Francesco Marinucci DETC 630 Section 9040 11/26/2012 Final essay: Visionary Paper

Role of emerging technologies in online learning: A visionary perspective Francesco Marinucci University of Maryland University College

Introduction Due to the fast pace in evolving of technologies, online teaching leaders have to keep abreast with the development of the current market to be able foreseeing future applications. It is likely that the tools currently in use for online teaching and learning will be obsolete in the next few years. However, the level of complexity of applying new technologies to the educational field let foresee more brilliant future for some of them that are currently at their early stages of development. The offer is very broad and the choice hard since as per Veletsianos (2010) view with emerging technology is intended any tool with promising potential (p. 4). The research report released annually by New Media Consortium (nmc.org) is the most authoritative source on emerging technologies applied to online teaching and learning. For some of the technologies described in this report, the timeframe for adoption and implementation seems realistic, while for others there are multiple factors that will make them successful in the educational arena within the next ten years. Within

the latter category, game-based learning, gesture-based computing, and augmented reality will likely be the pillars of online teaching and learning in 2022. Their role in the education field will be so well assimilated and integrated into daily practice that they will constitute the basis for new emerging technologies to be explored. It is important to emphasize that emerging technologies are only tools and what will make them effective in the distance education field is their use and application by end users. The purpose of this essay is to explore and present some of those technologies that will have broader application in online learning field in the next ten years. The description is accompanied by recommendations for online learning leaders for their adoption. The visionary approach in describing the three technologies listed above is based on their current degree of development, while their application to educational activity can only be envisioned. Game-based learning Overview Nowadays, people expect from technologies the ability of working, learning, and studying (Johnson, Levine, Smith, & Stone, 2010). In 2022, it is likely that with emerging technologies learners will expect to learn by gaming. Current figures of Americas entertainment software industry fuel the projection that game-based learning will prevail. Among the current audience comprising over 154 millions of Americans of all ages and background (Emrich, 2005), about sixty-two percent of them play games with others, either in-person or online; while about sixty percent of gamers play using a mobile device (theesa.com). The principles of digital game-based learning rely on situated cognition, play theory, assimilation, and accommodation; therefore, the adoption and

implementation of these technologies in learning require good planning and careful analysis (Van Eck, 2006). Benefits Online instructors in the next ten years will be very familiar with game-based learning since they will belong to the current school-age generation described by Prensky (2001) as digital native. Therefore, it will be likely that this new faculty will look at game-based learning as natural, common application of technologies. A major benefit will be the acquaintance of both learners and instructors to gamification defined as any game-based activity focused on education - that will flatten the discussion around the use of videogames in non-gaming systems (Deterding, Khaled, Nacke & Dixon, 2011). Disadvantages Even if learning-by-gaming will be beneficial, this approach is based on game reward system. Students with higher motivation and natural inquiry mindset might find the adoption of this approach too limiting. In this scenario, a potential disadvantage of gamification is to discourage learners to explore alternative learning pathways based on their innate curiosity. It is important to use gaming for exploring innovative game-based learning strategies that allow learners to develop their goals and achieve those goals at their own pace (Echeverri & Sadler, 2011, p.46). While Malala, Major, Maunez-Cuadra, and McCauley-Bell (2007) advocate that this system might aid building motivation in students, it also crucial to take into consideration the significant changes in pedagogy and content delivery related to game-based learning. Challenges Klopfer, Osterweil, and Salen (2010) divide the challenges related to gamification

into four major areas: adoption, design and development, sustainability, and innovation. Among the nineteen barriers they identified, the writer foresees that two can be a major barrier within the next 10 years. First, the skills developed through gamed-based learning might be difficult to assess. There is need to include these skills in the curriculum and find new framework for assessing them. This might require several years if game-based learning will invest the entire education and testing system of a big nation like United States. Second, the limited availability of funds and the high costs associated to developing and maintaining educational games are likely to stay for years. The uncertainty of economy will limit risk-taking investments by slowing down the development, but also the testing, of educational games. Gesture-based computing Overview Gesture-based computing is already widely used in gaming and mobile devices. Although not commonly used in education, the current applications in specific disciplines such as art, fashion design, music, and medicine are very promising (Johnson, Adams & Cummins, 2012). It is foreseeable that within ten years it will be widely applied to online education. The current status of this technology in the educational field is still at the early stages, but the daily use of mobile devices with gesture-based computing will be likely beneficial to its introduction in the education field on larger scale. Benefits A major benefit of this tool is to give online learners the opportunity of practicing and interacting with computer program by performing body gesture instead of physical contact. Even if not directly applied to learning that specific topic (i.e. autopsy), gesture

