The education system of today was forged by the economic and political environment of the industrial revolution. For 200 years, this method has barely changed, but the world has reached a point where the incompatibility is apparent.

Traditional education is founded on the 3 Rs:

• Reading
• Writing
• Arithmatic

Though as society, technology, and industry progress, certain skills become obsolete. I propose a refocusing of the purpose of education for the current and coming generation:

• Reading comprehension – For a generation that will read off of screens.
• Information search & retrieval – For independent learning and collaborative research.
• Critical thinking – To learn what and how to trust and question information.

Current theories (more to come) that I have discovered that directly relate to the reformation of education are:

• Fun Theory – The problem with education is that it is undesirable. Children can play a video game for hours, why can’t they for learning?
• Distributed Cognition – Enhancing education techniques requires new methods. Tools, devices, and software that assist in learning processes and cognitive development will benefit students.

The outcome of my final project should cater to the objectives of future learning and be possible with the technology available today. I have decided to improve upon the standard government secondary school classroom and 3 major points of interest are:

• The textbook – is static, outdated, inaccurate, and not environmental. A dynamic interactive digital textbook that encourages discovery and self learning.
• The blackboard – is limited, slow, and not engaging. An interactive interface that allows for greater levels of demonstration and presentation.
• The network – is non-existent. A communication network that allows better relationships between students, teachers, and parents.

Here’s a video that expresses my dreams of Future Learning:

I would love to be able to execute all 3 projects and present them as an exhibition at the end, but I’m not sure if it’s possible with the time given. In the coming weeks I will clearly define each project and produce realistic timelines to see if I can pull it off by myself.

To make sure we’re on the right track and not being silly, there is an exercise to summarise our initial idea into a single poster. As a guide, there are certain requirements.

The poster needs to be 1280 x 1024 pixels, saved as 60% compressed jpg, including:

5 similar things to what you are thinking about – both direct and indirect associations, name them, show their covers, or an image from them, you are saying ‘It will be like this…’
- Qwiki
- Scale of the Universe
- Microsoft 2019 Vision
- Unreal Engine Solar System
- Physical Learning
- Dynamic Textbook
- Gaming as Education
*Find these on my Inspiration page.

4 sources of inspiration (music, poetry, film, game, novel) that are in play when you think about this idea
- Future Learning
- House of the Future
- RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms
- Shift Happens: Education 3.0
- Video Game High School
*Find these on my Inspiration page.

3 ‘heroes’ who you associate with the work you are doing
- Ken Robinson
- John Hattie
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Bill Nye The Science Guy
*Find these on my Heroes page.

2 ‘theories’ that are of relevance
- Distributed Cognition
- Fun Theory

1 ‘issue’ you are aware of that will be involved in the making…. (skills, knowledge, resources..)
- Keeping the scope focused with so many problems
- Not being blinded by passion (Keep asking others for objective evaluation of progress)
- Making sure my project actually works and relates to Malaysian education

Get it all nice and pretty by 10.00am on Thursday 7th June 2012. I’ve managed to find all the things I need and I’m quite happy with what I got actually =D time to analyse and study!

Welcome to my (Zakhren) blog which will document my progress through the Multimedia Project Planning module eventually leading to my brilliant final project. I’ve started this blog because we’re forced to! As an overview, this module is split to 2 parts.

The first runs through this sem starting in May 2012 and has 2 major requirements:
- a Study Blog (which is what you’re reading now)
- a Statement of Intent (I quote, “3 pieces A4 sheet, to a pro forma layout, which works as a ‘cultural map’ locating your planned project.”)

By the 21st of June I will have to submit this blog to be gawked at by the higher powers, so hopefully my sacrifice pleases.