Table 2.
Emerging Technologies Table
| Technology | Description | Examples | Educational example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blog | A website by one (or more) authors with entries made in reverse-chronological order | WordPress | Blogs can foster reflective learning and critical thinking by allowing students to make the changes in their thinking visible |
| Social Network | An online community that supports the sharing of your persona, information and ideas | Social networks can foster community and a sense of belonging, may also support communication to improve learning | |
| MySpace | |||
| Ning | |||
| Wiki | A website authored by a community, highly interlinked and searchable, easy to contribute to | Wetpaint | A class may use a wiki as a collaboratively created repository for the knowledge students are learning |
| Microblogging | A microblogging text tool that sends broadcasts of under 140 characters | Microblogging is useful for providing real-time updates, short pieces of content or quiz questions to students | |
| Serious Games | Electronic games that teach in addition to being fun and motivating | Whyville (both game and virtual world) | Games can be used by all age groups to teach a variety of health science content |
| Army of One | |||
| Virtual Worlds | An online environment where you are represented by an avatar and you can explore and communicate with others in the world | Second Life | Virtual worlds are great for simulating physical environments for learning, such as simulating a doctor/patient interaction in a virtual clinic |
| World of Warcraft (both game and virtual world) | |||
| Content Sharing | Flickr | Allows for easy uploading and sharing of visual and/or auditory content | |
| YouTube | |||
| Podcast |