Mind blowing technology in learning
Exclusive interview with Mr. Donald Clark, who will give a keynote on „Mind blowing technology in learning“ at Podravka's conference Knowledge in Focus 2016.
Meet the speakers at Podravka's conference Knowledge in Focus 2016
Exclusive interview done by Emir Džanić, the organizer of the conference, with Mr. Donald Clark, who will give a keynote on „Mind blowing technology in learning“.
There are some mind-blowing technologies that are only now becoming visible and ready for use in learning. Donald will look at AI (Artificial Intelligence), VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality and other technologies, always relating them back to real learning and learning theory. He will relate this to real examples and real companies doing real projects in the real world.
Today, many Croatian and regional companies are dealing with innovation and learning as with an important ways to increase own competitiveness. How do you perceive connection between learning and innovation?
Innovation is important but you have to be careful. Innovation is only innovation if it is ‘sustainable’. The online learning market is innovative but sometimes this leads to over-engineered and oversold technology at the expense of learning. However, real innovation, through the use of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, technology that can embody real learning theory, is possible.
Let me illustrate my point by example. Gamification has become a fashionable form of innovation in learning but it can have both positive and negative impacts on learning. The Pavlovian gamificaton of collecting coins, badges and leader boards may motivate some but distract and annoy others. It may even result in extra cognitive effort that inhibits learning. We have to be careful with innovation.
Having founded and run a large learning technology company, and invested in others, I think innovation is important but it has to be innovation that is channeled towards success. It’s actually quite easy to impress people with technology, it’s a lot harder to turn that into real learning that has a real impact on an organization.
How do you see digital learning in context of business environment?
I first started in this business in 1984, when digital learning was rare. Digital learning is now common and mainstream. Every global company has digital learning somewhere in the mix. The data shows that it has grown year on year and will continue to grow, as the technology gets better, cheaper and faster. Yet the market has become a little stale.
Digital learning has become a little trapped in the LMS (Learning management System) plus content model, with a bespoke learning market for commissioned work. But it’s time that real innovation took us out of this old paradigm. We have some real opportunities to do wonderful things but that takes imagination, vision and courage.
Can you take an evolutionary perspective on learning as an organizational and individual phenomena and foresee its future in this decade?
There are big shifts in core and consumer technology that will impact the learning world over the next decade and beyond. The first is AI (Artificial Intelligence). It has already had a massive pedagogic influence through Google (which is nothing but AI). Most services delivered online are, to some degree, driven by AI facebook, Amazon, Netflix and so on. I have invested in this area and been working on AI-driven products for learning – it has huge potential. There are plenty of other consumer technologies coming along, such as VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality). When these become consumer technologies they will be adopted and adapted for learning. Blockchain is another interesting piece of technology. There’s lots happening and we have to be at least aware of what is happening to plan for the future.
