A School of 2020Irene EscobarJoanna Guerra

…Laptops and desktops

• Desktops are very unlikely to stop being used in school, because they are constantly being upgraded to suit the new standards, as well that in a classroom environment for a teacher it is vital to have a laptop which is used only for professional purposes.

• Laptops as well, although they may cause distractions in some cases, are useful in class because work being done in class can be sent in a orderly digital form to the teacher, and as well, have been incremented up until recently, so it is very unlikely to not be used in the future.

PDA’s & touchscreens!..

• A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a handheld computer, also known as a palmtop computer. Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones, (smartphones), web browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). Many PDAs employ touch screen technology. These are although, used rarely at the moment in school, in the future are probably going to be used more because they can easily access documents and information on the internet from anywhere (more easily, because they are small); facilitating for information to be sent to school servers.

• A touchscreen is a display which can detect the presence and location of a

touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touch or contact to the display of the device by a finger or hand.. However, if the object sensed is active, as with a light pen, the term touchscreen is generally not applicable. The ability to interact directly with a display typically indicates the presence of a touchscreen. This in school can enhance learning experience, because teachers can interact more easily with there classes, in a digital form, and can easily update information. This tchonology at the moment is used more in graphic designing and art classes, but can easily be integrated to normal classes.

• The SMART Board is an interactive board that allows a more interactive learning environment..These boards increase the interactive atmosphere in the classroom which in return increases the learning experience. The teacher can project their notes and slide shows on these boards and instead of becoming a one sided lecture, it becomes a two sided experience.

• Students can edit and make notes on the screen or answer questions directly on the screen. This allows the students to play a larger part in the discussion and absorb more from the lesson. SMART Boards are becoming the classroom technology of tomorrow. While textbooks have to be replaced, SMART Boards can be used repeatedly with updated information.

Overhead projectors

• Overhead projectors (older version):– An overhead projector typically consists of a large box

containing a very bright lamp and a fan to cool it on top of which is a large Fresnel lens that collimates the light. Above the box, typically on a long arm, is a mirror and lens that focuses and redirects the light forward instead of up. Transparencies are placed on top of the lens for display.

– Because of the advancement in technology overhead projectors are obsolete because information has to be reprinted on the transparencies to be updated, while on newer versions of the overheads, these can be easily updated through your computer.

Overhead projectors (newer version):

- Newer versions of overheads maybe around for a while longer, due to the facility of updating information through the technology, but because of the advancement in technology of the SMART boards, the interaction used in these may make the newer versions of overhead projectors obsolete.

Printers,

Scanners

Printers & Scanners:

- Unless newer technology is invented (which most likely wont), printers will be a vital technology in order to have a hard copy of digital work; because it is impossible to keep a paperless office. Newer printers with better pixels are made, but the same concept will always exist.

- Scanners as well, are newer technology which is very useful because you can scan in the original copy of hard copies rather than having to type up the whole document. Because of this, it is very unlikely that they will go obsolete.