So last week I submitted my Contextual Studies module and my essay was called “The Shape of Contemporary Digital Media: How it has evolved and predictions for the future”
In my essay I discussed the history of digital media, the current innovations that are going to be released in the near future like Google Glass and the Apple iWatch and what my predictions are for technology in the next 10 years.
When I was thinking of ideas to write for the future portion of my essay, I researched into what people within the industry were predicting and I came across 3 videos. One video I found was produced by Microsoft called “Future Technology (2020)”. It was a video that showcased what our lives might be like in nearly 10 years time. It is a really interesting video and while some things they’ve suggested seem really far fetched at first, I actually could see them happen in the future.
They are predicting in their video that rather than whiteboards, classrooms will start to have transparent screens of a similar size that will be able to project various applications. Children will be able to connect with other children across the globe and see each other on their respective screens, draw pictures and information about what they are discussing can be brought up onto the screen in both their languages. Having something like this available to children will help enrich their learning in a huge way. They will be able to learn about other cultures by talking to them directly instead of reading from a textbook, and furthermore, everything that happens during these lessons can be saved, and later be viewed by others on smaller devices.
One big thing that I noticed in this video was that there were no signs of laptops or desktop computers in Microsoft’s video. I think that by 2023, these systems may not be obsolete yet, however they will begin to be replaced by these transparent touch sensitive screens, both on a huge and small scale. Desks will also carry the same features. Users will be able to transfer data between the devices effortlessly. Microsoft also explores the possibility of being able to have interactive newspapers, one piece of paper that changes daily.
This video is definitely worth checking out, and it will be so interesting to see if their predictions come true in the future.
~ Emma 
