Over the past month, I’ve been bookmarking, tagging and tracking different sources related to education, technology, learning, training, and trends noted by others. I’ve come across a variety of different trends, but I’m only going to briefly talk about a few of the ones that relate most with my life and profession. The main theme that seems to come across the majority of the topics I’m going to discuss is the increasing significance of technology in education and learning.
The article 11 Ways to Learn in 2011 discuses how one can go about improving their own learning by using the world wide web. I.e. “Mastering the How-To Universe” and “Learn On The Go”. Expanding how, where and what we learn is no longer a trend but a reality. According to Statistics Canada, in 2009 approximately 80% of Canadians were using the internet. Since we can now access the internet via our telephones, I’d say it would be safe to assume that that number has certainly increased. Keeping this in mind, it only makes sense that we incorporate technology into a variety of areas in learning; such as incorporating interactive whiteboards, hand held devices, online education, and so forth.
One of the trends I find to be emerging in education technology is the use of iPads and tablets in the classroom. Not only are they being used as an additional media, but they are actually replacing things that are considered to be traditional learning media, for example dictionaries, calculators, textbooks and even school bags. South Hedland Primary School is conducting a pilot program in which “hands-on” technology is being integrated into the classroom for all ages. The iPads are found to be a great tool for children who are “still developing their fine motor skills”. In Qatar, the Zainab Preparatory School has provided each student with an iPad as replacements for their school bags. The entire curriculum is installed on the iPad, allowing students to no longer worry about textbooks, calculators, even notebooks. Even Statistics New Zealand, explains how iPads are now part of their “basket of goods” when trying to calculate inflation. My guess though is that once iPads become more of a reality in all sectors of education around the world, there will be something new to take its place and improve on it.
As mentioned earlier, most phones now have internet capabilities - smart phones. When Apple first came out with their slogan "There’s an app for that", they weren’t wrong because now the idea of apps has spread like wild fire. Companies all over are racing to come out with something new and better for our mobile devices, that will help make our lives easier and/or more interesting. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I have read about a new app that is going becoming popular or to soon hit the market. Such as the app Dynolicious that helps you track your vehicle’s performance.
I haven’t done enough research to determine which apps are trending at the moment or which ones will come out on top in the future. However, my focus is on how some apps in general are helping focus on e-Learning and learning management tools. In the article Consumer technology ‘embraces e-learning’, Dr David Guralnick believes that “the consumer technology available on the market is likely to expand and improve, thus making way for the continued development of e-learning platforms, methods and ways of providing information.” By creating apps that are geared toward learning, such as Math Drills, Grammar Up, and On This Day, they can create better more elaborate apps in the future.
Social media is another trend that I find to be currently sticking out above the many. Although it seems to only beginning to poke its head into the world of education with its problems and misuse, it still has some very beneficial aspects. According to the article A Case of Using Social Networking for Learning, Richard J. Light found that students who used social networking were significantly better able to work in study groups. Below is a graphic by Onlinephd.org that goes into depth about how Facebook as a social network is enriching the college experience. Facebook is definitely filled with many distractions but it also contains aspects that helps individuals with their studies – study group discussions/chats, school specific apps and so forth.
Created by: Online PhD
On a different, but perhaps more interesting note, another study has found a link between the number of Facebook friends a person has and the size of certain brain regions they have.
Another trend that I want to discuss has actually been around for some time; using online videos for educational reasons. However YouTube is now doing a pilot program that allows teachers to access YouTube videos at school without being blocked or taking the risk of exposing students to inappropriate content. This will hopefully be a solution to a problem that many have had for years. Below is an example of a video that can be found on EDU-YouTube demonstrating how to create monster foam.
YouTube is also working with NASA on their SpaceLab challenge; having kids come up with different experiments that could potential be chosen then done in space.
Kids enjoy doing hands-on activities and playing games. There is current trend starting up surround game-based learning. When students play games they tend to forget they’re learning, so I can understand why it is being more popular in education. Justin Marquis Ph.D. has a blog titled What Does Game-based Learning Offer Higher Education?. It briefly summarizes a TED Talk video by Jane McGonigal who states that “Gaming can make the world a better place”. The article goes to say that there are four characteristics that games have: urgent optimism, social fabric, blissful productivity and epic meaning – characteristics we want in our students.The article Is Gaming the New Essential Literacy? goes on to associate gaming literacy to being able to problem solving and even how some game play helps one focus more on the process of the game and less on the content. Another article discusses gamification - how role playing a science experiment via technology may be more effective for some students than having them do them hands-on in the classroom.
As we’ve seen there are many trends that are lending to individuals using technology in order to help with learning. However, online learning is also a trend in itself. Online learning is seen to be a great way to help build critical thinking skills especially through well developed inquiry based e-Learning courses. Although some statistics show that online learning creates higher drop out rates in students, it allows for more students to complete their wanted degrees as sometimes attending colleges or universities is simply unachievable due to geographical, financial or family circumstances. The following is another image from Onlinephd.org.
Created by: Online PhD
I’m going to finish off with an article by Joanna L. Ernst’s article titled Cutting-edge technologies sharpen curriculums. It goes into depth about a few of the ways schools are turning to technology in order to meet the needs of their students.
