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Tech Trends

New technology and new uses of older technologies for teaching and learning are changing constantly. In Tech Trends, we list some of the technologies we are exploring in conjunction with our projects. We also provide links to emerging technologies and practices developed by our colleagues at other institutions.

• Blog
  A blog is a user-generated web site that is typically written as an online journal or commentary on a particular subject. While blogs can have more than one contributor, they usually have one primary author. Blog entries appear in reverse chronological order, and may allow readers to comment on entries. While most blogs are primarily text-based, they may also include images, links, audio and video.
• Digital Storytelling
  Everyone has a story to tell. Perhaps you are an undergraduate student living the latest exciting chapter of your life at Northeastern University. Maybe you are a professor glimpsing how your research and teaching can alter the course of a student's life. Or, possibly you are a graduate student discovering what it means to delve deeply into your field of study. Whatever your place in the university community, you most likely have a rich story to tell. Digital storytelling offer you a way to share that story with anyone on the web. Numerous methods offer even the individual with the most basic computer skills the chance to tell their story complete with audio and images too.
• Narrating PowerPoint with Articulate Presenter
  Articulate Presenter is an application that publishes narrated PowerPoint presentations in a Flash format, ready to be posted on the Web. Narrated presentations may be useful as online lectures for hybrid classes, mini-lectures on difficult concepts, online conference presentations or posters, or for distributing on-campus seminars to a larger audience. Presenter works with audio recorded in PowerPoint, externally, or through the application itself. It provides a robust interface with multiple navigation options, bookmaking and place-holding, and ability to attach related documents. You can download a trial version of the software at http://www.articulate.com/free.aspx
• Podcasting
  A podcast is a media file, or set of media files, that is published on the Internet in combination with an RSS feed, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. This coupling of the media files and the single RSS feed (which is an XML document) allows a user to "subscribe" to the podcast and receive new material when it is added to the podcast. The term podcast is is often confused with any audio on a website that can be downloaded or streamed (also sometimes called a webcast). However, a podcast is distinguished by its ability to be downloaded automatically through subscription. In addition to audio, podcasts can also include images, links, and video. Podcasts typically include multiple files or episodes. The EdTech Center offers a workshop on Developing a Podcast. See the Workshops section for the next workshop date.
• Wiki
  A wiki is a Web-based collaborative environment in which users add and edit content, using a simple markup language. Many wikis are open for anyone to edit, but some require registration and user authentication for editing, or even reading, privileges. The pages of a wiki are usually highly connected through hyperlinks. Most wikis include features for tracking and repealing recent changes, to guard against incorrect editing. This type of collaborative environment may be beneficial for large groups, or small groups that are geographically dispersed.

Learn More about Trends in Technology

• The ELI’s Emerging Technologies and Practices
  One of the four focus areas of the Educause Learning Initiative (ELI) is Learning Technologies. The ELI's Emerging Technologies and Practices offers examples of tools, articles, presentations and questions related to this topic. Of particular interest is a series entitled 7 Things You Should Know About These articles provide a brief overview of topics of interest including UTube, Google Earth, Facebook, Mapping Mashups, EBooks and more.

• The Horizon Report
  The New Media Center's (NMC) Emerging Technologies Initiative produces the annual Horizon Report. A collaboration between ELI and the NMC, the Horizon report highlights six technologies that are predicted to become important in higher education in the next one to five years. The Horizon Report can be downloaded at NMC's Emerging Technologies Initiative .