Technologies that will.. change the world of education?

Technologies that will…
change the world of education?
Bartłomiej Polakowski, PwC
CEE Learning Methods Manager
https://www.sideshowtoy.com

Bartłomiej Polakowski
Who am I?

„What’s dangerous in not to evolve”
What’s the purpose?
Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO

Purpose of this presentation
We are living in the age of huge number of available technologies and e-learning wouldn’t be the same
without the „e” element.
As e-learning experts, we should be aware of changes and trends in technical world around and ahead of
us. Without this knowledge business will sooner or later surprise us with questions regarding particular
technology…that will make us feel small;)
If we want to be learning consultants we can’t wait and just follow the others. We have to monitor the
market all the time.
This presentation concentrates on technologies that in my opinion have big potential to revolutionize the
way we learn.
PS. If you are not interested in technologies.. I’ve prepared some cool examples that will make you
change your mind;)
Bartłomiej Polakowski bartekpolakowski.wordpress.com

How will they change our lives?
Technologies

Technologies - How will they change our lives?
You will find many infographics like this on the Internet. What they show is that the number of new
technologies is constantly increasing.
It’s not possible (if you have life outside your office:) to follow all of them and know all the details how they
work. However we should be able to recognize at least the ones that are most discussed online, during
events and presentations.

Agenda
• New technologies – chance or danger?
• What technologies are comming? What are the trends?
• VR/AR/MR
• Machine Learning/Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Data Analytics/Big Data
• Blockchain & xAPI

PwC’s Digital Services
The greatest celebrity of
recent months

The greatest celebrity of recent months
Sophia became the first robot to receive citizenship of any country. She (if we can say about gender by
robots) was developed by Hanson Robotics and is able to imitate human gestures and make simple
conversations using AI and voice recognition technology.
It clearly shows how does our attitude towards machines changes. As they become more „human like”, we
are less afraid of them and use them in next areas of our lives.
Imagine that robots like Sophia can become teachers or mentors and will be available anytime and
anywhere you need support or information.
BTW: Sophia love jokes about destroying humanity but her family connections with Terminator are just
gossips…Exterminate! Exterminate! 

New technologies – chance or danger?

New technologies – chance or danger?
There are two totally different views on how technology will influence our lives in the nearest future.
The first group are tech-enthusiast that see the huge potential in such fields like medicine, logistics or
sales.
The second group highlights threats connected with machines taking our jobs and…in extreme case our
lives (just ask Google for it;)

Who will defend us?

Who will defend us?
Fortunately we are not helpless. There are people around the globe who fight for our safe future.
Hayastan Shakarian – 75 years old women from Georgia has cut off the Internet in two countries using
simple shovel. It clearly shows that we can still fight the technology…even with one man army;)
What’s more, scientist, experts and tech-celebrities are demending regulations regarding development of
AI that will prevent us from killing robots knocking at our doors.

Technological ups and
downs
14

Technological ups and downs
Gartner Hype Cycle for emerging technologies presents their popularity and maturity. Typically when
something new comes into market there is a growing interest around it. Experts write articles, every
conference includes it on it’s agenda and vendors try to put it in their portfolio.
This trend takes a while before reaching the top…where many people find out that the technology is not
fulfilling the expectations, is not that good as promised, it’s too expensive or there are no real business
cases for it.
The interest decreases but at the same time technology is still developed, the price falls down and
companies take time for meaningful implementations.
As a result the interest in the chosen technology increases again but this time it’s not fueled by vendors
and presentation but use cases from the market.
Looking at this year edition of Gartner Hype Cycle we can clearly see that the „safe zone” was reached by
VR followed by AR. On its way down there is Blockchain (probably because of the rumors around Bitcoin)
and the throne is occupied by AI.
This presentation covers all of this topics and put them in educational context.

What technology
(existing or emerging) is
going to revolutionize
education?
Survey results

What technology (existing or emerging) is going to revolutionize education?
I’ve asked this question to experts and members of eLearning Industry LinkedIn group.
There were no suggestions from my site. Respondents could write whatever they thought. The majority of
answers covered Gartners predictions with VR, AR and AI leading the way.
Are these really the technologies with biggest educational potential? Let’s take a look.

