McLuhan's+Tetrad

=McLuhan's Tetrad=

** Kindles: By Krista Zade **
**This week I researched a technology that has been emerging for the past few years and that some people might even consider already emerged: the Kindle. This technology follows all elements of McLuhan's Tetrad. The Kindle enhances reading in that it allows readers to carry with them a small library of virtual books that is the same size as one printed book. Additionally, the Kindle allows readers to look up unknown words and to zoom in or zoom out of the text. Looking at the second element of the tetrad, the Kindle and other ebook devices have the power to obsolete printed books, though I dearly hope that they do not. After much thinking about the third tetrad element, I connected the Kindle to the ancient Library of Alexandria. This library housed almost all of the known world's printed books so that readers could travel to one place for their sources, rather than journeying from Jerusalem to Gaza to Thebes. This is similar to the Kindle because both sought/seek to serve as an exhaustive collection of texts. Finally, the Kindle sets the stage for its own replacement, which technology journalists predict will be an interactive video game-like ebook. There are several companies in the early design stages of such "books," somewhat similar to previous "choose your own adventure" books. While this concept makes me cringe and quite honestly scares me, I can see society catching onto such ebooks as a result of Digital Native's need for interaction with everything they do.**

**As for education, I believe that the Kindle and other ebook devices have the power to obsolete books in the classroom as well. I hate to think of my young students without actual books in their hands, learning which direction to turn the pages in kindergarten and first grade and smiling with pride as they feel the increasing weight of the chapter books they are able to read in second grade on up. These simple things are lost with the Kindle. Gone also are children's favorites such as physical pop-up books (holographic images in the future will not do this justice), tactile books, and others. Even with these drawbacks to Kindles in the classroom, I can easily see district administrators requiring a switch to Kindles in the classroom. For one thing, it is a lot cheaper. My district provides all new teachers with leveled libraries and updates all current teacher's libraries every 5 years or so, through a recurring grant. Kindles would enable them to buy ebooks, which start with quality children's titles for only $0.99, a price that you can only find in print books at Goodwill or garage sales. Additionally, the ability to look up word definitions on the Kindle would be touted as a pro, but which I only see as a way to obsolete the dictionary.**

**Though Kindles are excellent and serve their purpose well, I hope not to see the printed book become completely obsolete. I fear, though, that this may be our future.**

iPads- Sara Yavorsky

The iPad brings endless of possibilities to enhance student learning and teacher’s teaching. Today’s students are 21st century thinkers and rely on technology in every facet of their everyday lives. Students no longer use alarm clocks they set their cell phones or iPads. My students are more engaged in lessons that are hands-on and implement technology. Many students own an Apple product and are familiar with how to navigate and operate them. If school districts supply their students with iPads students will have instant access to the Internet while at school. Students will be able to instantly research a topic or question they come across while they are completing assignments. If a student comes across a word they do not know they can instantly look up the definition without leaving what they are reading. Students can search for videos that demonstrate the concepts they are studying and then instantly play them on their iPads. This will greatly help students who are visual learners. The iPad can also be integrated into student’s elective classes, for instance band, where students can compose their own music using the iPad.

“Apple products inspire creativity and hands-on learning with features you won’t find anywhere else. And they’re easy to integrate into your curriculum. Once you do, you’ll see teaching — and learning — in a whole new way” (Apple Inc., 2011). The iPad can enhance any teacher’s lessons and curriculum. Teachers can easily search through the thousands of educational apps available on the iPad to find apps that can improve their current teaching methods. Educational apps are sorted by subjected where teachers can easily find an app that fits the needs of their students. An app I found that my students could use while we are studying our human body unit is ‘anatomy visualizer’. This will allow students to see up close in personal what the organs and systems we are studying truly look like inside the human body. Incorporating the iPad into your teaching will only enhances the content and help students master the material you are studying.

Sara, While I agree with all of your points about iPads, I think it is important to remember that it has limitations as well. One of the most significant is the inability to use Flash or Java based applications. This means that students cannot use many Web 2.0 tools, such as Voice Thread and Glogster. While there are work around apps and the producers of Flash based tools are trying to develop apps which will work on the iPads, the ones that are currently available are clunky and unpredictable. This does not mean that I wouldn't use iPads with my students, but it does mean that I need to be careful when I select online resources to use. Sheryl Wolfe

**﻿**

** Scriblink.com - Erika Yee **

 * Scriblink (Scriblink LLC, 2011) is an online digital whiteboard that does not require an account nor a program that has to be downloaded. A student only needs internet access. Scriblink provides a real-time chat area and an area to write and draw. Each online whiteboard environment requires an invite by the person that first creates it by sharing the URL. This security feature helps to take care of the public gaining access to student conversations. **


