The Evolution of Technology

In our November PODetc Newsletter, Ron Smith, a PODetc instructor wrote:
The watchword of technology in the digital age is evolution. Each new application seeks to serve an as yet unidentified need. Those that are successful are the ones that change the existing paradigm and leave users wondering how they ever got along without them. Most are variations on an old idea, such as Twitter, which combined the ideas of chat and social networking, or YouTube, which allowed users to share video across the Internet for free.

The Survey of Emerging Technology introduces participants to resources available to them right now that they can use in their classes right away. We look at ways to use the Internet to enhance classroom instruction and teacher effectiveness. We look at ways to make teacher time more efficient and practical. We look at ways for educators to tap into Web 2.0 in ways that they may not have considered.

As we all know, a teacher's time is limited by large classes and by scarce resources. By looking at already existing technologies on the web, we explore ways for teachers to be more creative, more engaging, and more effective. Not everything you try will work for you, but simply knowing about different options will allow you offer your students new paths to success.

Through exploration and investigation, course participants will become more in-tune to the innovations in the K-12 education field and developing their skills to be leaders in their own organizations. Educators will examine the latest educational technologies and look into ways to effectively incorporate new technologies into their curriculum.

There has been much research into the ways that teachers have moved into the digital space. A leader in that research has been The Pew Research Center, with it's Pew Internet & American Life Project. A couple of the the most interesting studies look at the rise of the app culture (http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-Rise-of-Apps-Culture.aspx) and how we, as Americans, love our gadgets ( http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Gadgets.aspx) . I encourage prospective Web 2.0 explorers to look at these.

As a biology teacher in my other life, I love the idea of the "evolution" of technology and a kind of natural selection at work. The tools that seem to thrive are those that can adapt to our changing needs much as organisms that are best suited to the environment are the ones that carry on and pass on their traits to the next generation. The problem often is that as consumers we are overwhelmed with all the fledglings before they have been filtered by our peers and it is difficult to know which ones will really serve our needs and which will survive into the next generation. We have that conundrum of wanting to try out new options but not wanting to get excited about something that does not quite make it!

I experienced this first hand last summer. My students had been urging me to try Google Wave throughout the school year last year. I was interested but did not have the time to explore it as I might have liked. Finally, over the summer I had a chance to take a workshop on GoogleWave and was very excited about the possibilities. This workshop was during the first few days of August. On August 10, Google announced that Wave had not been as successful as they would have liked and they were stopping development on it! http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html

The rule of survival on the web seems to be quick adoption or death! So, how do we as consumers deal with this? With the pace of technology we cannot afford to wait until it has been confirmed and tested before we jump in. Conversely we can't afford to invest time and energy with something that may not be around in 6 months. It is all a bit of a gamble but this is where a good professional learning network or community might serve you well. Start to follow blogs, join Diigo groups, sign up for twitter, etc.... so you can meet the people and learn the names of some reliable resources. But also don't be afraid to get in and explore sooner than later. We have to stay current as best we can as the pace is relentless and ever increasing. There are great tools out there but you have to find the ones that will work for you. You do this by learning with colleagues - sharing experiences. Truly the only way to survive the web is with community!