Beyond the Blackboard

1. Beyond the Blackboard Educational Medium Reform

2. Welcome to the future of education!Enter: Beyond the Blackboard Mission: To reform the educational medium into a simple, streamlined , unified learning ecosystem. Founded:2008 Target population:High school and college students Current Size: 31 members Goal: To be present in majority of schools by 2017 • A small group of college graduates with education in mind and technology in hand, seeking to change the educational communication process used in today’s classrooms. • An organization with fresh ideas and current technology being piloted in a suburban school system. • Primary technology and face of the organization is program called “The Portal”

3. The Portal and its purpose • The concept is to create a learning ecosystem that is unified across all platforms with a goal of being the replacement medium for the delivery of education in the school system. • Program designed to interact with major operating systems including Android, iOS and windows. • Primary use is currently in tablets with an app in development as a quick dashboard Further thoughts: The mission statement of Beyond the Blackboard (BtB) is evident in their Portal program through the nature of its exclusive software. Similar to Google, BtB strives to be an open, free thinking organization with simplicity in mind. The BtB organization should be observed in the coming few years to see if they leave a footprint behind in education or end up being just another “neat” idea.

4. Tomorrow’s Education Now Review of literature

5. Several Directions • Scenario based approach--education over the next 25 years • Education around the emergence of technology like the iPad • The strengths of media sharing • Game based approach--MMORPG’s with virtual reality A Deeper look… Individualized learning becoming a growing trend Use of Ipad in classroom Next 25 years theme Diversity in delivery of learning and information MMORPG’s Media Sharing

6. Economic/Policy Trends • Technology becoming increasingly vital to a school’s success and reputation • According to 2007 Survey of Technology Spending, “51% of all respondents reported an increase in IT budgets” (as cited in Betts, 2009, p. 11) • Demand: Latest technology in the classroom • Supply: Funding for IT and technology • While initially the cost of setting up these new technologies may be high, the increased enrollment will continue to bring increasing revenue (Betts, 2009). ---The bottom Line--- • More research needed on how technology effects learning and the funding behind this new direction for education

7. Futuring: The Final Frontier A brief look into scenario building and scanning

8. Pros: • Endless directions for the future to take; anything is possible. • Foresight of limitations to aide in preparation and planning. • Cons: • Element of the [unknown]—inability to prepare for disasters. • If done thoroughly, becomes a time consuming process. Scenario Building

9. Scanning begins with an idea that may or may not be possible in the future. Research that includes expert opinion is done to fortify the idea. The idea then becomes analyzed by local and national data centers before becoming a more accurate and plausible scenario. A flow chart representation of scanning as it is described in The steps for futuring. The steps for futuring. Journal of Extension, 42(3). Scanning Social Expertise Economic Expertise Political Expertise Accurate Plausible Scenario Idea Analysis Research fortified Idea Environmental Expertise Technological Expertise

10. A Typical Class in 2017: The Learning Ecosystem

11. Barriers and Gateways To the Vision:Portal

12. References[Used in this presentation] Betts, K. H. (2009). Re-examining & repositioning higher education: twenty economic and demographic factors driving online and blended program enrollments. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(4), 3-23. Sobrero, P. M. (2004). The steps for futuring. Journal of Extension, 42(3).