Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Module 2 - Emerging Technologies Tetrad



If few years ago, blogs were only viewed as a journal on a cloud, now they are offering the option of rich site summary (RSS) feeds where readers can receive immediate feedback if there is a new post.  However, blog features are still carrying over many technical features of an email.  As cloud computing continues to expand, many features of blogging will start to change as well in order to accommodate new users.
An article in the New York Times  E-Mail Gets an Instant Makeover (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/technology/21email.html?_r=2 ) states that teenagers are preferring a faster and immediate response to their messages, which is lacking on Blogs. Therefore, I think Twitter is the cluster and chain to Blogs and WordPress, where users can post “on the go,” although, they can only post up to 140 characters. The chain is formed because the Twitters might eventually completely replace Blogs in the near future and it does bring to mind journal writing. As a cluster, Twitter shares the same laws with Blogs.

Reference:
Elon University/Pew Internet Project. (n.d.). Imagining the Internet: A history and forecast: Back 150 timeline. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/back150years.pdf


Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2010, June 11). The future of cloud computing. Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1623/future-cloud-computing-technology-experts

Thornburg, D. D. (2008b). Emerging technologies and McLuhan's Laws of Media. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Emerging and Future Technologies

SITTING ON A CLOUD
In the last few years, the idea of cloud computing has taken over individuals and organizations.
The way we save and backup our files is changing which is opening new doors to collaboration among professionals, students, and organizations. Our storage media has evolved from floppy disks, CDs, flash drives, external hard drives and other storage devices. With the cloud, there is no need to carry all of the files with the threat of the loss of a storage media which translates into lost work. Now, it all “sits” on a cloud in a centralized location which can easily be retrieved with an Internet connection. Cloud computing not only changes how we store and retrieve applications and files, but also how we communicate and share them with other members of our group, and how organizations restructure and modernize their IT infrastructure. An example is Dropbox.com, a free option to save files on the cloud and which also allows users to share particular files with others.
Furthermore, according to a report by Gartner: “By 2016, all Global 2000 companies will use public cloud services” (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1465614). In cloud computing, there is also a cost advantage for organizations and for individual use. It is more cost effective to use cloud services than purchasing and maintaining additional computer processors and constructing large data centers on college campuses. Using the cloud helps with regards to short and long term projects that demand additional computer requirements and software applications. Also, learners do not have to rely on computer labs and to purchase expensive applications for particular classes, but instead, users have access on-demand to data.
Furthermore, cloud computing creates a real opportunity for collaboration among learners and administration within a classroom, campus, or even globally without any delay where they can share ideas, work on projects, and research in addition to minimizing additional operation costs.
However, one of the main concerns of using cloud computing is the security of the data and the continuation of the services. There are always cyber attacks occurring and it is important for the users to be aware of all the pitfalls of cloud computing. However, there is an increased danger of misplacing and losing USB drives which is more common, rather than incurring a cyber attack! Another issue is if there is no Internet connection, you cannot retrieve your document, although cell phones are creating another way to go around that problem.

The use of cloud computing in education should eliminate students’ need to carry homework assignment and projects on USB drives or in the form of papers. Educators will have the option to view students’ assignments online and post their assignments there as well. This will also help parents to have a better handle of what is covered in class and the students’ progress.

In order for the saving and retrieving of files from the cloud to be successful, educators have to be active participants in it! Rogers (2003) states that how the emerging idea is communicated can affect the rate of adaptation of the new technology (p.222); meaning, if the idea comes from the organization itself, this factor can influence its acceptance by the parties (p.356). According to Gardner 2010 forecast report of strategic planning assumptions (http://www.1105info.com/t.do?id=6589564:17617519): “by 2013, 75% of higher education institutions will incorporate social software in distance learning.” In this case, educators will be less hesitant to implement new technology, especially because there would be no need to purchase additional technology by the schools.
Therefore, I believe that social network integration in the classrooms will increase over time. http://www.dropbox.com/ and other similar options of a cloud computing, where learners can save their information on a cloud and share files with peers and educators, will be incorporated as part of a class curriculum and will help eliminate the carrying of school work in terms of paper and external files for students.
The question is what would make this technology even better. It can improve only if it will be used in education, as new ideas are generated by educators, it will continue to improve the product.

Reference:
Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.

Thornburg, D. (2009). Current trends in educational technology. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/Courses/14936/crs-wueduc8812-3526271/when_is_a_technology_emergent.pdf


http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/CollaborationinHigherEducation/199373

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE%2BQuarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/CloudComputing/213724