Week #14 Entry

The Future of Technology and Education

Most of the information I learned talked about how classrooms in the future are going to be all but centered around technology.

One article I read was talking about a 5th grade classroom in which every student had a PDA that they would use in class everyday and this was in 2003! This article said that handheld devices would be very beneficial in the classroom and I can't help but think about how much more advanced they are these days with things like the iPads coming out. The article suggested using these devices for students who are bad spellers solely because they have bad handwriting. If they can use a computer their spelling would show to be much better because they have gotten over the handwriting obstacle.

A blog I read listed 30 trends that shape the e-learning environment - something that many are going towards to meet their educational requirements. Among the 30 trends were video (flip cameras, mobile devices), social learning (facebook, wikis), social sharing (dilicious, stumbleupon, diigo), and one that I thought was interesting: short attention spans.

Another blog talks about how Web 2.0 is the future of education. The author goes as far as to say it "will culturally, socially, intellectually, and politically have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press." At least I am aware of it and have used it now! I feel so much more with it. The author states that Web 2.0 is creating a publishing revolution that gives everyone the opportunity to publish something on the internet through blogs, wikis, and social networks. It helps to inspire creativity for students and makes it even more appealing because it involves technology.

From my research, I have found that the general outlook on technology in education is positive and that people want to use technology to make the learning experience more meaningful and creative.