The "Extinction Timeline"

It's always interesting to think about what the future will hold. With the changes we see, especially in technology, it should come as no surprise that tools which we use every single day—and possibly have for our entire lives—will be replaced, possibly sooner than we had expected.


Can you remember when the prediction was that one day, record stores would no longer carry "LPs." The stores would be stocked exclusively compact discs. I thought, "No way." Today, many people under 30 have never seen an LP.

A full 10 years into my teaching career, good advice to every student was to always carry a quarter in case of the need to make a phone call. Good luck finding a pay phone today.

What will be the next staple of today's world that will become tomorrow's dinosaur?

The link below will take you to a graph running from 1950-2050. You can look to see what has become extinct in the last 60 years. The real fun comes in looking looking ahead the next 40. 

Click here to view the "Extinction Timeline."

I had to zoom in on the graph in order to really read the text. There is a great deal of food for thought there.

What predictions do you see that surprise you?

Bridging Our Future

How is technology impacting education? What are the possibilities there now or in the very near future? These are questions we often ask. There is probably no more compelling argument than a video showing what could be, either right now or in the foreseeable future.

This video, entitled "Bridging our Future" is produced by Intel. It's worth watching...several times.

What do you see you could be doing right now?
What possibilities excite you?

21st Century Education

This video was produced by the New Brunswick (Canada) Department of Education. Its purpose is to stimulate discussion among educators and other public education stakeholders within the province of New Brunswick. The video demonstrates the rapid change in our society due to technology and the changes predicted for the future. The video explores the world of students today and the world that students will step into following graduation.

Next is Now

"Next is Now" depicts the human connections empowered by rapid changes in communications technology both in Canada and around the world. "Next is Now" was produced by Rogers with support from 76design and Thornley Fallis.

Is This a Shapshot into Our Future?

What will technology look like in years to come? How will it impact our daily lives? This 5-minute video gives us a snapshot into our possible future. Go here, and then click on "Watch Video."

Or Could This Be in Your Future?

Thanks to Dave Sherman for the comment he left on my past post. If you follow the link, it will take you to a post on Dave's blog where he had actually posted the same video. In that post, however, Dave also included a TED Talk video that takes things to a whole new level. I have included the TED Talk below.



If you would like to read Dave's commentary, go to the post on his blog.

Could This Laptop be in Your Future?

The "Sixth Sense." Could It Be in Our Future?

This demonstration is from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with the environment. When we look at how far technology has come in the last 10 years, such as the sophistication of the Internet you are using to read this now, imagine where we could be 10 years from now. This demo makes for some fascinating conversation.

What do you see here that is good? What do you see that concerns you?