After his breakfast, he receives a notification from his bus-tracker app which tells him that the school bus is already there, the bus also has an auto check-in system which tells him who’s boarded it and what seats are available. He heads straight to his buddy’s corner and they start a 3D multiplayer game with each other on their Nintendo consoles for the commute. He is distracted by an iPhone band mixing music and playing it at the back of the bus.

He stops playing the game and holds out the console to collect foursquare points at his traffic stops (the scores are compared with his buddies on other buses). His calendar application tells him the room number he’s supposed to be in and checks him in. The attendance is automated. There’s a display on the wall which gives the students instructions to pull out their homework before the teacher comes in. The students pull out their tablets (read: iPad) and it automatically senses what class it is and presents the homework. The homework assignments are automatically sent to the teacher on her way into class – Graded and ready by Artificial Intelligence grading software. The input goes right back to the Student on where to improve. All this before the teacher gets into the room.

The teacher gets an aggregate of the scores and knows which kids to focus on based on their low marks. The teacher posts new information on her interactive wall and starts explaining the subject with a complete multimedia experience. The content and material open up simultaneously as the teacher is explaining the subject even without her actually reaching for it by recognizing terms in her speech, while she focuses on what content to show by waving her hand (read: Kinect). The display on the wall alerts everyone that it is time for the field trip and the kids exit the room. The field trip management software will automatically alert which student needs to stand next to whom and using NFC will ensure that each student finds her nearby peer. The students are then instructed to follow in line to the bus again, which takes them to the corn field. You see where this is going?

This is the first step towards post-humanism. Technology and life is so connected that most basic functions of society cannot work without it. Post-humanism is a concept which introduces intimate connections with technology, so much that it augments our brain and all information is instantly at the speed of thought. Think of it as the internet in your head. That’s what we’re heading into. This will eventually lead to a change in learning. A future economic climate will rely on how information is delivered rather than who delivers the information. In-fact this is already happening. You’re reading this on your iPhone aren’t you?

Guest Author