Am I the only one sick of updates and upgrades?

I've been labelled an "early adopter" - I've often had and used technologies before most people - motivated by the fear of being the last, so why not be first?  I work hard - with only the advice of Victor far away in Dubai - to stay on top of tools and technologies.  But I have to say - it is really hard and often I am driven to absolute distraction by forced updates and upgrades - FORCED because you get half way through an updating process and realize you need to also upgrade at substantial cost and/or inconvenience. Two examples from this weekend alone:

MobileMe - some cloud computing service from Apple - demanded that I update my method of payment - new country, new credit card.  So in the process, I found I was expected to add new apps and spent time doing that on my Macbook Pro so that I could make the necessary changes on my iPod.  THEN I learned that all I had done was only valid on an iPod 4 and mine is a 3.  Get the picture?  This morning I had another demanding email from MobileMe.  Jeez....

Then I decided to buy some music from Amazon.  First I updated my account - new country, new credit card.  Then I found the music I wanted and, with one click, ordered an MP3 download.  Now remember, I've been in Saudi Arabia where there is no music, no art or drama, no theatre or laughter, no fun of any kind.  Here in Malaysia, there is an abundance of all those things.  But guess what?  MP3 downloads are only available to people in the US.  So now I wait for a CD to be mailed?  Are they NUTS????  

I cannot, at this point, even contemplate setting up my Sony eBook reader, or my Skype phone, or my Youtube camera.  We technology users are the victims of the stupidly brutish business of consumer electronics.  This really impacts on what and where universities, e.g., should invest in technology.  Anybody listening out there?

My Mobile Office

Where to start being a resident futurist?  By going mobile, I think.  I've spoken to the head of ITS and I'm going to get an iPad that will, for all intents and purposes, become my office.  I plan to move around, sit down and set up all over the university.  I want to meet more people, see how things work, see where change is desirable and necessary, see who the change agents are.  Listen, learn, inspire if I can. 

Education Futurist in Residence

What is the dream job of an education futurist?  Well, find yourself living in a great city and working in a world-class university and be directed to bring about change.  No permissions required, no routine paperwork - just get into action animating change.  Success criteria?  Engaging teaching, engaged learning.  My title is Senior Advisor, Education Innovations and my job description is "shake things up."  The dream job - education futurist in residence!    

What is an education futurist anyways???

An education futurist is just the opposite of an historian. I study the future, not the past, of learning systems. That is not to say the past is disregarded - trend analysis is a critical part of future studies. I find my inspiration for futurist initiatives and values from the futurist literature OUTSIDE of the education community - business, enviromental, socio-economic, military futurists all have sometime wise and cogent to say about how learning systems need to change.

So what is the future of education, you ask? Futurists speak about three kinds of futures - possible, probable and preferred.

The possible future is limitless - or almost. Fundamentally, I believe it is possible to change all aspects of our learning systems - who is taught, who is teaching, what and where the learning takes place, how learning is acquired and assessed and managed, why we have a system in the first place.

The preferred future is drawn from the choices - a coherent vision of a coordinated system of inputs, processes and outputs. In my vision of a preferred future, we have radically transformed all aspects of our learning systems -putting learning at the heart of the endeavor.

The probable future? Well, a cynic would say that nothing much will change. The forces that argue for the status quo are so strong. But by definition, a futurist is an optimist. I'm optimistic that radical transformation is possible and in places like the UAEuge vision of change and progress, a preferred future is possible.

Banish the term "drop-out"

The whole concept of school "drop out" has "got to go. It is stupid, retrogressive and cruel. Imagine wearing that label for a lifetime! That's precisely what we condemn far too many young Canadians to do, and only because they don't fit into the alarmingly rigid and ineffective system we call public education in Canada. Bright lights in Ottawa are still funding Drop Out Studies while the learning environment changes around them.

As a futurist, I am committed to the notion that we need to manage learning in a whole different way. We must reduce the reliance on credentials - like highschool graduation and university degrees - and increase the use of competency profiles in, e.g., ePortfolio form. When young people choose to leave school, they should be helped to begin a lifelong learning portfolio where they are encouraged to reflect on and record their learning from experiences, travel, work, hard knocks, good fortune. Instead, then, of telling them - and employers and society at large - about their shortcomings and failures, they could be telling us all the things they Do Know and Can Do.

It's called Human Capital Management, and we in Canada can no longer squander our human capital by sidelining everyone who does have a standard credential which, as the OECD says, is a temporary and inaccurate proxy for knowledge, skills and abilities. An ePortfolio can and should become an alternative to credentials for each and every Canadian.

The term Drop Out is education discrimination. We speak out against racial and gender discrimination, why not education discrimination?