Rise of Mobile Computing and the Millennial Generation

• Mobile computing catalyzes dramatic changes in the Information Revolution.
• Smartphones and tablet computers are transforming daily life.

The Rise of Mobile Computing

• Nick Bilton observed his father's wallet growing with age due to added cards and items.
• Bilton's experience is the opposite, as his smartphone now replaces most wallet contents.
• Smartphones now store address books, calendars, maps, music, photos and IDs (customer, gym, insurance), movie tickets, coupons, and airline boarding passes.
• The only items Bilton carries outside his phone are his driver's license and debit card.
• Complete computing via smartphones may be simplistic to predict, as standard laptops/desktops are easier for heavier productivity tasks like typing.

The Millennial Generation

• People ages 16-39 generally spend 8+ hours daily looking at screens and are considered computer-technology natives or digital natives.
• They constantly utilize texting, e-mail, and the Internet (global network of networks), particularly for the World Wide Web.
• 98% of college pupils are Internet users, and 92% use wireless (laptop or cellphone).
• Unlike their parents, Millennials are more likely to check out brands via social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to interact, develop communities around similar interests, research products, and compare prices all due to mobile devices.
• Millennials are 2.5x as likely to be early adopters of technology.
• Change is an ongoing challenge that requires dealing with the disruptive effect of computers and software.
• Information Technology (IT) is a general term describing technologies that help produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate info.

Top Innovations in Recent Years

• A panel of professionals at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School rated the top 30 innovations from 1969 to 2009.
• The panel found that most were related to IT, including but not limited to: Internet, broadband, World Wide Web, PC and laptop computers, mobile phones, as well as e-mail.
• The Internet, along with semiconductors (processors), ranks among history's 15 greatest innovations.
• Pervasive computing or Ubiquitous computing is a world where computing is everywhere, which is supported by the Internet, the sprawling global connection of smaller computer networks.
• The US has 425 million smartphones, tablets, PCs, and consoles among 311.5 million residents.

Information Technology & Your Life

• IT significantly affects all parts of your life, including education, health, finance, recreation, entertainment, government, jobs/careers, and your personal life.
• IT combines computer and communications technologies.
• A computer is a programmable, multiuse machine that takes in data and processes it into usable information.
• Communications (telecommunications) technology includes electromagnetic devices/systems for communicating over any distance.
• Includes telephone, radio, satellite, broadcast television, and cable TV.
• Online is using an information device via a network to access information and services.
• A network is a communication system connecting devices, with the Internet as the largest.

Education & IT

• Education is heavily involved in IT.
• Information technology can improve education at all levels through online systems.

Technology in Education

• Professor Sciolla uses whiteboards and display screens in physics to present material and gauge student understanding with wireless clickers.
• Teacher Jennifer Southers uses a flipped education model where learners watch online video lectures at home and then apply their knowledge in class with teacher assistance.
• IT allows more personalized education, automates tasks, and reduces teacher workload giving teachers more time to reach individual learners.
• Electronic mail is frequently used by pupils to discuss grades and clarify assignments.
• College instructors use presentation graphics software (PowerPoint) to show lecture outlines and other material.
• Blackboard, It's Learning, Inc., and are used for administering online assignments, learning plans, schedules, examinations, and grades.
• Distance learning, online learning have seen an great increase in the amount of participants.
• Massive open online courses (MOOCs) from companies like Coursera, edX and offer offerings from Universities such as Princeton. Stanford and Duke etc.
• For-profit institutions like Colorado Technical Institute, Kaplan University, Strayer University offer online courses.
• E-learning brings courses to remote areas.

Intelligent Tutoring

• Intelligent tutoring systems give students individualized instruction.
• Students use interactive simulation games to apply knowledge to real-world problems.
• Company training programs use avatars (computer humans) in mock conversations.

IT for Health

• Digital technology is transforming medicine.
• Telemedicine delivers medical care via telecommunications, like radiologists use teleradiology to transmit images to specialists.
• Digital cameras/sound move patients to doctors versus reverse.