Joseph Rodriguez
Assignment One: Emerging Technology
Drs. Thornburg, Solloway, and
Rogers defines emerging technology as a process that involves all stakeholders
to look at how technologies could be potential used to increase work place
productivity which would in turn yield greater student gains by impacting their
everyday lives.
There are two definitions that
I believe are most relevant in explaining how to facilitate the diffusion of an
emerging technology in my workplace would have to be Thornburg’s definition and
Roger’s definition. I would choose Thornsburg’s definition as opposed to
Solloway because emerging technology does not have a lot of production costs
involved in the emergence of it in the educational field. Rogers’s definition
involves stakeholders as the people moving the emerging technology into
everyday practice. This is where both definitions work in conjunction to
improve workplace procedures, practices, or policies. As educators we determine
a need that requires further investigation to improve workplace productivity
then we will champion its cause to bring this new strategy, procedure, or
policy into fruition. An example of this emerging technology that I am
referring is the influx of Web 2.0 Tools in the classroom. For my more specific
example of Web 2.0 technology that has been emerging lately within my experience
as a teacher and as an instructional specialist is Padlet. The website address
is https://padlet.com/ Using Padlet, the students can write,
read, listen, and speak which is very essential to the English language development
of English Language learners.
My position on emerging
technology influences how I share these technology integration strategies with
my teachers at my schools greatly. Once I am aware of a need or curiosity I
have tried to determine how I can best support my teachers to reach the ESL
students that we serve. One of my Sheltered Instruction teachers asked me how
they incorporate iPads in their classrooms without having to spend money for an
app. I immediately thought of Padlet and its potential uses in the classroom
are endless. Padlet has the ability for students to create online videos, write
posts, submit attachments, and respond to classmate posts. I have conducted
various professional development trainings at each of the seven schools that I
oversee to ensure that Padlet is being added to the teacher’s instructional
technology tool kit.
A current technology that has
emerged within the past few years is the iPad. The iPad was released April 3,
2010 and within the past few years iPads have been emerging in classrooms to
assist in teaching. A challenge with using the iPads in the classroom is that
teacher need professional development to able to use iPad with fidelity in the
classroom. It is incorrect to assume that teachers automatically know how to maneuver
through apps in an iPad. It is not enough to give teachers new technology to
use in their classroom, we need to make sure that they have adequate ongoing
technology professional development on how to use them appropriately. One of
the problems that are associated with iPads is that misuse of this new
technology by the students. Students already know how to use an iPad and we
will use the iPad to get on social media, play games, listen to music, or any
other activity that is not related to the teacher’s curriculum.
However, the integration of the
iPad has many benefits for promoting a 21st century technology
literate learner by allowing students to utilize multiple components of
multimedia in one device. In today’s society educators are looking for ways to
integrate technology that will cost the least amount of money. Using the iPad,
teachers and student have access to a plethora of apps that they could use to
learn the content. iPad’s create a more versatile technology based learning
environment because students can create, publish, and share multimedia projects
with the world using free apps. Students can communicate with other students
from not only their classroom but the world in an online community.
Potential pitfalls of using
iPad’s in the classroom included: Wi-Fi connectivity, distraction factor, and
battery issues. Many schools have WI-FI access for students to use in their
classrooms for learning their content. However, the connection speed might be
slower if the students are also using the WI-FI connection for their smart
phones. Consequently, the WI-FI connection is being strained to accommodate
videos, music, or other multimedia that is being streamed by the students. A
way to remedy is to have a stronger signal for WI-FI, have students put to
their smart phones in a centralized location once they enter the classroom so
that are not using them during instructional time, having the school district
or campus technology personnel install firewalls that prevent students from
going to streaming websites. Another potential pitfall is the distraction
factor because some students might be tempted to use other apps that might
entice students to exhibit off task behavior. It is recommended that the
teacher monitor the usage of the iPads by walking around the room instead of
being stationed at their teacher desk assuming that their students will follow
teacher directions. Some iPad’s when utilized in increased amounts of time will
drain the battery of the device. It is recommended that iPad’s be plugged in
when not in use so that students will not have an excuse to not participate or
complete assignment due to iPad not being charged.
TAGS: emerging technology, future technology, educational
technology
Website where emerging
technology is featured.
GRAPHIC IMAGES
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). Elliot
Soloway: Emerging vs. emerged technologies [Audio file]. Baltimore,
MD: Author.
Laureate Education (Producer).
(2014k). David Thornburg: What is emerging technology? [Video
file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion
of innovations (5th ed.) New York, NY: Free Press.
