By Katie Krahulik

Staff writer

The all-day event titled Big Ideas 2016 gave students the opportunity to look inside the brains of a few of today’s innovative thinkers in the world of technology on Wednesday, March 9.

Several speakers came to Hofstra’s campus to speak with students and faculty about some of the influences technology is having on our society. The topics ranged from the future of higher education, virtual reality, digitally-fabricated musical instruments and underrepresented groups in computer science.

After the lectures, a panel of students spoke about the different elements and issues involved with education and technology as we see it today.

Bryan Alexander, a senior researcher and writer for The New Media Consortium, gave a presentation that addressed how technology has affected education in the past, how it continues to affect education today and how it will mold the quality and dynamic of education in the future.

Alexander spoke about the different trends affecting higher education including demographics, economy, population, globalization, technology itself and social media.

“If you don’t read science fiction, then you’re not prepared for the 21st century,” he said.

Alexander’s interest in the future of higher education was sparked by his experiences as a professor. “I was struck by how many huge changes were starting to move through higher ed as a whole, especially due to technology,” he said.

Deanna Malloy, a graduate student studying business analytics, enjoyed Alexander’s presentation and agreed with many of his points. “I do information technology, which means I work with faculty who are really slow with technology,” she said. “So I just want to see faculty embrace technology in the way that we’re trying to push them.”

Dr. Judith Tabron, director of faculty and computing services, works in information technology and helped organize Wednesday’s event.

“Our faculty are deeply interested in our students’ education, but also their future lives. We are educating people, not just workers. We know students have a lot of competing pressures on them these days and live in a very different world from what it was just 20 years ago,” Tabron said. “As an instructor myself and as a director, I am constantly engaged in discussions about our students’ futures with our very active and interested faculty.”

Jackson Snellings, a professor in the RTVF department and an instructional designer for Faculty Computing Services, delivered a lecture about virtual reality. He discussed virtual reality’s quick assimilation into society and the benefits of having access to these types of programs, as well as the potential ramifications which virtual reality might entail.

“It’s engaging and can allow a student to experience things that are not possible, such as seeing how the inside of a star works, how a tumor spreads from the inside and perhaps even what it was like to sit in the audience of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in the 1600s,” Snellings said.

After the presentation, Snellings allowed members of the audience to try on a virtual reality headset to understand the type of experience he mentioned. Volunteers were eager and impressed as they took turns wearing the modern technology.

“When I was a kid I loved to escape through video games and movies,” Snellings said. “When I found out that there was a device that could let you escape to a virtual world as well as do and be whatever you wanted, I was hooked. Unfortunately, the technology in the 1990s was just not adequate and it fizzled. That all changed with the smartphone revolution. The screens on modern phones are better than most people’s flat screen HDTVs and they are cheap. The price of a headset has gone from $150,000 in 1990 to $800 today. That $800 headset is infinitely more capable than the originals.”

He also expressed concern about the future of virtual reality. “I am nervous that it will flop again, that the hype is just hot air and that people won’t create interesting content for virtual reality,” he said.

Christopher Morrongiello, a skilled lutenist and adjunct assistant professor of music,  presented the topic of fabricating musical instruments through digital means. During his small speech, he displayed and passed around some of the instruments that were created digitally.

Afterwards, senior psychology and sociology major Lizbeth Ramirez shared her reaction to the event.

“Technology like the 3D printer is going to make it possible to replicate medieval or historical instruments,” she said. “This would make it easier for individuals to afford these instruments. It would also be great because it would help students get involved and it would give more people a better understanding of the history behind these instruments.”

Morrongiello concluded his presentation by serenading his audience with some historical melodies, mirroring a Renaissance tune.