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Emerging Technology

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Emerging Technology in Education

Juliana Bahar
4/24/16
Education 214

Emerging Technology
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Abstract
Emerging technologies in education are changing the way teachers are teaching and how students
are learning. There are multiple new types of software and hardware that are being introduced
into education but this paper is going to focus on three; Ereaders, Cloud computing, and clickers.
Each device has its own purpose in the classroom that changes the environment. The first is
Ereaders which has shown to improve test scores of students who use the device. Next is cloud
computing that has a multitude of uses such as online storage and mobile classrooms. The last
technology is clickers which have shown to improve literacy rates as well as allow teachers to
receive immediate feedback on what they students are learning. Each of these devices will play
an important role in the classrooms of the future in improving the learning environment. The
paper will outline five important aspects of each device being; how the technology is intergraded
for different grade levels, the impact it has on the teaching process, the impact it has for the
learning process, how the technology works, and how it benefits the classroom.

Emerging Technology
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Education is an ever evolving system that tries to improve upon current ways of teaching
in a multitude of different ways. One of the ways that new strategies are being implemented is
through new technology being added to the classroom. There are many new devices and software
that are being integrated into the classroom but for this paper it will discuss three of those
technologies, Ereaders, Clickers, and Cloud Computing. Each one of these emerging
technologies are currently being tested out in classroom across the world to see how they impact
education. There are five focuses that are going to be discussed in this paper which are; how the
technology is intergraded for different grade levels, the impact it has on the teaching process, the
impact it has for the learning process, how the technology works, and how it benefits the
classroom.
The first technology that is going to be discussed is Ereaders. This technology allows for
books, articles, and other literary works to be downloaded onto a device in large amounts in a
portable form. The first major innovation for the Ereader would occur in 2007 with the invention
of the Amazon Kindle, which brought Ereaders to the public (Tees). It would take a few more
years for a new addition to be added, the price to be dropped, and other competitors to arise for
Ereaders to control 5% of the book market in 2010 (Tees). With the device coming into
popularity with the public, it would not be long for the school system to try integrating it into the
classroom. In 2012 a study was issued integrating Ereaders into the school districts where it
would compare the scores the end of second grade scores from the Georgia Online Assessment
System (OAS) to the end of third grade scores on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test
(CRCT) (Union, C. D). In this case the school is testing to see how the education of third grade
students using Ereaders effect their scores compared to those who did not use the technology.
The exact device that was used was the Nook Simple Touch. The method used was assignments

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from the Nook where to be completed at school and at home which tested individual growth of
the students. The end result of this experiment was that the students did do statistically better in
two of the three research questions that where ask; there was an improvement in CRCT in
English Language Arts scores for those who used Ereaders and behavior was improved for the
students who used Ereaders. The one area where there was no difference was the rest of the
CRCT score (Union, C. D). In conclusion the results show that the students did improve in both
reading competency and behavior but did not change the rest of the CRCT scores. In this
experiment the teacher was able to teach her students with better results using an Ereader. A very
interesting note is that the behavior of students who used the Ereaders greatly improved and
made it so the classroom was better fit for instruction.
The next emerging technology that is going to be discussed is Cloud computing.
According to Teaching and Learning with Technology by Judy Lever-Duffy and Jean McDonald,
Cloud computing or the cloud, is software and files stored on the cloud which are available for
those who are connected via the Internet (Lever-Duffy, pg.134). The information that is stored
on the cloud can be accessed at any point by logging into the online service with a password that
can be individualized or for a whole classroom. According to Cloud Computing in Education by
Narcisa Isaila there multiple reasons for a school to use cloud computing. The first is the
economy of financial resources which means one only has to pay for what they use (Isaila). For
many schools the cost of new technology is often an issue when it comes to introducing it to the
classroom but with a pay what one uses style of plan allows for an affordable option to share
information. Another use for cloud computing is hosting learning management systems. One of
those systems is called Moodle. This is used for creating sharable information, assignments, and
grades. Teachers can use this software to make a folder of sharable information for students,

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insert video links, set up private files for instruction, and much more. Students can also use this
software to post in school forms, learn or practice independently, and many other things (Mount
Orange School). Cloud computing is of great benefit for its availability for both teachers and
students and its affordability. The integration of this technology will save the school time and
money as well as including technology into the students education.
The last technology that is going to be discussed is clickers. Clickers are a device
that can be used for instant response answers using a mixture of downloaded software and a
physical device. The students use the device to pick from multiple choice answers that are
presented on the screen. According to Tim J. Bristol in Clickers: Audience Response Strategies,
clickers are a tool that allows students to play games, vote, or provide feedback to their teachers.
The instructor can then let the results decided what may to be recovered or to continue on with
the lesson. One of the advantages of this technology is how easy it is for the students to use. As
long as a child can press a button on a remote then they can use a clicker. This is great for
making multiple choice questions fun for students in any grade level. In Clickers to the Rescue
by Katelyn Moretelli and Nancy K. DeJarnette a fifth grade class was given clickers to help
improve literacy scores. The clickers were used in a class review style and the results were tested
based on the standard tests that were given. The clickers were a four week trial basis and the
texts were taken again with the scores being analyzed before and after. The results showed an
improvement of 59% for the entire class with 50% of the improved children being low achieving
students. By using clickers as a review tool in the classroom there was a great improvement of
test scores in a short amount of time. There was such a dramatic change in such a short amount
of time that even more improvement can occur if more time is given. This technology was great
current use and wonderful potential for the future.

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The three emerging technologies that was covered are Ereaders, Cloud computing, and
clicker. Each one is a valuable tool that can be used by both teachers and students to improve the
learning experience. Ereaders is great for saving large amounts of information of texts and book.
Cloud computing is a transformative software for saving date as well as sharing it with any
device with Wi-Fi connection. Finally clickers are a great device that has proven results in
increase the success rate of students on test. These device are only a few of the multiple
emerging technologies that are being implemented into the education system. For every new
device or software that is introducing the effectiveness of learning and teaching changes with it.

Bibliography

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Isaila, N. (2014). CLOUD COMPUTING IN EDUCATION. Knowledge Horizons. Economics,


6(2), 100-103. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1537380863

?accountid=27953

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDobald, J. (2015). Teaching and Learning with Technology (5th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Moratelli, K., & DeJarnette, N. K. (2014). Clickers to the Rescue. Reading Teacher, 67(8), 586593.
Mount Orange School. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from
http://school.demo.moodle.net/mod/page/view.php?id=46
Tim J. Bristol, Clickers: Audience response strategies, Teaching and Learning in Nursing,
Volume 6, Issue 4, October 2011, Pages 192-195, ISSN 1557-3087,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2011.08.002.
Tees, T. (2010). Ereaders in academic libraries - a literature review. Australian Library Journal,
59(4), 180-186. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/823014537?

accountid=27953

Union, C. D., Union, L. W., & Green, T. D. (2015). The use of eReaders in the classroom and at
home to help third-grade students improve their reading and english/ language arts
standardized test scores. TechTrends, 59(5), 71-84. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11528015-0893-3

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