Here is a mind boggling advance in technology found through: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org It was just introduced by MIT on November 12, 2013.
The user on one end of conference communication is able to interact with objects on the other side of the screen. I can see this as being a part of online teaching someday. For instance, I was observing an ELL instructor using manipulatives to teach vocabulary and phoneme recognition to a small group
of first grade students sitting at a table. With this technology the teacher would not have to be in the same location as the the students, but they would still be able to interact with the manipulative objects. It is not uncommon for ELL instructors to travel between two or three schools in a day. I've subbed for an ELL teacher who travels between 3 schools on the opposite ends of the school district; rural to city. Her schedule includes everything form one-on-one tutoring, to a small group with a SmartBoard available in the classroom, to a large class with no technology in the room, not even a MAC for the teacher, except that a mobile computer lab can be scheduled for use in advance.
inFORM technology would enable the student to come to the teacher "through the screen" and be able to interact with whatever materials the teacher had at her disposal. This would eliminate the time traveling demands that could be put to better use for instruction. The teacher could have a wide variety of resources in one location that met the needs of students at schools throughout the district.
For more information go to the MIT Media Lab:
http://tangible.media.mit.edu/project/inform/
Video below retrieved 11-23-13 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouP9xNujkNo
The user on one end of conference communication is able to interact with objects on the other side of the screen. I can see this as being a part of online teaching someday. For instance, I was observing an ELL instructor using manipulatives to teach vocabulary and phoneme recognition to a small group
of first grade students sitting at a table. With this technology the teacher would not have to be in the same location as the the students, but they would still be able to interact with the manipulative objects. It is not uncommon for ELL instructors to travel between two or three schools in a day. I've subbed for an ELL teacher who travels between 3 schools on the opposite ends of the school district; rural to city. Her schedule includes everything form one-on-one tutoring, to a small group with a SmartBoard available in the classroom, to a large class with no technology in the room, not even a MAC for the teacher, except that a mobile computer lab can be scheduled for use in advance.
inFORM technology would enable the student to come to the teacher "through the screen" and be able to interact with whatever materials the teacher had at her disposal. This would eliminate the time traveling demands that could be put to better use for instruction. The teacher could have a wide variety of resources in one location that met the needs of students at schools throughout the district.
For more information go to the MIT Media Lab:
http://tangible.media.mit.edu/project/inform/
Video below retrieved 11-23-13 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouP9xNujkNo