The horizon report was very interesting. I completely agree that institutions need to recognize the abundance of resources and relationships made accessible via the Internet. The fact is these resources and relationships are often challenging us to revisit our roles as educators in terms of sense making and coaching. That being said, institutions need to consider the unique value that each adds to a world in which information is everywhere.
Technology is part of our daily lives. Just looking around a college campus you can see that in this day and age people expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to. One aspect of technology that they mentioned in the report was digital media literacy. Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession. Obviously the importance is clear however the challenge is due to the fact training in digital literacy skills and techniques is rare, and especially rare in teacher education programs. After hearing this I felt confused. Why is something that is so important and big being ignored? As future educators this should be one of our top priorities! I think if they haven't already, most faculty and instructors across the country will start to realize the implications of not helping students develop and use digital media literacy skills.
"This reality is exacerbated by the fact that as technology continues to evolve, digital literacy must necessarily be less about tools and more about ways of thinking and seeing, and of crafting narrative." I believe this is the case. However anyone have a better way of explaining this quote to me??
After reading the report the section on mobile computing stuck out to me the most. I couldn't believe the number of subscribers across the globe (4 billion)!!! I also couldn't believe I had never heard of the new tools that allow users to manage personal information such as Evernote, Nozbe, Wesabe and Tripit. Has anyone ever heard of these? What purpose to do they have (other than holding personal information)? One concern I have is the fact these tools are most likely web based, so really, our personal information is simply out there and could be accessed by anyone. I still have a hard time thinking my personal information could be viewed by anyone if they cared enough to look for it. I also had never heard of Dropbox, a way to collaborate and easily access and share files. I like the idea that these tools make it easier for for a person to check and update work, school and personal information. But I would wonder how secure it all is?!?
Also in this section they talked about the experiments they did with the ipod and iPhone. I thought these were very interesting. I wish that I took part in one of these studies. Either way what caught my attention the most was the fact these mobile computing techniques were also being used to teach different subject matter such as history and medicine. I think that is amazing! It just shows how fun and neat technology is today. I love that fact that your mobile phone now a day can do almost about everything.
Overall, the horizon report was very interesting. I think everyone who is an educator or thinking about being one, should take a chance to read it.
I agree with you Jen, all educators must attempt to stay as up to date as possible with the world's evolving technology (we owe it to our students). I also was most intrigued by the use mobile devices, and found it interesting how they were being used for educational purposes. However, I also believe they create unnecessary distractions for students, because they can be used for so many non-educational purposes. I guess I'm still debating if the positives outweigh the negatives.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the idea of mobile devices used for education was great. Can you imagine if UMaine just handed us over an iphone for course work? umm THANKS! Eric does raise a good point that mobile devices can be used for so many other tasks, and sometimes for harm, that you would have to serious consider the hands you were placing them into.
ReplyDeleteI also read the report thinking: what is tripit or any other site they mentioned? But, I agree with what you said about how we are going to be teaching in a time where there will be a transition to technology based learning in education. It just means we as educators we are going to have to stay as up to date as possible with technology.
ReplyDeleteKinda funny that in education, so many of the products being selected are Apple products- iphone, ipad, macbook... I wonder why Apple is selected over other technologies in all these cases? Maybe they are better focused on creating accessible tools than other companies. Or maybe they are just better at lobbying their products. :) Either way, it seems like the technologies that are becoming available are consistently finding their way into a classroom.
ReplyDeleteEric- I agree they do create unnecessary distractions for students, because they can be used for so many non-educational purposes.I don't know if we will ever find a solution...
ReplyDeleteAllyson-Yes! That would be amazing. Thanks UMaine for the Iphone, I love you.
Tiffany- Yes, that is our job. It will certainly be harder the more technical we become.
Melissa-Yes, you made a good point. That is strange. I have no idea why apple is better than PCs in education, they both do the same thing. I think you right, no matter way new technologies will consistently be finding their way into the classroom.