The biggest thing i have learnt throughout this unit is how to write a blog. Before this i didn’t know how to sign up for one or how to use one appropriately. I also think i have learnt lots about researching different topics and using different tools like ucansearch, e-reserve and Google scholar, and selecting reliable and relevant information sources from them.

Overall i learnt lots about impacts of ICT on education. Before this class i thought any use of technology would enhance learning . But now i understand that copying down notes from slides on a IWB is the same as older methods of teaching except it involves new technology. I can now appreciate that technology should only be used when it is going to enhance a lesson not just because it is there. I found researching the technologies which will be emerging in the future particularly interesting and was amazed at the paths learning and teaching are heading down.

Researching cyber bullying was something new for me. I had heard about cyber bullying but had never experienced it when I was at school. I have learnt just how damaging cyber bullying can be when defamatory material is posted for the whole world to see. I can also see now how much of a struggle it will be to help control cyber bullying.  I think that its prevention strategies should be targeted at education on the subject, not prevention, to help children understand the reality of what they are doing and what they are causing to someone else as well as how it may affect them in the future.

So this is my last post for the unit Learning with Technology, hope you enjoyed reading.

its the end. eeeeaaaaaaaggghhhhhhhhh!

CoOlsy.

Into the Future, New Technologies and their Impacts

At present there are many technologies used in education aiding teachers and offering learners new opportunities. This will continue into the future with new technologies being trailed and implemented.

As outlined in the ‘2010 horizon report, k-12′ there are many new technologies coming through which will have an affect on education. In the report these have been separated into two categories. Technologies that hopefully will be integrated in the next 2-3 years and those further into the future in 3-5 years.

2-3 years

Mobiles in learning.

Mobiles are only just starting to be used in education. Current models have the ability to connect to the internet and the ability to receive, store and send information. Many newer model phones have capturing and editing tools for video, audio and imaging allowing students to capture and create in the field. one example of how mobile are being integrated and impacting on education can be seen Clementi Town Secondary School, Singapore, where children are using mobiles in their geography field studies. instructions are sent to mobiles, students then work together to solve problems and create solutions and then record and submit data via their phones.  This engages students with technology, allows them a portable, in the field resource and allows them to submit answers when finished. Another example is drill and practice games, these games on mobile lend themselves well to maths but could be used in most other areas too. Games on mobiles allow students to study anywhere any time through an engaging medium.

3-5 years

Augmented Reality.

Augmented reality or AR is a new technology where virtual data (information, rich media and live action) is aligned with what we see.

for example;

As the video shows this new technology will have a massive impact in engaging students and placing them in a 3D virtual world in which to learn and explore.

Students in a Californian University are already using this technology to model ancient architecture to accompany their presentations and place their viewers in places like the Colosseum.

Flexible Displays

Flexible displays are displays lit up by organic light emitting diodes (OLED) which can be printed onto flexible or stretchy materials. This technology has not yet been trailed in schools, but one example of its use was demonstrated by Entertainment Weekly, USA where TV promotions were printed onto a page of the magazine showing a video to magazine readers. It has been suggested by the horizons report that this type of technology will be used in education for things like; creating animations and videos to enhance or show demonstrations in text books, and to print safety and care instructions on technical equipment in the science and technology labs in schools.

All of these new technologies will have impacts both positive and negative in education and teachers and students will have to adapt and learn in order to gain the greatest benefit from what they have to offer.

Resources;

Video-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKw_Mp5YkaE

image-http://wrtassoc.com/archives/category/uncategorized

The 2010 Horizon Report, k-12, New Media Consortium, 2010.

6101, West Courtyard Drive, Building 1, Suite 100,

Austin TX 78730

New Tools for a modern classroom

The new age of information communication technologies is also impacting on schools in their physical appearance with the inclusion of new  tools students use to learn. Gone are the days of a teacher standing on front of the class writing on a black board. It is now not uncommon to see students engaged with their ipods listening to podcasts while they follow along with a textbook, huddled around a laptop or exploring a web page with the teacher on an interactive white board (IWB).

IWBs are providing audio and visual mediums to help motivate and engage students. ‘Students can come and interact with the surface (of an IWB) and actually create opportunities to learn’. (Andy Penman, Teamboard Australia) IWBs also offer teachers access to current affairs or relevant web pages that can be book marked for future reference. With the help of IWBs teachers can save classroom slides and links to be refered to in future classes, posted on class web sites or emailed to students. A positive outcome from this new piece of technology is that the teacher becomes more a facilitator of learning where kids learn from each other much more than in a traditional classroom. This kids teach kids approach is being made much easier with these new classroom tools. On an IWB for example teachers can ‘create challenges on the web for kids to collaborate that lead to more social interaction’  and thefore a productive learning experience. (Allan November, pod cast ABC).

Another physical impact in the classroom is the trail of the new one to one laptop program in some schools. This means that each student in a class will lease their own laptop to use, a huge advance from days of computer labs where student had to share a computer between three or four. Through the imlementation of the one to one program at Mana Lakes College, Victoria, ‘students can access work anywhere, any time’ (Helen Otway, assistant principal, Mana Lakes college, podcast, ABC) This program helps students by allowing them endless information access, new technologies and sharing capabilities through school and state wide ultranet. The program is also helping students by allowing equal access to computers and helping to close the digital devide.

Resources;

video –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQBU47NNC5U

image – www.mrgray.id.au 

Funnel, A (presenter) (2010, May 13) The Digital Classroom- Audio podcast. retrieved from; http://www.abc.net.au/rn/futuretense/stories/2010/2885066.htm