Role of IT and Software in Education, Learning and Training

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This is the voice of the customer.

Things we now have but  didn't a few years ago:

1.  iPad, iPhone, Facebook, Bing. 
2. 3GL, 4GL programming languages such as Python, Ruby, Lua, Erlang, Scala etc. 
3. multi-core, virtualizations, ec2, data centers, etc either. 

Technologies -- hardware as well as software -- are making headway by leaps and bounds.

But what about the applications, the products? Why are they lagging behind so pathetically?

Let's narrow our interest to just learning applications. Are they making a real difference to real people's lives? Have they tackled the fundamental desires, whims, needs, wants, concerns, worries, anxieties, fears, insecurities of the potential users of such applications and services?

Fundamental Questions

1. How can such an application help companies achieve and retain their competitiveness, save them time, effort and money?
2. How can such an application help teachers increase their effectiveness, save them time and effort?
3. How can such a service help trainers increase their productivity?
4. How can such a product help students and learners raise and keep high scores?
5. How can such an application help employees and professionals solve their problems in a better way?

Fundamental Issues

What does a student expects from her/his education?

What does a trainee wants from her/his training?

This has not changed much throughout our history e.g. Read Ma`ha`ba´ra`ta, or Journey to the West, or Arabian Nights.

Industrial Revolution liberated us from the limitations of our physique and we thus no longer marvel at derricks and cranes moving heavy containers.

Isn't I.T. Revolution supposed to release us from the limitations of our minds and memories, or at least enhance our learning, thinking, reasoning and problem-solving abilities?

The revolution is not over, it's just unfinished.

If you want to carry on with this revolution, please join us.

'Wine Tasting' Training

Mr Ngiam Tong Dow needs no introduction in Singapore, but for non-Singaporeans, here is his profile.

In Straits Times, November 21, 2010, issue, on page.34, he's has said this about current training programs:

Skilling up is also his prescription to raise wage levels and to narrow the income gap. He opposes the idea of a minimum wage. 'That is namby-pamby thinking,' he says. 'You get higher wages by improving skills, not by legislating. We need to take skills training much more seriously. A lot of the short courses offered these days by professional firms are like wine tasting. They are not real training.'

For those like me, who has never done wine tasting, I'd say that such courses are similar to movie trailers, teasers, TV spots, clips or featurettes. Say, Avatar. And please find any one trailer on YouTube:

I haven't seen the full-length movie.

Suppose you have.

Am I ready to discuss the movie with you after watching that youtube clip? What did I know about it just by watching it on youtube? I know it's about: guns, planes, strange birds and strange-looking blue-skinned people, battles.

A lot like Woody Allen's summary of 'War and Peace,' which he had read in under 10 minutes using his speed-reading class's methods. He said, "It's about Russia."

Training can be a lot better. Far far better. Just watch these pages of this blog.