- Identify a current technology that has emerged in the
last few years that shapes learning or productivity in your industry.
- This past school year our district had the opportunity to purchase new technology for our classrooms in all grade levels. Because we like all school districts had limited funds, a technology team was created to explore our options. It was decided that we needed to look at three portable devices; laptops, netbooks and tablets. The criteria that we decided to use to evaluate the three were the following: ease of use, affordability, longevity, and educational value. After several debates the team decided to purchase Asus Transformer tablets with docking keyboard.
- What problems or challenges have been associated with
this technology?
- We found several problems with the tablets that were
unexpected. They were the
following;
- There were several office
type applications that were available from the Google Play store but we
felt like they were not as robust as Microsoft Office. Online Office apps were out of the
questions due to either the applications did not function with a mobile
device or filtering restrictions placed upon us through our IT
department.
- File storage: At this point
the ability to store documents on the school’s Novell server was severly
limited and a lengthy process
- Printing: In order to print from an Android
device we had to first save the document then open a printing App,
select the document and then cross our fingers that it would print
properly.
- Not all web pages would work
on an Android OS especially if it used either Flash or Java applications
- What societal need does it meet, and what are its
benefits?
- The tablets did have a shinning spot in the fact that we
were able to use the tablets to create multimedia presentations using the
onboard camera and video software.
Not only were we able to take pictures and videos, we were also
able to edit the documents creating a professional looking photograph and
video. We also discovered that there are excellent free educational apps
that can assist students learning how to do basic math and other core subjects.
Connecting the tablet with the docking keyboard provided the students
with increased battery life, the ability to connect their USB drives and
made it easier for them to enter data into the tablet.
- What would make this technology even better, avoiding
the pitfalls you identified?
- In the future the Android Operating System needs to
mature and provide all the necessary services that you come to expect
with an operating system such as being able to print within a program,
being able to store data not only to the connected drives but also those
that are connected to the device via a network connection such as Novell..
- In order to compete with the Apple Apps store this May Google announced plans to launch a extensive Apps Store for Education this fall. To read more abuout this store, click on “Google Apps for education”.
Blog Post for Module 2:
Tetrad One: LCD
Projectors
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Enhances:
With the LCD projector it provided the following:
·
Connect computer to large screen to project:
o
Images
o
PowerPoint Presentations
o
Word Documents
o
Movies
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Retrieves:
·
Artist illustrations
·
Photographs
·
Printed materials
·
Animations
·
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Obsoletes:
·
Chalk board and chalk
·
Dry-erase Boards
·
Overhead projectors
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Reverses:
·
3-d projectors
·
Holographic images
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- Enhances: What does this technology do that is new?
- At the FETC 2008 conference, Epson introduced the
first Interactive projector. This
projector had the capabilities to show its image on any surface, thus eliminating
the need for a interactive board to be mounted on the wall. The features of the projector clearly
enhance the typical lectures by making them more interactive. This projector also is mounted as a
short-throw which means that it virtually eliminates the shadow effect.
- Obsoletes:
What does this technology replace?
- This technology eliminates the need for a interactive
board to be mounted on the wall to provide interactive features.
- Chalkboard and chalk
- Dry-erase boards and markers
- Overhead Projectors
- Retrieves/Rekindles: What does this technology bring to
mind (or retrieve) from the past?
- Provides the opportunities for teachers and students to draw on the whiteboard and have the ability to save the images created for another time
- Reverses: What might replace this technology in the
future, or what might it cause to occur?
- At ISTE 2014 Smart Technologies was conducting an
experiment with a 60” diagonal LCD computer screen that had touch capabilities.
- 3-d projectors
- Holographic projectors
Reflection:
We live in exciting times where there are going to be huge
changes in the computer technology arena.
These changes will have a huge impact on the way teachers conduct
business. Along with the changes, the technology
is decreasing in price which will make it easier for school districts to
develop a one to one computer technology.
As time goes by students have been able to come to school with
electronic devices that are able to access the Internet, perform complex mathematical
calculations, take pictures, movies and also edit them right on their phone. We as educators must somehow figure out how
to harness this technology and allow the students to use their own technology
in a BYOD system.
Module 3 Blog Post
Rhymes of History Technology
We live in exciting times, things around us are in a
constant flux of change some for the good and unfortunately also for the
bad. But it is up to each one of us to
decide our own fate and how we look at the changes that are occurring around
us. From the dawn of time man had to
face two opposing forces put into its simplest terms good vs bad. As you look at history specifically computer
technology we have come a long way from the days of the Charles Babbage’s
difference engine. At the height of the
cold war the Russians successfully launched a satellite named “Sputnik” that
also changed the world. Under the direction
of President Eisenhower launched Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). Its main purpose was to ensure that the
United States would never be last in advancement in technology. It is through this agency that is partly
responsible for the creation of the Internet.