„immersive, virtual and augmented
reality will become part of people's
daily life.”
VR/AR/MR
Mark Zuckenberg, Facebook CEO

VR/MR in training
bartekpolakowski.wordpress.com

VR/MR in training
You can find many examples of L&D projects using Virtual Reality. My favorite one is the new KFC game
for new joiners in escape room style (It just makes you want to play with these chickens!;)
However in most cases companies spend much less effort on fun and more on reality of their solutions like
DHL.
Where I see the biggest potential is Mixed reality promoted by Microsoft with their Hololens headset. It
enables shared work of several people located in different locations. All of them can see each other and
interact with the same digital object. Take a look at examples that show its use in medicine. Biggest
barier? Price

HTS (How to start)?
Sample Scene

HTS (How to start)?
Developing a VR app is not an easy task and require big resources or programming skills. Fortunately
there are other ways how you can start your VR adventure.
I recommend two ways:
First - use Cardboard (cheapest VR goggles on the market) and available VR apps. You will find many at
Google Play or iTunes. The one that I find very useful is VirtualSpeech. It helps you train your presentation
skills. In compare to traditional way of preparing the presentation (in front of your laptop or walking along
the room) you are totally immersed in the experience. You can choose audience (conference, weeding
party, recruitment etc.) Than you upload your slides, set the timer and can start. You have to divide your
attention, look at the audience and control your voice. At the end you will get feedback regarding your
speech. Super useful!
Another way is to look for a non-IT friendly VR authoring environments Amazon has just announced
Sumerian which looks like a rapid tool for creating virtual trainings. You can set the locations, characters
and interactions with everything. This can be a game changer like Articulate Studio or Adobe Captivate
were in the past (suddenly everyone became an e-learning developer:). Take a look at a sample scene.

ARCore vs ARKit

ARCore vs ARKit
Apple and Google fights are epic. This time it takes place on AR arena. Both companies prepared
environments to develop new generation of apps that use smartphone sensors. In compare to previous
AR generation you don’t need any markers to place virtual objects in your environment. Apps can scan
your environment and identify all vertical and horizontal objects. This makes the whole experience much
more realistic as the virtual object can interact with the real environment – and you can play warships with
your friends on your carpet.
There are many apps and games developed so far so take your time to pla..do a small research;)

Performance support – virtual assistants

Performance support – virtual assistants
AR has a huuuuge potential in business environment. Especially in Performance Support area. Take a
look at the examples from Boeing or Thyssenkrupp. Workers wear special glasses like Hololens or Google
Glass (yes, it’s back) where they get contextual support regarding their current task. Everything is
displayed in front of eyes - element that needs repair, tool to use to do it, following steps and hints. And
you can call support and share your view with them if needed.
There are also some ideas how AR can „support” our life. For example a dating app that helps you during
discussion, advises which wine to choose and what to do to look intelligent, smart and funny;) You even
get points if you are a gamification evangelist;)
Google has also presented their idea of AR in voice segment. Their latest headphones called Google Pixel
Buds not only allows you to control your phone using Google Assistant but also translates automatically
everything people talk to you in foreign languages. Is this the end of the English schools we know now?
We will see. Translator still has problems with languages like Polish;)

Machine learning/AI
„Human plus machine isn't the future, it's
the present”
Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion
http://www.macleans.ca/society/technology/garry-kasparov-on-russia-chess-and-the-great-gambit-of-ai/

Machine learning/AI
If you remember Garner chart presented at the beginning you’ve noticed that the hottest topic right now is
Artificial Intelligence.
I would like to encourage you to watch a TED video with Garry Kasparov. Famous chess master describes
his battles with Deep Blue computer and recommends to cooperate with machines to get the best results.

Machine learning (AI)

Machine learning/AI
You will find a lot of articles regarding AI. Human brain was humiliated after loosing to computer in GO
(and soon it will be able to battle us in other games like Starcraft:). A few years ago first robot became a
Director in a company and is responsible for financial decisions (what shows than all kind of jobs can be
replaced) and HireVue – company building systems supporting recruitment, launched an AI module that
analyses videos sent by candidates and select the ones that match job profile. This means that your
career depends on algorithm..which can hire it’s friend Bot instead of you;)
If you want to play with AI take a look at personality test which uses IBM Watson (AI superstar computer)

AI in education– where?
Students/employees assessment (tests and written assessments)
Virtual assistant always ready to answer your questions
Assessment of the whole learning processes and organization.
Personalized learning experience
Instant feedback and progress monitoring
Personalized carrer path

