Campus of the Future Conference

An interesting conference is taking place over the next few days in Honolulu with members of the HRCFS participating in various capacities. Ironically advertised as an "historic event" the Campus of the Future conference brings together three large organizations involved in the business of education.

Among the HRCFS's involvement, Jim Dator will be moderating a session called the Futures Panel on Sunday July 9th. Also, UH futures students will be playing students-of-the-future in interactive sessions in the Expo area on Sunday and Monday dubbed "Learning Spaces of the Future" (in the "Union Square" area if you happen to be attending).

I went to an orientation for the 'Learning Spaces of the Future' exhibit today. Issues of sustainability and reducing carbon footprints will be discussed in the overall scheme, but the focus of this exhibit seems to be on new technological tools for teaching/learning (available now!) rather than any alternative futures in pedagogy or educational necessities. However, with the involvement of Apple and other classroom industrial designers, the new toys are certainly fun to use.

I am particularly interested in the exhibition of gaming and simulations for learning, especially the use of the "Second Life" metaverse as a learning space. This is something that Manoa students have been increasingly exploring and something we'd like to pursue more actively. This means you Jerry Paffendorf!

I'll update after the conference.