Wireless Electricity

Wireless electricity was built by Nikola Tesla before the world adopted electricity.




Wireless Electricity has several forces impacting it to include:

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1. Economical. The electrical supply industry is a core part of many countries and municipalities. These supply services can be from private companies as well as from local governments. While the core electricity will likely be fed by the same source providers, they amount and quality of that supply may need to change. Additionally, there is a tremendous barrier to the development and distribution of wireless electricity. This economic barrier includes technology requires of suppliers as well as device manufacturers.


2. Technological. The technological constraints are incredible but not insurmountable. Nikola Tesla, as illustrated in the video in this blog, engineered the solution to wireless technology. Electric suppliers merely need to develop to Tesla's design. In addition, manufacturers of electrical devices such as mobile devices and televisions, would need to created new versions or adapters to support the new wireless technology.

Bio Age 2100

Hietanen & Ahvenainen (2012) introduce the concept of the Bio Age as a natural progression from the Iron, Stone, and Bronze Ages. As with the previous ages, the name indicates the core component of production. This perceived age will start by the year 2100 and see a total emersion of bio-wares: bio-economy, bio-energy, bio-electronics, bio-food, etc. Some of Hietanen & Ahvenainen's (2012) predictions for the Bio Age include:

- Artificial meet raised and grown in barns
- Mobile devices made of compostable materials
- Biomaterials grown from seeds
- Mast manufacturing with biomaterials as the base component

Image Source: Proof Positive

 
Several forces will affect the success of the Bio Age prediction, including Global and Economical.

1. Global - International trade is currently robust and beneficial to individuals, organizations, and nations. Countries without cows, for example, can obtain beef; individuals can purchase vehicles made in other countries; etc. The continued blending of our industries, economies, and political systems into globally infused entities will provide an impetus for the Bio Age to take place.

2. Economical - The global economy will increasingly demand specific products (i.e. beef, and technology) that would be difficult to maintain product do to the dwindling supply of natural resources. Production of biomaterials is likely to be accomplished through an international agreement tied to economic and political policies.


Reference

Hietanen, O., & Ahvenainen, M. (2012). Bio Age 2100. The Futurist, 46(5),. Retrieved from http://www.wfs.org/futurist/september-october-2012-vol-46-no-5/22nd-century-first-light/forecasts/bio-age-2100

NGT and Delphi Research Approaches

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Image Source: http://gslis.simmons.edu/blogs/naresh/files/2012/05/research.jpg

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is an evaluation tool that uses "semi-quantitative, rank-ordered" data. The data is collected from learner perceptions of a course (Dobbie, Rhodes, Tysinger, & Freeman (2004).

The Delphi Method is a research approach that uses an iterative and controlled feedback system (Skulmoski, Hartman, & Krahn, 2007). The authors detail 11 steps in a typical Delphi research process:

1. Develop the research question.
2. Design the research.
3. Select a research sample.
4. Initial questionnaire.
5. Pilot study.
6. Release initial questionnaire results.
7. Questionnaire round two.
8. Release round two results.
9. Questionnaire round three.
10. Release round three results.
11. Verify, generalize, and document research results.

As with most research, the Delphi Method and NGT are impacted by social and economical forces.

Social. Both research approaches/techniques require input from people. People have biases, agendas, and other factors that can impact data collection validity.

Economical. Research involving human subjects requires time and space. Time is needed of the researchers and human subjects involved. Space refers to the physical facility required for conducting research. Both time and space cost money.

Like most research methodologies, the Delphi Method has flexibility and several different permutations. Key to this method is iterative questionnaires and controlled feedback. The NGT tool is less iterative but more rigorous regarding statistical data analysis.

