What it All Means
Though we certainly can't fully address this theme, we can reflect on what we have looked at in this course and imagine some potential implications for our ongoing educational practice. To help with this, I have a few resources here for you to look at.
The following presentation is one that I gave at the Universidad de Chile last year. I use a systems framework to look at the impact of technology on education. You are familiar with the ecological approach from Inquiry & LCI, so you might enjoy looking through this to get that bigàsmall picture perspective that I keep saying teachers need to be able to cultivate.
Though we certainly can't fully address this theme, we can reflect on what we have looked at in this course and imagine some potential implications for our ongoing educational practice. To help with this, I have a few resources here for you to look at.
The following presentation is one that I gave at the Universidad de Chile last year. I use a systems framework to look at the impact of technology on education. You are familiar with the ecological approach from Inquiry & LCI, so you might enjoy looking through this to get that bigàsmall picture perspective that I keep saying teachers need to be able to cultivate.
Moving
on to Richardson, I have pulled some Ch. 10 highlights. Hopefully you’ve all
read it and agree that his chapter provides a nice summary as well as some food
for thought about the future for 21st century educators.
The Future...
- the Internet will continue to explore as the most comprehensive source of information in history -- connecting all the knowledge pools in the world together
- content creation will become more and more collaborative
NEW LITERACIES
~ Read/Write ++++
~ Editors as well as readers -- CRITICAL readers
~ Active consumers of information vs. passive acceptors
à PUBLISHERS and COLLABORATORS in virtual environments
~ INFORMATION MANAGERS: skills to collect, store, retrieve, relevant information
"We need to be participants, creators and sustainors of personal learning spaces & networks over our lives using safe, ethical and effective practice"
BIG SHIFTS
- Open Content
- Many, Many Teachers & 24/7 Learning
- The Social, Collaborative Construction of Meaningful Knowledge
- Teaching is Conversation, Not Lecture
- Know 'Where' Learning
- Readers Are No Longer Just Readers
- The Web as Notebook [or Portfolio]
- Writing is No Longer Limited to Text
- Mastery is the Product, Not the Test
- Contribution, Not Completion, as the Ultimate Goal
Redefining -- TEACHERS AS...CONNECTORS not only of content but people
CONTENT CREATORS
COLLABORATORS not just with each other but with their students as well
COACHES who model the skills that students need to be successful and motivate them to strive for it
CHANGE AGENTS moving away from traditional paradigms of instruction
To
provide some more brain fodder, I would like you all to view the following Ted talk video:
At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demonstrated several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his innovative device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop"
Pranav Mistry is the inventor of SixthSense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data. For more see on this see the TED site here.
And Now for Something Completely Different...
Here is a list of Creative short videos related to technology that can be said to present either dystopic or utopic views. As you can see none of them are over 10 mins so you may want to explore more than one. Most are in YouTube and some are on Vimeo
Here is a list of Creative short videos related to technology that can be said to present either dystopic or utopic views. As you can see none of them are over 10 mins so you may want to explore more than one. Most are in YouTube and some are on Vimeo
Bendito Machine [6:35] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiXOigfDb0U
This animated film tells the
story of technological development in terms of ritual and worship - the
characters in the film treat each new technology as god-like, appearing from
the sky and causing the immediate substitution of the technology before it.
What is this film suggesting are the ecological and social implications of an
obsession or fixation on technology? Do the film’s characters have any choice
in relation to their technologies? What are the characteristics of various
technologies as portrayed in this film?
Sight [7:50min] https://vimeo.com/46304267 [vimeo]
Sight explores how the ubiquity
of data and the increasingly blurry line between the digital and the material
might play out in the sphere of human relationships. The focus on the emerging
social and educational use of game-based ‘badging’ is particularly interesting.
What is going on here, and how do you interpret the ending?
Thursday [7:34] https://youtu.be/HQ1z0Zzqg5U
Thursday depicts a tension
between a natural world and a technological world, with humans caught between
the two. What message is the film presenting about technology? What losses and
gains are described? Who or what has agency in this film?
Here are two video
advertisements - one from Corning,
and one from Intel - setting out
these companies’ visions of how their products will evolve and be used in the
future. In both cases, the companies position their information technologies as
completely integrated with daily life and education.
