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M I C H A E L G . S H E P P A R D

COD ING I N THE CLASSROOM

While there is an increase in careers that require coding, there is still amarked lack of coding in public schools K-12. There have been efforts to

change this for a while, but 2017 might finally be the year that we see thistransformation begin to unfold.

Computer science is one of the top hiring college majors and leads toextremely lucrative jobs, so by including computer science into high schools

and even earlier education, we are setting children up for success in thedigital world.

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

When it comes to the STEM disciplines, wearable technology can play aninstrumental role in providing students with a hands-on education. Wearable

technology helps with a number of design and engineering challenges thatstudents of STEM disciplines often face. Wearables can also provide the

educators with a number of benefits.

They can record point-of-view lessons or ping students’ locations during afield trip. Overall, wearables provide teachers and students alike with the

ability to better engage and communicate.

THE I NTERNET OF TH INGS

We can’t talk about wearables without mentioning the larger system they area part of, the Internet of Things. Throughout 2016, there was a lot of

exploration as to how IoT technology could be used in education.

Some classrooms experimented with gesture-based controls that fed data toInternet-connected devices. The interaction of devices truly has the power tomake classrooms a more integrative environment, and 2017 just might be the

year that this happens.

D IG I TA L TEXTBOOKS

Just as the articles we like to read appear on digital screens, children’stextbooks are doing so with more and more frequency. A growing number of

schools that are switching to one to one digital learning environment, sothere’s not denying an increase in digital material. Students will have a more

updated way to learn, and their backpacks won’t be as heavy either.

ONL INE LEARN ING

The number of students who are taking online courses is rapidly increasing.Undergrad students at small colleges and community colleges are more likely

to turn to these alternatives than their traditional classroom counterparts.While there has been in the past a perceived disparity between the quality ofdistance education and that of in-person education, schools will most likely

put more effort into finding quality faculty and materials for onlineinstruction given the increase in popularity.

With technology making its way into education, there is a wealth of potentialfor the future. By using technology to teach students, we can better preparethem for careers in the digital word, and perhaps we can get through to morestudents who learn in different ways than the traditional teaching methods.

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