A frustrating read: Connie Malamed’s Trends
It is Useful?
I chose to review Connie Malamed’s “Learning Technology Trends to Watch In 2011” list. I found Connie’s list to be incredibly frustrating to read! It was not useful to me as an educator. In most of the trend descriptions, there were always some good information, to be sure, about the status of various technologies but there was very little said about how teachers would actually use the technologies with students in their instructional designs. The trends were portrayed simplistically and superficially.
I was continually frustrated because I would be reading the description of the ‘trends’ and it would be very interesting… then, the voice in my head would start saying, “okay, so now explain specifically how you think this will impact learning.” There is very little of this. She uses phrases such as “…because ____ is showing raid growth, and because _____ is one of its most compelling uses, look for rapid growth in the next five years in learning applications that use ____…” but then never follows with any specifics.
Then, it occurred to me that maybe this web page is more the “People magazine” version of these kinds of hip edutech web sites. I don’t mean to sound snobby about her blog… or condescending. I think it comes down to what audience she is intending to write for. The article just seems rather fluffy, with lots of pictures, colours, lots of hyperbolic chat, and loads of throw away phases such as the one I included above. I want to know more about which technologies will have the best shot at being used by teachers to facilitate self-regulated learning or concept development, or even authentic collaboration. I wanted more specifics, more research, more reflections from early adopting teachers… But, alas… the site was more of a “beach read.”
Recommend to others?
This might be a site I would recommend to someone with a beginning level of knowledge regarding the possible connections between learning and currently popular mobile gadgets, web 2.0 sites, and applications.
Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
andrea 7:39 pm on September 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jim, I must admit I’m a bit curious to read it now because of your description! Do you think that the trends she suggested do have really meaningful applications (and she just failed to mention them)? Do you think they are the kind of things that will add value for learners and educators, or are they things that *look* good?
themusicwoman 9:31 pm on September 16, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hahahahaha! Your “People Magazine” comment is great although I kinda like the site for what it’s worth. For my overloaded brain at the end of a week of teaching, the article simply confirmed what I already knew but some of the comments and links to other stuff was interesting. However, I do agree that this is a “starter” article for those just becoming immersed in technology.
mcquaid 4:02 pm on September 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think we were on the same wavelength on this one, Jim – we wanted more. At the same time, as I mentioned on someone else’s post, I DID appreciate the succinctness of her list – which is just what it was. A list. Perhaps all Malamed really wanted to do for her general audience (which may be what her readership is like… a general mix) was to list the ten things and not much more. I can’t really fault her for that… do think we’re all expecting too much of her article, as we were directed to be critical?
I’m not saying I loved it… but at least I wasn’t as frustrated as you. Instead of getting frustrated, I mostly just wrote it off as a “meh”-caliber article. Basic.
Cheers,
Steve
Doug Smith 8:51 pm on September 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Rather than being a People Magazine, I saw it as simply being a short summary for people that are on the lower end of familiarity with technology in education. I would say that it was written accurately without any strong biases: the same cannot be said for many blogs. Finally, I noted that the list has a role to play, since much of this was used in our introduction to the Emerging Markets Poll on this blog. I wonder if Malamed wrote the summaries, or if they were copied from somewhere else?
Deb Kim 7:23 am on September 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jim,
Very well said. I also thought that “something” was missing when I read the article, but couldn’t really pinpoint exactly what it was. I absolutely agree with you that “there was very little said about how teachers would actually use the technologies with students in their instructional designs”. It was also frustrating to me that I couldn’t really figure ways of incorporating these technology “trends” into my classroom.
Deb