The Power of Touch
Now that you have experienced innovations in voice through Vacaroo and other voice applications, let us explore Touch, its evolution, and how it might come to change the future of learning and education as we know it.
The Evolution of Touch:
Touch technologies have come a long way in a short period of time. Their development has not only been transformative, but what we are witnessing now in Touch – interfaces that accept taps, swipes and other ways of increasingly natural language/movement using arms, legs and body motions – are still in their relative infancy.
QWERTY and Command Line Interface (CLI): QWERTY keyboards were popularized with the success of the Remington No. 2 version in 1878.
Because QWERTY’s design proved successful at preventing type writer jams and improving productivity and output of typing, it was adopted internationally.
In the 1970s and ‘80s CLIs such as Dos, Unix etc., were developed on this technology as a means of interacting with computer programs.
MOUSE and Graphic User Interface (GUI): After decades of development, the Computer Mouse caught mainstream public attention with the release of the Apple Macintosh. The advantage of mouse technology is that it facilitated the development of Graphic User Interfaces (GUI) – Apple Macintosh, MS Windows etc. Unlike (CLI), which was codified and strict requiring advanced computer knowledge, GUI is graphical, metaphorical and exploratory. This innovation has lowered the bar of advanced knowledge needed to navigated an operating system, and allowed for easier access to computers by the average computer user.
Touch and Natural User Interface (NUI): Touch is seen by many as the natural evolution of CLI and GUI.
The game changing feature of NUI is that it is designed to be direct and intuitive in its use. Hence, a user manual typically required to give the user assistance in how to use the interface/software – as was the case with CLI – is typically not required with NUI, as the technology ‘conforms to the user and not the other way around.’
Check out Jeff Han’s 2006 Breakthrough Demo of touch screen technology; a year before the release of the first iPhone. Note that he’s not emphasizing Touch technology itself, but what we can do with it, and what can be built on top of it.
The iPhone and the iPad have proven revolutionary precisely because they have effectively exploited such innovative capabilities of Touch.
The Evolution of Touch:
Touch technologies have come a long way in a short period of time. Their development has not only been transformative, but what we are witnessing now in Touch – interfaces that accept taps, swipes and other ways of increasingly natural language/movement using arms, legs and body motions – are still in their relative infancy.
QWERTY and Command Line Interface (CLI): QWERTY keyboards were popularized with the success of the Remington No. 2 version in 1878.
Because QWERTY’s design proved successful at preventing type writer jams and improving productivity and output of typing, it was adopted internationally.
In the 1970s and ‘80s CLIs such as Dos, Unix etc., were developed on this technology as a means of interacting with computer programs.
MOUSE and Graphic User Interface (GUI): After decades of development, the Computer Mouse caught mainstream public attention with the release of the Apple Macintosh. The advantage of mouse technology is that it facilitated the development of Graphic User Interfaces (GUI) – Apple Macintosh, MS Windows etc. Unlike (CLI), which was codified and strict requiring advanced computer knowledge, GUI is graphical, metaphorical and exploratory. This innovation has lowered the bar of advanced knowledge needed to navigated an operating system, and allowed for easier access to computers by the average computer user.
Touch and Natural User Interface (NUI): Touch is seen by many as the natural evolution of CLI and GUI.
The game changing feature of NUI is that it is designed to be direct and intuitive in its use. Hence, a user manual typically required to give the user assistance in how to use the interface/software – as was the case with CLI – is typically not required with NUI, as the technology ‘conforms to the user and not the other way around.’
Check out Jeff Han’s 2006 Breakthrough Demo of touch screen technology; a year before the release of the first iPhone. Note that he’s not emphasizing Touch technology itself, but what we can do with it, and what can be built on top of it.
The iPhone and the iPad have proven revolutionary precisely because they have effectively exploited such innovative capabilities of Touch.
Why Does Touch Technology Matter for the Future of Education?
There are no doubts that touch and NUIs have become ubiquitous technologies in the consumer market, and as such, are increasingly making their way into the classroom.
This rapid rate of technological absorption has led to much debate as to whether the benefits of having children navigate their educational experiences through smart phones, tablets, game consoles, and smart TVs outweigh the costs.
Although this is an interesting and ongoing debate (See for example: Touch-Screen Devices and Very Young Children, on the Diane Rehm Show), it is not the subject of our focus here.
Instead, we would like to evaluate one aspect of touch, namely, how it is changing the face of education for the future by helping improve educational accessibility across socio-economic barriers.
Touch Activity:
Please read the section below and attached video, and come back to answer the following 3-questions::
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
Touch, Education Technology and Access:
The scientist and educator Sugata Mitra notes, “traditional learning has been top-won, one size fits all, seeking to impose a curriculum.” This approach has often meant that those who would stand to be the greatest beneficiaries from education in terms of the changes it could bring to their health, socio-economic outcomes, and overall engagement as citizens, were also the same groups most likely to be shunned by this system.
However, innovations in educational technologies such as touch are increasingly proving to be an equalizing force across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic divides that so often have limited educational access in the past.
The influential Harvard Business Professor, Clayton Christensen who coined the term “disruptive technology” notes in his two books on education that technological advance in this area ‘will continue to spread and get better; and eventually it will topple many ideas about how we teach – and possibly, some institutions as well.’
For example, MOOCS or “Massive Open Online Courses”, such as those provided by Udacity, Coursera, edX, and the popular video tutorial site the Khan Academy, are already witnessing a tremendous subscription from millions of individuals from (education hungry) developing countries such as India, Brazil and China – individuals who would otherwise likely never have access to such learning.
Recognizing the opportunity space ahead of what such unprecedented access to education might mean for innovation and future economic growth, India is currently working on a $35 iPad equivalent – a modern touch version of the MIT $100 laptop initiative.
Moreover, as Steve Kaufman notes, “entrepreneurs are creating applications for the iPhone and iPad, 1,000 two years ago, and 200,000 today, many of them of educational value. Only the best survive.”
In the Ted talk below entitled “Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves”, professor Mitra shows how technological access itself can lead to a change in the social architecture of education. He shows that even basic access to technologies such as the pc and internet - let alone touch - can serve to bridge the divide caused by remoteness (be it geographical or socio-economic). He goes on to show that educational technology can promote self-education and a self-organizing system of learning. That is, that learning that is social can happen on its own, and does not have to be organized from the top down for its participants to achieve an educational objective.
An important conclusion that comes out of Mitra’s years of field research is a vision of how educational technology and pedagogy can transform education in the future, by promoting the development of education that is “digital, automatic, fault tolerant, minimally invasive, connected and self-organized.” For such a vision to be realized, Mitra argues, educationists must make a fundamental shift in how they perceive technology. They must stop borrowing technology made for other purposes - for example, Powerpoint and the PC, both of which were created for office work – and instead become active designers and developers of the technology they seek to employ to directly address the challenges of remoteness, values and violence, or what he calls “Outdoctrination.”
Next Steps:
Now that you have seen the evolution of touch, from interfaces such as CLI through NUI, and how this technology has changed technological access across cohorts, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers; take a look at Gestures and Beyond. As you go through these sections, think about the emerging market potential of voice, touch and gesture, and how such technologies could converge to change the face or social architecture of education as we know it.