Roles Past, Present, and Future
To study the potential impact of present trends and emerging future technologies, it’s wise to look in the rear view mirror to see the role of technology from the past that brought us to our present trends.
Greg Toppo knows educational technology exceptionally well. But his message to teachers and technologists takes a long view (REALLY long) of technology in its broadest sense. His 15-minute TED talk, A different way to think about technology in education: builds a vision for technology use in schools that go from his “current trend” message to “emerging applications” of technology in the future. His 2012 presentation remains effective in raise questions in his audience, so he doesn’t pretend to offer concrete answers. The answers are up to you as you design your own innovations in educational technology.
- Take aways from Greg Toppo’s talk:
- Technology has brought about fundamental changes throughout history. The biggest difference now is the pace of technological change.
- Forty years of computer technology and decades of radio and television technology has not measurably increased student achievement as measured by standardized tests.
- He ends with educational technology pioneer Seymour Papert’s model of children working together with technology to build interesting creations and experiences.