Video Conferencing Tetrad

        

Video conferencing provides users with the opportunity to talk to someone else face to face in any other part of the world.  It provides the user with the feeling that the person they are talking to is in the room with them.  This technology provides the users with the opportunity to communicate with each other and look the other person in the eye.  It provides users with an inexpensive opportunity for its users to see and communicate with each other without draining their pockets of their hard earned money.  Video technology can also be beneficial to family members who have loved ones serving in the armed forces.  Through the use of video conferencing allows these families to communicate with each other and see each other all of the time.  It helps to see the person as well as hearing their voice when you are talking to them.  Video conferencing replaces letters, e-mails, recordings, landline telephones, and instant messaging services.  They do not require calling plans or charge you long distance rates for talking to people.  Long distance calls, letters, and e-mail will be replaced because the technology allows people to talk face to face.  This technology takes away the need for phones or any form of written communication.  Video conferencing allows people to face each other and talk as if they were sitting in the same room together.  It eliminates the need for any form of voice or written communication between people in different parts of the world.  Everything can be done electronically through the use of microphones and cameras.  This technology retrieves the old phone conferencing and group calling tools.  It also replaces group messaging and e-mail messaging tools that people can use to communicate.  This technology also replaces VHS video recordings that people would record and send to one another.  Video conferencing technology will be replaced by a more advanced form of communication technology.  This new technology will make it possible for people to visually communicate with each other from their phones, tvs, watches and other forms of technology.  I also think advanced forms of travel will make this technology for communication no longer necessary.  The technology will become more advanced and new devices will make this technology obsolete.         

Current Technology that Shapes Education

Current Technology that Shapes Education

“The constantly changing landscape of educational technology can be thought of as a series of transitions from older tools to newer ones – although some of the newer tools had their genesis years ago and are just now coming into mainstream awareness” (Thornburg, 2009).  Innovations in technology are constantly shaping today’s modern society.  Some of these technologies are so advanced that they are quickly changing our everyday lives by revolutionizing the way we are used to doing things.  These technologies help shape our society on a daily basis, but also create many problems that require immediate attention.  It seems like every school year there is a new form of technology that is changing and outdating older forms of technology in the educational world.  Document camera and Promethean boards are becoming more and more popular across the country.  They have been extremely popular in schools with teachers using them as instructional aides in the classroom. 

Despite their success in my school and in other schools there are also many challenges and problems associated with document cameras and Promethean boards.  One of the first issues is that they are expensive and not easily available to schools that need them.  Our school had to use Title 1 money in order to purchase them for some of the teachers.  “One of the benefits of using free software when possible, is that it frees up scarce money to purchase those educational titles for which there are only proprietary solutions” (Thornburg, 2009).  Another issue is the functional problems that the Promethean boards sometimes have because they are always crashing or switching off.  Many times the boards are shipped out to the schools and are missing pieces or parts that should have been included with the board, but were left out of the package by mistake.  There are also instances where the board will shut off automatically without being prompted too.  However, in this case the pros outweigh the cons and the Promethean board would be beneficial for any classroom.

     

Promethean boards and document cameras can also be extremely beneficial to any classroom across all content areas.  Studies have proven that Promethean boards and document cameras can be the most beneficial in ELA, ELL, Mathematics, and Foreign Languages.  Elementary school teachers can use them in their literacy lessons and help students how to learn to read.  ELA and ELL classes can use the boards for constant repetition and vocabulary practice.  Promethean boards provide students with hands on experiences and personally involve them in the learning process.  They can display almost any type of learning technology and provide students with the ability to psychically get out of their seats and participate in the lesson. 

One of the best ways to improve this technology is to make it more available to teachers in need.  The more teachers that are given access to this technology the better the results will be based on human response.  The manufacturers can ask and receive input from the teachers on what the issues and bugs are as well as what needs to be replaced.  Then the companies can make the necessary repairs and adjustments on the new products to avoid further issues.  Most of the issues with the board are fixable issues that can be resolved when a new version of the technology is released. 

Links

http://www.techlearning.com/from-the-classroom/0015/the-document-camera-advancing-classroom-visual-technology/45399

http://www.njea.org/news-and-publications/njea-review/december-2011/document-cameras-in-the-classroom

References:

Thornburg, D. D. (2009a). Current trends in educational technology. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.