Rob Blackston: EDTECH Learning Log

I may have approached this assignment in a different way, but I feel that the digital divide that my institution faces are created by themselves. The institution made a move to bridge that digital divide gap by providing iPad's in the cost of tuition. Initially, this seemed like a good idea but then they found that they spent more time troubleshooting the big issues than they did using the iPad in the classroom. I saw that the first issue was that they did not install enough WiFi access points to cover all of the classrooms. What was happening was students were trying to load their e-text for class or engage in classroom web activities and there was sporadic connection. At one point, some classes were moving into the hallways (huddled under the access points) to complete simple classroom tasks. The next issue, was that the internet became overwhelmed by usage and this was because the connection had to be routed from Boise to Pittsburg, PA and back. This not only slowed down t...

Technology Use Planning Technology use planning is the process by which an educational entity plans for what the needs will be for a school or a district and then what technology will be available for use. It is, however, not limited just hardware. It serves as a way to decide what type and how technology should be used and when would be the optimal time to implement. How might the new   National Educational Technology Plan 2010   be an effective and powerful resource for technology use planning? I see the new National Educational Technology Plan 2010  being a great guideline to improving the educational plan that will be delivered to an ever-changing learner. That being said, I feel that this plan definitely has its good points but it also has some areas that can be improved upon. The NETP 2010 is good, in that it gives a very specific, measurable goal. Is this goal achievable? We’ll see. If I could choose to focus on one of the two goals, I would focus more on ma...

Please click here to view my Tech Trends Assignment. With so many advances in technology and healthcare, it only seems fitting that we utilize that technology in healthcare education. I see 3D printing as one of the big advancements in medicine. I have read articles about constructing stents and cartilage out of living tissue and implanting them in the body. That just seems crazy to me, but if it's happening, then I have an obligation to inform my surgical technology students about these advancements. I enjoyed doing the research for this assignment, but had a great deal of trouble finding peer reviewed articles because the technology is so new.