McLuhan’s+Tetrad

__**SMART board (Interactive White Board) by: Mary Hayn**__ The SMART provides students with an interactive, internet connected, large display that is capable of presenting numerous computer applications to a large group of learners. ||= **Obsoletes** The SMART board obsoletes the chalkboard, dry erase board, overhead projector, VHS tapes, audio tapes, and much more. || The SMART board retrieves how teachers displayed content using chalkboards, pictures in books, and other related educational materials, which was very limited. ||= **Reverses** The SMART board could be replaced by 3-D interactive displays, or the ability to give every child an interactive tablet that will directly interact with the main display. ||
 * = **Enhances**
 * = **Retrieves**

The SMART board would have a definite impact on teaching and learning. First and foremost, a SMART board allows student to interact with educational content using their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses. SMART boards are great for demonstrations and keep students attention longer because of the interactive lessons that can be utilized. The display is colorful and can depict picture’s true colors rather than a black and white worksheet. D igital whiteboards allow teachers to incorporate the Internet into their lessons in more useful ways. “The visibility of the 60-inch digital whiteboard is useful, but being able to draw on the illustrations and underline, circle, or highlight text found on the Internet sites really engages the students. This helps to create meaning, make connections, and develop understanding during literacy lessons” (Solvie, 2004). Overall, SMART boards can add depth to any subject area using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic opportunities. Any school would be doing a disservice to their students if they did not want to adopt a SMART board into their classrooms. In the video “McLuhan's Tetrad”, Dr. David Thornburg states that, “knowing about emerging technologies helps students to learn more effectively and helps professionals to budget more wisely” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Although the upfront cost of a SMART board may be expensive for some districts, the benefits and opportunities the SMART board provides teachers and students outweighs the barrier of cost. Any SMART board lesson made with the provided Notebook software can be shared with parents, students, and colleagues. “ Work can be revisited, revised, printed, and shared—either electronically or via hard copies—immediately and within the context of the lesson” (Solvie, 2004). SMART boards allow school buildings to collaborate their technology resources, and make lessons that give students opportunities to demonstrate 21st century skills.


 * References**

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). // New and emerging technologies //. Baltimore, MD: Author. Solvie, P. (2004, February). The digital whiteboard: A tool in early literacy instruction. //The Reading Teacher//, 57, 484-487. Retrieved September 15, 2011, from [] Thornburg, D. D. (2008). //Emerging technologies and McLuhan's Laws of Media//. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

Cloud Computing by Nicole Blanco

One technology that has emerged in recent years is cloud computing, “internet based computing that enables users to access and share information (be that documents, video, software, etc) from any computer, anywhere in the world (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, 2011). Cloud computing **//enhances//** collaboration as a result of the way in which information is accessed, stored, and shared among people working and using different networks and servers. The cloud is generally accessed through a third party company that allows the user to store information for public or private use. Websites such as Google, Windows Azure, and Amazon Web Services are among the leading competitors for large quantities of information, such as hard drives and servers (Williams, 2010). Clouds **//obsolete//** the need for a tangible transportation device, such as floppy disks, CD drives, pen drives, and even hard drives. With the data “floating” in a cloud, the need for personal storage space becomes irrelevant, as does the concern for saving and backing up files, because everything can be accessed with an Internet connection. When I reflect on the purpose of clouds, which includes a place for massive information storage, I believe that the cloud **//retrieves//** the use of mass storage facilities, for personal or public needs, including places like libraries that housed thousands of books containing information. Finally, with the birth of the clouds also brings about **//reversal//**. Since the cloud is more of a metaphor for the Internet, which is such a prominent part of our society, deciding on what will be its demise is a challenging question. My prediction is that it will not go away or be replaced, but instead will more towards a deeper-rooted connection of people, places, and things, which will surely lead to a growth in virtual reality.

Our school district, and I am sure most other school districts as well, operate using servers that are located in one spot. This means that all of the software and applications we use all run on the same bandwidth, frequently causing slower reaction times when accessing those software programs and applications. The districts are forced to continually run routine maintenance work to prevent backups. Unfortunately, servers can be interrupted with problems, and this prevents usage from administrations, faculties, and students. With the use of clouds, products, such as e-mail, word processing, and photo sharing can be accessed without the need of local servers. This increases the potential for successful collaboration among educator colleagues and students. Other perks for school districts include the guarantee that information is always backed up, accessible from any internet connection, and are safe from hardware malfunctions or outside factors like coffee spills. The potential for student use with the cloud seems practically endless. As students develop products, they can save them in the cloud, which allows for collaboration from any person located anywhere in the world.

References

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. (2011). Glossary. Retrieved September 17, 2011 from http://www.smemarketing.com/training/internet-marketing-glossary

Williams, A. (2010). //Top 10 cloud computing services for 2010//. ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved September 17, 2011 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2010/12/top-10-cloud-computing-services-for-2010.php

Flip Video Cameras By: Stephanie Cunningham
 * **Enhances:** What does this technology do that is new? This technology allows for short videos to be created and uploaded to the computer easily. Students can share information with others outside the classroom though the use of uploading their products to the Internet on sharing sites.
 * **Obsoletes:** What does this technology replace? This technology replaces digital cameras, video cameras with separate video compartments, and sound recorders.
 * **Retrieves/Rekindles:** What does this technology bring to mind (or retrieve) from the past? This technology allows for teachers to record their lessons for students to watch back, which was previously done with sound recorders. It also allows for students to record their skits or projects and watch them back anywhere once they are uploaded to a sharing site. Previously a VHS tape was created and shown in class and not shared as easily.
 * **Reverses:** What might replace this technology in the future, or what might it cause to occur? This technology is enhanced with You Tube, Teacher Tube, and other video sharing software, which will also allow this technology to expand and continue to evolve.