A Day Made of Glass [5:58min] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkHpNnXLB0
Bridging Our Future [3:17min] http://youtu.be/BYMd-7Ng9Y8
New Media [2:21] https://vimeo.com/33193443#at=1
A very short, very grim representation of
the effects of technology on humanity. There are definite visual echoes of
“Bendito Machine III” here - what similarities and differences can you identify
between the two films?
Inbox [8:37] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75wNgCo-BQM
Inbox is a quirky
representation of the ways in which web-based technology connects people, the
limitations of those connections, and the nature of communication in a mediated
world. Depending on how you interpret the relationship between the two main
characters, and the ending, you might argue that this is a utopian account, or
a dystopian one - what do you think, and why?
Google Googles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhgfz0zPmH4
This is still a new technology, but one that is starting to attract quite a bit of buzz. As it gets perfected, it is easy to imagine how this tool will become an amazingly powerful assistive technology.
Augmented Reality: see: https://sites.google.com/site/tech4tlcontent/aug
For those of you looking for a cute digital storytelling tool for your students check out the free version of Zooburst
http://www.zooburst.com/
ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own 3D pop-up bookshttp://www.zooburst.com/
Second Life [online virtual immersive worlds]: I have a little information from some previous research that I did HERE but you may be surprised to learn that a number of educational activities occur 'in-world'. See ISTE in SL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP137QgYKvQ
Re: Engaging in the Asynchronous Discussion
For the sake
of a richer experience, I’d like to suggest that this discussion be open from
Thursday to about mid Saturday. Let’s just post
below to keep us all in the same place.
1. Create a separate posting for each review and
post the first as early as you can on Thursday. From there stagger your reviews
[e.g. Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning]. That way we can cycle back through
the discussion build on each others’ postings.
2. Be sure
to clarify what you are responding to [particularly if you select the short
videos]. Highlight what resonated with you and see if you can think creatively
about how to bring your reviews back to the theme of “What it all means” that
is, for education – your professional or personal growth, teaching, learning,
supporting students and families….
3. Make sure
to read and respond to some of the postings. I don’t really want to put a
number on it, but over the 3 days please do revisit, read, engage a bit :0)
Other Wrapping Up
Last but not least, you have a couple of days to finish up that App lesson and your Technology proposal, and use the checklist to make sure that you hit those elements that were remaining [I wont be upset if you leave out 1 or 2 :0).
Building off this page, and the summary of chapter 10 in our text, I believe we hit the nail on the head when we talk about moving technology into our classrooms, and preparing teachers for this shift. I do not believe that at this moment schools are caught up to where we are in this world in terms of what we are capable of when discussing technology. I do believe funding, and and wide range of abilities is a barrier, but as an educator, I will hope despite the extraneous events that may deprive my class of using technology, it wont prevent me from seeking out technology and investing in my own practice.
ReplyDeleteAs of now, Web 2.0 is real, relevant, and what we need to achieve in the classroom settings, but I also think its fair to say that teachers should not be so invested in today's buzz on tablets and cellphones, because who knows what the future holds. Teachers must always think on their feet and adapt to these new features which will always benefit our students, and allow them to learn in the way their generation demands.
What excites me today about the content that I have read, and would like to implement in my classrooms, is the idea of using multiple tools in technology to benefit our classroom. Building off of web 2.0, students will be able to access knowledge and read in new ways, record and display learning records using blogs, wikis, and running documents. Students will be able to collaborate in a similar fashion. I will be able to tap into multiple ways of learning and multiple ways of knowing by eliminating standard lectures, and possible flipping classrooms. The web can become the students notebook and portfolio, and writing is no longer limited to text, as Richardson highlights. In addition to measuring mastery of the product, not the test, now education can transition in a holistic measure of knowledge, and not ones ability to rote memorize.
It is my hope that I can move beyond what is available to me in this book, and in this program at pacific, and stay up to date with everything that transpires over my next 40 years in the classroom!
Here are a few ways I have demenstrated my knowledge for this material...
My blog, my wiki, my e-portfolio, my twitter account, my screen casts and youtube videos, my diggo groups, my podcasts, mygoogle+ accounts, my edmodo account/presentation, homework and learning projects in google docs, and my practice with microsoft and apple tablets! WOW, only in 4 weeks! imagine the potential!!
It IS amazing how much has been accomplished in such a short time! I also hear when you say that it is less important to get hung up on the individual tools - they do come and go. I think what I've always found so exciting about Web 2.0 is that now we have so many options for developing a full range of learning experiences - across the behaviourist to constructivist and now to connectivist spectrum - to meet our diverse students' needs.
