Benefits of the ELMO Projector Technology - Case Study Example

Emerging Technology Emerging Technology Introduction Technology can have a mutual relationship with education. Surfacing of new technology has pushed educators to leveraging and understanding these techniques for classroom purposes, at the same time, the implementation of these new technologies in the classroom can have a direct impact on how these technologies are shaped (Reeves, 2009). According to Christensen & Horn (2008), educational technology has dominated most of the schools all over the world. Several institutions have monies and budgets designated for buying new technology on a yearly basis. Integrating technology into instructions has become a global imperative. Different types of technology exist both in business and educational sectors of our society. Most technologies that are found in education sector fall into the category of instructional and communication technology The starting point for the ICT is the computer itself. For the purpose of this essay, an obsolete technology formerly used shall be identified and later analyzing the emerging or the emerged technology that replaced the obsolete technology. This essay will review obsolete technology that was adopted in schools and the emerging technology that replaced it. The overhead projectors will be used as an example of obsolete technology and ELMO will be reviewed as an example of the emerging technology. The overhead projectors The overhead projector was mostly used in classrooms by teachers by developing a technology that could improve learning by allowing both the teacher and the student to be more interactive with learning. The overhead projector was utilized the obsolete chalkboard for major instructions in class where its work was to retrieve the interaction between the speaker and the audience. It allowed presentations to be made, giving a chance for the presenter to display information, and also be able to interact with the audience. The overhead projector gained its popularity in the classroom in the late 1960s and was used until 1980s. Originally, projectors were used by police and military personnel for training purposes in the 1940s. It replaced the side projector which was used between 1950 and 1960. The overhead projector enhanced the ability to show data on transparencies displayed on a white screen to the whole classroom while doing some editing during the presentation with the use of markers or pens. It allowed training to be very interactive with larger groups and also allowed images and texts to be viewed simultaneously by small groups by small without the use of printed material. This kind of technology brings into the mind the class assignments that were presented during the k-12 school days between 1960s and 1970s. The technology utilized the use of a bulb that could later become very hot after the projector was used for a long period. The teacher could always have to put off and allow it to cool before it could be safely used later. Although the idea of overhead projectors was great, but the technology has become obsolete with the emergence of new other technologies. The concept has been replaced by newer models of cameras that utilizes the same idea, but there has been an improvement of capabilities and functions that puts them high and above in the classrooms. According to various articles that have been researched, the overhead projectors became obsolete since they were not meeting the needs of the consumers. As a result of this, the projectors have been replaced by the ELMO multimedia projectors. In my opinion, I think the overhead projectors should be collected from stores and closet in most of the schools be sold back for recycled purposes and use the money to invest in new technologies like ELMO. The ELMO Projector Technology This is a technology that was developed so as to improve and replace the obsolete overhead projector because of its function and innovative ability. They have been regarded as a new wave in the classroom for most of the teachers and can be used as digital camera within the classroom. This implies that books and other necessary materials will be illuminated by putting them on the screen where transparencies will no longer be necessary. The ELMO is designed in a manner that allows new applications to be added into it without reinventing the wheel therefore it will remain relevant for several years to come. Rhymes of history play an important role in explaining how ELMO projectors replace the obsolete overhead projector. Rhyming of ELMO with education is a great achievement since imaging. Presentation together with video files makes it a necessary tool for class presentation and group learning. What makes Electricity Light Machine Organization (ELMO) Technology something one might want to integrate into an organization The ELMO technology has proven to be a vital element in the new wave of education. This multimedia projector can display books and other objects clearly. Everyone could wish to integrate this technology into his/her organization. As in the case of education field, this technology offers various benefits to both teachers and students by offering immediate accessibility and is a user-friendly (Moersch, 1999). Some of the benefits of ELMO technology include: It does not require any special pen or paper- Connects to computers, video projector and electronic whiteboards where this allows teachers to use more effective ways of teaching in classrooms The technology is capable of recording audio and video It has the ability of displaying three-dimensional objects- it brings in mine the past obsolete projectors which were limited in their ability to display 3D objects, ability to produce audio and also inability to display It can be connected to a computer, video projector and electronic whiteboards · It has the ability to bring together all the applications into a small unit which is an advantage at the end Furthermore, the ELMO technology has made several schools, businesses, and community organizations to become alive by providing costs saving ways and techniques that offer less preparation time for teaching programs within the classroom. Conclusion Although there has been a tremendous growth of new technology throughout the history, there has also been the cry for educators to look for practical ways of incorporating these technologies into classroom setup, be it a television, typewriter, calculator or a computer. Definitely, the obsolete technologies still have an important place in instruction and classroom, although, without them, strong lessons can still be realized. With the new technologies, we believe that educators will take the call, even if it means on a trial basis. Despite the success and the benefits of ELMO technology there are some challenges to its adoption in various institutions. The major challenge or problem is its costs of adoption. Since most schools are under budget cuts, most of them cannot fully adopt this technology and only utilizes it for their vocational teaching programs (Christensen, 2008). As it can be seen, the overhead projectors became obsolete since they were not meeting the needs of the consumers. As a result of this, the projectors have been replaced by the ELMO multimedia projectors. According to me, I think the overhead projectors should be collected from stores and closet in most of the schools be sold back for recycled purposes and use the money to invest in new technologies like ELMO. As mentioned above, ELMO has several advantages that make it worth investing i.e. it requires no any special pen or paper, the technology is capable of recording audio and video also can be connected to a computer, video projector and electronic whiteboards. Moreover, it has the ability to bring together all the applications into a small unit which is an advantage at the end (Fullan, 2002). References Christensen, C. &. (2008). How do we transform our schools? . Education Next , 12-19. Fullan, M. (2002). The change leader. Educational Leadership , 59-61. Moersch, C. (1999). Levels of technology implementation: An inventory for Measuring classroom technology use. Learning and Leading with Technology , 59-63. Reeves, D. (2009). Model teachers. Educational Leadership , 66. Read More