Assignment+2+Solve+a+Workplace+Problem+Using+Technology

Discussion, comments, and suggestions are posted below the assignment specs with your initials. For any other comments or discussion, please add below with your initials.

With your **learning community**, define a problem in the workplace that could be improved through the use of technology. You will use the Horizon Report to help you identify a technology that might improve or solve this problem. Your group will design a strategy to resolve the problem using the emerging technology you select. Your analyses of constructivist theorists will help you in this task.
 * Part 2: Solve a Workplace Problem Using Technology**
 * //Note://** //30 points are possible for this portion of the assignment//

Each year, the Horizon Report features a list of emerging technologies the consortium believes will be adopted and meet critical mass in the next 1–5 years. To locate the most current Horizon Report, conduct an Internet search using the keywords “Horizon Report” plus the current year (e.g., “Horizon Report” + 2010). This should take you to the home page of the Horizon Report for the current year. Here you will find links for "Key Trends," "Critical Challenges," and descriptions of emerging technologies that are expected to be adopted in 1 year or less, in 2–3 years, and in 4–5 years.

Explore the links on the home page for the Horizon Report to find the most current topics and questions that the scholarly community is discussing and to gain significant insight into the use of technology in the workplace. You may discover that many of the technologies being discussed relate to collaboration and social networking. Next, your learning community will define a problem in the workplace that could be improved through the use of technology. To help you with this task, you might want to discuss some of the following questions in a chat room or via a Skype session:

Once your learning community decides on a problem that a technological innovation could improve, access the latest version of the Horizon Report and find the list of technologies that the consortium believes will achieve critical mass in the next 1–5 years. Your group must select one of these innovations as a possible solution to the problem you identified. You will discuss how that technology could facilitate collaboration and reduce the problem.
 * How might you use technology to improve critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in the workplace?
 * How can technology help learners/workers improve their performance?
 * How might technology improve the work environment by increasing the motivation and interests of learners?
 * How might technology be used to interact globally with learners in other time zones?
 * How might technology be used to facilitate the integration of learners with diverse needs in the learning or work environment?

Then, your group will devise a plan to introduce that technology through a constructivist activity in your workplace. Include links to the Horizon Report you accessed and to three to five websites where your technology is demonstrated and discussed.

Each student should submit the group’s table and collaborative report in the **Dropbox** by **11:59 p.m. MT on Day 7 (Sunday)** of **Week 6**. Please include the names of all of your learning community members on the report.

Suggested Problems:

Problem = In the adult education department where I teach computer applications, there is no "learning community" of teachers or administrators. So each teacher designs our own course curriculum, lesson plans, and lessons. In essence, students learn what we want to teach them, and there is no cohesive segue from course to course, or even among teachers who teach the same subject matter (i.e. Intro to Computers). Technology could play a big part in solving this problem because we could use net-meeting software (i.e. Microsoft Office Live Meeting, etc.) to assemble all the instructors in that department to collaborate on lesson plans, developing course curriculum, create goals and objectives for the courses, and even assess and evaluate the effectiveness of our choices. Since we all teach on different schedules, using technology for online, real-time learning community collaborations would help solve the problems that now exist. (aj) I am experiencing a similar problem as Anetha. There are five middle school Engineering and Technology Education teachers in my county, and although we all have the same standards (Georgia Performance Standards), how we cover these standards is up to us. This leads to all of us teaching different lessons; basically teaching what we're comfortable teaching. Furthermore, this leads to all of our students having the same class, but learning different material within the class. To combat this issue, all of us teachers met for one week during the summer to compare lessons, and find free resources and create lessons that everyone could incorate into their instruction to ensure that all of our students were learning the same material. One thing that we all decided to implemented is video game design, using a free program called GameMaker. However, there is still flexibility with how deep into the concept we want to teach the students and how much time we want to spend on it. (JG)

 Students attendance recording is a very tedious task and no one likes to do it. Yet, it is required for student achievement and retention. The registrar's office of every college relies heavily on this data for retention purposes. The financial aid office needs it in order to determine students continued eligibility for fiancial assistance. Finally, instructors need this information to better explain a student's poor performance in any given class. My solution (this only applies to a laptop university where everyone is required to bring his/her laptop to every class) is a technique that I have used in my own college to make students record their own attendance. I developed an easy to use web software that generates a random password upon the instructor pressing a button after logging in. Students use their school ID in combination with the random password to record their own attendance. Their laptop' IP address is recorded to avoid cheating. The whole process takes less than one minute. (JM) I like Jean's problem and suggest it as the one we collaborate on. (aj)

Problem: "Think Link" testing online (instead of paper and pencil) will be implemented K-8 (20 schools) district-wide beginning in the 2012-13 school year. Most elementary schools only have one computer lab but 6 grade levels (K-6). There are not enough computers available to do this in a timely manner. (There is one elementary school who currently does this and it takes them 3 weeks to test only 2nd through 5th grades.) Think Link is given at least 3 times a school year, Pre-Test, Test A, Test B, and an optional Test C.

Solution: Use the computer lab for younger classes/grades such as Kindergarten and 1st grade. Use mobile devices such as response systems or tablets (Droid, iPad, etc.) to test upper grade students. Mobile devices are less expensive and can be easliy moved from one school to another school, therefore each individual school would not have the burden to purchase new computers or tablets in order to test its students. (JL)

Does anyone else agree with aj's suggestion? (jm) By the time I saw your comment, Jean, the 11th hour had come and gone. Jessica and I were able to meet on Skype, collaborate and complete the assignment using the problem I suggested. Let's do better as a team from this point on! ~Anetha 4/16/12