According to the report “The Microsoft Education Future Workforce”, carried out by the Bill Gates Foundation, 60% of students believe that they know more about technology than their teachers and 70% say that they learn more about this subject at home than in classes. Right now, education is at a crossroads. On the one hand, students exhibit what tomorrow will be like by using smartphones and tablets to do their homework or make inquiries and, on the other, there are few practical methodologies that include these devices in teaching, losing an enormous opportunity by ignoring knowledge native in the young. Students await the arrival of a steam train at an AVE station. This happens practically all over the world. Therefore, before welcoming all the gadgets in class.
The availability of a large part of academic books in electronic format has made tablets claim an increasingly noticeable presence in classrooms. To this is added the possibility of sending tasks, of interconnecting (with each other, with the teacher and with the Internet) and even writing directly on the device when taking notes. All this significantly reduces the number of printed books that children must take to class.
Advantages: Price: there are already tablets for less than 30 dollars. Much of the academic content is available in this format Possibility of educational games Accessible training for those involved.
Disadvantages : Reluctance to switch to this format. Fragility.
A computer with these characteristics, designed for elementary school students, does not exceed 200 euros. But does it make sense to include it in education? For its price, it could become the only gadget in its class with most of the features of the aforementioned devices. But its use would be appropriate from a certain age group, while tablets or smartphones, equipped with a touch screen (something that makes a laptop more expensive) are more intuitive.
Advantages: Practically an all in one. great memory
Disadvantages: Delay in learning its use. It is not intuitive.
OSMO: This is a gadget that is placed on the iPad and uses augmented reality for educational purposes. It is used by more than 2,500 schools in 42 countries. It’s intuitive, easy to install, allows you to join a community of educators from all over the planet and create your own curriculum. The obstacle is the price: 80 euros. And that the educational program would have to be adapted to incorporate it.
MOOTIO: They are the legos of the future except that the pieces are motors, gyroscopes, accelerators. They teach programming, coding, robotics. They encourage teamwork. The problem is that they only cover one subject.
Wearables: It’s not just about smartwatches. Bracelets that measure physical activity and health, internet-connected glasses or smart textiles. They will be more and more present, but their educational purpose is, for now, very limited to certain subjects.
In our country, two out of three children between the ages of 11 and 14 have a smartphone, not just a cell phone. This device allows them to make any query, it is a pocket encyclopedia that facilitates interaction and the exchange of knowledge. And it is already in the classrooms, but no one takes advantage of it.
Advantages: Children know very well how it works. They are essential pieces for the operation of virtual reality. There is plenty of free educational content.
Disadvantages: They facilitate dispersion. They are fragile and expensive.
This technology makes it possible to almost directly experience historical events, games and bring characters from different eras to life to interact with them. Their inclusion in classrooms could add up to a lot. That is undoubtedly what Google intends by launching a campaign in which it gives away the Expeditions software along with a pair of virtual reality glasses (the Cardboard, extremely cheap but effective) to schools that request it. Expeditions is a computer program that mimics 100 different field trips in which students can learn by visiting museums, taking a tour of different cities in Europe or interacting with characters from Shakespeare. Teachers can control the content through a tablet. If ordering these goggles becomes impossible due to demand, the website www.freevrgoggles.com ships them for free.
Advantages: Total immersion in the subject. Relatively low costs or free. Increasing content. Being a game, students fix knowledge more effectively.
Disadvantages: Requires (brief) training of teachers Difficulty in confirming the acquisition of knowledge. Very low group interaction during use. Educational programs will take years to adapt to technology.