Flip video cameras are a fast, easy piece of technology that can be carried anywhere with your students. They allow for students to create projects in school or at home and teachers to record themselves during lessons. They come with a USB port for quick upload to a computer hard drive. The produced video can be edited and/or uploaded to a sharing site to be viewed anywhere, including at home. This creates a whole new dynamic on learning. The students are not just learning the content but also creating a product, which allows for better synthesis of the content. The potential the teachers have with these cameras is almost endless. Teachers can use them for their own personal use such as “while taking a running record of a students’ reading to ensure that the original assessment scores are accurate” (Lifka, 2009), or recording their own lessons for students to view who were absent or were still having difficulty with the skill.

Any school can benefit from incorporating flip video cameras. Students learn more then they are engaged in their learning and would enjoy recording themselves on video. Students also like sharing what they are doing with their family members. While some parents can not attend a play performed in class, if that same play was recorded on a flip camera it could be uploaded and available to be viewed that same night unlike older cameras that needed to be placed on a VHS tape or on a DVD and given out hours or days later. At the same time one problem faced by many schools is the ability to visit other teachers rooms to get ideas on things to do in your own room. Many new teachers need to see a mentor teach, even older teachers can learn from others. Since leaving our own classrooms is not usually an option, recording on a flip video camera and uploading just after the lesson will allow those teachers to watch the lesson that same day. It also allows for that teacher to look and reflect on the lesson that was taught. References Lifka, S. (2009, November 1). The Flip Camera in the Elementary School Classroom. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: [] Thornburg, D. D. (2008). //Emerging technologies and McLuhan's Laws of Media//. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For the Mc McLuhan’s Tetrad I selected the Smart Slate. The SMART Slate™ wireless slate brings new possibilities to the classroom, giving you and your students the freedom to interact with digital content from anywhere in the room. As you use the pen to write on the surface of the wireless slate, your handwriting displays on both your computer screen and the SMART Board interactive whiteboard or a projection screen for all to see. Reach all students in your classroom by handing them the wireless slate and giving them the opportunity to solve problems or demonstrate their knowledge on a specific subject. For example, as you walk around the classroom, you can write out a math problem using the SMART Slate and then hand it to a student to complete the answer. Their work will be projected for the whole class to see, and the class can collaborate to reach the best solution. Wireless capability provides an added benefit for students with limited mobility, since SMART Slate can move to where they sit, and helps you reach shyer students in your class. If you are using the wireless slate in combination with a SMART Board interactive whiteboard, one student can write on the interactive whiteboard at the same time as a classmate writes on the SMART Slate. Each student’s annotations will appear simultaneously, making it easy to involve students on the fly using real-time collaboration.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Enhances: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This technology allows the teacher to manipulate computer0based learning resources from any spot in the classroom
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Obsoletes: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> This technology replace traditional chalk or dry erase white boards & even textbooks.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Retrieves/Rekindles: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> This technology reminds me of teacher/student interactions that occur while circulating. Low interaction is common in the higher grades.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reverses: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> In the future, The Smart slate may allow multi-user computer-based learning from different locations with the guidance of a teacher.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Thornburg, D. D. (2008). //Emerging technologies and McLuhan's Laws of Media//. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">McLuhan's Tetrad by Susan Craig

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The Electronic Textbook || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Obsoletes **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> the traditional hard-bound textbook || ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Enhances **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> the manner in which students access and explore learning materials
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rekindles **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> exploratory learning not limited to the contents of a single resource  ||  **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reverses **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> emphasis on the textbook as the sole or primary classroom resource, paving the way for elimination of textbooks altogether

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">There are several reasons why schools are beginning to adopt electronic textbooks. Traditional texts are bulky, prone to physical damage, become quickly outdated, are limited in information to what is contained between their covers, and are expensive to replace. Electronic textbooks, however, can be cheaper than traditional texts, and even in massive quantities are only as heavy as the devices on which they are stored. They can be continually updated without requiring physical replacement and contain hyperlinks to other current resources. They provide accommodations such as text-to-speech conversion and built-in supports such as glossaries, interactive links, and foreign language translators. As one-to-one computing becomes cheaper through more efficient laptop design and the evolving, emerging tablet computer, more schools will likely recognize the fiscal and educational advantages of purchasing electronic textbooks.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Electronic textbooks open up a world of learning opportunities. When one considers the non-linear nature of electronic textbook learning, it is easy to understand how this technology may be responsible for its future demise, an important concept in McLuhan’s Tetrad (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). As Reynolds (2011) notes in his educational technology forecast, electronic texts will be a contributor in shifting education from the traditional one-size-fits-all delivery-of-content method to a personalized discovery-based approach to learning. By nature, discovery learning requires the exploration of multiple resources as opposed to a single textbook. The trend toward discovery learning may eventually lead to schools’ decreased reliance on the electronic textbook and greater reliance on the vast and growing supply of online educational resources.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">References

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). //New and emerging technologies//. Baltimore, MD: Author.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Reynolds, R. (2011, January 11). Education and technology trends 2011 [Blog post]. Retrieved from [].

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">Thornburg, D. D. (2008). //Emerging technologies and McLuhan’s Laws of Media//. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration. Retrieved from [].

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;">

By: Samantha Cojuangco <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px;"> Interactive textbooks allow the author to provide an animation or video example to supplement text that explains complex concepts. Electronic versions of a textbook can also offer the ability to interact with the information, whether it be by adding notes or highlighting text or participating in simulations or virtual labs. In some cases, purchasing multiple licenses for electronic text is cheaper than purchasing class sets of printed texts. It may also prove cheaper as electronic text can be updated and edited without forcing the consumer to purchase another license in the manner that an updated edition of a textbook requires.