AI in education - examples

AI in education - examples
AI is gaining big interest from educational vendors. Almost all LMSs have some kind of machine learning
supported search on their development roadmap. These solutions will recommend content to learners
based on their profile, training history and preferences. Even if you have huge database with learning
materials, you will be presented with a collection selected specially for each learner.
You will also find first apps that follow that „fashion”. They even got their name - LEP (Learning
Experience Platform) and „feed” you daily with learning bites based on your chosen categories, training
history and interactions with the tool.
The algorithms became so smart that one professor in US used them to answer students questions on
discussion board. Nobody was aware that was speaking with a machine.
Amazon is also trying to make its way in this field. It’s virtual assistant Alexa will be delivered to the offices
and integrated with Office 365 to support employees by daily tasks.

AI in education - roadmap

AI in education - roadmap
I found this great chart in Marek Hyla’s presentation regarding Ai in education. It shows how AI will
possibly influence our educational market starting with intelligent search agents and ending with „one
machine” L&D team that will be able to plan a deliver personalized learning plan for each employee in the
organization..in a few seconds.

„Big data is not about the data”
(the real value is in the analytics)
Data Analytics/Big data
Gary King, Weatherhead University Professor at Harvard University
https://harvardmagazine.com/2014/03/why-big-data-is-a-big-deal

Data Analytics (Big Data)

Data Analytics (Big Data)
It’s hard to speak about big data in training because available datasets are no that BIG. However learning
analytics is another hot topic that’s worth mentioning. I had a pleasure to take part in data analytics
contest lately. We took data from our LMS, cleaned it and processed using a tool called Qlik Sense (you
can download a free version).
Why training data analysis is important?
First of all, this is a great tool to work with business. No more „our people don’t get any training” or „their
team is trained more than we are”. You open an interactive dashboard, filter the data and show the
numbers.
Secondly it’s much easier to analyze trends. When you have few hundred thousand rows in excel it’s
much harder to do comparison, check correlations or spot errors in data.
You can combine different data sources and maybe finally spot some signs of training effectiveness;)

„You can't stop things like Bitcoin.
[...]. It's like trying to stop
gunpowder.”
Blockchain/xAPI
John McAfee, Technology Pioneer, Chief Cybersecurity Visionary of MGT Capital Investments
http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-john-mcafee-not-a-bubble-2017-8?IR=T

Blockchain/xAPI
Everyone „plays” with Blockchain right now (or think about it). Finance, logistic, energetic and other type of
companies try to utilize its power. Education organizations have always been more resistant to changes.
However even in this area we can find first projects.
In this section I will introduce BC and xAPI and show how they can work together.

Blockchain? WTF?

Blockchain? WTF?
If you are completely new to Blockchain than these are two resources that I highly recommend. Start with
the video to get the basics and then read article to become BC guru 

xAPI

xAPI
xAPI by many is called the successor to SCORM. In my opinion it’s completely different technology that
supplements it.
SCORM is great to monitor formal training inside the company. xAPI is superb to record any learning
activity outside your company’s network. You watched TED video or read an interesting article? This data
can also be stored and kept together with your compliance training.
If you want to learn more watch the video.

Blockchain in education – where?
Country’s local training database
Global certifications
Open badges
MOOCs
CPD (continuing professional development)
AI
Using artificial intelligence
you can analyze training data
from different organizations
and suggest changes to
support local labor market.
xAPI
xAPI allows storing informal
learning data coming from
different learning portals.
Then put in BC and you will
have your personal, complete
training record.Online learning portals

Blockchain in education – where?
Imagine a global database where all training information regarding all people is stored. Grades,
certifications, badges, CPDs, diplomas, training completions – everything in one place, available online.
No need to keep papers, no more lost data, no more privacy?

Blockchain in
edu..action!

Blockchain in edu..action!
There are first initiatives that plan to use Blockchain in educational context. One of the first projects is led
by Sony who has a plan to connect universities around the world.
If you know Open Badges, there is also much interest in putting it on BC…so your badges won’t be nailed
to one server and will last forever 

Thank You
Looking forward yo your feedback
and comments
CEE Learning Methods Manager, PwC
bartlomiej.polakowski@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartlomiej-polakowski-8576046/
www.bartekpolakowski.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/korpoelearning

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