Module 2 - Assignment
Blog Post on Emerging Technologies Tetrad
Students can use a free
Web-based application called Google Docs where enables them to create
Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Drawings and Forms. Learners have to
create a Google e-mail account because they have to log in to their accounts to
be able to use the applications. Furthermore, the use of Internet access and a
browser such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari are
necessary for pupils to be able to access Google Docs. Whatever pupil
constructs can share it with others and it can be saved online. The student can
access his/her work anytime from anyplace the learner wants to with the use of
an iPhone, Mobil phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop.
I had my
experience as a student using Google Docs to complete one of the assignments in
another course I was taking towards my doctoral degree at Walden University.
Google Documents enabled me to work in collaboration with two classmates to
complete an assignment online.
Moreover,
my group used the chat feature Google allowed us to use to communicate with
each other. When I use Google Docs, I do not have to worry about where to save
and backup my documents because Google takes care of it. When students work
with Google Docs, they use the cloud. Google enables students to have more
flexibility to complete their assignments when they work together because the
work students have to create is done in the cloud.
At the
place where I work, instructors are afraid of using an emerging technology
because they believe that they have to spend a lot of time to learn how to use
the features of the new technology. Google enables educators to spend more time
helping students and less time figuring how to use the new features of Google
Docs.
According to Thornburg (2014f), a tetradic model
allows us to see how powerful the technology is in a way that the more we know
about the technology, the better way to learn how to use the new technology (p.
1). The laws of media are very useful in a way that permits us to explore an
emerging technology by enabling us to choose or reject the technology (M.
McLuhan & E. McLuhan, 1992).
According to Thornburg (2013e), the following tetrad uses the four laws of
media, which are Extension/Enhancement, Closure/Obsolescence, Retrieval, and
Reversal.
Extension/Enhancement:
Multiple
users
Different
locations
Chat
Feature
Use of
cloud
|
Closure/Obsolescence:
It replaces the traditional way processing application
programs work.
|
Retrieval/Rekindles:
Group
work
Share a
file
Access
a file
Use of
Disk Drive or e-mail attachment
|
Reversal:
Emerging Technology that allows
Visual contact
3D Space
Capable of talking to each other in real time
|
One of the new things, Google Docs does is to
enable multiple users to work on a group project from geographically different
locations at the same time. This emerging technology uses a Chat Feature to
permit users to communicate with each other while they work online
collaboratively. Also, the technology allows students to access their documents
24/7 on the cloud.
The emerging technologies started to obsolete
the traditional way processing application programs work offline such as Works,
Word Perfect, Microsoft Word, and Apache Office.
The technology rekindles from the past
the ability that a user can operate in a group with other members that they can
be able of retrieving their files from a disk drive or e-mail attachment.
In the end, the technology that is going to replace
Google Docs in the future can be an emerging technology where students face
each other in a 3D space. While pupils try to work together, learners can
communicate by talking to each other in real time. Each student will have the ability to add
his/her part of the assignment to complete the entire task. Finally, the group
can be able to look for the whole job and finalize it.
The following is a list of links that help us to
explore more about Google Docs the emerging technology.
Tags: Emerging and Future Technologies, Technology, Identify, Emerged, tetrads, grow, clusters, chains, McLuhan’s Laws, Google, Web-based application, Google Docs, Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Drawings and Forms
References
Laureate
Education (Producer). (2014f). David Thornburg: McLuhan’s Tetrad [Video
file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
McLuhan, M., & McLuhan, E. (1992). Laws
of media: The new science. University of Toronto Press.
Thornburg, D. (2013e).
Emerging technologies and McLuhan’s laws of media. Lake Barrington, IL:
Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.
Hi Konstadinos,
ReplyDeleteAs I read over your blog, the last one I did in the group, I was looking at your tetrad and reflecting on how we all ended up with very similar thoughts for each box. I think your tetrad was nicely done.
Steve
Hi Steven,
DeleteThank you for reading my blog and your kind words. I agree with you that all members of our group came up with very similar thoughts after we used the same emerging technology, Google Docs, to create our tetrads.
Konstadinos
Konstadinos, I love how each of us agreed and presented some of the same ideas and research for google docs. One area I found interesting that you posted and I actually thought about briefly, was the fact of talking with each other in real time. Could you elaborate a little more on that aspect you have in the Reversal area? I think I have an idea but I don't want to guess incorrectly. Other than that, your post was clear and concise.
ReplyDeleteHi Orin,
DeleteThank you for responding to my blog. I have to admit that creating a tetrad is a challenging and exciting thing to do. According to Dr. Thornburg (2014f), a tetrad enables a user to explore how the technologies itself is connected to it regarding what technology gets obsolete, what technology from the past did it rekindle, and what the technology in the future might replace it (p. 3). In the last category, I used my imagination to create a future technology that will cause the Google Docs to go obsolete. I image that students will be able to collaborate in a 3D space where they can get together to talk about their assignments in real time. Moreover, pupils will be able to look at the materials that will be part of their projects, and they can exchange opinions on how to complete their assignments in real time. Finally, students will be able to complete their assignments, and they will submit them to their teachers. I image an emerging technology like Microsoft HoloLens, but this technology has more advanced features that enable learners to achieve everything that I described above.
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014f). David Thornburg: McLuhan’s Tetrad [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Konstadinos
Hi Konstadinos,
ReplyDeleteI see we all agree with the collaboration feature of Google Docs and the benefits of it being cloud based. I agree with you that some of the benefits of Google Docs in the classroom are the flexibility that students have to complete their assignments, and the ability of multiple users to work on a group projects from geographically different locations. This is a feature that I have used working in other courses to complete an assignment.
Hi Jannotta,
DeleteThank you for responding to my blog. I agree with you that every member of our group concurs with the collaboration feature of Google Docs and the benefits of it being cloud based. Great work, Jannotta!
Konstadinos