Emerging Technologies Project

Annie Kroll

November 15, 2007

T & L 466, section 2

Emerging technologies project

The first emerging technology that I’d like to discuss is that of the 1 to 1 Learning concept that Apple is currently promoting on their website (http://www.apple.com/education/k12 /onetoone/). According to Apple, “A 1 to 1 learning program is defined as an environment where students and teachers have 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week access to a notebook computer as well as digital content, educational software, and digital authoring tools” (Apple, 2007). Of course, Apple is promoting this idea specifically with their laptops, and the idea is that they will provide students with resources that they would otherwise not have access to, and that this type of teaching will equip students with the knowledge and skill sets to be effective and capable employees later on in life.

I think that, while this is a good idea, it might be difficult to implement for the first time. I suppose that could be said for many of the emerging technologies that will soon be appearing in the classrooms of America, but nonetheless, it might end up being a tedious process teaching computer skills all day long in a class that should be learning Spanish. That said, if given the opportunity to participate in a program such as this, I would not hesitate to accept. It would be a fabulous way to explore using technology in which everyone would be able to participate. There would be a lot of student learning going on, not only because they’d be learning from the teacher, but also because they’d be asking each other for help if they missed something that the teacher said, or if they just didn’t quite catch on to how to do something the first time around. Of course, a Spanish unit would have to be based on technology vocabulary, so as to make the rest of the term/year practice of that useful vocabulary. It would have an effect on my teaching also in the fact that I would need to become much more knowledgeable about operating a Mac, but that would be information that I would be more than happy to read through for the sake of this project.

The second emerging technology that I’d like to discuss is Google’s Experimental Labs (http://www.google.com/experimental/). In this search, a person can look up timelines on a variety of subjects. The site offers a few possible search subjects, such as Thomas Jefferson, but I wanted to see for myself, and instead picked ‘Mexico’, which was not on their list. There was a timeline that came up, but there were many gaps in it, and would certainly not be enough for any of my students wanting to know about the chronological history of Mexico. However, I think that if Google continues to improve on their timelines, this could be a very useful tool for students in the classroom (Google Experimental, 2007).

This would impact my teaching preparation by making me allot time to show students how to correctly type in a search for a timeline, and I would definitely have to think up some sort of activity in which the students would be looking at the bigger picture of some subject instead of specific events and isolated ideas. Using this technology would, however, give them a knowledge of how to access timelines if needed for other classes in the future, along with, as stated earlier, giving them a glimpse at the big picture of subjects we’d be studying.

My third and final emerging technology that I’d like to discuss is that of Google SketchUp (http://sketchup.google.com/), which is a computer drawing tool that can be used to design 3D models. I personally was attracted to this particular piece of emerging technology because it said that it was a very good tool for people with autism (Google Sketchup, 2007). It also allows people to use the models they’ve made and put them onto Google Earth, making it a fun activity that they can later go home and show their family members (assuming they have internet access at home).

This would have an impact on my teaching preparation in that I would be replacing one activity with a very similar one. My teacher would always have us do drawings in our Spanish class of our houses, and this would be a great twist on that by providing students with a way to teach themselves about technology while learning Spanish words for things in their places of residence (couch, closet, carpet, etc.). Professor Gruenwald continually uses the statistic that 40-60% of students are chronically disengaged, and I think this would impact them by making sure that they stay engaged!

Works Cited

Apple, Inc. (2007). 1 to 1 Learning. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Apple Web site: http://www.apple.com/education/k12/onetoone/

Google Sketchup (2007). Google. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Google Web site: http://sketchup.google.com/

Google Experimental Labs (2007). Google. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from Google Web site: http://www.google.com/experimental/

Distance Education

After reviewing a few of the sites listed at the bottom of the first page, as well as some listed on the second page of the assignment sheet, I have come up with a list of pros and cons to having virtual schools. I have not yet made up my mind whether the pros outweigh the cons, or vice versa, as I’ve not had enough time to really mull over it that much, but I can see why there are advocates and opposition for both.

The pros of the virtual schools that stood out the most to me were as follows: Students had many options to take classes that were interesting and relevant to them; students would probably have to develop a lot of personal responsibility to keep themselves on track, which is something they would find very helpful the farther they go in life; students work at their own pace, so if they need to spend a little more time on a certain topic/subject, they can; students are still kept accountable by having a minimum pace to maintain in order to stay in courses; using the computer so much gives students experience using technology; students could experience less test anxiety from taking exams online through these schools by using the tools offered them in preparation for them; and, students that are home schooling would be able to have access to teachers that are certified in their content areas and that might be able to offer better feedback on assignments than a parent would.

Some of the cons that I noticed were that, although some of the schools offer opportunities for social interaction, students would still not get as much interaction as they would in a regular classroom; these schools are only available to those that have internet access; the minimum pace could allow students to be lazy and put off homework/projects until they’ve all piled up at the end of the term; students won’t necessarily form as close of bonds with their teachers and classmates as those that are enrolled in an in-person high school; courses such as physical education are based, from what I can tell, almost entirely on the students’ word that they did an assignment and/or are working on becoming more healthy; and, in some cases, classes online can be rather pricey.

On one of the sites, there is a checklist of sorts for the prospective student to go through to see if he/she is ready to participate in online delivery. Some of the questions that it asks are: “Can I set a personal schedule and complete assigned work by the required dates?”, and, “Can I solve problems and work through difficulties independently?” The site also advises that if the student has problems or questions to ask someone, most likely one of the staff persons. In general, though, I would say that you would determine that a student is ready to do this type of learning by making sure that they have at least a basic knowledge of how to run the computer that he/she will be using, observing that the student has the attention span to sit at the computer for as long as is necessary to complete assignments of any kind, and provide the necessary tools for the student to stay organized so that he/she does not fall behind/forget assignments.

In order to teach in a virtual school, you would, of course, need to have a fair amount of knowledge about the technology that you will be using, teacher certification, a knowledge of how best to engage distance learning students, be able to pass a criminal background check, and knowledge in the content area of the course. The person would have to be willing to check and respond to emails and, most likely, phone calls on a fairly regular basis, and grade many assignments submitted online.