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Five Ground
Rules to Keep Up With Technology in Education
By Gary Marx on June 18, 2015 9:24 AM edweek.org
Ubiquitous, interactive technology is shaping how we live,
how we learn, how we work, how we see ourselves, and how we relate to the
world. Technologies have a way of bursting onto the scene, leaving a trail of
opportunity and disruption. It's happened before...and it's happening again.
The big difference? The pace of change.
What we've gained is an avalanche of
new technologies, each with a set of life-changing benefits and possible
consequences. What we've lost is what the "ancients of a previous
decade" called "the between" or "between time." For
the consumer, the time between anticipation and gratification continues to
shrink.
In this brief essay, I'll take
snapshots of nine realities, possibilities, and concerns, all driven by our
tech-accelerated move from an Industrial Age into a Global
Knowledge/Information Age, even an Age of Knowledge Creation and Breakthrough
Thinking.
Expect many technologies to become
even more mobile, wearable, and invisible. We'll
put them on when we get dressed and hardly give it a second thought. Iowa City
Community Schools Superintendent Stephen Murley observes, "Technology
immigrantsthink about technology. For digital natives, children and
young adults, it just is."
Technology is more than a device
with a keyboard.Nanotechnology, at the molecular
level, is allowing us to move atoms around within a molecule to produce a
revolution in materials science. Biotechnology, robotics, and development of
higher-capacity batteries are exploding fields, along with data analytics.
Expect billions of devices to be connected to the Internet of Things.
A fixed physical workplace will
become less significant. With widely distributed computing
power, networks, and portability, many of us will be able to do our jobs nearly
anywhere. Think of cottage industries, consultants, free-lancers, and employees
of large and small firms who spend a lion's share of their time working from a
variety of locations.
Equal opportunity for bandwidth will
become part of the level playing field. It might even
be seen as a civil right.
The power of social media will
continue to increase. By whatever future names they are
given, interactive social media will rally people to sing anthems at shopping
centers, protest or support public issues, and send suggestions directly to
classroom teachers.
Increasing numbers of people will be
blindsided by their own dashboards. A word of
warning to those who program their dashboards to give them only one side of a
story: You just might lose touch with the broader world.
Discovery, enabled in part by
immersive technologies, will bring greater life to education. We
all know that the thrill of discovery teaches us lessons we never forget.
Tools of the learning trade will
grow by the minute. We're surrounded by new tools for
teaching and learning, and they are multiplying. Artificial Intelligence and
Augmented Reality are among them. Students are reporting on their research
(learning through inquiry) using writing, speaking, thinking, reasoning,
problem solving, creativity, collaboration, and interdisciplinary skills. Their
tools often include videos they produce, PowerPoint presentations, and lessons
for their classes. Learning-technology veteran Gary Rowe of Rowe, Inc. sees the
evolution of 3D visual media making virtual travel a possibility. He suggests
virtual field trips to "Bunker Hill, Bell Labs, and the Great Barrier
Reef."
Getting and keeping attention will
become exponentially more challenging. Whether we're speaking to staff,
constituents, a community group, or students, we know up front that nearly all
of us have access to the same information. While using communication
technologies can help us stay in touch and up to date, it can also give us
graphic, animated tools to help us make learning more exciting and novel. In Talk
Like TED, author Carmine Gallo quotes Northwestern University Adjunct
Professor Martha Burns, who observes, "Our goal as teachers is to get our
students addicted to learning."
A Few Suggested Ground Rules for
Technology:
• The same device that can
connect us to the world can also isolate us from personal face-to-face
communication. We may need remedial units or courses on how to talk with each
other.
• Each technology can be used
constructively or destructively. An aircraft that can take us to exotic places
can also bring down an office building.
• Not everything on the
Internet is factual. Thinking, reasoning, problem solving, research, and other
skills are essential in separating wheat from chaff, truth from fiction.
• Consequences for ourselves
and others should be clear if we ignore the rules of netiquette.
• Finally, students should
know that we are depending on them to invent or develop entirely new or next
generations of existing technologies that will help us shape our future.
Today's entrepreneurial students will be the ones who conceive of new
industries and job opportunities that may be beyond our imaginations.
The silicon chip may not be able to
give us the exponential increases we've come to expect in computer speed and
capacity. Already, quantum computers are in various stages of invention. Each
will likely be built around a qubit. All of us will be jolted by the quantum
impact these dazzling devices have on an already dizzying pace of change.
Just for perspective. Remember five
or ten years ago when we declared we would never be able to use some of the new
technologies? Today, we can't do without them.
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For a great email parody, view the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&__scoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618
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