Dawson’s Top 10 Ed Tech Predictions
It seems easy to look back in time and see how educational technology was implemented into our schools and our personal lives. Making predictions for the future year may not be just that easy. Dawson (2010), a teacher and writer, predicted five ideas that would give students choice in education during the year of 2011. He included Adam Garry’s (Dell’s Manager of global professional learning) top five predictions as well. As an educator I look to others for upcoming trends and then choose which of them are worth following and which of them to leave alone. I don’t consider myself to be on the cutting edge of technology as I do not know what companies are developing and getting ready to produce. I tend to leave those decisions to others. As some technology ventures succeed and others fail, I feel hesitant to create new technology for lack of knowledge and maybe even vision. In the education world, I think we tend to ride waves more than create them. It is important, however, to know what is coming around the bend and be able to direct how the new technology is used in classrooms.
The information in trend prediction is valuable to administrators and planning departments for future implantation and framework setup. For example, our school has decided to buy two class sets of iPads to use in the upcoming school year. Some teachers already have goals and objectives in mind of how to use the iPads effectively, while others will wait to see what is being done in other classrooms before they begin using them. We often look to others who have created the devices or have used them in the past to plan our use for them. Is this the right way to look at technology use and implementation? I have to admit that I am still on the fence about it. I think we do need to work closely with the technology companies to identify student and teacher needs and then create something that fills those needs.
Dawson’s predictions, in my mind, were quite accurate as he predicted the increased use of cloud computing, tablets in classrooms, and e-textbooks. He also suggested the e-reader becomes less popular with users, which I think he was right about, but just early in his prediction. Dell’s Adam Garry predicted some important ideological changes as well. He thought teachers would move towards not just getting kids access to technology but effectively using it to teach, as well as personalized learning replacing differentiated instruction. He also focused on the improvement of learning platforms and managing knowledge through increased focus on conceptual learning. I would refer to Dawson’s blog again to see what is trending in educational technology and then be prepared to evaluate those predictions and see them unfold as the year moves on.
Reference:
Dawson, C. (2010) Top 10 ed tech predictions for 2011. ZDNet Education.
karonw 10:30 pm on May 18, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. The tablets, iPads, laptops, digital cameras and etc are definitely more and more popular for class use nowadays. I recall reading an article about students using digital cameras for science labs to take pictures during the process and then the students use those pictures to document their lab reports. These students resulted in writing better lab reports in comparison to those who didn’t use the digital camera.
I think that you pointed out a very important point in your post and that is to have educators work closely with technology companies in identifying what the needs are for the students and teachers and design something that would further support that rather than go the other way around and have us follow the trend. Great post indeed, keep up the good work!
Karon
Dennis Pratt 5:09 pm on May 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It seems as though some of our current devices can do it all. Video, pictures, voice recordings, text, email, and present. Should we make more use of them in the classroom? This is a debate I am about to get into at our school and I still don’t know where I sit on it.
Any ideas?
Dennis
Hussain Luaibi 12:47 am on May 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Dennis
These educational tools can be used if they prompt the students to be interactive and responsive to them in a constructive way. But as far as I know there is no specific answer for your question. It all depends on the structure of the curriculum and whether it allows educators the use of technology tools in class.
take care
Hussain
Danielle 2:02 am on May 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Dennis,
I am not sure I have had a chance to say hello to you! So hello! And nice to see you here!
Making predictions about learning technologies is a risky business, especially when hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent to roll out what is meant to be the latest and most innovative tools to enhance learning. Along with these investments come issues with security and privacy (both online and with the devices themselves), bandwidth, tech support and the distractions they may bring to the classroom, to name a few.
I think we are in the same boat as you are in terms of iPad implementation. There are those who are already setting learning goals and objectives while others are just going to play it by ear next semester. To each their own I suppose. But as Dawson (2010) points out, the implementation of new learning technologies need to be learning initiatives, not tech initiatives, though I sometimes think that many tech initiatives, as least in my experience, are disguised as learning initiatives. The interesting thing is the lack of complaints about this! And those who do complain are often those who are already wholeheartedly against technology in education.
Danielle
Dennis Pratt 5:02 pm on May 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Danielle;
“As Dawson (2010) points out, the implementation of new learning technologies need to be learning initiatives, not tech initiatives.”
I picked this up from the article as well. Technology is often used for its novelty, not because it is the best or easiest tool to use. As we push for 21st Century skills we have to be careful to “not throw the baby out with the bath water.” Some of the best tools are the simplest tools.
Thanks for your comments!
Dennis
gillian 10:27 am on May 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Dennis,
I appreciated your candor and references to personal experience in your critique. While I can see the flaws in many of these reviews and predicitons, I certainly wouldn’t want the task of making them. Like you, I find keeping up to date with the tech world too overwhelming and defer to others when it comes to market trends. However, I would consider myself an early adopter when it comes to using tech in my practice only because schools are so far behind the marketplace that targets them.
gillian
Dennis Pratt 5:06 pm on May 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Gillian;
We are finding that teachers and students often have much better and newer technology than schools. This poses the larger question of whether schools should be responsible for providing students with technology or should they follow a bring your own device model? I have heard comments about how students will use whatever is newest, whether it be their own device or a school device.
Any thoughts?
Dennis