EDET 678 Emerging
Technologies
Week One Blog
Essential Question: How do we define Emerging
Technologies?
The first
time I encountered the term emerging technologies I had an idea of what this
meant. I thought the definition was something along the lines of new technology
that has come to be important in education by being used on regular basis.
After doing some research I realized that I almost had the correct definition
but was a little off. Emerging technologies are not necessarily technologies
that are used already but more has the potential to be used in the classroom
effectively.
As
explained by Veletsianos in his blog, emerging technologies are not necessarily
new for example Virtual Reality has been around for 10+ years but it is still
considered as emerging technology because new aspects of the technology are
coming out. (2008) Emerging technologies are not necessarily one hundred
percent accepted by the educational community but a piece of technology that is
being researched and practiced on how it can support learning in education. Sometimes
these technologies are important for a few years and sometimes they are long-term
ideas that will impact education for a longer time.
The Horizon
Report has given six main focuses in education with long and short-term in
mind. The trends include coding as literacy, students as creators,
collaborative learning, deeper learning approaches, redesigning learning
spaces, and rethinking how school works. The technology that supports these
ideas include but are not limited to makerspaces, online learning, robotics,
virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and wearable technology. (2016)
The
possibilities are endless in what emerging technology can be and I look forward
to what I find and test it out.
Resources:
The New Media
Consortium, & The Consortium for School Networking (2016). The NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12
Edition. Retrieved from https://uasemergtech.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/2016-nmc-cosn-horizon-report-k12-en.pdf
Veletsianos, G.
(2008). A definition of emerging
technologies for education. Retrieved from http://www.veletsianos.com/2008/11/18/a-definition-of-emerging-technologies-for-education/
Mariah,
ReplyDeleteI like how you say that emerging technologies have potential to be used in the classroom effectively. It is so important to know the short term and long term goals of technology. What can we implement now? What needs more time and planning? These are questions we need to ask ourselves and make time to plan for the answers as we think about the students. Technology is so important to the children and their future. What we expose them to now will ultimately give them the most experience in what they will encounter in the future.
-Andrea
My first definition was, new technology that everyone else seems to know about except for me. :)
ReplyDeleteI like your distinction about the new technology being used effectively. I think that is important. If it isn't really helping the lesson to be more effective, then it may not be necessary. It really makes me think of purpose and why am I using the new technology. Is it improving what I am doing or just a new, fun way to do something that doesn't really meet any purpose.
Nice blog entry, Mariah. I agree with your point that the technology may not be new, but if there is a new application that supports learning in the classroom then it is emerging technology.
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