Global Trends and Issues in Information, Article Review Example

The paper in question was focused on a posting made by Robert Hawkins, and is entitled 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education. Mobile Learning is a trend that involves a nearly constant connection to the internet, through iPads and/or mobile smart phone, and will eventually replace computers in most classrooms. Hawkins then brings up Cloud Computing, which has many question marks surrounding it. For starters, it is extremely cost prohibitive, though in the future that will come down. The consensus is that if cost is lowered, and the cloud becomes popular in business, classrooms will follow suit. Following closely with the Cloud concept is that of One-to-One Computing which would effectively provide every student with connectivity. Again, cost is a factor, although this is becoming more affordable all the time. In time, this idea may become a reality, and if so, would be a marked improvement over today’s seeming lack of usage for some pupils. In league with the previously mentioned ideas, Ubiquitous Learning will have occurred, and is well on its way, when computers will become so common that they are no longer noticed. As far as education goes, this is largely dependent on a teacher’s desire to change their teaching habits. However, in time, and with proper execution, this may become a reality. Gaming as a learning tool is already wildly popular, and there are no signs of this going away. Personalized Learning and a Redefinition of Learning Spaces have already proven successful. Two remaining ideas, already in play somewhat, is Teacher-Generated Open Content, where a teacher writes the majority of his or her own lesson plans, and Teacher/Manager Mentors. The latter idea would require the teacher to be more of a tutor and/or coach, rather than the authoritative teacher. This model would insist upon a restructuring of the educational model, and as such, is seen as somewhat of a long shot in the U.S. However, this model has enjoyed limited success in some foreign and/or remote lands, whereby a teacher conducts class via the Web. One other trend, which is very well established, is that of the Smart Portfolio Assessment, which essentially utilized a student’s overall portfolio of work as an ongoing assessment/grade. This has enjoyed great popularity and widespread use as of this writing (Maddux, 2010).

References

Maddux, C. D. (2010). Global Trends and Issues in Information Technology in Education. Computers in the Schools, 27, 145–154. doi:10.1080/07380569.2010.523888.