Texas Instruments Timeline

Google Drive Tetrad

The rise of advanced and mobile technologies ushered the society in an era where laptops, notebooks, tablets, handheld and pocket-sized mini computers have become an integral part of individuals’ life (van Velsen, Beaujean, & van Gemert-Pijnen, 2013).  Google provides software applications such as Google Drive, which replaces Google Docs.  Like any other technologies, Google Drive follows McLuhan’ s tetrad of enhancement, obsolescence, retrieval, and reversal (Thornburg, 2008).

            Indeed, as in the displayed tetrad above, Google Drive enhances data storage, information retrieval, and sharing of file and folders.  The Software Engineer Zach (2013) demonstrated ways to blog, share, and retrieve files and folders via any device, using Google Drive (Sangani, 2012).  Indeed, software applications provide wide language support; however using keyboard is sometime cumbersome and individuals might resort to handwriting (Xiao, 2013). 

Google Drive is a Web-based productivity software for cloud-based storage services

such as Dropbox  Sky Drive, and sets up itself for cloud computing, in terms of reversal.  Google Drive obsoletes hard drive, compact disc, diskette drive,  flash drive storage, and dropbox.  It rekindles the old way of storing data on floppy disc, which is hard to find in the digital communication era.
           The table of comparison below, provides information on free allowable space in gigabytes (GB on cloud storage.  Thus, individuals might embrace cloud computing that encompasses Google Drive, for a comprehensive and collaborative medium to create, share, and edit documents, calendars, and social networking communities (Robertson, 2013).

References

Robertson, C. (2013). Using a Cloud-based Computing Environment to Support Teacher Training on Common Core Implementation. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 57(6), 57-60. doi:10.1007/s11528-013-0702-9

Sangani, K.  (2012).  Google:  Google drive.  Engineering & Technology (17509637), 7(8), 101

Thornburg, D. D. (2008).  Emerging technologies and McLuhan's Laws of Media.  Lake Barrington, IL:  Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

van Velsen, L., Beaujean, D. A., & van Gemert-Pijnen, J. C.  (2013).  Why mobile health app overload drives us crazy, and how to restore the sanity.  BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 13(1), 1-5.  doi: 10.1186/1472-6947-13-23
Xiao, X.  (2013).  Handwriting input comes to Gmail and Google Docs.  Retrieved from http://googledrive.blogspot.com/2013/10/handwritingindocs.html

Zack, L. (2013).  New Google sheets:  Faster, more powerful, and works offline.  Retrieved from http://googledrive.blogspot.com

EMERGING AND SUTURE TECHNOLOGIES

Identifying an Emerged Technology

Graphing CalculatorTI-84 Plus

The advanced technology brings increasingly changes in educational technology, generating emerging technologies that offer individuals new opportunities for effective and efficient task completion (Thornburg, 2009).  The available technologies encompass inexpensive, hand-held calculators through expensive multimedia workstations, in mathematics education.  Technology is available to support mathematics instruction in technology-rich laboratories with modern workstations and teacher workstations with projection capability.  One such low-end emerged technology is the graphing calculator Texas Instrument (TI) 84-Plus (http://education.ti.com/en/us/products/calculators/graphing-calculators/ti-84-plus/tools-for-teachers/ti-technology-rewards-program).

The TI-84-Plus graphing calculator serves as a motivational tool to students and its uses facilitate students’ mathematical computations and some problem solving techniques (Lyublinskaya & Tournaki, 2010), as TI E2E^TM Community revealed and McLaughlin (2013) depicted in his blog. Blog

Dr. Steven McLaughlin

 The Center for Technology in Learning

TI-Navigator System

SRI International (2012) conducted a study on computer algebra system (CAS) graphing calculators TI and networked graphing calculators (TI-Navigator system), and found that the new technology spurred new theoretical, methodological, and design frameworks for engaging classroom learning.  These hand-held mini computers provoke and support highly interactive and group-centered capabilities of a new generation of classroom–based networks.

Although some individuals had knowledge about innovations, they lack understanding and insight about the process of change, which drive successful change (Fullan, Cuttress, & Kilcher, 2005).  Thus, rather than technology, people might constitute other barriers to the diffusion process, evoking lack of money. To diffuse any technological innovations in the mathematics classrooms, the scholar of change would think of students, and teachers’ perceptions on the attributes (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability) of the innovation that influences its adoption and diffusion (Rogers, 2003), citing scholarly works and presenting the video below.  The change agent might educate stakeholders on the uses of the new technology in terms of its applicability and reliability (Webster & Jeong-Bae, 2012), and be proactive in the decision-making.

References

Fullan, M., Cuttress, C., & Kilcher, A. (2005).  8 forces for leaders of change.  Journal of Staff Development, 26(4), 54-58,64.  Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/211518218?accountid=14872
Lyublinskaya, I. and N. Tournaki (2010).  Integrating TI-Nspire technology into algebra classrooms:  Selected factors that relate to quality of instruction Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference San Diego, CA, AACE.
Rogers, E. M.  (2003).  Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.).  New York, NY:  Free Press.
The Center for Technology in Learning SRI International.  (2012).  Algebra N-spired research study phase 2:  Final report.  Retrieved from http://education.ti.com/en/us/research/research_navigator/quantitative-studies
Thornburg, D. D.  (2009).  Current trends in educational technology.  Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.
Webster, T.E., & Jeong-Bae, S.  (2012).  Implementing proactive maintenance policies to address problems with access to technology at Korean universities.  International Journal Of Pedagogies & Learning, 7(2), 109-121