via GoogleTranslate -a feature which is BTW just recently been added on Facebook). Quickly the dialogue of the session partners spurred into business world use and possible applications. However also the negative implication of overusing technology instead of becoming aware of what the human body and mind is really capable to use for learning as some participants outlined.

We are definitely on the turn of education, where standard education is what we see in most schools and universities, using the standards that were relevant some 20, 30 years ago with no World Wide Web in ubiquitous use - whether laptops, tablets, smartphones or even internet of things.

The first movers of these technologies are most often seen in the context of universities, where doctoral students are exploring new use of current technologies emerging quietly on the edge.

Being part of the "living cluster" of emerging technologies applied into education, a truly not easy to change environment these days, facing lots of strong head winds in public, is like seeing the future right in front.

.... to be continued .... more from #geneme11 from tomorrow and on.