Starting off things today is the John Patrick, author of Net Attitude, Former VP & Chief Internet Strategist at IBM talking about the Future of the Internet.
I will be going back and editing my posts from yesterday - I realize that I'm not the best typer in the world, especially under pressure.
He started his lecture with the "Big Picture" - he things that the Internet has grown to it's infancy. He talked about disintermediation, for example with the music industry and now books with options like Kindle. He states that the internet is global, but yet local as well - this is resulting in a convergence-divergence phenomenon - devices that are used to access the inet should be wrapped up into one, yet we are seeing specialized devices for each particular aspect.
Ultimately, everything will be connected to everything with the Internet. More and more devices are coming standard with networking chips in them, and as time goes on total connectivity will be a possibility. Yet it is very frightening to most people.
Even though that more and more companies are trying to put the power of the click into the users hands (such as setting up a password) the power of the user is still limited in the fact that there restrictions to this information (such as passwords must be particular length). Or that web sites go down, so you cannot access the information (such as when sites undergo upgrades at 3 am - but it's only 3 am in one time zone......).
All these things are basically showing us that the Internet at present really is at only 5% of its potential (roughly).
A good example is email, one of the best things about the Internet. It's going unanswered by most companies even though it's the most convenient way to communicate - automatic replies are standard, requesting people to call 1-800 numbers. Companies are not approaching the Internet with a global view in mind - putting things like EST, or 1-800 numbers in their replies, where most people in the world cannot call 1-800 numbers or possibly do not know what EST means.
The next generation is demanding that Internet capability for services at an increasing rate, but companies are not keeping up. Companies pay to get email - addresses and phone numbers yet don't take ones for free. You go to websites for simple information and cannot get it without putting in personal information like your zip code or geographic location. You send email through their websites, yet don't receive a copy. So, even email is still pretty archaic.
JP sums this up as Internet Attitudinal problems - good choice of words, I think.
(First thing that comes to mind with me is the fact that we cannot forward our email from Roosevelt to our personal boxes - it drives me crazy that I cannot just add the servers into Outlook and check all my email address at one time, in one location, with little resource expenditure)
JP eludes that this is our fault (using examples of the state of the health care system and how the average individual doesn't have access to their own information). We don't demand it, we submit to the process that the health care system forces on us, not giving us access and power over simple things like blood results, past medical records, or even simple communication. On average you cannot access your health information digitally, relying on doctors offices to send you paper copies of all those things (if you ever get to actually talk to the doctor or their staff). This analog to digital to analog transfer of information is a waste of time, resources, and results in countless errors.
Some good points - the IRS has gotten it's stuff together, and eFile usage goes up every year. Grass roots efforts in education and other arenas have been empowered. Lifelong learning can be done via the web, but yet a lot of people don't know how to learn. This is where we come in.
How are we going to accommodate the Internet and how are we going to offer choice to our audiences? Are we going to embrace the Internet as the primary mode of communication and accessibility for our learners? Can we truly become "On Demand"?
Where is this going?
JP states that the Internet should be fast always on, everywhere, natural, easy, intelligent, and have trust in it.
Fast - outside the u.s., the Internet has more support in it's infrastructure, and is largely deregulated. in the u.s., there is a trend toward non-competition with our providers, resulting in slower speeds and less advances in technology. Yet the bottle necks should shift with some emerging technology such as BPL.
Always On - If it was always on, everything (computer, phone, lights in your home, your blender) can be connected to the Internet. It would make things more productive (and not just including being able to run your blender.....)
Everywhere - should the Internet be available everywhere - should you be able to connect with a variety of devices using different connection methods? Even though the iPhone is the big new thing, there are a lot of up and coming mobile phone providers who are putting the Internet into the everyone's hand at reasonable prices, too bad the Internet isn't catching up.
Natural - social networking isn't just teenagers on myspace. It's professionals as well. The only issue is the profile - as there are hundreds of different profiles for niche sites. A solution is to have one profile that can be used in different sites, which JP says is coming down the pipe. Blogging is still very early in it's life span - like wise with the wiki - the potential is endless. Gaming is exploding, but this isn't all that detrimental as the applications of gaming are also endless. It promotes communication, resource sharing, conservation, and collaboration. This is leading into Web 3.0 or the semantic web. In a semantic web environment, the data means something, it's not just text and will be tagged to other data - becoming smarter and more useful.
Trust - security is being redefined and is constantly changing.
How to survive -
Think outside in, listen to the people.
Think big, act bold, start simple, iterate fast.
Anticipate the evolution of the Internet
Build a framework of choices and services
Partner to the hilt
Get a taste of the net attitude - talk to kids
While this was about the internet, it is very much applicable to e-learning. The last points on how to survive are very much applicable as an e-learning specialist or just someone trying to survive in this ever changing industry. Talk to your learners, find out how they want to learn, how they are able to learn using the Internet. Start out simple, with tools they can use and have access to, but don't be afraid to push them with new technology. Use new tools and services available with Web 2.0 - a lot of them are free, or partner with companies to provide more robust offerings to your learners.
I have more thoughts - but they are kicking me out of this room.....:)
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