DeleteRon,
DeleteWhen you wrote "What excites me today about the content that I have read, and would like to implement in my classrooms, is the idea of using multiple tools in technology to benefit our classroom," that is exactly how I feel! I spent over a half hour today showing my Dad some of the technologies we learned about. He was blown away by what I am able to do, all from what we learned in 4 weeks! Diigo, Edmodo, Googlesites/docs (the 3 tools I am most confident that I will use in my practice) each blew him away! I showed him my technology page in my googlesite (embedding youtube videos, LINKS that look professional, google album, etc), and he was amazed. He is an engineer, so that's saying something! He also said my older brother (a computer engineer) might have a thing or two to learn from me. I say all this to emphasize what we have been able to learn, and the tools with which we are leaving this course. Like you said, "using multiple tools in technology to benefit our classroom." I believe we are well on our way to being able to do that well.
Music to my ears Elizabeth :0) I will be really curious to hear what you all find happening out in your placements in the fall. Hopefully you will be able to explore some technology tools with your kids.
DeleteHope that as we grow as a team of educators...beyond our placements, that we see the vaulue in sharing new information with each other. Would be great to keep our group together in a way that is beneficial to our practice... Perhaps in person? Oh that silly!! people won't do that then! ;)
DeleteRon I'd love to see us do that through our portal, or even here...wherever makes sense for people. I have put the link for this blog on the ePortfolio pages but also created a new post in the community announcements on the main page if people want to share there [remember any one of you can post to if you're signed in]. As I mentioned in class we will also revisit technology stuff in LCIII.
DeleteMy response about "Sight"
ReplyDeleteIt is sort of startling how far-fetched yet realistic this video portrays the increasingly blurry line between the digital and the material, as certainly technology is well on its way for this to be viable... I do think that technology such as this serves a very limited purpose, and perhaps will only be available to the wealthiest market. Perhaps not though, similar thought on lap tops 15 years ago.
I can appreciate the amazing potential this has for improving our lives, but just as we notice every driver, and person at the dinner table with their face buried in their cellphone or tablet, I do see the potential for advanced technology to get in the way of human interaction, and our ability to "flow" as a society. Thoughts?
I agree...blurring the line between digital and material...and I do believe we are heading more and more that way, and it seems willingly so? I actually found the video creepy and unsettling - the notion that the 'sight' actually prevented them from really seeing.
DeleteI found your second to be really interesting! I see myself as a pretty social person, but I like the face to face conversations so the idea of advanced technology worries me a bit. I can remember when smart phones really started to take off and hanging out with my friends who had them. They would ALWAYS be on their phones and all I wanted to do was talk. I also really enjoy talking on the phone which I feel like is fading out due to how easy texting, tweeting, face booking, etc is. I hope that technology does advance but it fears me to think of losing that face to face conversations or even hearing someone's voice live.
DeleteCh 10 response: Internet is becoming “the most comprehensive source of information in history” (page 147)
ReplyDeleteThe overall theme of what I have learned in this course is something that Chapter 10 mentions: connectivity. I hope to use the internet and technology as a form of connection for my students. That I might connect better with them, their parents, their community, their specialists, and my curriculum, and that they might connect better with research, each other, their community, and their world. One result of this connectivity is the ability and opportunity for great collaboration, among disciplines, interests, students, teachers, schools, and communities. The information that my students will learn about is perhaps the most current information in the history of learning, because of the immediacy of the internet and technologies.
Something that is a bit overwhelming is the content that I now have with which to teach. No longer will I be limited to textbooks and books from the library. I now have access to an almost endless amount of literature, AND the ability to connect with other teachers who have taught the same material, and share ideas; contributing to the content! I feel like my teaching will (hopefully) be more human-based, as the focus will be on learning from others around the world, both personally and professionally as I develop my curriculum, but also for my students, as they connect with other children around the world, and contribute to their world at a young age. I believe this could be a step towards a more tolerant, aware, cohesive, knowledgeable world community.
