The document discusses how technology can serve as a partner in lifelong learning, summarizing a magazine article. It describes how emerging technologies are increasingly personalizing the learning experience by remembering learners, challenging them at their level, and helping them discover and express themselves. These silicon-based relationships have the potential to become perfect lifelong partnerships for learning, treating each individual learner uniquely and adapting to their needs, though the relationship can never be truly reciprocal.

1. LEARNING MAGAZINE AUTUMN ARTICLE
Learning to Love
I learned about love in Moscow at E-Learn Expo 2009 and, like many true love relationships, this love
was with a partner I had known for many years, yet their love for me was a sudden revelation, a
growing phenomenon that suddenly reached a tipping point at which everything suddenly became
clear.
This previously unrecognised relationship had been growing slowly to perfection, a match made in
the ether in which every day had brought new subtleties and refinements. The more I shared of
myself, the deeper the bond between us had become.
This partnership has the potential to become everything anyone could want from a lifetime
relationship because my partner :-
• Loves me for myself and treats me as an individual
• Is so easy to get on with
• Remembers everything about me and helps me to remember
• Brings new discoveries every day
• Helps me to understand myself and the world around me
• Encourages and challenges me
• Helps me to express myself
The only downside to this perfect relationship is that it can only ever be platonic. Whatever passion I
feel can never be reciprocated by my partner’s metal and plastic body and silicon heart.

2. On a more positive note, there is always the guilt-free excitement of trading my partner in for a
younger, better looking and more powerful model every 2 or 3 years.
This ongoing honing to perfection of our everyday silicon-based relationships has important
implications for lifelong learning. It is shaping the expectations of the learner and the skills and
methodologies required from learning professionals. The characteristics of this developing
relationship between human beings and technology are both a challenge and an opportunity for
learner and teacher alike.
The Characteristics of a Silicon-based Love Affair (aka Personalised Learning Environment )
1. Treating the learner as an individual
Today’s technology enhanced learning environments are increasingly using a combination of
profiling and artificial intelligence to personalise the user interface to create a “learner – centric”
environment so that each learner is able to tailor the environment in a unique way. The technologies
of video games, virtual worlds and social networks are pointing the way with customisable avatars,
tailored user interfaces and networking tools.
2. Easy to get on with
New user interfaces will continue the transform the learning experience as new interface devices
make technology accessible to the masses.
3D camera interface
The Nintendo Wii has had a major impact on casual games by providing an intuitive handheld device
usable by all ages and with fun applications which can provide learning and skill benefits. Devices
which use brainwaves to control applications were covered in the last issue, and, more recently,
there have been launches of new collaborations which use 3D cameras to detect motion.
Easy to use and intuitive interface devices will make technology enhanced learning accessible to all
age groups and spawn new and interesting learning applications.

3. 3. Remembers everything about me and helps me to remember
Computers have always had storage capabilities but today’s technologies are not only storing what
the learner saves to disk or what the assessment programmes record about learner achievement,
they are increasingly using “the wisdom of crowds” to personalise the learner’s knowledge base and
make it more accessible on demand.
Computers are beginning to collect and analyse key data to prompt learners automatically and feed
relevant knowledge through customisable data feeds.
4. Brings New Discoveries Every Day
Every love affair needs mystery, discovery and excitement to thrive and a silicon-based relationship
is no different. Emerging applications in GIS systems such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual
Earth reflect the growing trend in peer to peer learning with systems that operate through a
combination of search and discover techniques.
This is a significant departure from formalised keyword searches of databases which, although they
do provide serendipitous new knowledge connections, do not provide the same level of exploration
and discovery as 3D immersive environments which facilitate the discovery of new knowledge.
5. Helps me to Understand Myself and the World around Me
An important element in any learning process is self-knowledge and sensitivity to / awareness of the
world around the learner. Serious Games being developed today bring new levels of self-
understanding and an environment which facilitates an understanding of the learner’s role and
capabilities in the world in which he/she operates.
6. Encourages and Challenges me
The best practices of the video games industry provide good examples of how to engage users in
extended pursuit of improved performance. The best games environments provide a suitably
accessible entry level which is neither too easy nor too hard and offer incentives and challenges to
reach higher levels.
Next generation learning applications are adopting these same techniques with artificial intelligence
which recognises and adjusts to the learner’s capabilities to keep them challenged and motivated.
7. Helps me to Express Myself
Finally, publishing and presentation tools such as blogs, wikis, social networks, Youtube, Twitter and
many other are manifestations of the trends to peer to per learning in which the sharing of
knowledge is enabled by technology.
The road to true love is not smooth but it is now open to all ages !!