Post #8 Recent Innovations in Technology

Some of the technologies I've researched for this blog are things I've heard of previously and wanted to learn more about. This week, my aim was to discover recent innovations in technology that I had truly never heard of, and found particularly innovative. Here are some of the innovations in technology of today that really sparked my interest:

Uncharted Play

Uncharted Play is a company that developed playground items that can transfer kinetic energy into stored electrical power. The SOCCKET is a soccer ball that gathers energy each time it’s kicked and the PULSE is a jump rope that collects energy with every swing. The kinetically charged battery helps provide power to people without access. And the playground items encourage children to play and exercise. 



Classes in shipping containers

These are just as they sound. Around the world, especially in overpopulated countries such as India, shipping containers are being enabled with the Cloud, internet access and HP hardware, and quickly being deployed as functional educational facilities. There are seven such Future Classrooms up and running in India, which will provide training to more than 3,200 students.




Raspberry Pi

Rasberry Pi is a company which has created a credit-card-sized computer with ample storage, in order to bridge the educational access gap of students with and without electricity or internet access. Preloading devices with education tools is a major step toward overcoming the digital/internet divide. 




Text Messages Become Books

Creative Associates International has recognized the technology accessible to most of the world - texting - and used it to create a digital library for literacy. The company uses voicemails and SMS to collect local stories. These stories are then re-written to appropriate grade levels in local languages and distributed to children in the area via text messages. This program relies on existing technology to encourage literacy while supporting and maintaining local cultural traditions.





Biometrics in Schools

Facial recognition, fingerprints, voice recognition, and eye tracking are some of the biometric methods that schools have implemented to streamline school operations around the world. Apart from being used to monitor a student’s class attendance, they are used when borrowing school properties such as books in the library. Teachers also use eye tracking methods to monitor how students are absorbing content that they have been taught. This topic really sparked my interest this week, and I will be diving into it deeper for my next blog post.

OLPC XO Laptop

This company has created a $100.00 laptop in an attempt to fulfill their goal of "One Laptop per Child" around the world. The original laptop design was so accessible that it could be powered with simply a hand-crank. However, at a conference where this prototype was being presented, the hand-crank broke off, thus, leading to a slight redesign and some setbacks. The company has maintained their mission, and the laptop is intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to "explore, experiment and express themselves". This computer is completely open-source. This means students using the device can begin by learning basic lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic. However, they can eventually progress to program and reconfigure the laptop in any way that suits their needs. It allows them to slowly gain autonomy and independence. 

Sadly, in 2014 after disappointing sales, the Foundation shut down. I still wanted to include this, as I truly think the founder was incredibly innovative and had such a large, broad-pictured goal in mind. I applaud his efforts and admire his tenacity and fearlessness in creating a foundation and product with such a large, globally-beneficial goal.


Websites researched:

Blackburn-Dwyer, B. (2016, July 28). 11 Tech Innovations Changing Education Around the World. Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/technology-changing-education/

Brandon, B.D. (n.d.). 11 tech innovations changing education around the world. Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/technology-changing-education/

One laptop per child. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.onelaptopperchild.org/

Raspberry Pi. (n.d.). Buy a raspberry pi. Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/

The top 6 technology innovations for education. (2020, February 14). Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.theamegroup.com/top-6-technology-innovations-education/

What will Future Classrooms look like For India's Poor? (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/hp-shipping-container-classrooms/


Comments

  1. Veronica HuggardMarch 5, 2021 at 10:20 AM

    Hi Jen!
    You know, I am always blown away at how innovative technology is being used to improve our lives.
    I had heard about Raspberry Pis, but as I am a PE teacher I am especially keen on the Unchartered Play SOCKET and PULSE. How cool! Those tools would allow me to connect PE to science, so easily!

    And shipping containers as classrooms is a neat idea. I like how people can transform unconventional objects used for one thing, into a completely new thing. My only concern with shipping container classrooms, is that students have no involvement or connection to their learning environment.

    As adults around the world are working differently from COVID, I have heard of these shared desk spaces, basically tables in an office, where people can use who are only in the office here and there. The positive is that the office overall requires less space (and overhead costs), but the people using the space don't have connection to the area. No personal items.

    I like the idea of being able to learn in new spaces, I know I take my laptop for classwork everywhere! But I would love to see how the shipping containers are incorporating 'nesting' materials to make it more inviting. Plants, student work, windows, etc. to make the space more comfortable.
    Did you see anything like that when doing your research?

    Thanks for sharing!
    Veronica

    ReplyDelete
  2. JanMarch 7, 2021 at 3:25 PM

    Hi Jen,
    It is always so informative to check in on how your blog is developing, and this week was no exception. I had not heard of so many of these technological innovations. While I had heard of shipping containers being used to build modular housing, I had never heard of a shipping container being used for a classroom.
    I had heard of the OLPC XO Laptop, but I was not aware that the project had shut down. Although a shame, I sometimes wonder if laptops and computers are a step that much of the developing world has skipped. The Creative Associates International project you cited is an example of the way that mobile connectivity has superseded computer connectivity in places such as sub-Saharan Africa. From what I've read, it sounds like mobile phone technology requires less infrastructure and can reach more remote communities than, say, broadband internet (Steele, 2012).
    Thanks,
    Jan

    References
    Steele, C. (2012, May 11). How the Mobile Phone is Evolving in Developing Countries. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/news/how-the-mobile-phone-is-evolving-in-developing-countries

    ReplyDelete

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