based computing has many applications that can facilitate the learning process such as writing on the screen, swiping pages, and moving objects (Kurien, Eldo, Varghese & Surekha, 2011; Oviatt, et al., 2000; Rautaray & Agrawal, 2012). Disadvantages Compared to more physical interaction with computers, gesture based computing might have the disadvantage of being distractive when performed simultaneously with other activities such as watching and listening. Therefore, the effectiveness of using gestures should be well evaluated case by case. Challenges The current level of development of gesture based computing has a major challenge in the ambiguity of individual gestures. The current approaches used are not yet able to resolve ambiguity by limiting the interaction between humans and computers (Srinath & Otman, 2010). Potential cost limitations are very unlikely since are already available cost-effective gesture interaction system (threegear.com). Augmented reality Overview According to Lee (2012) augmented reality is defined as a technology that allows computer-generated virtual imagery information to be overlaid onto a live direct or indirect real-world environment in real-time (p.13). A major consequence of using this technology is to strengthen learners motivation by enhancing their realism-based practice. For example, by placing learning into the real world through the support of digital devices, students can solve complicated problems by developing scientific thinking (Squire & Jan, 2007). The augmented reality approach has been also piloted by

focusing the interaction around a real book and an interface with very positive feedback from users (Billinghurst, Kato, Poupyrev, 2001; Kirner, Gonalves, Villela & Kirner, 2012). Benefits When compared to virtual reality, augmented reality has the advantage of keeping part of the learning process in the real world. Therefore, the translation from augmented to normal setting is likely to be more effective. Besides, the use of augmented reality interface can be applied to access contextual information. This application opens new scenarios, like the potential advantage of improving online students support services and increase their sense of belonging to the institution (Ajanki, et al., 2011). Disadvantages At present, the current status of augmented reality requires sophisticated technologies, aspect that might hamper its adoption on large scale in the future. In addition, the application of augmented reality is often related to specific context by limiting its reusability. Therefore the timeframe for the return on investment is likely to be long due to the disadvantage of having economies of scale with this technology. Challenges Based on the current advancements to develop portable augmented reality displays (Bilton, 2012; http://innovega-inc.com), people will be able to access everything from these wearable devices soon. While this application offers huge potentialities in the education field, mainly in interactions, it also poses some pedagogical and cultural challenges. In particular, teachers function risks to be completely outperformed by smart technology by limiting further their guiding and mentoring role.

Recommendations The fast pace with which technologies have evolved in the past 5 years is very likely to continue, if not increase, in the near future. Luckily, these technologies are at first developed and tested in fields different from education such as entertainment, social networking, video games, and defense. This scenario gives educational enterprises the opportunity of waiting and seeing the next evolutions by foreseeing more in detail potential applications. At present, the three technologies described above seem to be very promising for extensive application in online learning. All of them have been piloted in the education field but further studies are needed to explore their scalability and effectiveness. Based on the current level of development of the aforementioned technologies it is likely that they will be used in online learning for different purposes and applications. In regard to game-based learning, this technology has already penetrated in everyday life of million of people of different age. Therefore, its adoption in education is likely to find both instructors and learners already skilled and open to it. Evaluating the efficacy of videogames on the learning process will be more challenging, and it strictly depends on the quality and level of development of the game. Instructors should be directly involved in the planning, development, and testing of videogame, which should be offered with customizable options. This flexibility will be crucial to have videogames reusable by avoiding learners to get tired of the same game in a short period of time. It is also recommendable to use totally different technology for assessing learners so to abandon the gaming dimension. For example, by testing students with real-case scenarios it would be possible to test the skills by having students focused only on the task to be

performed. Concerning gesture-based computing two potential scenarios are likely to happen. One is related to how instructors and learners will interact with the hardware; while the other is more focused on the tasks that will be possible to perform and assess. The current application of this technology in some areas is very promising and it will be very likely expanded to other topics. One big advantage of this technology is the opportunity it offers of learning-by-doing some tasks that are usually impossible to perform online. This approach can be effectively used both for learning skills and assessing students by giving instructors more real sense on the skills acquired by learners. Lastly, also augmented reality offers numerous potential applications in the education field. The impressive technological advancement of portable devices opens new educational scenarios still hard to imagine. In this regard, it is advisable that organizations with similar learning outcomes join together to closely monitor further applications of this technology in the near future. This will likely improve the chances of identifying the right technology by several institutions and hence having better economies of scale. Conclusions In conclusion, the application of new technologies to the education field is very promising but also full of potential pitfalls. To bring these technologies to the mainstream of online education it is very important that leaders within their institution proactively monitor and explore them. The converging trend of using technological tools developed for other purposes in the education industry will require strong technological leadership by institution aiming at offering meaningful online learning experience in the years to

come. Game-based learning will be very likely the most widely adopted emerging technology in online education. However, to effectively use this technology it is very important to redefine the way instructors will assess learners. Gesture-based has been already applied for improving interaction among people and devices. This technology offers huge opportunities in the education field and it will very likely be a game-changer in online education for developing manual skills. At the moment, augmented reality seems to have less applications but it is likely that new advancement will bring this technology to the front of education stage.

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