Its main purpose was to ensure that in the event of an enemy attack
communication between military installations could continue. Universities also used the Internet as a
means to share research data. In the 90’s
Tim Berners-Lee enhanced the Internet with its creation of the “World Wide Web”. Since then the Internet has managed to makes
its way into the homes of most of the civilized world. In some countries, laws have been passed to
make access to the Internet as a human right similar to breathing.
As we look at how the Internet has changed the world and
relate it back to history we can see that humans have always wanted to be able
to communicate with one another by either drawing characters on cave walls,
creating a means of communication via pen and paper. Today we have vast array of ways to communicate
via the Internet via social media such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Liken,
and others.
Kevin Kelly (2007 in his presentation at a Ted conference
stated that we as individuals have to get better in believing the impossible. He also believed that the most reliable
machine (the Internet) will undergo major changes in three main areas, in its articheture,
embodiment, and co-dependent on the Internet within the next 5000 days.
Where the Internet will take us within the next 5000 days is
uncertain. It might be possible that within this timeframe computers might be
able to integrate with the human mind.
References:
Kelly, K. (2007, December). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000
days of the Web [Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los
Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Rhymes
of History [Video]. In Emerging and future technology
[DVD] Baltimore, MD: Author.
Module Four: The Disruptive Power of Second Life
Second Live is an online environment that was created in
2003 by a company in San Francisco called Linden Labs. It is an online virtual world that allows
users to create virtual depictions of themselves called Avatars. In this world they are able to simulate real
world living by being allowed to build virtual worlds, cities, and
buildings. Second life also has its own
economic structure which allows players to buy and sell items online with money
that is tied to real life currency. The
first time that I encounter Second Life was at an ISTE Conference in San
Antonio Texas in 2008. At this
conference there were several sessions that were actually conducted virtually
through Second Life. Its purpose was to
demonstrate how effective using Second Life could be in the Educational World. I can remember how effective it would be to
conduct workshops, professional development training and even holding high
school classes in Second Life.
According to Dr. Thornburg, a disruptive technology is a
new technology with the same functionality but more efficiently and obsoletes
the existing technology. Second Life is a disruptive technology because it
changes the way people socially interact with one another. It is this altered social interaction that
scares me the most when it comes to Second Life. Due to the fact that users are
able to create Avatars to represent themselves virtually, you are unsure who
you are really communicating with. For
example you can have an individual who is considered a sexual predator portray himself
as a female avatar waiting for his next victim. Or it could be an individual who has a very
low self-esteem in real life however in Second Life he can portray himself as
one who has full confidence and abilities to perform great tasks in a virtual
world.
Second Life in my opinion did not replace any technology
or innovation however; it did provide another opportunity for individuals to
communicate online virtually using avatars and provides an opportunity for the
avatars to participate in a virtual world by going to social gatherings, live
concerts, press conferences, workshops, purchasing land, clothes and other
items etc.
Does Second Life have a place in education? I believe that Second Life does have a role
to play in education as has been demonstrated by the ongoing colleges that
offer courses through Second Life. ISTE
has demonstrated that Second Life can be a viable alternative to hold
conferences in an economical fashion for those who are unable to attend live. However in recent ISTE conferences, ISTE has offered educators who could not
attend the conferences participate in select sessions via Skype or Skype like online
video conferencing.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Emerging and future
technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Module 5: Red Queens and Increasing Returns
In module 4 when we were required to watch a movie that was
based upon the Author Philip K. Dick, my first choice to watch was choice to
watch was Minority Reports starring Tom Cruise.
However, my resources were rather limited. The internet service at the hotel was rather slow
which prevented me from streaming the movie online due to the long lag times
required to buffering the movie. My only
recourse was to find the nearest Red Box and rent a movie from there. As a result, I watched the 2012 version of
Total Recall.
We have seen over the years how the availability of videos
on demand and now services from Direct TV and the Dish Network providing
customers with the ability to record not only live T.V. for later viewing but
also provides select videos for viewing to its customers at a time that is most
convenient for them. This is having a
direct impact on the DVD market specifically the rental industry. In my small town we had two video rental
stores but have now been reduced down to one due to the ease of viewing videos
online. Personally, at my work residence, I opted not to have
Direct TV or any other wired television services because of the ease of viewing
current TV shows online for free and often commercial free.
References
Laureate
Education, Inc. (2009). Emerging
and future technology. Baltimore: Author.
Module 6: Obsolete and Emerging Technologies Final Project:
For my final project, I created a Prezi that can be viewed by clicking on the following link:
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