Perhaps the greatest example I have of this was something that happened last month, in May. Every year I volunteer at an auction for a local organization that raises money for orphans in Ethiopia. Every year they do a big money donation opportunity at the end of the evening, and show a video of what project(s) that money will specifically go to. The video alone is always inspiring. This year, however, was probably the best experience and appreciation for technology that I have ever experienced in my life. After the video, and before the big donation opportunity, they were able to video Skype in the director of the orphanage that was to receive the funds from that specific donation. Children were surrounding him as he spoke to a room of 300+ attendees, and many of them wore glasses that have been donated in years past (children literally wearing the EXACT glasses that donors in Portland had worn). Needless to say, having that experience of putting faces to a name, talking with those “faces,” and realizing the human-ness of the event was inspiring. I use this example to show the ability of technology when used for good: to connect. We can encourage our students to connect to children very unlike themselves around the world, and realize and appreciate their similarities and differences, and to know that we are not alone.
I am excited for my students to be able to have a greater variety of options to use in expressing their knowledge (videos, photographs, wikis, blogs). I also look forward to the organizational abilities of what technology can provide: having all a student’s (and teacher’s) work in one place, where it can follow them wherever they go is amazing, and will open many doors and opportunities.
One of my favorite quotes is “Our deepest human desire is to understand others, to love that understanding of others, to be understood ourselves, and to be loved in being understood.” I believe that the internet and technology are a great tool to help realize that desire, as we connect with our fellow humans in ways we have never been able to do until now.
Your story about skyping in the orphanage director is a great example of a tool that can really enrich our experience. Applied to the classroom, it is an easy way to bring in experts or guest speakers that your students otherwise would not have the chance to meet.
DeleteBENDITO Machine: My YOUTUBE RESPONSE
ReplyDeleteA possessive partner...that is a great way to put it! And I love the question - who is in control, us or technology? The relationship we have with technology is really quite bizarre if you think about it, and it's not just the kids. When my husband Rick and I were taking the Max out to the airport a couple of days ago, we noted that every single adult - except one who was reading a book - was either looking at a device or plugged in to one by headphones. As RIck was also carrying a book [and btw still has a flip phone] I starting joking that he and the lady were sporting passe devices. Then next thing we knew, out came the lady's cel phone!
DeleteWhy do we feel that we always need to be connected? The phone rings during dinner, or one of the girls gets a text. Would it kill us not to respond that minute and just wait until dinner is finished?
I read an article about the importance of putting the phone away, and disconnecting from technology for 2 hours a day, just to stop and think. This by a fortune 500 CEO. As a consumer of technology, I think about this, sometimes technology gets in the way, and we idolize the capabilities, but I hope not to worship new things, but rather value the capabilities of what is in between my ears. My good friend ( a muscle car junkie) says reading a book is sort of like driving his 1966 mustang...People always stop and look at you, and wonder where you got that old thing from!
DeleteAnita, I was at Noah's baseball game a few weeks ago and I was the ONLY one who was not connected to my device. It made me so sad. Kids are playing baseball, the sun is shining, there are countless things to take in and faces were buried.
DeleteIt has been months since I had WiFi turned on on my cell.
We were sitting around the table after New Years & we were talking about personal and family resolutions. Che said: "No more Facebook on your phone."
THAT WAS AN EYE OPENER!
& that was that. I check it in the morning; I check it before bed. & you know what? 99% of the time I do no glean anything that makes me a better, more thoughtful person.
I want to be present!
It is sad that we dont live more in the moment. I've posted a link below to your other comment about this.
DeleteA DAY MADE OF GLASS: MY SKEPTICISM
ReplyDeleteHad a very similar same reaction! Definitely not reflecting the world of 99% of the people on this planet, or the kids most of us are going to end up working with.
DeleteIt was TOO over the top! Yes?
Delete& while that was off-putting, the glass wall that separated the kids from the forest was awful. They were literally separated from nature.
It's not natural to be separated from nature.
NEW MEDIA: THE ULTIMATE SANDWICH
ReplyDeleteJenny,
DeleteI love your video. Ha! I completely agree. I think technology is a great...tool. That is it. I also do not want technology to take the place of people, and still want people to be "enough." I hope that as our world becomes more and more connected with technology that we don't become more and more reliant upon it. I know this hope is highly unlikely to happen, but I think of how often people are looking at their phones or their tablets rather than interacting face to face. I am guilty of this, too. I think we are starting to lose our ability to interact with one another, and I worry about my own someday children...will they have the social skills necessary to interact with others, or will they be so controlled by their technology (or rather choose to be controlled by it) that interacting with others without technology will be unappealing? This is a very important issue to remember as we "add" technology to our lives.
