Essential Question: How do we define Emerging Technologies?It has been a busy last couple of days of school and now I am heading home. I am traveling today and unfortunately have not had time to fully read everything. But I will post what I have and try to update tomorrow when I get back to Indiana. I think this is tough to define. It is hard to define what is emerging until it is already the next new thing. Veletsianos (2016) describes emerging technology (ET) as "tools, innovations, and advancements utilized in diverse educational settings to serve a varied education-related purposes." He goes on the talk about the 5 characteristics of emerging technology:
After reading the article I wanted something more. I stumbled on this short video. I know it is just about robots but I think it is too the point on the definition of ET. Technology is changing all of the time and it is hard to know what the next new thing will be. Veletsianos (2016)I dug a little deeper trying to see what emerging technologies were being used in education. Briggs (2013) has a top 10 list, and the first one I can say is huge in my classroom. The first one is cloud computing. I find this to be invaluable. Now instead of a student having to have a certain computer they can access documents on any computer. Students can also work together and collaborate instead of one person doing all of the typing. This has really changed the way a student interacts in the classroom. I wish I would've had this growing up. Even in college, I graduated 4 years ago, I only really used dropbox and google docs was relatively new. I know there are many others, but these 2 stick out in my mind. UPDATE I was not comfortable with what I had posted. It just felt unfinished. I had an idea of what is emerging technology but wanted a clearer definition, if possible. So I did what anyone would do and searched "what is emerging technology." I found a great blog post by Hilary Sutcliffe (2014) titled Emerging Technology Definition Brainstorm!. Her definition is very similar to what I listed above. She lists 5 characteristics of ET just as Veletsianos (2016) did:
Sources
Briggs, S. (2013, July 16). 10 Emerging Educational Technologies and How They Are Being Used Across the Globe. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/the-ten-emerging-technologies-in-education-and-how-they-are-being-used-across-the-globe/ Sutcliffe, H. (2014, May 13). Emerging Technology definition brainstorm! Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://www.matterforall.org/emerging-technology-definition-brainstorm/ Veletsianos, G. (2016). A definition of Emerging Technologies for Education. Retrieved from http://www.veletsianos.com/2008/11/18/a-definition-of-emerging-technologies-for-education/
6 Comments
Daysha
5/21/2016 08:19:24 am
Thank you for summing emerging technologies up for us. I'm new to this class format and feeling lost. I am also loving cloud computing! I used it consistently for the first time last semester and it was so nice being able to work on the same document at school and home without worrying about constantly saving my work and carrying around a thumb drive!
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Sara Lucas
5/21/2016 05:46:14 pm
Don't worry it gets easier. By the end of my first class it was almost second nature. Also I found it easiest to use weebly. I tried blogger my first semester because I was used to it. The next semester I tried setting up wordpress but the settings were hard to figure out. Weebly I had tried before and when I used it again things were much easier. Occasionally I have some things I can't figure out, but google always has the answer.
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Tricia Turley
5/22/2016 04:30:28 pm
Sara, I feel like you really hit the nail on the head with the challenge of defining something that is emerging, since it has not yet become its fullness. That really helped me better grasp why this assignment felt so challenging for me.
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Camille Varin
7/3/2016 04:02:37 pm
I agree with both of you. The nature of defining something that is not yet fully understood is problematic, and I find myself challenged with the task of writing about ET without sounding pessimistic because I do love technology and how it can be applied in the classroom. But Sarah, you summed it up perfectly when you said, "It is simply impossible to keep up."
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5/22/2016 07:55:47 pm
Thanks for your post and I liked the short video. It highlighted the fact the ET could be hype or promise. Thanks for reminding me I need to post my sources.
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5/22/2016 09:08:21 pm
Hi Sarah, Your post really helped me clarify a few ideas: first, that these technologies aren't fully understood, so it's difficult to know how to use them properly. This may contribute to education's resistance to change in this regard. If the technologies aren't completely understood, then their impact on student learning isn't completely understood either, right? I also liked how you highlighted the constant change and the difficulty in keeping up!
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