Essential Question: How is technology a critical component to our survival now and in the future?
Introduction
Educational technology, especially computers and computer-related peripherals, have grown tremendously and have permeated all areas of our lives. It is incomprehensible that anyone today would argue that banks, hospitals, or any industry should use less technology. Most young people cannot understand arguments that schools should limit technology use. For them, use of the Internet, for example, plays a major role in their relationships with their friends, their families, and their schools. Teens and their parents generally think use of the Internet enhances the social life and academic work of teenagers:
The Internet is becoming an increasingly vital tool in our information society. More Americans are going online to conduct such day-to-day activities as education, business transactions, personal correspondence, research and information-gathering, and job searches. Each year, being digitally connected becomes ever more critical to economic and educational advancement and community participation. Now that a large number of Americans regularly use the Internet to conduct daily activities, people who lack access to these tools are at a growing disadvantage. Therefore, raising the level of digital inclusion by increasing the number of Americans using the technology tools of the digital age is a vitally important national goal. (U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, & National Telecommunications and Information Administration. (2000, p. xv)
Technology is essential to every business, even those that aren’t considered “technology” companies. You deal with technology in your office productivity software, security system, air conditioning, computers and networks, phone systems, and much, much more.
If you want to compete in today’s business world, then it’s important to keep up with technology in order to get the most out of the technology you have, to keep abreast of emerging new technology and to find the information that will help you make the right buying decisions. For almost everyone in society, keeping up with technology trends is crucial to our survival.
Source:"Top Trends for 2013." IEEE Computer Society. IEEE, 2013. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://www.computer.org/portal/web/membership/13-Top-Trends-for-2013>.
Some of the new trends in computer applications include:
3D Imaging
Cloud Computing
VNC (virtual network computing)
Mobile Devices
Internet of Things
The shift from native apps to web apps
Strategic Big Data
Cyber-security
Internet Censorship and Control
Next-generation Mobile Computing
Haptics in Rehabilitation
Reliability
Your Assignment
Choose a topic to research from the list of newer computer application trends.
Create a presentation of your choice that highlights all of the following: definition, related issues (present or future), pros and cons, and examples. Presentations can be made with Google Presentations, Prezi, Glogster, WeVideo, PowerPoint, Animoto, Publisher, Movie Maker, etc. Basically any program you have learned to use in class!
You must use AT LEAST 5 online sources and compile them with Evernote web clipper! Be sure to cite all sources used in MLA format (knightcite.com).
Be prepared to present your findings to the class.