People in the education industry always seem interested in the future of schooling. Perhaps that’s because the future of schools is the future of display technologies.
I could easily envision it the other way around, of course: the future of displays informs us about the future of schools. And interest doesn’t just float towards the near future, like the possibilities discussed in my previous article this month, entitled Disruptive Technologies in the Classroom. Rather, folks seem to relish taking the longer view, exploring the more exotic futurity of where we are headed with technology in schools. My mind first reverts to the vision of future schooling cleverly ensconced in the old Star Trek TV series, beginning in the late sixties, featuring nifty handheld computers (personal access display devices or PADDs), live interactive video conference calls, touchscreen desks, the holodeck, universal translation, and complex simulations designed for learning.
More recently, the dystopian novel “Ready Player One” (RPO) by Ernest Cline, recently brought to the big screen by Steven Spielberg and now exiting the theaters for the aftermarket, shines a beacon into the future of learning. Nested within the film and novel “Ready Player One” dwells an acutely startling vision of future schooling, with VR serving as the entirety of school itself. In this article, I am going to drill down on Cline’s vision for the future of the classroom. One caveat is in order, however: I know my Display Daily colleagues cherish the technical terms for each of these distinct types of display technologies, but I relinquish those vocabularies at the feet of those whose technical chops far surpass my own. So without further delay, here’s a look at the RPO vision for schools in the future:
VR as school. Yes, imagine VR as the sole delivery system for all education. In RPO, the Oasis Public School System is housed on a planet. All students must travel (virtually) to this planet to attend classes. Schools, although identical in design, appear as “grand palaces[s] of learning, boasting magnificent marble hallways, “cathedral-like classrooms”, “zero-g gymnasiums”, and virtual libraries. Schools also offer pleasant grounds outside, bordering each school, sufficient for virtual lounging or virtual lunches on the greens, although students could also transport to another planet system in order to enjoy their lunchtime break. In the virtual OASIS Public School System, all learning/teaching interactions are virtual. That brings many advantages with it. Privacy is assured: anonymity between students—and even teachers—is protected by using avatars and online handles.
Educational displays of the future.The futuristic educational display technologies sprinkled throughout RPO included a dizzying array of possibilities, not at all adynata: touch-enabled, flexible, ultrathin, collapsible, bendable, portable, holographic, and dashboard displays, not to mention augmented reality displays, local in-headgear displays, and even displays-in-displays. Unlike face-to-face classrooms of today, multiple overlay display technologies allow students to be in two places at same time. (I guess that still happens in physical settings, with children sitting quietly in a room, but their minds and imaginations traveling elsewhere!)
The curriculum of the future. In RPO, courses of tomorrow sounded much the same, although they carried a huge emphasis on experiencing the learning along with acquiring the information: World History (experiencing a VR simulation of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb); Biology (traveling through the human heart in “fantastic voyage”-like fashion); Art (touring the Louvre virtually), Astronomy (visiting each of Jupiter’s moons); and Algebra II. And dare I mention Wade’s favorite class: Advanced OASIS Studies? Sounds like “advanced computer studies” in today’s curriculum.
A shared VR future. In a recent article I cited that educators are drawn to social VR, also known as shared VR. I regularly hear a constant refrain from teachers: “Most VR seems to be an individual experience, but I want my entire class to enjoy this, with me [the teacher] included.” In RPO, social VR is a way of life. School safety, a recent worry in the U.S., is guaranteed. The software ensures that students sit quietly in their seats, so teachers don’t have discipline problems other than students “tuning out” instruction or any obligatory absences. “All teachers had to do was teach”, remarked Wade, the story’s hero. And there is no bullying. The OASIS simulation allows no fighting on school grounds and offers the ability to mute unwanted obnoxious students.
Returning to the old days. Unfortunately, Cline stopped dreaming at one point, returning to the old and worn ways of education-as-we-know it. All schools were located on a planet called Ludus, with all schools being identical, boilerplate in design. The protagonist, Wade Watts, attended School #1873. The rest of the OASIS was colorful, cool, and creative. Not so much school. Classrooms sported the familiar student desks and crowded hallways, the terror of many pupils over the decades, still predominated. Technology was carried by students in their hands, but the schools also featured another relic from the past: the computer lab. School bells still rang (virtually, but at least students had the benefit of forty-minute advanced screen warnings before a class started, and three-minute warning before the teacher materialized in the front of the classroom to begin instruction). Instruction remained synchronous, in most cases, and lectures hadn’t yet altogether disappeared.
Interestingly, given all of the new perspectives of virtual classroom learning in Ready Player One, despite a stimulating vision of what schools could become in the future, reality hasn’t played along. I’ve seen more progress in differentiating schooling for the 21st Century customer, pursuing creative school design, promoting physical learning environment redesign, and mobile display technology than in all of the other technological delivery possibilities combined.—Len Scrogan
