Top 20 Trends Report
These will shape the next decade. 1. Artificial Intelligence 2. Empowered consumers 3. Nanotechnology 4. Blockchain 5. Autonomous cars 6. Rise of the robots 7. 3D printing 8. Environmental change 9. Emerging generations 10. Shifting economic power….and 10 more.
https://michaelmcqueen.net/images/Reports/Top-20-Trends-Report.pdf
The morality of robots: Genevieve Bell’s predictions for the future of A.I.
A good one to listen to in the holidays – Conversations with Richard Fidler on ABC Listen app etc. Bell spent 14 years working in futurist research at Intel in Silicon Valley and believes predictions about the AI-driven future are far too apocalyptic.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-genevieve-bell/9173822
Genevieve Bell Boyer Lectures 2017 – Fast, smart and connected: What is it to be human, and Australian, in a digital world?
Bell is now back in Australia and has delivered a series of Boyer Lectures.
- Where it all began: Australia’s role in building our current digital world.
- Dealing lightning with both hands: How personal computers and the internet have reshaped our lives.
- All technology has a history (and a country): New technologies change life, but rarely in the ways we anticipate.
- How to build our digital future: What should Australia plan?
Bonus: Your hopes and fears for where technology is heading.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/
The singularity will happen by 2045
Ray Kurzweil, futurist and Google’s Director of Engineering has an 86% success rate with his predictions coming to fruition (eg. fall of Soviet Union; ubiquitous wifi). He believes that Artificial Intelligence will achieve human levels by 2029 and by 2045, machines will be smarter than humans (the ‘singularity’). Kurzweil is not fearful of the singularity, but sees it as an opportunity for humankind to improve. By the 2030s, he believes we will connect our neocortex (the thinking brain) to the cloud, making us smarter with better memories!
https://futurism.com/kurzweil-claims-that-the-singularity-will-happen-by-2045/
More predictions: https://futurism.com/ray-kurzweils-most-exciting-predictions-about-the-future-of-humanity/
Teachers to police students’ online activity in class
NSW schools are trialling edQuire, an Australian-made program which uses colour codes on the teacher’s laptop to show when a student is on-task or off-task. Research shows when students’ attention strays in class, boys spend 55% of their time gaming, 25% on videos, 15% on sports sites, 5% on music. Girls spend 59% on videos, 19% gaming, 8% music, 7% celebrity news and 7% social media.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/world-first-computer-program-enables-teachers-to-police-students-online-activity-in-class/news-story/606e49a62d9a77d87ce1fe348609634f
Net neutrality
The US government is currently debating whether they should continue with net neutrality, where internet service providers treat all internet traffic the same and don’t block or slow down particular websites or services. We wouldn’t want Netflix to be slow, would we?!
https://blog.csiro.au/net-neutrality-bigger-netflix-gifs/
48 Critical Thinking Questions For Any Content Area
Critical thinking involves evaluation, critiquing, problem-solving, creativity, questioning, rationalizing..….The Ultimate Cheatsheet for Critical Thinking suggests using 48 questions under the headings Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? eg. Where is there the most need for this? Why has it been this way for so long? What is another perspective? Who is this harmful to? A good summary.
https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/48-critical-thinking-questions-any-content-area/
35 psychology-based thinking strategies
You could try spaced repetition, cognitive dissonance, serial vs parallel processing, the method of Loci….
https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/35-psychology-based-critical-thinking-strategies/