Obsolete and Replacement Technologies

Wendi South- wendi.south@Waldenu.edu

Jan 15, 2010

PhD in Educational Technology

Walden University

EDUC 8847 Emerging and Future Technologies

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How is technology adopted into our school?

• Decision makers for technology are not usually the teachers who actually use the technology within the classrooms.

• Technology coordinators keep an eye out for emerging technologies.• Teachers can express their desire for new technology.• Funds are limited, so grants sometimes come into play.• Technology must:

– have longevity.– be cost effective.– Be proven– Not be a fad

• It should not be obsolete before it has even been delivered.

To be a new technology I would want to integrate into my classroom, it must:

• be easily accessible and usable for myself and my students.

• enhance the learning of my students and present the content in different ways to reach a variety of learning styles.

• have adaptability and stability within our network. • show teachers that they can use it effectively to still

meet the learning needs of their students while also meeting the state standards for instruction.

Obsolete technology at our school

Opaque Projectors

• An opaque projector is a projector used to view images of nontransparent materials, such as printed sheets or drawings. *

• One of the first types of projectors referenced was in 1660. They began with glass slides painted and shown on a screen via mirror, lens, and light. It progressed to what we see today.

• This is the predecessor to the overhead projector, in which transparent sheets are placed on a glass surface and a light is shown from below to display a larger image onto a screen. These are still in limited use today but are being replaced by interactive whiteboards in a lot of classrooms today.

Opaque projector. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 31, 2010, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/opaque-projector

• Opaque projectors were typically used to project images of book pages, drawings, mineral specimens, leaves, etc. to surfaces or screens for use in lectures and classrooms. Small opaque projectors were produced and marketed as toys for children and still are.

• When in school in the 1980’s, opaques were used for presentations to display maps or small “show and tell” items that were hard for the whole class to see.

• These went became obsolete in classrooms due to:• the replacement bulb cost and upkeep was too high.• The space was limited between the light and the base and if a book you wanted

to display was too large to fit, it wouldn’t work. • It also limited what things you could show with this machine.• The machine was very bulky and heavy to move from one location to the next.

These were replaced by overhead projectors which have been in use by the military since 1945.

Replacement Technology

Overhead projectors

• The overhead projector is a machine in which transparent sheets are placed on a glass surface and a light is shown from below to display a larger image onto a screen.

• These are still in limited use today , but are still used especially in math and art classrooms.

• During the 1990s virtually every classroom or business in America was utilizing the overhead projector and it was at this time that it reached its sales peak.

• This kind of image display unit may not be quite as popular as it was at its peak but it can still be found in many classrooms and business meetings around the world. And having said that, many users still prefer to employ the more established design of portable overhead projector as opposed to the newer computer based models because they feel they are easier to use and they remain far more reliable.

Martin, N. (2010) Portable overhead projector – the classroom classic! Retrieved Jan. 27, 2010 from http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Nik-Martin-6786/portable-overhead-projector-83298.php

Interview 1

Teacher Tracy Beane was interviewed to get a better understanding of how she has chosen and used these two technologies within her classrooms.

Interview 2

Instructional Technology Coordinator Terry Daugherty was interviewed to ask how he sees technology being chosen and used in the classrooms throughout the district.

Evolutionary Timeline for opaque projector

1880 episcope

1950 episcope

1980 opaque projector

ART Tracer

The original episcopes were a disruptive technology that allowed people to display images on a larger scale than ever before. The latter epidiascope, and opaque projectors were evolutionary technology from there and have stayed in use to this day with adjustments along the way.

Evolutionary timeline of overhead projectors

Epidiascope early 20th CenturyWas able to project both opaque and transparent images.

Overhead projectors evolved from earlier Epidiascopes and are still in use today within schools and businesses. Though it is definitelylosing ground to the document camera and interactive whiteboardswith projectors.

2008

Red Queensfor both the opaque

and overhead projectors

Neither the opaque projector nor the overhead could be considered a red queen in their original emergenceor obsolescence. They did not compete and force out another technology. The opaque projector was a slow evolution of machines already in existence.

Rhymes of History, increasing returns,and science fiction

• Since these two technologies have to be considered to be in an ever-evolving mode throughout the last 100+ years it wouldn’t be considered to be affected by rhymes of history, increasing returns, or by science fiction.

Disruptive technologies• The overhead projector’s popularity has been waning since the

peak in the 1990’s.• The opaque projector’s technology is being supplanted by the

document camera and the interactive whiteboard with projector is replacing the overhead in daily use in classrooms. These are both evolutions, but are definitely pushing out the others.

Future?• The Opaque projector is nearly gone from schools and its

technology is now represented by the document camera, which in my school sits in the supply closet.

• The overhead project exists in almost every classroom, but its function is now being done by the interactive whiteboards and projectors.

• Ultimately both may disappear altogether. The opaque more quickly dispatched off to museums, while the overhead may stay as a failsafe if the network goes down.

• The cost of the replacements for both systems is greatly exceeding what it takes to maintain the old ones and is prohibitive to most schools looking to jump on the technology bandwagon.

Documentation• Interview Questions

– What is your name and current title?– Who makes the decisions on what technology is adopted in the school

system or within a specific school?– Who decided to adopt the opaque projector?– How is the transition made from the previous technology?– What changes or benefits occurred with this adoption? – What new opportunities emerged? – What problems does it alleviate and/or create? – Who does it benefit? How?– Can technology improve the quality of education? – What can be done to help teachers to use technology effectively in the

classroom?

*used for both teachers and tech director.

Consent Form

The results of this interview will be used to discover why the opaque projector became obsolete and is now in the supply closet, and the reasons for adopting the overhead projectors that replaced it. Your answers will be used in my analysis and multimedia project for my Walden University PhD class EDUC-8848-1 Emerging and Future Technology.

(signature of interviewee)

(signature of interviewer)

(date) All questions regarding this project can be directed to: Wendi South wsouth@mccsc.edu

Yes No I give my permission for...

X this interview to be (audio/video) taped

X my name to be used

X the tape/transcript to be archived

X the information made public

Project title Multimedia Project: Obsolete and Replacement Technologies

Course/Study # EDUC 8847 Emerging and Future Technologies

City/County Bloomington

State Indiana

Date Nov. 13, 2009

References:

DVD: Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Emerging and future technology. Baltimore: Author.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press

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

Thornburg, D. D. (2009b). When is a technology emergent? Lake Barrington, lL. Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.