Identify an Emerged Technology

MD1Assign2WeaverT – Blog Post

As an interim teacher that is employed by as many as 10 different K-12 school districts for the last few years, I have noticed that a few have switched over to the Blackboard (Bb) Learning Management System (LMS) in their institutions.  Using Bb at Walden U. is a new venture for me and is considered an emerging technology.  For the teachers and students at the institutions using Bb, it has emerged as the prominent LMS for everyday life in their learning environments which makes it an already emerged technology.  Beyond hardware, it is software and software services that are actually the growth industry in technology (Soloway, n.d.) and Bb seems to be leading the surge.

Here is a link to Blackboard Blogs @ http://blog.blackboard.com/products-services/blackboard-collaborate/liven-your-lms/ to get a better feel for what is currently happening. 

I have noticed so far that most teachers only use the software for managing their own classes, but it can do so much more.  Bb is capable of helping institutional clients use the software to reach stakeholders in immediate, personalized, and innovative ways (Blackboard, 2012).  Most teachers I have noticed so far use it primarily for course/student management and caregiver correspondence.  This is certainly nice for students who can check their grades anytime throughout the course.  Staying current on their own progress certainly helps them stay on task and manage themselves.  For caregivers, it meets the social needs of following along with student progress so adjustments can be made on the fly rather than after the summative grade of the course.  What Bb provides so far is certainly very beneficial and necessary, but it is capable of so much more.  An example is Bb offers more engaging, interactive, individualized learning experiences (2012) like discussion, collaboration, and mobile services for online usability.  It seems so far there is not much interest in this at the K-12 levels of education. 

Of course like any newly introduced technology, problems and challenges have surfaced.  The primary problem focuses on instructional training.  As Bb access becomes more and more widespread, it would certainly be wise for educational systems to take aggressive actions in staff development.  This is necessary for instructors to improve their pedagogy and take advantage of online tools that are available for immediate use (Thornburg, 2009).  Though I have noticed that teachers are quite familiar with what Bb offers in course management, they look at me quite puzzled when I mention other possibilities it offers for student interactivity and knowledge building.  Now with many students carrying mobile devices, the deeper question is how educational systems, with whatever LMS they choose to implement, will respond to students who use these powerful devices (2009).  The Bb technology is relatively sound for now and the capabilities outnumber K-12 teacher capabilities in how to effectively use it in a non-traditional sense.  To make use of the software technology in a more engaging sense, online research, communication, and collaboration channels need to be opened of which Bb is capable of doing so.  As long as legislation keeps public schools constrained with traditional antics for learning, I do not see K-12 teachers going out of their ways to explore this.  It is a “little” thing called American educational reform and until this happens, revelations in new software technology will remain slow-moving, at least in that sector of education.             

References

Blackboard, (2012). About Bb: We are here to improve your story. Retrieved on June 18, 2012 from http://www.blackboard.com/About-Bb/Overview.aspx

Soloway, E. (n.d.). Emerging vs. emerged technologies. Walden University Emerging and Future Technology. Podcast retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201270_01/PH_EDUC/NCATE_EDUC_8848_EDUC_7108/Module%201/Resources/Resources/embedded/EDUC_8848_EE_Transcript.pdf

Thornburg, D. D. (2009). Current trends in educational technology. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201270_01/PH_EDUC/NCATE_EDUC_8848_EDUC_7108/Module%201/Resources/Resources/embedded/current_trends_in_ed_tech.pdf