The easy access to disparate digital resources that the video depicts is definitely a reality with the world wide web of today. But the video did not anticipate the quantum leap in connectivity that the web really encompasses, with many online resources available at a click, transparently (ie: without having to select a source database or institution). Unfortunately, many content providers are still trying to silo their information and keep it behind pay-walls in order to preserve their business models that are based on outdated assumptions of information scarcity. In time, I expect, they will find that such artificially created scarcity will not be sustainable.
Integrated multimedia displays with hypertextual connections are another prediction the video landed quite near the mark. In 1987 this would definitely have been a concept in the future. But not, perhaps, as many years ahead as the makers anticipated, with the world wide web (again) just 5 years ahead. Even in it's earliest stages the web was better integrated and nicer looking than depicted in these videos. On the other hand, using a multimedia display for videoconferencing is another aspect the videos got dead right.
Voice interaction, unfortunately, isn't quite as mainstream as the other predictions in the video. We have voice control today, but it still isn't as smooth as shown here, let alone as depicted in TV shows of the time such as Star Trek: Next Generation. Work continues, because we still seem to think voice-based interaction with our computers is a desirable interface goal. I wonder whether it is, though; English, in particular, is so fraught with layers of interpretation and potential misunderstanding that it would require a sophisticated computer indeed to both meet our needs and keep us safe from our own utterances.
Among the developments neither these videos nor Brin anticipated are:
- The internet of things
- Crowdsourcing of creation & curation (blogs, wikipedia, youtube, diigo, etc)
Looking forward from here, I would anticipate that in the future, we'll see education:
- Become more individualized, with the teacher assuming a role closer to that of a coach on a sports team
- Involve more connections between students, both with students elsewhere and with adults
- Move away from silo-ed content and a focus on knowing toward a more integrated view of content knowledge and a focus on doing.
- Dabble with, shy away from, return to and then fully embrace immersive virtual reality, including full-body tactile feedback suits with aural and visual output (sorry, no olfactory!)
- Develop an entirely different secondary/tertiary learning system that combines aspects of apprenticeships, mentoring, self-study, reading groups, homeschooling and more to allow for a truly individualized education created by each individual themselves; this will put the majority of colleges and high schools out of business (though slowly).
