5. Dumb terminals, the Cloud and data entry

The Cloud or Cloud Computing is when most the functions of your computer, tablet or mobile are transferred to another very large computer, located in the same building, town or another country.
 
Your electronic device will only need a processor to send and receive data, having the minimum of storage and no onboard software programmes such as Word.
All your data and software programmes will be stored and used on the cloud,
 
As a customer, you will have access to a wider range of software using what you want, when you want. Payment will either be free or paid for depending on the usage. I use 10% of my software capabilities.
 
This will also solve manufacturer’s problems with pirating so reducing the cost to everybody. Any problem of security can be handled by Encryption.
 
Your device becomes a “Dumb Terminal” as it does no work and is simply an input — output device.
The output to the Cloud can be by physical or touch keyboard, voice or visual recognition or sensors such as for medical diagnostics.
The input to your Dumb Terminal can be by sound, vision or to another device such as medical treatments and there are no limits to the types of inputs or outputs.
 

Integrated fibre optic network

In January 2014, BT and Alcatel-Lucent tested new software that can increase the capacity of our existing fibre broad band cabling.
It reached world beating speeds of 1.4 Terabits per second and this is equivalent to 44 HD videos downloaded in one second.
 
Virgins highest speed is now 120mbs and Google are installing 1000mbs. They are still a thousand times slower than BT’s trial over 250 miles.
 
Un-competitive monopolies are appearing with the mobile providers EE, O2, Three and Vodafone possibly reducing to three soon.
 
Fibre Broadband is controlled by two companies Virgin and BT Openreach who sell capacity on their system to all other companies.
 
Data transmission systems should be combined and run as a not for profit organisation. Funded or guaranteed by the government. The funds coming from the HS2 vanity project.
 
Cloud (Educational Apps) Software Services and the Data Protection Act
The brave new world of office computing
 
Google have just launched their Chromebits a computer on a stick. All it requires is a HDMI display (TV), keyboard and a wireless dongle. Limited storage as it is designed to be used on the “Cloud”.
 

Keyboard

The QWERTY layout of keyboard letters is a throwback to the 1890’s.
It has no relevance today, illogical and difficult to remember.
 
The keys on my Kindle are arranged alphabetically in three rows.
Mobile phones combine three keys together to save space. abc def.
 
What is to stop manufacturers supplying alphabetical keyboards with small lower case letters as most of the letters typed are in lower case anyway?
Only the symbols would have to be changed and the rest is a simple software upgrade.
 
Sal Khan of Khan Academy says that some of the reasons for the success of his education website is that it removes the negative stigma of a student’s ability being directly compared to others. Students are motivated as they work to their own ability and pace.
Khan Academy must be doing something right as it has over 5000 videos viewed by over 100 million people in 28 countries. There are half a million registered teachers.
 
Khan Academy is backed by the Gates Foundation and many others.
Listen to his story Khan; The Educator 8/8 BBC Radio4 interview 6 Oct 2014
 
Sal highlights how pupils with low esteem rapidly gain confidence.
Possibility this confidence gain may be down to the fact that these pupils enter data on a keyboard and not by writing. The online format is of their generation but reassuring similar to a class lesson.

Speech Recognition

Speech recognition is rapidly entering our lives, such as contacting businesses and banks. Choosing TV programmes.
 
Caxton’s English has had so many illogical modifications, it is not fit for modern use with voice recognition and it is difficult to learn.
English needs to be standardised again to remove the anomalies of spelling, dialect and pronunciation so it can be used in a multiple of voice activated devices.
 
This script was first hand written and then dictated using Dragon 13 speech recognition software. 2000 words in 10 minutes = 200 wpm. This is a lot faster than typing with one finger.
It took me half an hour to train the software to recognise my voice.
 
Forum posts about learning English say it basically a collection of words from other languages. It’s a nightmare in pronunciation as there are no rules and you need to memorise each and every word. There are so many contradictions and rules that only apply some times.
 
Try this Pronunciation poem Can you recite it without stopping?
 

If using search engines is allowed, would exams have to change?

I only ask because increasingly we all rely on our electronic devices to remember such information for us.
 
But when the idea of allowing students to use search engines in exams was suggested recently, the immediate fear was “dumbing down”.
Only a few years ago, there was a similar debate about the use of calculators.
 
For the 11-year-olds sitting their national curriculum tests the emphasis is on mental arithmetic with calculators no longer permitted. Their use will also be limited in the new GCSE maths exams, for which students will start studying this autumn.
 
In different ways, these are all dilemmas about the boundary between
 
Knowledge and understanding (= Episteme = Knowledge for knowledge sake. ed)
Retrieving information and manipulating (= Technie = Knowledge for a purpose. ed)
 
The digital age is also raising broader philosophical questions about memory.
 
How much do we need to remember when it can be effortlessly recalled for us by a machine?
 
If the use of search engines for retrieving facts is allowed at some point in the future, exams themselves might have to change.
 
Allowing search engines in exams would test students’ ability to assess new information, say proponents
 
Examiners would need to find ways of distinguishing between those students regurgitating information and those who could show how much they truly understood.
 
The chief executive of exam board OCR, Mark Dawe, says: “Exams have to be much more than a memory test.” (see link below for Today’s programme ed.)
 
He believes exams should assess ability to interpret and analyse information and that allowing the use of search engines is “a no brainer”.
 
This may mean, for example, seeing how well students cope with being asked to research new subjects in exams – testing whether they select appropriate resource materials and how they apply what they find to what they already know.
see a devaluing of traditional exam demands and question how effective such tests would be.
 
With tablet and smartphone use steadily rising, it is a debate that will continue to grow.
 
Full article Branwen Jeffreys BBC Education Editor 13 May 2015
 

Sources

Sir Ken Robinson. The Educator 1/8 BBC Radio4 interview 1 Sept 2014
Sugata Mitra. The Educator 6/8 BBC Radio4 interview 1 Sept 2014
History of Computing. The start of computing in schools in the 80’s.
Pupils should use Google in exams. Mark Dawe, The chief executive of exam board OCR.