future – Page 82 – Impact Lab

Analysis, Education, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

Systems Thinking and the Future of Education

May 30, 2011

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1jek4U7vbg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Short video clip on “Systems Thinking”
recorded at the Plan Fort Collins event on March 3, 2010

Futurist Thomas Frey: A recent article in iLibrarian explained it this way.

Online education seems set on its course to overtake traditional colleges within the next few decades, especially as our society becomes ever more dependent on the internet to get our work done. Thomas Frey, an expert on online education, compares our growing reliance on the education system to the reliance of ancient Romans on their numeric system. He indicates that much like the Romans, we have become increasingly reliant on our education system which is meant to pass on information from one generation to the next, hesitant to any change that may occur (explaining the rough transition to online education).

Online education seems set on its course to overtake traditional colleges within the next few decades, especially as our society becomes ever more dependent on the internet to get our work done. Thomas Frey, an expert on online education, compares our growing reliance on the education system to the reliance of ancient Romans on their numeric system. He indicates that much like the Romans, we have become increasingly reliant on our education system which is meant to pass on information from one generation to the next, hesitant to any change that may occur (explaining the rough transition to online education).

Continue reading… “Systems Thinking and the Future of Education”

Big Problems, Business, government

Addressing the Problem of Addresses

May 29, 2011

Futurist Thomas Frey: When Hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans the US Post Office was faced with a major dilemma. For countless centuries, the modus operandi for the post office was to deliver mail to a location, and the individuals who lived at that location would stop by and pick up their mail. But following the hurricane, the floods had destroyed all of the “locations”.

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Analysis, Animals, Great Videos, Plant Life, Science & Technology News

Inventing the Rocking Chair Tree

May 27, 2011

Futurist Thomas Frey: On Tuesday evening we had a packed audience at the DaVinci Institute to discuss the future of micro farming. Admittedly, we weren’t terribly well organized and the range of topics we touched on were far more than most of us could reasonably consider in a single setting. But for those who took part in the discussion groups, some amazing ideas came to light.

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Analysis, Economy, government

A Country of 90,000 Governments

May 26, 2011

Futurist Thomas Frey: The total number of governmental bodies in the U.S. is approaching a staggering number – 90,000. During normal economic times there is plenty of money to go around, but now every city, state, county, parish, township, and special taxing district is competing for the same tax dollars that the federal government is.

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Analysis, Education, Science & Technology News

Next Generation Literacy

May 25, 2011

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can’t read & write,
but those who can’t learn, unlearn & relearn.” – Alvin Toffler

Futurist Thomas Frey: So what is literacy?

The first time I listened to an audio book I thought I was cheating. As a child, reading for me seemed like a lot of work, and my teachers kept piling on more reading assignments, continually feeding into the notion that reading is hard work.

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Analysis, Latest Trend, Money Talk

Baby Boomers Face Uncertainty, Fear Outliving Their Retirement Savings

May 25, 2011

Many baby boomers fear they have not saved enough and will run out of money during their retirement.

Nearly half of baby boomers face so much uncertainty that they fear that their retirement will result in poverty, according to a new study by California-based investment advisers Financial Engines.

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Analysis, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

The Future of Libraries: Interview with Thomas Frey

May 22, 2011

Libraries in the future will come in many different forms

NOTE: The following is a reprint of an interview that recently appeared in American Libraries Magazine

Without consulting a crystal ball, Thomas Frey, executive director and senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute, writes and speaks about a promising future for those libraries strongly connected to their communities and quickly adaptable to the changing world around them. Tom Sloan, executive director of the DuPage Library System in Geneva, Illinois, asked Frey to discuss the future of libraries.

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Analysis, Education, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Education as an App

May 21, 2011

Futurist Thomas Frey: In March of 2007 I posted my original paper on the Future of Education where I talked about a system based on an iTunes-like approach where experts around the world could use a “rapid courseware-builder” to produce bite-sized courses, send them to a global distribution center, and students from around world could plug-in and learn whatever class matched their interests.

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Analysis, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

The Urgency Paradox

May 20, 2011

As people live longer, some aspects of life are beginning to slow down

Futurist Thomas Frey: Tick, tick, tick. For virtually all working people, there is a clock ticking in the background. Tick, tick, tick.

Much like the rhythm of a beating heart, the sound of time creates a rhythm for our lives, a world unfolding in iambic pentameter, pulsing to the tempo of life.

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Analysis, Photo Perspectives, Science & Technology News

Where is My Flying Car?

May 19, 2011

First things first. Before we can have flying cars,
we will need to go through the era of flying delivery drones

Futurist Thomas Frey: Imagine yourself in 2030, 20 years in the future, sitting in your living room watching your favorite show on a 3D holographic display, and you witness a product placement scene where someone is eating one of the best pizzas you’ve ever seen. The depiction is so lifelike and intense that you instantly start craving pizza, and simply utter the word “yes.”

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Analysis, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

The Alternative Transportation District

May 18, 2011

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaJs-SbCQ1c&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Short video clip about the opportunities associated
with creating an alternative transportation district.
Recorded at the Plan Fort Collins event on March 3, 2010

Futurist Thomas Frey: Over the past few years I have been carefully watching what has turned into an explosion of alternative transportation vehicles being developed all over the world. These vehicles include everything from electric and fuel cell scooters, to hybrid motorcycles, to electric skateboards, to turbo-wheelchairs, to dog-powered bikes, to Segways and Segway knockoffs.

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Great New Product, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

World’s Smallest 3D Printer

May 18, 2011

Markus Hatzenbichler and Klaus Stadlmann with their micro-printer.

A group of engineers at the Vienna Institute of Technology, claims they’ve created not only the world’s smallest 3-D printer, but also one that’s so light and inexpensive that it could conceivably pave the way for truly domestic 3-D printing. Lost an earring or a cuff-link? Print one out. That’s the future, and it might not be far off at all.

Continue reading… “World’s Smallest 3D Printer”