Imagining+the+future


 * Part II - Imagining the future**



**How do you think practices in the use of new technologies in schools will develop over the next ten years? Why?**

One way to be able to start to think about technology in the classroom over the next 10 years, is to to look at how it has emerged over the past 10 years.

In an interview conducted by the university of North Carolina with director of education at Compaq Computer Corp., Gary Staunch, he said, " We need to design devices that are portable, durable, functional, and capable enough to extend the learning experience outside of the traditional school environment—and to change the dynamics of student-teacher interaction so that the classroom is not necessarily the only location where learning takes place." (Staunch 1999)

We can see that this is, and has already taken place, with the internet being integrated into many portable, and hand-held devices such as smartphones, tablets, and more lightweight laptops, just to name a few. Portability has allowed students to access information from anywhere, and at any time, and not be restricted to the four walls of a classroom, between the hours of 9am and 3:30pm. Education can now occur beyond the classroom, and it is because of the development in technology.

So now that technology is portable, and readily available to many students, how is it going to change the way we educate students over the next 10 years?

 To begin with, this video gives one example of what could be rolled out into schools in the coming years. media type="youtube" key="sSLZUYkvKvs" height="279" width="339" align="center"

On placements there was a PD of this technology and how it can be used in the classroom. It is a very interesting way of including students and engaging them in activities and will possibly be more common in coming years.
 * We think that all teachers, whether they like it or not, will continue to be strongly encouraged to use technology. We think that assignments/projects will maybe be submitted on line.
 * We think that change, although quick ( i.e. technology updates quickly) will take a while to filter through to all levels of all schools. E.g. note that according to Halverson & Smith (2009 - WEEKLY READING), despite lots of money and training in the 1990s and early 2000s, classroom teaching was still quite traditional in US). Takes time – but as new generations of teachers enter the profession (who are more used to technology, more ‘digital natives’, things will change).
 * Teachers will still play big role in success of ICT programs/implementation . We think there is no doubt of the imporatnce of the role of the teacher e.g.in the research regarding technology used to engage at-risk children in Singapore (Tay & Lim 2008), it was noted the big role the teachers played y encouraging them to come to the class initially. ‘The power of computers in education lies in embedding them in the curriculum and not using them as embellishments’ ( McMahon 2009, p.279)
 * ICT will remain important with introduction of National Curriculum. While we don’t know yet what it will exactly pertain (not yet drafted), we do know that it will be regarded as significant. ‘Role of digital technologies’ already a component of the already-drafted Eng, Maths, Science and History national curriculums. Also it is stated that ‘literacy, numeracy and ICT will inform curriculum development in all learning areas. They will also be used to inform future national assessment programs.” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2009)
 * We know it is regarded as important as included in the Melbourne Declaration on educational goals for young Australians – 'As a foundation for further learning and adult life the curriculum will include practical knowledge and skills development in areas such as ICT and design and technology, which are central to Australia's skilled economy and provide crucial pathways to post-school success' (Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, p.13).
 * ICT is going to continue to expand dramatically in society so schools will have to keep up. E.g. Google contet said to dramatically increase (Richardson).

**In what ways might this be a positive development for schooling and student learning?**

<span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Hopefully help in doing all of the following things; <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">- students at risk will not drop out, they will stay at school longer and be more engaged. <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">- students will not be asking what the point of something is, they will see its benefit – real, authentic tasks <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">- students will get better results – i.e. their will marks will increase because they understand things better <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">- students will like coming to school more <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">- will encourage teachers to be more creative in both their teaching and also their assessment <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">- will hopefully assist in catering for students of all abilities and learning styles (at least it will provide more variety to learning). <span style="color: #161313; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">Ultimately it will be in tune with the world they live in – e.g. will prepare them for uni or work. It is how the world is going.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">According to Andrea Hermitt of ‘eHow’, some of the areas effected by implementation of technology into the classroom, in both a negative and a positive way, include; Exploration, Lesson Integration, Special Needs, Costs, and Training.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The positives are: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Exploration: Students will have an endless supply of resources at their fingertips, and will engage in more varied research. Gone are the days when all they had to use was a paragraph out of an encyclopedia.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Lesson Integration: Students are likely to be more engaged when interacting with technology, rather than just pens and paper. They will be involved in ‘virtual’ incursions, and streaming video.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Special Needs: Students will be able to work at their own pace. The computer can give individual instruction, and not move on until that students understands the material, rather than being left behind in a large class, or being bored when they are ahead of the class.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Costs: Schools may be able to apply for grants to pay for the technology. Governments are very positive about moving forward in technology and are likely to support such needs.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Training: Teachers keeping up to date with their training will remain computer-literate, and these are skills they will be able to apply in many areas of their life, including outside the classroom. The training will also be useful skills for students in their part-time jobs.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">(Hermitt, A; date unknown)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**In what ways might this be a negative development for schooling and student learning?**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Like in most things, the positives can also have correlating negatives.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Again, according to Andrea Hermitt of ‘eHow’, these are the negative effects of having technology in the classroom:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Exploration: Students will possibly abuse the system of research and go beyond the ‘bounds and parameters’ of the set task, becoming distracted by other material on the computers, or internet.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Lesson Integration: The negative of having to integrate all lessons with technology is that, with the masses of information floating around cyberspace, teachers will have to spend more time ensuring that their resources are reliable. The technology can also fail at times, so teachers will always have to have a back up lesson. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Special Needs: Technology designed for special needs classes are very costly and require funding for operation.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Costs: Supplying, running, and maintaining technology is costly. Schools can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just for minimal technological equipment. Training for staff to use the technology also is a cost to the school and government. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Also, constant software updates can be costly.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Training: Training for teachers is expensive and has to be done regularly, taking up many hours. This is time they could otherwise spend on planning lessons, and keeping track of students’ progress.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">(Hermitt, A; date unknown)


 * <span style="color: #050505; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Potential to not work if teachers don’t keep learning as the focus. If they get caught up in trying to incorporate lots of technology without really thinking about what the technology is being used for.Must ensure that learning remains the focus, and not the technology itself. In the past the implementation of new technologies at the time (radio and computers) has failed. This is because the implementation was focused on just the access of technology itself, rather than the learning that is done through it. (Mayer 2009)
 * <span style="color: #050505; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Negative potentially in work-life balance for both students and teachers. I.e. things like DSO, email, etc – available 24/7. see Richardson 2010

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Our description of the possible future for educational technology:** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** An environment where students will all be able to access a computer with the internet, with the teacher leading student driven learning by taking advantage of these means. While a majority of schools will have interactive whiteboards, even those that cannot afford them have the ability to create their own basic interactive whiteboard with a Wii Remote. The video below describes how this can be done. **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">media type="youtube" key="5s5EvhHy7eQ" height="351" width="576" align="center"

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">At the end of the day <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">