The term peripheral equipment implies devices that are not essential especially when referring to computers. Thus, peripheral equipment and resources are devices or resources connected to a host computer externally in the bid to extend its capabilities. These include input devices such as keyboards or microphones and output devices such as monitors, printers, or speakers. Unlike other educational technology trends such as cloud computing, Web 2.0, or social networking that are abstract or intangible, peripheral equipment and resources are physical and tangible. In this regard, peripheral equipment and resources are important in instructional design particularly given the fact that they can serve or disseminate information to a broad group of students.
Notably, the instructional designer does not need to exert too much effort in addressing each student regarding the instructional activity or concept at hand. For instance, with the help of a monitor, a microphone, and a speaker, the instructor can present the elements of cultural diversity to a room full of more than fifty students without unnecessarily raising his or her voice or using cumbersome charts and boards. Besides, with the help of the three peripheral equipment and resources above, the instructor can tip instructor to student ratio, which is advantageous to the administration and third-party stakeholders since they save the expense of hiring additional teachers to balance the ratio. However, the administration and the stakeholders (investors) still need to invest in better and advanced peripheral equipment such as projectors that could increase their overall budget.
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Cloud Computing
Cloud computing refers to a process in IT, which employs a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to not only manage but also store and process data. In contrast to peripheral equipment that connects to a physical host computer; cloud computing makes use of remote servers hosted on the internet. Moreover, unlike the peripheral equipment that is incapable of manipulating or managing data, cloud computing was primarily created for this purpose. However, both technologies are similar in the sense that they depend on computer access.
Cloud computing has fundamentally made headway in education, especially in institutions experiencing budget inadequacy. This is particularly advantageous to the stakeholders and the administration because, through cloud computing applications such as Microsoft Cloud or Google’s Gmail, they can operate information systems seamlessly without necessarily spending additional capital on computers and network equipment. Indeed, cloud computing is transforming education and in particular teaching and learning both inside and outside the class. According to Ercan (2010), learning institutions are taking advantage of this trend by employing cloud-based applications provided by service providers such as Microsoft to empower their students to undertake business and academic assignments.
Unlike peripheral equipment that is only capable of serving learners and teachers within the same vicinity, cloud computing through online-learning brings together teachers and learners from a wide geographical area despite their diversity. This promotes flexibility not only among the faculty but also students allowing for adequate time for both groups to meet their personal and family needs. Also, online-learning has enhanced learning in culturally diverse students, especially those who do not do well in traditional classes.
Social Networking Tools
Social networking tools are platforms hosted on the internet, which individuals use to develop social relations and networks. These tools are particularly fundamental for communication, especially for individuals with common interests such as learners and teachers or administrators. According to Chesser (2013), some of these tools include Edmodo, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Skype, and YouTube among others. Contrary to the peripheral equipment and cloud computing, social networking tools are more common and are purely for socializing. In education, these tools have been employed by instructors to engage or interact with learners and share relevant resources such as instructional materials or activities for the next class. These materials can be in the form of videos or documents that can easily be shared multiple times without incurring additional costs. Based on the ease of sharing information on these platforms, the faculty and the administration do not need to exert too much effort or incur additional costs when disseminating information.
Moreover, tools such as Skype make video conferencing easier regardless of the geographical location of the learner or the instructor. Others such as YouTube are particularly essential to the faculty’s need of teaching necessary concepts via tutorials that can be accessed at any time and from anywhere. However, the downside of these tools is that they require an internet connection and computer equipment, which the administration and the stakeholders have to invest in. Additionally, the tools are potentially distractive, which could take both the learners and instructors off track regarding the instructional objectives. Ultimately, unlike other educational technologies, social networking fosters personal relationships between students and teachers, which build a good rapport for the institution.
