Week 6

The Internet of Things and Intelligent Curriculum

We will be looking at two distinct topics this week: the Internet of things and intelligent curriculum. These topics are related, but their full shared impact is still several years in the future. Throughout this course we've "bumped up" against concepts of information abundance (remember Marissa Mayer's video from last week?). One contributor to abundance is the growth of alternative data-gathering technologies – dubbed the Internet of things. Data is now collected by geometric devices, RFID tags, mobile phones; essentially anything that is connected to the Internet (even your car or fridge) is a data source in the Internet of things.

Intelligent curriculum is a concept that pulls together content development (based on linked data and the Semantic Web) and personalization and adaptation. Much of the curricular resources used in teaching and learning today is pre-packaged. By this, I mean that a textbook, or even this course, was designed based on set outcomes and targeting the knowledge needed by learners in order to pass the course. However, each learner starts with a different level of knowledge in relation to the content within a course. In order to address the differing needs of learners, researchers such as AU's Dr. Kinshuk have begun to explore ways to personalize and adapt course content based on the needs of each learner. The impact of intelligent curriculum is a personal course for each learner, adapted based on existing knowledge and how rapidly he or she learns new material. It holds the prospect of dramatically changing education and learning.

Readings

HP CeNSE: https://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2009/oct-dec/cense.html

IBM Smarter Planet: https://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/

Internet of things [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzy84Vb_Gxk

Knewton adaptive learning platform – Tutorial [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LldxxVRj4FU

Thoughts about emerging ed tech: CLASSMATE ASSIST and WAYANG OUTPOST ­– sensors, AI and context awareness for learning­ – and teaching. (2010, October 21). Retrieved from http://techpsych.blogspot.com/2010/10/thoughts-about-emerging-ed-tech.html

Activities

1. Post your concept map and your course participation analysis to the Week 6 discussion forum in the respective threads on Moodle. Provide feedback to other learners in the course. More information on these assignments can be found here: How You Will Be Marked
2. In addition, detail how you think the Internet of things and intelligent curriculum will impact teaching and learning in the future in the week 6 discussion forum.