The document discusses exploiting the "wow factor" of educational technology to engage learners. It describes how 10 years ago technologies like blogs, wikis, and YouTube did not exist, but now can be used to enhance teaching. The document advocates following new technologies for their own sake to discover wonderful things. It also discusses theories about how technology impacts society and individuals. The bulk of the document summarizes the Horizon Report, which identifies emerging technologies and when they may become adopted in education over the next 1, 2-3, and 4-5 years. Technologies discussed include mobile devices, augmented reality, gesture-based computing, learning analytics, and visual data analysis. The document concludes that learners today are highly connected and may expect
3. EXPLOITING THE WOW FACTOR TO
ENHANCE TEACHING PRACTICE
The WOW factor is very
much underrated when
attempting to engage
people in educational
technology. I was always
hearing ' you can't let the
technology' lead, and yet all
my most exciting moments,
and those I observed in
others, were when that it is
exactly what we did - we
followed the technology
FOR ITS OWN SAKE and
discovered wonderful
things!
8. THEORIES ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
1. Technological determinism: technology is an external
agent that acts upon people and changes society.
2. Social construction of technology (SCOT): it is human
decisions and processes that create the technologies we
have, and that the prevailing social milieu has an
influential role in the decisions we make about how we
use that technology.
3. A middle ground between people and machine is the
theory of Social Shaping. Nancy Baym refers to
technologies having ‘logics’ that influence how we use
them. Nicholas Carr calls them ‘ethics’:
“the message that a tool or medium transmits into
the minds and culture of its users”
13. HORIZON REPORT – the Process
Modified version of the
Delphi Technique:
“ a structured communication
technique, originally
developed as a systematic,
interactive forecasting
method which relies on a
panel of experts.”
Creative Commons image from Dramagirl
14. HORIZON REPORT – the Process
• WIKI - List of Emerging Technologies prepared
in advance by the New Media Consortium
(NMC)
• Advisory board members invited to
add/annotate list items
• This list then summarised into major headings
that group similar technologies
• Further discussion to ensure clarification
(note: not justification)
15. HORIZON REPORT – the Process
Several rounds of voting ensue to reveal:
• majority choice
• timeframes
• short list
• final list
16. WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON?
a summary of recent Horizon
Reports 2010/2011
18. TIME TO ADOPTION – 1 yr or less
Mobile Devices
Examples include:
• Google Sky Map for Android platforms, which
serves as a mobile planetarium
• History: Maps of the World, containing full-colour, historical
maps
• iSeismometer - capable of measuring vibrations and tremors
• Reference works such as the Australian Oxford Dictionary and
the Aussie Slang Dictionary, featuring more than 700 common
Australian phrases.
• Forklift Driving Course (SA)
19. TIME TO ADOPTION – 1 yr or less
Mobile Internet Devices
The knfbReader Mobile is designed
to help those with learning
disabilities or visual impairment. The user
snaps a picture of text using his or her mobile
phone and the phone converts the text to
speech.
20. TIME TO ADOPTION –
1 yr or less
eBooks
• Flipboard – a magazine featuring you and your
social network
• Project Gutenberg (Aust)
26. The future is already
here — it's just not
evenly distributed.
(William Gibson)
27. TIME TO ADOPTION – 2 to 3 years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb0pMeg1UN0
28. CONVERGENCE
TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE
The tendency for different technological
systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks.
eg mobile phone + Internet = Smart Phone
30. TIME TO ADOPTION – 2 to 3 years
Game Based Learning
Climate Change Game
31. TIME TO ADOPTION – 2 to 3 years
Game Based Learning
Trading Around the World
32. TIME TO ADOPTION – 2 to 3 years
Game Based Learning
Virtual Knee Surgery
33. TIME TO ADOPTION – 4 to 5 years
Gesture Based Computing
Relevance for Teaching and Learning
The kinaesthetic nature of gesture-based computing
will very likely lead to new kinds of teaching or
training simulations that look, feel, and operate
almost exactly like their real-world counterparts.
The ease and intuitiveness of a gestural interface
makes the experience seem very natural, and even
fun, making them relevant for learning at any age
or level of study..
47. Organisations will need to adapt to the fact that web 2.0 citizens will
enter places of work and learning highly connected to a network of
peers that they rely on for entertainment, mutual learning, and
collaboration. They may expect to be able to make use of these personal
learning and social networks, and the technologies that make these
networks possible, in their places of work or study. These web 2.0
citizens operate in a world that is open and mobile, and they are unlikely
to accept authority that is automatically assigned to a position. Their
world is flat and devoid of hierarchy. In a world where information about
their areas of interest or expertise is increasing exponentially they will
place greater store on connected networks, which may extend beyond
classroom or workplace boundaries, and knowing where to get the
knowledge and information they need, is more important than having
that knowledge and information themselves.
http://flickr.com/photos/7447470@N06/1345266896/
48. THANK YOU
• Australian – New Zealand 2010 Horizon Report HERE
• Global Report 2011 HERE
• Looking to the Horizon Wiki (created by Marlene Manto)
• These slides on the web at
http://www.slideshare.net/michaelc/cool-tools-and-technologies-exploiting-the-wow-factor
Creative Commons (CC) licensed music Michael Coghlan
by Lohstana David michaelc@chariot.net.au
found at JAMENDO