Pascaline: Hi everyone, welcome to our A3 Project. Today we’re going to have a chat about the brain/cloud interface, and it’s possible impact on mobile and open learning. I’m Pascaline and...

Mel: ...this is Mel.Throughout the course, we’ve been exploring promise of mobile and open learning to increase global educational opportunities and access for all. But we’ve discovered through our research that access has significantly been restricted by language exclusion. The majority of open courses and information on the web are in English, but that means that most of the world’s population can’t even access it. There’s a lot of promise for brain/cloud interface to impact the future of education, intercultural communication, innovation, and creativity.

 

Pascaline: Definitely - This could create major ramifications for the way we communicate, study and work. People from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds would have the opportunity to access educational resources that were previously out of reach with something like a universal translator.

 

Mel: I do think a level language playing field would democratize education and also enable people to tap into new sources of information and knowledge anytime, anywhere.

 

Pascaline:  Likewise, Transparent Shadowing would revolutionize training both for the educational and corporate worlds. To be able to connect directly to the brain of another person to 100% shadow their experience -  to feel what they feel and think what they think - is an incredible concept. 

 

Mel: I completely agree, and I also think downloading information from the internet into our brain renders learning that focuses on rote memorisation and knowledge acquisition obsolete. However, education still needs to shift toward developing and honing students’ collaborative and problem solving skills.

 

Pascaline:  I think you made an important point here. The focus would shift from learning facts and information to problem solving, critical thinking and experiential learning.. What do you think about K-12?

 

Mel: I don’t think education in K-12 is affected very much, because surely it will be widely agreed upon that we shouldn’t implant nanobots into brains that are still developing. Students would need to be able to search, sort, organise, and process information, and by the time they reached university, they would be ready to make full use of this technology to solve pressing global issues and to pave the way for significant innovations.

 

Pascaline:  So, age is a limitation. What else could be a barrier? Should people be healthy to undergo this type of surgery? And what do we really know about the science behind this? Right now, they are targeting people who have experienced extreme trauma and lost complete mobility, but eventually, they will be testing this technology on volunteers with perfectly functioning brains. Who would be willing to go under the knife for the sake of science? Would you?

 

Mel: Yeah, I don’t know, umm...I think the jury’s still out for me. What really concerns me, though, is the matter of privacy. Because our thoughts will be read, analyzed and collected, and based on social media companies’ use of our data, I think we can assume that companies providing us with any sort of B/CI service would definitely use our data in ways we cannot comprehend right now.

Pascaline: Now it’s your turn to tell us how you feel about the B/CI. Could it be the silver bullet we’ve all been looking for? Or are you wary of its ramifications?  Share your thoughts with us on the Wordpress Blog. We can’t wait to read what you have to say about the B/CI.