References:

Dobbie, A., Rhodes, M., Tysinger, J., & Freeman, J. (2004). Using a Modified Nominal Group Technique as a Curriculum Evaluation Tool. Retrieved August 8, 2012 from http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2004/June/Alison402.pdf

Skulmoski, G., Hartman, F., & Krahn, J. (2007). The Delphi Method for Graduate Research. Retrieved August 8, 2012 from http://jite.org/documents/Vol6/JITEv6p001-021Skulmoski212.pdf

Horizon Report - 2012 Higher Education Edition

The New Media Consortium published the Horizon Report - 2012 Higher Education Edition. This report featured several trends and technologies. In this blog, I will discuss one of each and apply a futurist lens to them.

Key Trend
Johnson, Adams, & Cummins (2012) report that "Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models" (p.4). This key tried is important to both academic institutions and students. The move to online education is a proven model for success. Academic institutions can reach more students and realize cost savings. Students can enjoy the convenience of asynchronous classes.

This trend has implications for the future of higher education.

1. Competition for students will increase as students are able to attend virtually any institution on the planet.
2. Students will increasingly take classes from a variety of institutions instead of taking all classes at one college or university.
3. Koller (2012) suggest that an increasing number of courses will be available online and for free. MIT's OpenCourseWare. is a robust model of Koller's claim.

Two forces that impact this trend are Global and Economical.

Global: The move to online classes makes the concepts of "residency" and "in-state" archaic. Students from different countries can attend the same classroom.

Economical: Higher education is a big business. Students are the customers and they now have a choice of what college or university they attend. Students are no longer limited to educational institutions in their local geographic area.

Technology

The Horizon report praises the advent of tablet computing and details the vast market share the Apple iPad has over its few competitors. I have extensive experience with tablets as a user and professional developer. Based on this experience, here are some futurist thoughts:

1. Tablets will completely replace laptop computers. Models will be available with screens up to 21" and with a full range of accessories such as wireless mice, keyboards, cameras, etc.
2. Apple will release an iPad model that has a built-in BD drive.
3. Apple will release a version of iOS (their mobile OS) that supports Flash media.
4. Apple will release an iPad version that incorporates their Siri technology currently available on their iPhone 4S.

iPad Custom eLearning Module. Copyright Larenda LLC.

Two of the forces that impact tablet computing are Global and Educational.

Global: Tablets can connect to the Internet via 3G or wireless networks. Users are able to connect to others around the globe. Many current Apps support this global availability to include business, collaboration, communication, and entertainment Apps.

Educational: The iPad is ideal as a personal learning device (Johnson, Adams, & Cummins, 2012, pp. 15-16), One shortfall is that most eLearning authoring tools output Flash media which is not supported by iOS devices. The few eLearning or mLearning authoring tools that are available are limited in output. This limitation makes it difficult to create immersive eLearning/mLearning content, course, and courses.


Reference:

Johnson, L, S Adams, and M Cummins. The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition. Austin, TX: New Media Consortium (2012).

Koller, D. 2012. Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

Innovative Idea from a Budding Futurist: Wireless Electricity

It is inconvenient to have to worry about battery life for our portable and mobile devices such as laptops, tablets, cameras, and phones. When traveling, we must bring an array of power cords for wall sockets and car chargers. It is possible, in the next 15-20 years, to have Wireless Electricity Service Providers (WESP) that we can subscribe to for our various devices. Much like wireless broadband access, WESP can give us wireless and persistent access to electricity to low wattage devices.

The two major forces standing in the way of this innovation are technological and economical. Wireless electricity technology (also called witricity) currently exists in limited hardware applications. The Palm Pre Touchstone (an HP product), for example, has a wireless charging dock. The vision of WESP negates the need for docks or other tactile components. The second force that must be overcome for WESP to be realized is economical. This force has two significant aspects: R&D and personal. The R&D economical aspect refers to the need for R&D funding. The personal economical aspect refers to the expense of new WESP-enabled devices and monthly subscriber fees. Like most new technologies, the initial cost to consumers is likely to be higher than most mainstream consumers (i.e. not early adopters) will want to expend.