Emerging Technologies Every Administrator Should Know in the Next 5 Years

MassCue Session 4
Emerging Technologies Every Administrator Should Know in the Next 5 Years
Joseph Mastrocola, Assistant Superintendent, Peabody PS

ppt download:
www.teacherweb.com/ma/eea/educationenlightenment

Important Links:

• Horizon Report - good data on emerging technologies
• Fool's Gold - Alliance for Childhood - critical about computers and tech for children
  

• Edutopia.org - The Digital Generation

• Digi Teen - digital citizenship

• Flat Classroom Project - connecting to the world, empowering students to connect globally

• Tim Berners Lee on the Semantic Web - vision of Web 3.0 and the changes that are coming.

Educational tech has been most effective in assistive technology. Ed tech has made a difference in developing 21st century skills for students.

Skills important in hiring a high school graduate:
• Work ethic 80%
• Collaboration 75%
• Good communication 70%
• Social responsibility 63%
• Critical thinking 58%

What skills will be important for HS grads in 5 years?
• Critical thinking 78%
• Health and wellness 76%
• I.T. 77%
• Collaboration 74%

• Innovation 74%
• Personal financial responsibility 72%

5 Emerging Technologies

1. Cloud computing – create and store content on web. Free up resources that used to be spent archiving. Web is infrastructure.

Applications: gmail, googlewave (interdisciplinary Google)
Creating & Presenting: Prezi, Vuvox, Slideshare
New Apps: splashup, jaycut

2. Increased mobile devices
Note: need to update policies, procedures and protocols

School district doing this well highlighted:
Edutopia.org
“The Digital Generation” – empowering students to be thinkers.

Digi Teen – study digital citizenship
Flat Classroom Project – empowering students to connect globally

3. Assistive Technology – continues to be one of the brightest stars of technology integration.
www.cast.org
www.landmark.edu/institut/assistive_technology/index.html
www.ataccess.org

Hospital and clinic partnerships coming to 9-12 high schools.
Neuroscience and artificial intelligence – big academic growth area that are tech rich and will help special needs students.

4. Using technology to be entrepreneurial
School is a one-person circus – administrators have to do everything.
• Storefronts for raising big amounts of money to generate income to support work in classrooms.
• Ads – “this mid-term sponsored by Walmart” – this is HAPPENING! Field Day sponsored by companies
• Ebay for educational materials – trade ed supplies for school districts
• Selling on professional development materials – create it for you district and sell it on.

5. Personal web
• Personal coaching for kids – virtual counselor
• Developing and organizing online content
• 8,8,8 initiative – virtual contact outside school
• Virtual backpack (in addition to print material)
• Tools for tagging, aggregating, updating and tracking – aka formative assessment. (He mentioned the ALA and school libraries here – go us!)

Translation to the classroom
• Smart boards
• Internet drive research and web apps
• Web based admin activities
• Wireless networks
• Heavy graphics and convergence

Other technologies to watch
• Semantic-aware applications, tools designed for making meaning
• Smart Objects – link virtual to real world. Link it to student management systems.
• Data mash-ups – new ways of looking at information
• Web 2.0 to 3.0
• Desktop videoconferencing – Skype, Oovoo
• Instant messaging – Meebo
• Microblogging platforms – Twitter, Plurk
• Virtual workplaces
• LMS – Moodle
• Social networking – Nings, Pageflakes
• 3D Virtual Worlds – ActiveWorlds, Second Life, HiFives

Key Trends:
Technology isn’t going away, so teach skills that will help students, empower them, teach innovation, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship.