Module 6 - Addressing the Digital Divide

Over the past 5 years, social networking technologies have grown astronomically in size. From the evolution of MySpace to Facebook, to blogging and now Tweeting, social networking sites are creating more channels of communication that can be accessed from a PC all the way to a cell phone in your pocket. Keeping society connected 24/7. In today’s educational society, social networking sites (SNS) are becoming students’ primary means of communication among each other. The educational systems, who normally take a back seat to implementing new technology, is now looking at possible advantages of incorporating SNS with a student’s academic life. Because the social networking trend is starting to spawn in the educational arena, expanding on the concept of Teacher Tube, a spin off of YouTube could be a way to assist in making this emerging technology valuable.

ESN (Educational Social Networking) sites could be designed to create a secured education channel for the end users. ESN’s would contain built in active monitoring tools for content, and like Teacher Tube, the ESN’s would have new creative education logos distinguishing social based from education based. With the creation of ESN, we can address parents and teacher concerns about privacy and possible abuse of the sites as it relates to the content that is placed on a user’s profile. Roach (2006), conducted a study which engaged social networking technologies in education, and found that over half of the students respondents would “read a blog authorized by a faculty member” that pertained to course information and school activities. So why not take advantage of the technology and aggressively implement social networking in all course curriculum?

A recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota concluded that there was no difference in the level of technology proficiencies between students of low income households and those of upper or middle class households. Overall, indicating that SNS can produce positive reactions if introduced in an educational setting. The article outlined social networking sites as an important trend that is taking over all traditional forms of communication. The author discusses how these sites can be utilized to create better communication between students and instructors. The article corresponds to my research interest on incorporating social networking technologies in the K-12 educational environment. Although the author’s population of study only included college level activity, the overall message of utilizing social networking technology/sites in the educational system is strongly supported. Utilizing “safe” sites such as Youth Twitter and Intranet sites setup by independent school districts, gives teachers some hope of being able to increase learning through technology without putting fear in the hearts of administration. Therefore incorporating social networking technologies in an educational setting should also be on society’s radar for increasing communication and participation between parents, students and the educational system.

References

Harris, K.. (2008). Using Social Networking Sites as Student Engagement Tools. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 25(18), 40. Retrieved February 15, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1588751771).

Roach, R (2006). Prospective college students receptive to electronic social network ingrecruitment methods, survey finds. Diverse Issues in Higher Education online December 2006 edition

Module 5 - Red Queens and Increasing Returns

When we were given the assignment in Module 4, I went to my own video collection first. Surprisingly I had all three videos; therefore I purchased them sometime down the road. For years I have purchased and collected DVD movies, but with the advances of technology, consumers do not have to buy or rent movies from your local Wal-Mart or video store. Internet access has provided a means for viewing or downloading the movie of your choice. Downloaded movies can be burned to a disk to view on a DVD player or simply viewed via computer media software.

Much like DVD’s did to the Laser Disk, the internet will soon follow McLuhan’s tetrad model and obsolete the need for DVD’s. Video on demand enhances the need for access. Instead of getting up and taking a trip to the video store, one could access thousands of movies without leaving the comforts of their homes. Streaming video will eventually cripple the DVD market, making the concept of purchasing DVD’s obsolete. Today both technologies are still trying to stay a step ahead of the other; therefore classifying them as Red Queens. Once society had the ability to download or stream movies via the Internet, technology was advancing in another arena. Televisions are becoming slimmer and the picture quality is increasing. HD video quality sparked the concept of Blue Ray technology, which assisted in keeping DVD’s from being left behind. So with the concept of the Red Queen, you start to see two technologies shooting up and everything else falling aside (Thornburg, 2008). Some markets today have the ability to stream HD quality video via the Internet, but until it becomes wide spread, DVD’s will still have somewhat of an advantage over video streaming.

References

Thornburg, D. (2008). Red Queens, butterflies, and strange attractors: Imperfect lenses into emergent technologies. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

Module 4 Disruptive Technologies

Society is always looking the get the best “bang for their bucks”; therefore technological innovations stands at the forefront of delivering the “bang”. Shiny new technologies always make the technology you just purchased last week, dull and boring. These disruptive technologies offer new enhancements to a product while in some cases reducing the cost to attract new and existing cliental. Technology is following in the footsteps of fashion trends. In 1985 the first version of the Air Jordan shoes hit the market and sold millions. One year later the Air Jordan 2 hit the market and no mater if you had a brand new pair of the first Air Jordan shoes, you actually had the “old” Jordans. This shoe trend continued every year for over two decades, and although this example is not technology based, it is a good representation of the displacement theory in general. Play Station would be a good technological example of a disruptive technology. As this innovation enters its third conception of the gaming system, its feature functionality improves with every release of the product.

Second Life is a new concept but the technology is not at the point of reaching critical mass. This innovation lives predominantly in a “techie” world. Most techie’s are introverts; therefore they lack the ability to socialize face to face with society. To the techie population, second life would be a disruptive technology to more recent social networking technologies (i.e. Facebook and Twitter). As for the rest of society, getting accustom to non face to face interaction through social networking is now becoming a way of life. Second Life is a trend that would have to eventually grow on society instead of taking over or being considered disruptive. So in the next 10 years I would think that you would find more people interested and exploring this concept rather than it replacing an existing technology.

