When I look at the technology that’s happening around us, it’s exciting. One day I know we’ll look back on this time as a turning point in education. Technology is no longer an event, it’s become part of our everyday. Devices are a part of our culture. Around us, even wearable. While we depend on it, we also know it’s not always the answer. And we’re able to recognize those times when hands on, tactile learning is what our students need. But, we’re also able to recognize through times when technology becomes a means to transform an environment into something we once couldn’t even imagine.
And today’s delivery of the Apple Watch? I’m sure it’s only going to get better.
Glide: Live videos taken with your iPhone, but incoming videos are viewed right on your wrist. Instead of a 30 minute Skype call once a month, your classroom could have an ongoing collaboration with a partner class in another location. Students could share their learning via Glide videos. Imagine the collaboration that would happen? Globally.
HeyDay – The Automatic Photo Journal: Students could create an ongoing journal of their own learning. Self-reflection through speaking into their watch as a “Quick Note,” taking photos with their iPhone, and it will all be recorded in a day by day fashion that can be looked back through. That science experiment you’re recording observations for just became data you can easily flip through on your wrist.
Quip: Sync your Google Drive with your watch. Chat about your project with students in another location.
Fitness: There are several fitness apps, so I didn’t narrow down to just one. But, imagine if Physical Education and recess become times students schedule on their own and their watch records their goals and results? What if a student needs a break and goes to take a jog on the track? Certainly roles in the learning environment would change, but what if fitness had choices involved and recess was full of options?
Organization for All Students: Executive functioning skills are a struggle for many students. Planning and creating goals becomes easy with the Apple Watch. Imagine a student getting a gentle tap signal to remind them to head to another classroom, or to meet with a project group, or even to get on the bus. The Watch suddenly becomes a tool to help students succeed in areas where they struggle, without calling attention to them across the room. A student with Autism that might need soothing music can cue it up into bluetooth headphones that are just part of the environment. A struggling reader has a dictionary on their wrist for extra assistance. And Siri? We can ask Siri anything.
And then a few more things that caught my attention about the Apple Watch… Starwood Hotels will allow you to use your watch as your room key. You can use the Apple Watch as a remote shutter for your iPhone. Set up the shot, move away and take the pic, all while seeing the shot on your watch screen. Also a favorite? Sick. It will tell you your risk for local illnesses, and even warn you “Attention! You’re near a strep throat report.”
I can’t help but ask a million questions, starting with, “What will this mean for schools device policies? What about teaching as a lecturer versus putting the student in control? What about providing every student the power to succeed, whether their tool is a set of glasses with video, a smart watch, an ipad to record, or whatever they need.
We’re teaching in a different time. We’re not preparing for the future. It’s here. And it’s awesome.