Endless Possibilities...

Endless Possibilities by Dimarie

If you have read my blog regularly you know that I try to entertain my readers and draw them in with catchy titles and cool graphics. This week, however, try as I might, I cannot come up with a pithy and yet fun title. Perhaps this debilitation arises from the fact that I do not have to suppress myself and filter out what I really want to write. Perhaps it arises from the fact that I am awestruck by the possibilities, the endless possibilities....

I am, of course, referring to and writing about wearable technology. As an educator at a college with the proverbial "open door" admissions policy, I have the honor of potentially teaching every conceivable type of student. After all, to enroll at the college where I teach students need only 1) be at least 18 (or have their parent's consent) and 2) be alive. A high school diploma is not required.

Many of the students I teach are ill prepared for college and lack the requisite skills necessary to successfully attend college. The college and the administration is very supportive of all our students. We all want them to succeed. There is, however, only so much we can do. The students need to make the effort and show some initiative. Wearable technology, if we can but get it into the hands of students, may help students, both the strong and the weak ones, succeed in college. In general terms it may help them by motivating them. Let me tell you how I envision it helping them in more specific terms.

Students have been able to record classroom lectures for decades. With these recordings they can go back and listen to the lectures again. While useful, the process is slow, arduous, and a sure fire cure for insomnia. 

Imagine instead students wearing something similar to or even better than Google Glass. Imagine them recording not just the audio from the classroom but also videoing the visual elements as well. From powerpoint slides, to scribbles on the white board, to handouts everything could be captured and saved for later review. A system could be devised which allows the user to earmark particularly important parts of the lecture for ready review. 

Waiting for that bus which never seems to come? Why waste the time listening to and watching the Harlem Shake when you can be reviewing your class "notes" and organizing them to make studying for the test that much easier? This technology can help students not only get the most out of class time, it can also help them get the most out of both study time and other time which otherwise goes wasted. Such efficiency will make the students better learners and give them more free time during which they can make non academically related bad decisions.

Perhaps as the technology continues to progress, the software in the device would transcribe the spoken words and the student would be able see to the lecture as well as hear it. Such transcription, especially if in real time, could help students understand what is being said whether they have a hearing impairment, are learning through their non native language, or have the misfortune to have a teacher with a very thick accent.

These wearable learning aids could also help the students develop their vocabulary. What? The teacher said a word that you do not know? Don't ignore it. Look it up! Review it later too. Perhaps on the bus?

Having students with the internet literally at their eyes, would also allow teachers to assign tasks which require the students to scour the internet looking for information. I will not go more deeply into that as we have already covered it this semester.

As I am trying to stay positive I will not address the ways in which the lazy and dishonest students will misused this technology. Reminding myself that they are only really cheating themselves, I will drop the topic here.

In conclusion, wearable technology offers all students, the good, that bad, and the ones who need a little more help, the tools which can make their educational experience both more meaningful and more enjoyable. I only hope that the price point will come down to a reasonable level sooner rather than later. This technology can be very helpful but only if we get to use it.