Cellphone Tetrad

                                             

What does this technology do that is new?

This technology allows people to interact with each other in an interactive cloud environment.  People are able to text, email, surf the web, play games and search for address with their phones. People can also read books and record notes on their phones.  As a technologist it is exciting to see my pastor preach using his phone instead of a book to read his sermon notes and quote scripture to the congregation.  Imagine what tomorrow hold for the interactive cell phone.

What does this technology replaces?

Obsolete: This technology remove the need for beepers, pay phones and many hand held game devices.  When you watch a movie and see a person run up to a phone booth, you instantly know that the movie is made in the mid 90’s. Cell phone were once able to only make phone calls and reserved for the elite few, now even ten year old children have cell phones.

What does this technology bring to mind (or retrieve) form the past?

Retrieve: This innovation rekindle how we communicated in the past with telegraphs.  People use to have to wait to receive a message and now we are instantly connected through our phones.  It also retrieve the memory of beepers where people were instantly connected regardless of their location.

What might replace this technology in the future, or what might it cause to occur?

Reverses: The innovation that will most likely replace this technology is smaller phones that are the size of Bluetooth ear pieces.  As this technology develop more functions are added to the cell phone the size, portability and versatility of these devices will continue to develop.

Resources:
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-android-phones/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57319534-264/android-4.0-due-in-early-2012-for-7-htc-phones/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
http://cellphones.org/cell-phone-history.html

Identify an Emerged Technology

Identify a current technology that has emerged in the last few years that shapes learning or productivity in your industry?

One technology that has emerged in previous years was the Grade Master 6000. This device was developed to meet the need for teachers to be able to track and measure students’ performance in class and on standardized test.

What problems or challenges have been associated with this technology?

One of the problems with this technology is that there is no support network of staff who understands this technology well enough to explain it to new and lagging teachers. Another issue with the Grade Master is the fact that every student name must be entered into the system as well as the standards those teachers wants to monitor. Teachers must contend with downloading and reading the instruction provided by the website. 

What societal need does it meet, and what are its benefits?

The main advantage of this device is the ability for teachers to collect data on students’ performance and provide it quick enough for effective teachers to adjust their lesson to meet students changing learning needs. Teachers are also able to track effective teaching practices and adjust their pedagogy to address effective learning and teaching methods. This instant feedback is crucial in allowing teachers to develop and address student learning needs that normally wouldn’t be addressed.

What would make this technology even better, avoiding the pitfalls you identified?

This is a great technology that has great potential to be cost effective over an extended period.  The major flaw of this technology is the lack of training and support provided for this innovation.  Another issue is the amount of work initially needed to set up and implement the grademaster 6000 in educators’ classrooms.  These issues prevent motivated teachers from attempting to learn the necessary skills needed to influence learning in their classroom.

Reference:

http://www.appersonedu.com/scanners/grademastertestscanner.aspx