Running Head: EMERGING TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION 1

Emerging Technology in Education Today

Mary Thomas San Pedro

College of Southern Nevada

Running head: Emerging Technologies in Education 2

ABSTRACT

There are countless of emerging technologies available today. It has affected how we live and

how we view learning. Education is probably one of the most impacted fields. The constant

change and trends gave teachers and students a different perspective. Today, Teachers are slowly

managing to incorporate its use in the curriculum. Alongside this is students adapting to

technology. This paper enumerates three emerging technologies that are used in the field of

education. The paper describes how each one works, how it is used and some of its benefits to

students and teachers.

Emerging Technology in Education Today

The vast growth of emerging technology has dictated how our world function today. Our

curiosity paired with greed, glamour and desire for a better easier life created numerous

technologies available in the market. Everyone became slaves of technology. We were drawn

with the glamorous perspective it presented. The newness it provided gave a great impact and

affected how we dealt with everyday lives. More so, one important aspect that technology is

gradually and constantly changing is education. Year after year, softwares and applications

became readily available to both teachers and students. These softwares and applications created

a buzz which affected expectations from both teachers and students which further coined the

term twenty first century learning. Three technologies that impacted learning in the classroom

are Augmented Reality, 3D Printing, and Tablet Computing.

One technological tool that created a huge buzz was Augmented Reality. It is a “ [form of

] technology that allows computer generated virtual imagery information to be overlaid onto a

live direct or indirect real-world environment in real time” (Lee, 2012, p. 13). Its enormous
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outbreak created numerous possibilities for everyone specially game companies. A good

example is the company Niantic and Nintendo. They were the company who developed the game

Pokemon Go. Their huge success have opened a lot of doors for them; one in particular is their

expansion globally. Now various professions from different fields are starting to imitate them.

More and more companies are creating and developing applications using Augmented Reality.

Education is joining the bandwagon too. They see Augmented Reality as a powerful tool to aid

help in learning. They were drawn to its feature of creating on site experiences and serendipitous

exploration and discovery. Another reason why they liked it so much is because of its feasibility.

Laptops, computer desktops, wireless mobile devices, tablet computers, and the like can easily

access and download the application.

Augmented reality is slowly managing to enter the curriculum of kindergarten to grade

12 and higher education. Freitas and Campos were one of the few who managed to create

applications or softwares to use augmented reality inside the classroom. They developed an

educational system called System of Augmented Reality for Teaching or SMART. It is a “[This]

system [that] uses AR [Augmented Reality] for teaching 2nd grade-level concepts, such as the

means of transportation and types of animals. This system superimposes three dimensional

models and prototypes, such as a car, truck, and airplane, on the real time video feed shown to

the whole class” (Lee, 2012, p. 14). It is quite similar to an interactive game. They designed it as

such because studies show that children retain knowledge in two ways. The first one is through

game based learning and second is if it interests them. Freitas and Campos created “Several

experiments [by Freitas & Campos (2008)] [they] were performed with 54 students in three

different schools in Portugal” (Lee, 2012, pg.15). The results showed that their system called
Running head: Emerging Technologies in Education 2

SMART helped increase their students motivation to learn. It also showed that children gave a

positive feedback on learning along with the improved academic performance for both

performing and non-performing students. Augmented Reality is very useful for higher education

such as universities and colleges. It greatly helps students grasp knowledge on mechanisms and

complex theories easily. Moreover it applies the just in time learning theory which states that

students learn what they need to learn now. Also, educators or teachers are offered by augmented

reality two possibilities to improve their teaching. First is to reconceptualize, how they view

learning and second is to rethink what they should teach. They are able to view styles and ways

on how to present lessons.

Another technology that made its way to education is 3D printing. “The small-scale 3D

printer has evolved from large- scale "additive manufacturing. For public sector use, this

translates to adding materials in layers to construct a solid, three-dimensional object. Essentially,

once you've created or downloaded a 3D digital model, you send it to the printer through 'USB

string-shaped or wirelessly. plastic The from device a spool then heats in layers and onto melts

string-shaped plastic from a spool in layers onto a platform to build the model. The device makes

- passes similar to an Inkjet printer, depositing the plastic material” (Wendt et. al., 2015, p. 44).

Printing models can take several minutes to finish but the possibilities for its use are endless.

This technology can be used across all grade levels starting from preschool. There are hundreds,

thousands even, of activities and ways to use 3D printing inside the classroom. A school from

Tennessee in particular used 3D printing to solve their playground problem. Teachers saw the

need that being able to involve children will develop and hone their skills, more importantly their

problem solving skills. The school in particular taught their children how to use the 3D printers
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and allowed them to explore and experience the different opportunities it offered. As a result,

they learned that children who are actively engaged in learning gain excitement and interest.

Both lead to the build up of passion which creates an outstanding performance at school. Some

schools use 3D printing in teaching STEM. They are creating various models for student’s better

understanding and learning. One in particular is using it to create organelles of cells in 3D scales.

With the help of 3D printing children create a more intimate learning rather than just seeing it

flat through a microscope.

Tablet computing has definitely impacted education. “A tablet PC [computing] is a

versatile computer that combines the computing power of a notebook with the pen functionality

of a PDA (Cox and Rogers 2005b). What makes the tablet PC unique is the ability to use a stylus

to navigate through menus and files by tapping the screen with the pen. Integrated handwriting

recognition and voice recognition are just a few of the other features. With pen-enabled software

such as Microsoft Office and Windows Journal, the user can add digital ink directly on the

screen using the pen. Therefore, from marking up students' papers to generating annotated notes

in PowerPoint or Windows Journal, the tablet PC provides unique opportunities to engage

students” (Rogers et. al., 2018, p. 34). Several projects have been focused on children using

tablet computers. In elementary, tablet computers enabled the children to take virtual field trips.

Others used it as a tutoring tool in mathematics. While higher education used it as a tool for

gathering data, note taking and drawing exercises. [Possibly] one of its greatest offer is creating

an Interactive Learning Network or ILN. The opportunity it provides teachers to create an

interaction towards students by actively soliciting participation from students, conduct

immediate assessment of students learning, and provide real time assistance and feedback to
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maximize their learning. We want our children to experience and have an Interactive Learning

Network. Studies show that using ILN may lead to, “ better student performance in the courses

where the technology is implemented, better retention of prior prerequisite knowledge of basic

concepts and their applications for students in the interactive class; positive attitude toward the

use of the ILN model of instruction and towards student use of tablet PCs in the classroom; and

better student engagement in courses using the technology, as evidenced by higher attendance

rates and more time spent on assigned tasks outside class time” (Enriquez, 2010, p.78). It is

important to understand the use of it as a tool in order to maximize its use.

Emerging tools can aid students learning. They create an interactive learning environment

which enables students to actively participate. More so, create interest in learning thus retain

knowledge. Also, tt is important that we know how technological softwares or applications work

in order to properly incorporate it in lessons and classroom activities. Keep in mind that as

teachers we should have a positive outlook on new tools that can help either us or our students.
Running head: Emerging Technologies in Education 2

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