I was just talking to one of by best friends who lives in Bend (worked part of the year at a school that rolled out iPads for everyone). She said there were SO many problems. I guess administrators and teachers have said that while there are ALWAYS students who are disengaged no matter what you try, there are now almost 1/2 of the student populations that is 100% disengaged. HALF! Teachers can't monitor. Teachers can't see what they are doing. Kids have found ways around blocked content. It is a mess, she said. She did say that some teachers are doing amazing things, however, the greater majority don't know how to utilize the technology. Plus, there is this idea of not being able to control what the kids are doing on screens that the teacher cannot see.
DeleteKids, in general, don't want to use technology to learn, They want to zone out and participate in something that has NO academic/intellectual value.
P.S. Ben Harper came to town & I was stunned and shocked to see how many people--ticket buyers--watched the concert through their video (cell) devices & never really looked and listened to the artist singing.
LIVE IN THE MOMENT!
Here's a link to an article that speaks exactly to this Jenny. Degrees of Experience . There are a couple of images on the page that capture exactly that idea of being present in the moment.
DeleteWHAT IT ALL MEANS TO ME!
ReplyDeleteHere is a little sidenote: It is really nice to be able to tell you what I want to say instead of writing what I want to say. I mean, it may not be as polished and sound as brilliant (HAHAHA), but I recognize how helpful it might be to students when they may need a break from writing. It is also a really great tool to use for brainstorming or just talking out your ideas. Once students have done their "brainstorm" videos they could easily revisit them and jot down ideas that emerged! Aw, technology, you did it again! :)
Sixth Sense Technologies
ReplyDeleteThis video was amazing. There were so many examples and technologies that Mr. Mistry showed that left my jaw hanging. I felt like I was watching Star Trek, Star Wars, or Avatar. To be able to use your hands to swipe (move!) things on a screen/paper/palm of your hand without touching them (just hovering over them) is so futuristic, and a peek at to where our technologies may be someday (think Darth Vader moving Luke Skywalker with merely gesturing his hands at Luke. Amazing).
In the video, Mr. Mistry demonstrated a literal googlemap, where one can put an actual object (coffee cup) on a digital map, and the map will show where the nearest café is. This concept of connecting the physical world with the digital world is an important concept to focus on. I think so often technology is used in a way that is less hands-on, which I do not believe is good for students (doing is learning…). The idea of using physical things to learn, but done in a digital way is something I hope is utilized in the future. Along the lines of education, the technologies demonstrated also made me think of the SPED world, and what technologies like these will mean for my students. It made me think particularly of eye gaze technologies (for students who have limited mobility). I am excited to think of where SPED will go with advancing technologies.
I agree Elizabeth that SPED students stand to really benefit from some of the new technologies that are emerging. In this video I love the idea of being able to work on any surface - no cables, lugging around of cumbersome devices. I was also impressed by how he figured out some of these things by just taking apart different devices and reassembling them into something completely different...brilliant!
DeleteThis guy was freakishly ingenious! What a mind! Right?
DeleteMy favorite part was the picture taking! Love that!
Love that he wants to open source his brilliant idea. Everyone should have access!
I wish my brain worked at 1/8 the capacity that his does. Really inspiring!
Bridging our future: Intel
ReplyDeleteI chose this short video because we live where the “hub” of Intel lives (Hillsboro/Forest Grove/Beaverton/etc.). I LOVED watching this video after the Sixth Sense Technologies video, because it was all about hands-on learning via technology. The premise is a group of students designing a model bridge. The ability for the students to use a laptop at school and take it home to continue their work in the same format they were using at school seems so logical. This seemed like a great example of fluid learning, and would hopefully allow for the student to make more connections to “real life,” if they are bringing their work home in such a manner. I loved when the student was able to connect and video chat with an engineer in San Francisco (who worked on bridges). THAT is technology, right there: connecting.
I remember building a model bridge in third grade with toilet paper tubes, glue, and popsicle sticks.
These students were able to draw an object on their laptop, put it in cloud, make it 3-D, have a wooden structure made to match that drawn object (laser cut!), and then use that wooden structure (that they designed!) on the model bridge. How customized is that? This video got me excited for the opportunities my students will have in being able to think up something (e.g.: a part to a bridge) and see it made before their eyes, all due to technology. The possibilities seem endless…
That is so cool that the student was able to chat with an engineer! Reminds me of the story in the book about the class being able to get responses from the author of the book they were reading! What a thrilling thing for these students to be able to take what they are learning and literally see it as a profession in the real world that they can do too!
