Lora asks an interesting question about ways to show changes in mobile information devices.
I see that words are our barrier. How are our words going to define this progression and potential of software and hardware? On a relative scale, PCs do more than devices. What will “more” mean tomorrow? How will users know when “more” and “better” relates to what they can actually do with a unit? It looks to me like we’ll be introducing new words and phrases, in addition to redefining old words in order to help with this next step forward. What words do you imagine being used or already use to describe these differences and similarities between products?
Teachers deal with words everyday as tools of our craft. I try to adapt the vocabulary of the electronics industry when addressing mobile information sharing.
Industry vocabulary seems the most direct way to describe or explain electronic sharing of information without thinking. But, I realize that these words leave many parents and teachers with glazed over eyes. They want to know about learning accomplishments, not about details of tools to increase learning.
Perhaps Lora is indicating that teachers can contribute to the evolving mobile electronic industry vocabulary and grammar.
Teachers are creative. What vocabulary do you think best addresses changes in software and hardware (such as with a Tablet PC or another ink enabled device) as they relate to student learning and teacher instruction?
Better yet, I wonder if we can come up with descriptors of information and skills derived from evolving electronic devices that differ from descriptors of learning through other means?