Reflection

In hindsight this was actually a rather challenging topic for me to cover as it was difficult to understand the inner workings of how holograms work. Regardless of the scientific theories involved, oddly enough I found myself changing my stance several times as I worked on the OER. Initially when I was conducting research, there was a sense of excitement and gusto for holographic technology. On the surface it really does seem like it's going to be the "next big thing".

However, after I completed this OER, my mindset changed and now I have some slight reservations about holograms being used for education. I think the concept behind it is novel and could benefit many learners but from the perspective of a "practical" person, barriers such as costs, image quality and training makes me want to see more advancements in this field before it's used for a wider audience. Perhaps it's just the pessimist in me thinking but, in terms of a holographic teacher, what value would this bring compared to a Zoom session? I can understand the innovation holographic models bring as they can help students to learn, but for mere communication? To me it just seems like the same thing we're doing everyday, only presented in a different format. Perhaps it'll take time for me to become convinced that holographic teachers have their strengths.

The pandemic influenced me on how to perceive online learning as personally, I actually value face to face interactions and the social environment of learning. Sitting in front of a monitor to learn isn't exactly what I would call "fun" though it somehow seems to be work. The idea of holograms came up as I was in a Zoom meeting with some colleagues as I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if our virtual meeting environment was a tad more dynamic? From there I started to think about my own work and teaching where it seems like a fantastic idea if my image could be "projected" at more than one location at the same time. Teaching adjunct classes could be much easier as I wouldn't need to travel between campus, having a hologram projection could be the key to effectiveness and efficiency!

Ultimately this was a case where I identified a potential gap in our daily technology use and attempted to see whether further advancements would be realistically possible in the near future.

What would I have done differently?

If more time was available, perhaps it would have been interesting to see if a mockup curriculum that's based entirely on holographic technology could be made. Another route for the OER which I could have taken is design a proof of concept Mobile App which focuses on hologram technology though with our current state, it would have been difficult to put together without going too far into the realm of science fiction. I personally like to remain "grounded" in academic situations.

What are the next steps?

I do look forward to the day when mobile technology is powerful enough to project holograms and perhaps see if I can experience a holographic lecture in real life to see what it feels like. Once I get a feel of how holograms function in real life, perhaps I'll be able to make a more educated and refined stance towards the issue covered in this OER.