The Future
Technology is advancing at an accelerating pace. It is almost impossible to be completely up to date with the availability of educational technology. To stay abreast of new developments, it is essential to continually search for new developments in technology as they apply to education. As an example, you may be aware of “clickers” that have been around for a little while now. These devices allow a teacher or lecturer to pose a question in class and obtain answers back from the audience instantly. They have the advantage of allowing students to answer anonymously whilst providing instant feedback to the teacher so that she or he can monitor students’ understanding. Today, similar results can be achieved using mobile phones or tablets, something that many students bring into the classroom. An internet search can inform you of the availability of suitable hardware and software that you may wish to utilise in your classroom.
A number of search engines are available for this task. |
Some of the more popular ones include Google, Yahoo and Bing. To find relevant information, appropriate keywords need to be entered, such as mathematics education, new teaching technology or advances in technology. A search in news websites using similar keywords may also be informative in finding out the most recent developments in technology. You may wish to search CNET or CNN for the latest news on technology releases, or more specifically Apple’s Hot News for announcements of their latest products.
MOOCs have become a major player in the tertiary sector. (For a definition, see Wikipedia.) According to MOOCs.co, instructional MOOCs in the K-12 segment are already available and this segment is growing at a fast rate. Khan Academy is one example of this. MOOCs.co and MOOC List have extensive categorised listings of available MOOCs. |