At the Maricopa Community College’s Teaching and Learning conference this week, I became aware of the Horizon Report, http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/, published by the New Media Consortium, http://www.nmc.org/,  and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. This report highlights six technologies to watch: Mobiles, Cloud Computing, Geo-Everything, the Personal Web, Semantic-Aware applications and Smart Objects.

Let’s expand on smart objects: smart in this sense means devices that are aware of their “state” and are able to respond or connect with other objects or information. An example of this might be a smart electric meter who knows the energy use of a system and the utility’s ability to supply that demand. The meter communicates for example with a hot water heater commanding it to not turn on during periods of peak load, thereby reducing the peaking effects on the overall system. 

Our students today are studying g the underlying technology of these devices that make this possible – RFID, wireless communications, sensors, microcontrollers and home area networks.  Thus preparing them for the coming future. Mike Leseicki