DeleteHello ladies,
DeleteAnytime that technology can enhance the learning of the students, is a plus. Having students see the connections between technology and how is used in a real setting, adds so much value to the students experiences.
Yes...and wouldn't it be amazing if all of those amazing resources were available to ALL students?
DeleteChapter ten Summary:
ReplyDeleteThis chapter does a great job at wrapping everything up. Loved how they talked about the big aspect of the web and using it in the classroom is collaboration, which I am a huge fan of! The saying it takes a village to raise a child speaks numbers to me and collaboration to me is the best thing for our students, not only will you get great ideas and possibly make your life a little easier having a creative outlet to bounce ideas off of, it teachers your students the importance and benefits of working well with other people. I also love bring in the internet into the classroom which is really bringing in what our students are interested in into the classroom. The big shifts sections was really great and I am going to be keeping my eye on the changes and even more frontiers these shifts will take in the future. Again, they talk a lot about working together with other teachers and I just love that! I think my favorite shift though is, “teaching in conversation, not lecture”. This is how my classroom will look like:)
I'm really hoping that you'll find a way to explore using your blog in one of you placements over the next semesters. I'd be curious to hear about your experiences.
DeleteI am really excited about it too:)
DeleteSixth Sense:
ReplyDeleteI found him to be fascinating! It is mind blowing to me how advance technology is becoming and sort of made me feel like I am living in the stone age with the "little" technology I use, which actually compared to some is a lot! I am really interested to see when and if this stuff becomes more spread and everybody uses it!
New Media:
ReplyDeleteWow! While I think technology and the amazing advances we are making are fabulous and going to make great improvements in the world of education (as we have talked about) I did find myself in a bit of agreeance with this video. I am very much a visual person and I like to write everything down and make lists. I try to be better about using my technologies for this but I find myself always going for the pen and paper. I also like the face to face interactions which I fear will eventually be not as common. i.e. meetings will all go to conference calls. I am very intrigued to see where we will go in the future.
Google Goggles:
ReplyDeleteAgain, Wow! I love the ideas of Google Goggles. I think it is so cool that you can snap a picture of something and then get information of it! I could see using this as a really cool project for my students, using them to capture items off of a list I provide sort of like a scavenger hunt! The students would take the google goggle app and take the pictures from the list and record what was said about them through the goggles. They have not perfected them yet, they are not able to capture food for example, but google is an amazing company that has made so many advances that I am sure it will not be long before they are perfected.
I appreciate the idea of Google Goggles. I think the technology is amazing. But why? I fail to see the "why." Like I said, I appreciate the innovation, the possibilities, the sheer brainpower to make something like this become a reality; however, why??
Delete:)
I struggle with that same question! I have heard they are working on a car that drives itself!? Correct me if I am wrong but that terrifies me!! I guess that is just the way inventions work. Wonder what people thought of when the lightbulb was invented after they were so used to using candles? Sure made our life easier:)
DeleteThe Sixth Sense Technology [Pranav Mistry]
ReplyDeleteInteresting concept!!!
Two main ideas come to my mind as I reflect back to the information delivered by Pranav.
First, WOW, the engineering that must have taken to create such a TOOL! I can see how this tool could be beneficial to students in a SPED and general education classroom. The concept of having information transfer from one device to another and with such ease is crazy. Students who may lack fine motor strength can use this tool. Students can practice the same movements in those muscles, but without having to put the pressure in their hands.
Second, he said that the intention of this tool was for people not to be behind a computer/device, which would allow for people to interact in a different way. I agree, but what happens to actual face-to-face interactions and the richness of learning to verbally interact with one another? I think about children who may have behavioral challenges because of the lack social skills/social interactions. Children at a young age learn to read facial expressions, which are then combine with language expressions. Children learn to read emotions and react to those emotions, in which are beneficial as children begging to interact socially with other children. Is there an APP to teach social interactions? Or the value that is in it? As a person who sees the value in technology, I also see that as a technology consumer comes a great responsibility of knowing and learning how/when/where/why the to use technology.
