Emerging Technologies Tetrad

Bluetooth technology transfers data between two devices that are near each other. Bluetooth is used in low bandwidth situations (Bluetooth.com, 2011). Bluetooth is currently the global standard for simple connectivity between wireless devices (Bluetooth.com, 2011). Bluetooth and wireless technology are similar, Bluetooth is used with wireless technology in close proximity situations and wifi is used in larger areas with equipment that is considered “stationery”.

Bluetooth.com. (2011, August 8). Panasonic, samsung, sony  and XPAND choose Bluetooth technology to standardize active 3D glasses. Kirkland, WA. http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Press-Releases-Detail.aspx?ItemID=135

Websites to check out for info on Bluetooth:

https://www.bluetooth.org/apps/content/

www.bluetooth.com

Emerging Technology in Educational Technology

Technology is rapidly changing. Products move onto the market very quickly. Educational technology is changing to meet the needs of millennial students. Dr. Thornburg (2009) discusses how new tools really are old tools that have changed over the years to meet new needs. Speech to text software is one of those tools. Initially this software was seen only as a tool for the disabled. Recently speech to text software has seen increased usage in the education environment. Windows 7 includes it as an easy to use accessory; there are also external software packages like Dragon. Speech to text software has been available for quite a while but only recently has developed into a tool that can be easily used.

Speech to text software has become more prevalent in schools. Students who have trouble handwriting their assignments are able to use speech to text software to complete those assignments as easily as other students. As with any tool there are some problems with it. Speech to text software can be difficult to use when in a noisy environment. Have you been in a classroom lately? They are not the quiet tombs they used to be, so the student must go to a quiet environment to “write” the assignment. Even if the classroom happens to be quiet, it is quite obvious what you are “writing” when everyone can hear you. That may even be disturbing to other students. As my son pointed out the other day, he uses technology to be the same as the other students in his class, but when he uses speech to text it points out his difference. Another problem is the learning curve. It does take time and some dedication to train the software to recognize a user’s voice and I have noticed that sometimes the Windows 7 tool just gets bogged down and cannot keep up with the speaker.

How students learn is changing. Speech to text software allows students to participate with classmates on grade level appropriate materials without being confined by their handwriting/typing ability.  Accommodations of this type have not typically been used as a solution for students who qualify as learning disabled.

Dragon can be found at http://nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/index.htm. Speech to text is an accessory on Windows 7 and can be accessed on Windows XP. To access it on Windows XP try out these instructions,  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306901.

Thornburg, D.D. (2009). Current trends in educational technology. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.