Web 2.0 Tools
In contrast to social networking tools and cloud computing; web 2.0 tools refers to internet applications on the World Wide Web that focus on participatory collaboration and interactive sharing rather than content delivery. Nonetheless, just like social networking tools and cloud computing, Web 2.0 tools functionality depends on internet availability, which the administration and stakeholders have to invest in. Examples include Dropbox, Wikis, Blogs, and Animoto. Given the broadness of this technology, it also incorporates social networking tools such as Twitter, Diigo, Facebook, and YouTube. Web 2.0 tools are significantly popular not only for the aid they provide the teacher or instructor in developing and presenting learning materials but also for creativity. In essence, some instructors make us of the song making tools essential for music creation relevant for teaching the English language for the young and culturally diverse students.
Administrators can also fund the creation of institutional blogs and portals in which school information such as intakes, breaks, and enrollment of new courses can be posted. Stakeholders also use such platforms to advertise the available opportunities to attract more investments to the school. Nonetheless, despite the similarities between social networking tools and web 2.0 tools, the former is a platform that makes use of the web 2.0 technology, which explains why both share certain tools.
Classroom Instructional Media
Comparatively, classroom instructional media encompasses all the relevant materials as well as physical means an instructor might employ to teach and facilitate the achievement of instructional objectives among learners. These could encapsulate all the educational technology trends including web 2.0 tools, social networking tools and media such as visual charts, photographs, and audiovisual such as videos, tutorials, and slides. However, these could also include traditional resources such as textbooks, pamphlets, handouts, and study guides. Instructional media such as chalkboards are particularly essential to the teacher in specifying and defining instructional activities. They not only serve as aids to the teacher but also foster understanding among the learners, especially charts and diagrams. However, just like all other technologies, classroom instructional materials require investment from the administration and stakeholders, which sometimes could be heavy as opposed to procuring or implementing other technologies.
Cellphones, Tablets, and other Highly-portable Technology Tools
This category of educational technology is the most fundamental of them all. In essence, all other technologies, especially those that require internet access depend on the software embedded in these tools for them to be accessed or to be operational. In other words, a student or a teacher cannot access YouTube or any other social networking or Web 2.0 tool without a smartphone, tablet or other relevant electronic. As such, these tools or devices have a wide range of storage capacity in which learners, administrators, instructors, and stakeholders can store relevant materials for their needs and obligations. It is through these tools or devices that both learners and instructors become end-to-end users where they can access other educational technology tools such as social networks, video conferencing services, or web 2.0 tools. Moreover, owing to their extreme portability, learners and instructors can thus access other educational technology tools from anywhere and plan on instructional activities or discuss the same. However, the downside of the technology is that when incorporated with traditional classes, the devices could be distractive since the same devices act as communication tools between friends and family.
Electronic Whiteboards
It refers to hardware similar to peripheral equipment and a traditional chalkboard that transmits information written on it to a computer. It is also similar to instructional media such as chalkboards in the sense that it is visual. The technology is essential to both the learner and the instructor in more than a single way. To the instructor, it eases the teacher’s process of structuring lessons and defining instructional activities. To the learner, it makes the learning process not only fun but also interactive given the presentations and diagrams used and explained by the instructor. As Hutt (2017) notes, this tendency increases the degree of engagement between the teachers and the learners as well as the degree of student’s involvement in classroom activities. Unlike the chalkboards that also require purchasing erasers, electronic whiteboards save the administration and stakeholders the overhead teaching costs. The downside of this technology is that they are bulky and consume more space than other technologies.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
These are free online programs, which any interested individual can enrol in. Examples include Google Primer, Codecademy, and Duolingo. In essence, this technology is a subset of larger educational technologies such as cloud computing, and as such, its benefits and drawbacks converge with those discussed earlier. Nonetheless, additional benefits include reuse and remixing of learning resources essential to the learner and the incorporation of tools from other technologies such as web 2.0 and social networking to foster learning and ease the delivery of instructional activity. Moreover, as the name suggests, they are free, and therefore, save the administration teaching costs.
References
Chesser, L. (2013). 25 Awesome social media tools for education. Open Colleges. Retrieved from https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/social-media-tools-for-education/
Ercan, T. (2010). Effective use of cloud computing in educational institutions. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 2 (2), 938-942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.130
Hutt, M. (2017). Benefits of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. ezTalks. Retrieved from https://www.eztalks.com/whiteboard/benefits-of-interactive-whiteboards-in-the-classroom.html