This TED Talk was pretty mind-blowing. When I was taking notes on this video I had the same response you did: WOW! WOW! WOW! It really is a brilliant mind that thinks of these concepts and then is able to make them a reality. I mean, placing your fingers & taking a picture. AWESOME! Right?
DeleteThe other thing that blew me away was his desire to make it open source so that everyone could make the devices necessary and have ACCESS to the technology. How unselfish! How inspiring! He sees it as a moment to share he piece of the pie. I mean, who needs a whole pie for themselves anyway, right?
REVOLUTIONARY!
!Viva la Revolucion!
DeleteCessiah,
DeleteI agree with your points on how sixth sense could potentially affect interactions. While techies would be super excited to share their mastery of this new technology, I think there would be an even larger population who would be annoyed by the extrinsic abilities of the device.
Bendito MAchine
ReplyDeleteI think you made a great point Cesiah. Technology does pull us out of our 'natural' environment rooted in the earth. But as we ruin that environment and live more and more in virtual context, who knows, maybe that is to become our natural environment? It feels divorced from the biological bodies that we live in, but others may argue that our biology ties us down. Our reality now will may look drastically different from reality in the future
DeleteHello Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI just got done watching the video “A Day Made of Glass,” and I think you brought up a great point of the accessibility that students from a low SES would have. An as we have discuss in class, even now, some students do not have access to Internet at home, or own a computer, or IPad (they may have a Smartphone) which provides a challenge for teachers who want to incorporate technology into the classroom. Knowing and understanding the population of students that we get to work with and the resources that are available in the school, is key when supporting all students. My approach to technology is to understand its benefits and limitations and to remember that technology is only a TOOL.
What It All Means to Me!
ReplyDeleteCesiah you need to give us access to your video
ReplyDeleteaccess granted …
DeleteI find myself incredibly conflicted when it comes to the Big Shifts stated in the text. I am an advocate for a move to a horizontal approach to instruction and love the idea of using the huge pool of informational resources which are continue to become more accessible, but I am not completely on board with a 24/7 approach which focuses so heavily on technology as THE educational tool. For adult learners, it is one thing, but for young people I think that there are numerous difficulties faced when technology is heavily relied upon. For one, as the author stated, there is an abundance of non-reviewed and unauthenticated information floating around the web. As an adult, experience and prior knowledge assist the researcher in avoiding bogus content. A child researcher, on the other hand, is naive and easily influenced by what they read. Another huge aspect of relying on technology is the lack of time spent working with people face-to-face. School is not just an institution for academics. It is the environment where we learn about society and how to exist with all the other people in it. If all group work is done on separate screens it totally defies the purpose. Yes, technology is and the web are amazing tools which allow us the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with people all over the globe, but I also think there is a very primal and pack animal component to our make up that can only be nurtured through human contact. For thousands of generations the best lessons were told and learned around food and fire. The other problem I have with the 24/7 concept is that there needs to be time for kids to be kids and if we eliminate the occasions when this is socially expected, then childhoods will suffer. I know that he doesn’t necessarily mean that students need to be studying 24/7 and that the idea refers to accessibility. I am just worried that our culture (which is already suffering emotionally and physically from many aspects of modern development) will develop into an even more anti-social bunch who rely exclusively on their computers to make their minds up for them. There just needs to be a balance. The web is an amazing resource and I will continue using it extensively for purposes in and out of the classroom. The ability to share information between adult teachers is one of the most exciting aspects and is revolutionizing the way we approach research and collective collaboration. None-the-less, I will always be wary when introducing young students to the vast accessibility of the web.
ReplyDeleteSixth Sense-
ReplyDeleteThe time of virtual reality is here! I still find it funny that he states that this device will eliminate the use of technological devices because isn't his invention a device? As an everyday tool, I see sixth sense as more of a novelty right now, but I might just be out of touch. I just can't see myself utilizing such a tool. I still think that any device that distracts it's user from their environment is more of an annoyance than anything. Really amazing, but if faced with some person throwing images up on the wall of the Max, or interacted with me by casting descriptive words about my personality on my shirt, I would be irritated.
New Media-
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of stuff I get excited about. I love the artistic capabilities provided by new technology. People are now able to tell stories and create fantastical environments right from their personal computers. It wasn't long ago that small productions would cost millions to develop. Today, artists use reasonably priced resources which are capable of creating mind blowing pieces. Super cool!