Module 3 - Rhymes of History (Photographs)

The exponential growth and advancement in technology has accelerated society’s methods of viewing still images. Photographs illuminate the concept of everyday life, which in turn casts light on the significance of consumer goods, domestic comfort, the aspirations of men, women, and children, in short the banality of everyday life which echoed their mentalities and how they viewed the world (Januarius, 2008). We have moved from an age of old table cameras of the 1800’s, to the evolution of the point and shoot cameras developed in the 1970’s, to now digital cameras which eliminated the need for film and takes crystal clear photos that are stored on a memory card. Portraits on paper are virtually becoming a thing of the past. Instead of keeping photos of your family in a wallet or purse, society now carries photos of there loved ones in their phone. Framed still shots are being replaced by digital images that change every few seconds. Technology has paved the way for society to “capture the moment” any place at any time.

As we explore affects or impacts of this technology as it relates to Thornburg’s concept of rhymes of history, the concept of photographs rekindles the ancient carvings of images found in caves or Egyptian pyramids. The idea of documenting history via images is something that society has accomplished for hundreds of years. Technology is only playing a part as it relates to the means in which we recording history via imagery.


References

Januarius, J. (2008). Picturing the Everyday Life of Limburg Miners: Photographs as a Historical Source. International Review of Social History, 53(2), 293-312. doi:10.1017/S0020859008003453

Thornburg, D. (Producer). (nd). Rhymes of History. [Video Podcast]. Laureate Education, Inc.

Module 2 - Cell Phone Impact on Society Using Web 2.0 Technology

Cell phone technology was introduced to society by the Motorola Company in 1983. The company released the first generation analog phone technology which would be later replaced by a much more reliable digital technology. Car phones and full size bag phones were the first and only options for communicating outside of a land line. Over the course of the next 20+ years, cell phone technology would transform itself with the growing demand of society and the advancements of technology.

Since the introduction of the first Web browser, the Internet has been considered an interactive communications tool, but we’re just beginning to unlock the Web's ability to help us interact (Schipul, 2006). The exponential growth and advancement in technology has accelerated society’s methods of communication. We have moved from an age of communicating via home or pay phones, digital pagers, cell phones, now SPT (Smart Phone Technology), respectively. SPT provides an accelerated channel of communication through various social networking technologies by way of sending text, email, and blog messages from a single cell phone.

SPT also allows users to download other social networking applications such as IM and Facebook to keep a consistent line of communication open between family and friends. So what does the future hold for smart phone technology? Taking technology to the next level, cell phone makers are introducing 3-D technology to smart phones. For the gadget junkies watching movies or streaming video on a smart phone in 3-D could be considered the next best thing since sliced bread. For those who still operate flip phones with limited capabilities, playing in this new age of technological innovation will be virtually impossible. The exponential growth and advancement in technology has accelerated society’s methods of communication; therefore Smart Phone Technologies becoming emerged.


Reference:
Schipul, E. (2006). The Web's next generation: Web 2.0. Public Relations Tactics, 13(3), 23. Retrieved from SocINDEX with Full Text database.

Module 1 Identify an Emerged Technology

Social networking technology is a growing phenomenon in society. Practically every human being has a cell phone, computer or laptop at his or her disposal. The use of email is sharing the same space of letter writing. The trends of blogging, texting, and using Face Book are taking over the way we communicate via cyber space. Over the past 10 years, the educational system has advanced in its efforts to communicate to parents concerning their children’s progress in school, or sending out general communication about school events via email.

Email is becoming a dinosaur of communication and texting, while blogging and Face Book are the wave of the future. The National School Boards Association (NSBA, 2007) conducted a survey of students, parents, and administrators to determine the purpose of using SNSs; therefore the researchers found that close to 60% of students who utilized SNSs did so to talk about education-related topics (e.g., college, news, jobs, politics) and 50% of students used SNSs to discuss school work they were assigned in the classroom (As cited in Morgan, 2010).

So how do we link these social networking sites to education? How do we address parents and teacher concerns about privacy and possible abuse of the sites as it relates to the content that is placed on a user’s profile? With the assistance from the education system, creators of the most popular social networking sites could develop ESN (Educational Social Networking). The idea behind ESN would be to create a secured education channel to the sites. Built in active monitoring tools for content and create new creative education logos distinguishing social based from education based. Roach (2006), conducted a study which engaged social networking technologies in education, and found that over half of the students respondents would “read a blog authorized by a faculty member” that pertained to course information and school activities.

If embraced by the education system, social networking sites could be utilized to conduct group/class discussions and posting weekly assignments on Blog sites. High school students who are looking to take professional development courses to prepare them for life after graduation could utilize Linked In for professional networking. Student collaboration could be done through Facebook and with the concept of ESN; this goal could be accomplished in a closely monitored virtual classroom environment. The best thing about the concept, it would come at no additional cost to the education system!

References:


Morgan, J. (2010). Social Networking Web Sites Teaching Appropriate Social Competence to
Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Intervention in School and Clinic,
(45), 147 - 157.

Roach, R (2006). Prospective college students receptive to electronic social networking
recruitment methods, survey finds. Diverse Issues in Higher Education online

Module 6 Postings - Reducing Cost While Introducing Globalization of Learning in the Educational System

I responded to the following:

LaTonya Simmons

Kat Crawford

William Goldstein

Amy Cantymagli

Richard W