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Review: Major Ed-Tech Trends for 2013

I really enjoyed reading the Major Ed Tech Trends for 2013. I am not sure how useful or valuable it is for the broader community of educators, learning technologies specialists and venturers. The information presented provides a nice overview of the direction of educational technology.

Mobile devices are becoming one of the primary ways to connect with students. There are apps that support text messagning already out the market, where the teacher can send out mass text messages to her students to inform them of important dates and events. The poster covers the basic framework, but lacks any in-depth understanding of how mobile marketing supports learning in the classroom.

Social media helps bridge the classroom to home environments. Students can access social media to connect and raise awareness on certain issues. Again, I am not sure how this is too useful or valuable, as there are many existing applications that can fulfill these roles.

Universities offering free non-credit courses is an interesting one. Yes, there are many different online courses that offer free courseware, but I am not sure that is helpful to educators. Future version of delivering e-learning through Moodle, WebCT, already exists.

I am also not sure how 3D printing helps educators in the classroom, or applicable in my classroom, perhaps it could be used to replicate certain animals in the local habitat – we learn that in Grade 1.

Overall, I think that these pretty pictures highlight some of the important aspects of what educational technology might look like this year or in the future. But it does not really provide us with any practical suggestions that specifically assist specialists and venturers. I think this is more geared towards the general mass, where someone who does not have a foundation in educational technology may benefit in understanding how education has changed since the past few decades. I think that this is a good starting point that might help drive my own professional success, such as integrating social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) to broadcast what students have been learning in the classroom. With the use of social media, there are many issues and concerns regarding the safety and privacy of our students and parents. Nevertheless, when thinking about creating a new educational venture, we must explore different venues and see what is the best for the market now and predict what will happen in the future.

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