Posted in City, Construction, Education, Health Care, Retail
With the chaos of today’s culture, society is turning to Mother Nature for comfort. The term “biophilia,” as popularized by Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson in 1984, refers to “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life.” While some may get the impression being around plants is merely a warm and fuzzy concept, the…
Posted in Education, Future, Future Proof, Futurist, Questions
There are a number of ways to question the future. A recent trip back to my old high school got me reflecting upon how to prepare today’s youth for a world of constant change. My first piece of advice centered on getting the students to think about intelligence from a different perspective. Instead of focusing…
Posted in Education, Energy, Future, Future Proof, Futurist, Government, Health Care, Higher Education, Internet, Politics
The science fiction writer William Gibson once wrote: “The future is here. It just isn’t evenly distributed.” It’s a powerful insight because it implies that savvy business people, farsighted political leaders and even average citizens can discern the future if only they heed today’s emerging trends. Five current trends, in particular, appear poised to transform…
Posted in Education, Future, Future Proof, Higher Education
The above headline isn’t real but it soon could be if technological advances and shifting consumer habits disrupt higher educational institutions at the same rate as the Internet affected the newspaper industry. In fact, if students turn away from today’s expensive universities and colleges at a rate comparable to that which readers and advertisers fled…
Posted in Business as Unusual, Construction, Disruptive Technology, Education, Future, Health Care, Higher Education, Life Science/Pharmaceutical
Yesterday, I delivered the opening keynote presentation at the American Technical Education Association’s 51st annual meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota. The title of my talk was “The Ten Trends Transforming the Technical Education of Tomorrow.” To demonstrate how fast the world of technical (and higher) education is changing I explained how Oculus Rift–a promising virtual…
Posted in Behavior, Education, Future, Future Proof, Futurist, Government, Health Care, Retail/Marketing, Transportation, Trends
Yesterday, I released my annual predictions for 2014, and a few weeks ago I shared with you 10 Game-Changing Technological Trends That Will Transform Tomorrow. In the sprit that more is better, and a different perspective is always welcome, I’d like to share with you IBM’s annual “5 in 5” series–5 predictions for the next…
Posted in Business as Unusual, Business Model, Change, Convergence, Disruptive Technology, Education, Energy, Future, Future Proof, Futurist, Health Care, Healthcare Futurist, Higher Education, Innovation, Internet/Information Tech, Regenerative Medicine
We live in amazing times and our world is about to become even more amazing in the near future due to a plethora of game changing technologies. To understand why, it first helps to consider just a few of the technologies and trends that did not make my list: 3D printers, flying drones, low-cost robotics,…
Posted in Education, Futurist, Higher Education
This past September, I delivered a keynote on the future of higher education at the European Association of International Educators 2013 Summit in Istanbul, Turkey. Below is a 15-minute video excerpt of my talk. (The video doesn’t show my audio visual aids but the themes I discuss are quite clear.)
Posted in Education, Future, Futurist, Higher Education
“Today’s technologies have created the biggest change in education since the invention of the printing press.” — Anant Agarwal, President of EdX Is it really possible that today’s technologies–smartphones, high-speed Internet and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)–have created “the biggest change in education since the invention of the printing press“? Yes. But, first, some perspective…
Posted in Education, Future, Future Proof, Futurist, Higher Education
1. Online Education/MOOCs. This trend shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following the field but did you know that Georgia Tech–in partnership with Udacity–is now offering a master’s degree in computer science for the low, low price of $7,000? Furthermore, two innovative professors at the University of Texas are now offering students the opportunity…
