Olivia's EduTone World

After setting up the EduTone World blog yesterday, I decided to dedicate it to my new born daughter Olivia who is 12-weeks old today.

As I think of Olivia's own journey in life, and her learning expedition, that started from the first minute she was born, I can't help but wonder about her own perceptions of the things she sees around her. She will grow up in a world that is completely different than the one I grew up in, or even the world that my son Johnny, who is 19-years old, grew up in. She will probably have her own blog at the age of 4, as soon as she learns how to type. Amazing! Her own blog!! I just started my first blog yesterday, at the age of 44!

So what does that mean? Well, I hate to admit it, but Olivia will be a much better Blogger than her own Dad. To her, blogging will be as natural as writing a letter is to me, and so will be the use of the various devices that we can't survive without today like mobile phones, PDA's, i-Pods, , DVD players, etc... She will also find it very strange to use the traditional phone to make a call, or a desktop PC to access the Web, when she could use her wireless all-in-one micro gadgets that are built-in her jewelry, accessories and clothes, including her latest Bebe Sport top.

Olivia will have 24X7 access to all kinds of services that are at her finger tips. Soon we will all be using our own biometrics, including finger prints, to securely access services and uniquely identify ourselves, instead of using passwords. So by touching a device, we make it our own! When we identify ourselves, we are giving permission to a service provider to serve us through that specific device. Olivia will really enjoy this new world she is born in, where she can be served instantaneously with the touch of her finger tips! I wish I were Olivia! I wish I was starting all over again today in this new world of services.

How about learning? Will learning also be delivered as a service?

Who will be the learning service providers? schools? teachers? publishers? Disney?

How will Olivia track her own learning outcomes? Will she still need diplomas, certificates, degrees, and the like? Will she need a "proof" of her learning experience?

When will she start her "official" learning? pre-K? Kindergarten? already started?

I find all of these questions overwhelming and, of course, very difficult to predict.

However I do know one thing ... and that is Olivia will be able to subscribe to various learning services offered by various types of service providers. She will grow-up in a service-oriented world accessing a service-oriented Web. She will have a unique learning path, that differs from everyone else's. She will have her own Webtop, that delivers to her these customized set of services. Olivia's unique identity will allow her to access, order, manage, track, sustain and consume all of the services that she will encounter in her lifelong learning journey.

These learning services will enable her to learn interactively, collaboratively, and experientially. She will not be limited to the classroom experience. She will move at her own pace, fast or slow, in any subject matter at any age.

I wish I had been born in the EduTone World like Olivia!