Future of Immersive Education , My View -John Hardiman

          I just completed my first two Immersive Education classes at the Boston College Wood College of Advancing Studies.  They were a far cry from my first experiences with a computer class. As we wrapped up  our class we were asked to give our view on Immersive Education in the future. 
          What will the future of Immersive Education be in 10 years?

         As I ponder this question, I have to reflect back on my personal history with computers.  When I took my first computer programming class some 30 years ago.  We did our programming on a pin feed print terminal which was connected to a main frame computer by way of a 300 baud dial up modem similar to the one pictured.  there were two such terminals available to the whole school and there was no monitor associated with it.  Everything was printed out and the closest thing to graphics was the creative arrangement of keyboard characters.  Makes me think a bit of things that you do when texting today :).
         I have personally witnessed the beginning of the personal computer age.  The  first personal computer which I built myself had 64 MB of memory and an 8 GB hard drive.  When I was building it I was told by everyone I knew that I was crazy, you would never need that much memory or storage.  The thumb drive in my pocket has just as much memory as that computer did.

         When Gordon Moore from Intel predicted about 40 years ago that the capacity of computer chips would double every 18 months for at least ten years, he had know idea how true that statement would prove to be.  Combine that with the advent of dedicated video processors and the introduction of 3 D graphics and now we have even decreased that time.  Desktop computers today have many times the processing power of what were known as super computers a couple of decades ago.  
         I look back at how far we have come in the last 10 years and can only begin to imagine how much further ahead we will be 10 years in the future.  Will there be the need for physical class room space as it exists today.  The consumer video game industry has seen amazing gains in realism within their games.  It has not come cheaply, but since video games generate billions of dollars in annual sales, it has been worth it.  Educational platforms have lagged a bit behind due to the cost associated with developing and maintaining this type of virtual environment.  However, I think it is just a matter of time before institutions realize that investment in this type of technology will save dramatically in the long term as the will be far less need to maintain physical classroom space to accomplish their mission.  As this realization occurs, more funds will become available to dedicated to virtual learning which will make the Immersive platform even richer and more engaging.

       I can see virtual campuses being developed that exist mostly in cyberspace with very little physical space, yet providing access to very wide curriculum. My children are currently in college and I can only imagine the type of instruction which their children will receive in school.  I am glad that I have had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of what the future holds.  Maybe I will even have enough of  a clue to be able to help my grandchildren with their homework, but who knows maybe they will be seeking help from their virtual grandfather instead.