Tablet Appropriate for Use in Today's Classrooms

Image Credit: Lozano, V. (2014) Alcatel One Touch @ http://techie-pinoy.com/2014/03/30/alcatel-one-touch-pixi-7/

Example of Hand Held Technology Appropriate for Today's Classroom

Image Credit: Lozano, V. (2009) Dynavox Xpress Hand Held Device @ http://techie-pinoy.com/2009/08/15/dynavox-xpress-handheld-device/

Hand held devices in today's classrooms by Devonee Trivett

Image Credit: Lozano, V. 2014 Alcatel One Touch PXL @http://techie-pinoy.com/2014/03/30/alcatel-one-touch-pixi-7/ One device that is quickly emerging in classrooms today are hand held devices. This new tool creates new ways of defining and teaching literacy. “Hand held technologies have initiated new ways to think about books, course packs, and problem based learning” (Ochola, Stachowaik, & Bills, April, 2013). This new way of thinking about what exactly learning and literacy is also creates a disruption in the way things are done in the public school classroom. The students are, by and large, comfortable with the change. Often the teachers need more training and support to help them transition into their distinctly new roles. The traditional classroom, not the teacher, is what is going to be made obsolete by the access these devices provide to greater levels of learning. This said, it is important for us all not to take a “teacher vs.technology” stance when ushering in this new era of learning. These devices are found to create higher levels of student engagement, critical thinking, and knowledge construction in the classroom. Experts in education also see these portable computers as a window for creating a more highly informed, culturally sensitive and collaborative classroom. And if that's not enough to convince those resisting change, learners with disabilities are positively impacted by access to these technologies. (Ochola, et al, 2013). Unfortunately, the most significant barrier to adoption of these devices in all classrooms today is cost. “Because of the expense of hand held devices, many classrooms across the nation do not have access to them.” (Ochola, et al, 2013). In considering the cost of technology, however, the benefits far outweigh the price tag. Reference Ochola,E., Stachowaik, J., & Bills, D. (April, 2013). Learning environments and rapidly evolving handheld technologies. First Mind: Peer Reviewed Journal on the Internet.18, 4-1 Retrieved @ http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3932/3643 Image Credit: Lozano, V. (2014) Alcatel One Touch @ http://techie-pinoy.com/2014/03/30/alcatel-one-touch-pixi-7/

How mobile devices have impacted our society: Image Credit: Liam Walsh, Liam Walsh is a cartoonist for The New Yorker Magazine (2014)

Hand Held Devices in Society: Pros and Cons

Brief Explanation of Hand-Held Devices Tetrad. by Devonee Trivett Hand held mobile devices such as Smartphones and tablets create improvements in human communications, accessibility to information and new technology applications. This technology also enhances personal autonomy, and the ability to manage information and time. With the emergence of this new technology cameras and telephones are becoming obsolete. What this technology creates as unintended consequences -and may eventually lead to its eventual obsolescence- are changes to face to face relationships and modern conversations, challenges to etiquette, infringement upon personal family time or personal time, and privacy. The advent of popular use of this device among teens and the younger generation has increased their ability and willingness to communicate through text and pictures in ways and in numbers that they did not previous to the advent of this device, and this technology rekindles a heated discussion on the ethics of communication and privacy that had not been important to the average person before the emergence of this technology. Hand held devices retrieve a renewed sense of interconnectivity, something lost in our modern world where many before this device had emerged felt isolated. Hand held devices are also used in the classroom, creating a multitude of new learning opportunities for all types of learners. This is also a way to motivate digital learners, who feel comfortable with this mode of learning. "Handheld technologies like personal digital assistants (PDAs), iPads, wireless laptop, e–reader and smart phones are causing a paradigm shift in education" (Ochola,Stachowaik, & Bills, April, 2013. This creates a ripple effect in the educational community, which is why education is both exciting, and experiencing a detectable shift, that can be felt by all today. Reference Ochola,E., Stachowaik, J., & Bills, D. (April, 2013). Learning environments and rapidly evolving handheld technologies. First Mind: Peer Reviewed Journal on the Internet.18, 4-1 Retrieved @ http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3932/3643.

Ethics of Emerging Technologies

Many people I know today are (in my opinion) unnecessarily afraid of their privacy being invaded when they answer surveys or marketing questionnaires. To me we are only going to want to be more and more open about these things, because it actually gives us more say in what is produced. Let's say you are very interested in green technology, when you share this information on surveys, and if enough people voice this opinion, companies might actually start to make decisions with higher regard toward our environment and protecting it from future devastation. It's just one of many ways that we can essentially cast our vote as consumers. I am glad that the companies are listening to us. I am the only person I know in my community who is not concerned about protecting my privacy. What do we have to hide? It's not like we have to share our bank account information with anyone who conducts these surveys, but I do understand that there are unethical forces out there that would take advantage of your information if given the opportunity. So a good degree of caution is good, I suppose I was, thusly, extremely happy to find another person to share my stance on this hyper-sensitivity to privacy we seem to exhibit in our culture. In Kevin Kelly's Ted speech (Kelly, 2007) he discusses the need we will have in the next 5,000 days for increased openness. This was vindicating for me, because I too believe in openness for greater exchange of information and evolution of our species, quite frankly. -Devonee References Kelly, K. (2007, December). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the Web [Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html. Trivett, D. (2014, 4/13/2014) Walden Discussion Board for Emerging and Future Technologies, Module 3 Discussion. Spring, 2014.

Emerging Technology: Uberconference by Google

Uberconference is a technology that represents a rhyme of history. What this technology represents from the past is a need for people to work together in groups, and discuss, much like people did when they told stories around the campfire. Uberconference makes conferencing calls more inclusive by allowing participants to invite new members to Google Hangouts with a phone number. This is more inclusive because not everyone has to have the same level of technology in the group in order to participate. New members don't necessarily have to have video conferencing capabilities now in order to have the ability to participate in video conferences or live video discussions with this new technology. Reference The New Web @ Shortly after Google launched Hangouts, it also started allowing you to add participants by dialing their phone numbers right from Hangouts. Retrieved on 04/13/2014