Always learning more

We are living in a world with new and emerging technology all around us.  As we are living through a pandemic it has been all too clear that every digital company has flooded our email with offers of reduced or free access to their programs.  It has given education to see how new technologies can add value in learning.  Teachers were doing this before, as it is just part of their teacher life, they must adapt, learn and use emerging technologies for the betterment of the learning process.   We are currently watching these new technologies unfold in the world wide digital learning but there is a huge challenge of not every student has access.  

In our school district we discovered during this crisis that students were accessing their online learning through a phone and not necessarily a larger device.  This feedback is promoting the stronger need for accessibility in our lesson designs and checking for accessibility.  This accessibility requirement has always been there for teachers on their websites or on school pages but our deficients to make sure for students became more transparent.  

Producing supportive environments is key for promotion of emerging technologies usage among school teachers and for students. In present circumstances, it is expected from school teachers to become informed users of emerging technologies.  Teachers are further expected to find and adapt efficient measures for learning and using emerging technologies, which are bound to grow well beyond what we envision today, as observed by Daanen and Facer (2007, p.04), “If educators are to shape the future of education (and not have it shaped for them by external technical developments) it is crucial that we engage with developments in digital technologies at the earliest stages. We need to understand what may be emerging, explore its implications for education, and understand how best we might harness these changes.”

Empowering School Teachers for Emerging Technologies: An Action Plan

Misra, Pradeep Kumari-Manager's Journal on School Educational Technology, 2010-08-15, Vol.6 (1), p.14-23

One emerging technology that I want to focus on is virtual or augmented reality. I believe that it has great benefits in the engagement of student learning.   In an article in edtech magazine titled AR/VR in K-12, experts have found virtual environments can give students who require extra assistance the opportunities to build the skills they need to be as successful in the classroom as their peers. Another huge benefit is this technology goes beyond the walls of a school and takes students to places they would otherwise not be able to go.

This technology can benefit all types of students.  This article by ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education)  lists 25 resources for bringing AR/VR to your classroom as well as showcases how it can also assist students with disabilities. VR is on the doorstep of education, and without a doubt, it’ll change the world as we know it. Designer for Google’s virtual reality team, Alex Faaborg. “We believe that virtual reality doesn’t have to be tremendously expensive; it can have huge implications for everything from art to education. Virtual reality can be for everyone,” said VR will inspire a whole new generation of young and bright students, ready to innovate and change the world. You can find out more at this article of How can virtual reality be used in the classroom?

The article also has additional resources that support the use of VR in the classroom.  I will end this post with a quote from the article that would be true for all these emerging technologies, as Albert Einstein once said, “I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”  This is something that emerging technologies can now do in what used to seem unbelievable ways.