Thursday, February 2, 2017

Classroom Technology


 
If you have ever watched any old spy movies, you have seen futuristic tech like watches that allow you to communicate and send messages or glasses that display information on the lenses. Well, the future is now! Those technologies are no longer imagination, but can be a useful tool to take our teaching to the next level.
Wearable technology is here. We are no longer bound by desktops and cords. We can take technology with us and have easy access to all the internet has to offer from anywhere. This creates exceptional opportunities for classrooms.

 
 Take a look at a Wearable Technology Infographic. This highlights various types of wearables and their possible use and benefits to classroom education.  https://magic.piktochart.com/output/19469868-wearable-technology-edt-6020
 
 
 
 
Wearable technology opens up a world of opportunities in the classroom. Students can use a variety of technology to research, create, collaborate, record, and much more! Wearables bring the world to the students with the touch of a button. Teachers can design in-depth lessons and provide meaningful learning opportunities to prepare students for work in the 21st century. Wearables engage learners in the lesson and present a variety of information at varying levels and subject areas. Students K-12 and higher education can learn with technology.
 
 
Watch a demonstration of all the amazing features and uses of Google Glass.  https://youtu.be/j4wIV9yUA-s
 
These devices are the tools our students will need to utilize to create and build a better future. It starts in the classroom as we foster their creativity and imagination through wearable technology.
 
 
See how students respond to taking a virtual reality field trip using Google Cardboard. https://youtu.be/nf_yEZR4f7s
 
For more wearable technology resources and ideas, check out @EdTech_K12 on Twitter or view the Horizon Report 2016 at http://www.nmc.org/publications/
 
What wearables have you used or are interested in trying out in your classroom?
Join the conversation.
 
             
 
References:
Pictochart.com Retrieved from https://magic.piktochart.com/dashboard
Horizon Report. (2016). Emerging Trends in Technology. COSN

4 comments:

  1. Virtual Field Trips

    This Christmas, my niece received a Virtual Reality (VR) device and brought it to our family gathering. The VR was one of the highlights of the evening. We went on boat tours, roller coasters, and even zombie hunts. I can see how the students can become engaged on a virtual reality field trip. We can have our students go just about anywhere, even visit other planets in our solar system. I can already think of the great possibilities of creating a lesson on scientific notation and finding the distance between planets. I went out searching the web for these ideas and found that there are unlimited possibilities. I really found the discovery education website to be a great resource http://www.discoveryeducation.com/Events/virtual-field-trips/explore/.
    I currently do not have the technology for my students yet, but I will continue looking for virtual field trips for my students. Think about it, we can talk about the Great Wall of China, and now take our students on a tour right from our classrooms!

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    1. I too would love to have VR available in my classroom. Discovery education does have a lot of great videos etc. I have use it in the past. One day virtual reality with be a reality in many classrooms. Once the amazing potential it has is realized the decision makers.

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  2. Maria,

    Thank you for your easy to read blog post! I did not know much about using wearable technology in the classroom, so your post, infographic, and videos really got me thinking! I have not used any of these technologies in the classroom, but the one that really interests me is Google Cardboard. Seeing how excited the kids in the video were, I think this could be a really neat tool for elementary students.

    Working in a low-income, high poverty area, many of my students lack basic background knowledge. Some students have very little concept of places, even such as what a city would look like compared to our rural farmlands. I could see using google cardboard to help take students on virtual field trips that will take less time and money and perhaps expose them to just as much information! After doing some research, it seems that you can buy the cardboard eye piece for about $15. If I applied for a grant, or proposed an idea to my principal, we could get a class set for the school for around $300. This is about the same cost as one of our field trips.

    Thanks for sharing this information and getting my wheels turning about how this could possibly be implemented down the road!

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    Replies
    1. Great to hear! So many students these days do not have opportunities to travel which affects their prior knowledge of subjects, history, geography etc. Virtual field trips are a great tool to help them build that knowledge in an exciting way. Videos and pictures are great, but VR takes it a step further by really immersing students in what they are learning.

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