 * When Thornburg (2008) stated that a “new technology carries with it seeds of destruction paving the way for the next one to follow” (p.2), he makes a valid point. Scriblink or a new application only needs to add the webcam features of SKYPE, and you can have the best of both worlds. **


 * Scriblink has created a new way for students to interact with each other outside the classroom environment. Because of it’s real-time application, st﻿udents could collaborate on projects from within a classroom to classrooms around the world with immediate feedback. Scriblink has also included VOIP, the capability to upload images, dynamic tools (perfect for Math instruction), and the ability to save, print and/or email the whiteboard within its application. **


 * Adopting Scriblink at a school site would be another way to prepare students for the 21st century. Online collaboration and problem-based learning will provide opportunities for students to think critically and tackle real-life issues. Peer tutoring from middle and high school students becomes an option because elementary school students will only have to travel to their respective site computer labs for assistance. In all actuality, Scriblink opens a world of opportunities and applications for education. **

Wikis- Nick Zomer

Wikis are a mulit-user, mulit-editor website that are most often free to use. Anyone with proper permissions from the owner of the wiki can add, delete, and edit any information that is shown on the page. This provides a great wealth of uses in the classroom, from supplimenting weak or missing textbook sections, to allowing the students the opportunity to enhance the learning of their peers, to showcasing their understanding and comprehension of a particular topic. The only limitation to a wiki is the way that the teacher decides to use the tool in the classroom. A wiki can fill in any gap that may be present by other resources and meet a particualr need of a student or students.

Since many school districts are faced with massive budget cuts and limitations to technology, a wiki can help teachers to fill the void provided by these financial limitations. Since most wiki hosting sites are free to educators, there is not a financial burden for the district to allow teachers to use this resource. Textbooks are one of the resources that many school districts are having to eliminate, reduce the availability of, or prevent updated purchases because of financial issues. By using a wiki, a teacher would be able to create a wiki to enhance any gaps in the subject that the textbook may not otherwise be able to provide. I know that my school district is eliminating textbook adoptions for the near future, causing many textbooks to be out of date and in poor condition. A teacher or students could create a wiki page that explains the information that is lacking from current resources and then have their students use this accurate information in class. Also, since students can use the wiki from any computer worldwide that has Internet access, there is no financial cost to the school for teachers using this service.

Web services such as YouTube and Skype are starting to allow users to copy and embed code for their services on wiki pages, further extending the use of a wiki in the classroom. Teachers could also link to other networking sites, such as scriblink.com or dabbleboard.com to allow students to interact with one another in another meaningful method. One of the most important components of a wiki is the collaboration that it allows the user to have. Students must communicate with one another in order to make effective use of the site. Discussions regarding what information to include on the page or how to arrange the information will only create meaningful discussions related to the topic. A student has to have a deep understanding of the material in order to provide their input for the page.

A wiki is simply more than what is seen with Wikipedia. A wiki allows all students the opportunity to discuss and publish their thoughts and information to be shared with others.

Multi-Touch Technology by Sheryl Wolfe

Multi-touch screens are available on iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. Further, they are becoming increasingly available on Android Smartphones and Tablets. According to the [|Apple website,] “when your fingers touch the display, it senses them using electrical fields. Then it instantly transforms your taps, swipes, pinches, and flicks into lifelike actions.” Thus, the Enhancement is the ability to intereact directly with the device with more natural hand motions which gives the user more control over how the data displays or is manipulated.

I believe that multi-touch technology has a number of potential applications in the classroom. First, because it uses simple, natural hand gestures, it is very easy to learn and apply. Even very young children who have limited fine-motor skills and eye-hand coordination can use a device with this type of interface. This makes the use of technology more readily available to students of all ages and abilities. Second, the potential for this technology extends beyond the handheld devices it currently dominates. Tabletops, walls, televisions, and desktop or laptop computers can also make use of this technology to allow users to easily explore, research, design, present, and collaborate to enhance learning and support project or problem based learning.

Finally, the multi-touch devices can be networked so that teachers and students can easily share documents, videos, PDFs, and images. Further, since multi-touch devices can allow multiple users to interact with it at the same time, students could work collaboratively by viewing the content of other devices or even sharing the same content space across devices. Ultimately, the most powerful effect from the use of multi-touch technology will be an increase in student motivation, engagement, and confidence since they will be able to easily use this tool independently to improve their learning experiences.