Week 12 – Wearables

Carlo, Emily, Miguel and Scott, Thank you for all the hard work that you put into this OER - it was quite evident. I definitely found myself quite intrigued throughout the OER, and I found that the activities really encouraged reflection on a deep level. The one aspect I wish there were more information on, however, was application to the classroom. That section seemed lacking. I know it was addressed elsewhere in the OER - "We will concede up front, it is harder to envision the relevance of some of this technology in the world of teaching and learning, than in say, healthcare or engineering" - but the examples and reflection on that seemed inadequate when compared to your efforts in other areas. Also, on that topic - the MetaPark case study that you included was extremely outdated (it's actually from 1999, not 2016). I would recommend removing it or updating the intro to address the fact that it's a bit outdated but that the ideas are still applicable. That's the only content piece that I think could use a little improvement. Aside from that, I just wanted to note that if you're following the OER navigations at the end of each section, you miss the "Future" intro page and it's related sections on Exoskeletons, NeuroTech and Viruses, as the navigation jumps straight to "Wearable Tech Start-ups". Those not clicking every part of your OER to make sure they've participated in every aspect (ie. us ETEC 522 classmates) may end up missing some of your content by mistake. Again, thank you for a great OER - it's really appreciated.

Excellent presentation, Team wearable! I agree with you that at first wearables would be considered as a bizarre technology to enhance teaching and learning. Your approach to this technology shows that wearables have lots of potential to improve learning. Unfortunately, the features that make this technology efficient in enhancing teaching and learning are also what would cause its downfall. Ethics, security, and privacy concerns touch all sectors of technology that collect user's data. Reinforcing the importance of making policies that will protect users.

Thank you for your refreshing presentation on wearables, Carlo, Emily, Miguel and Scott! I think this topic was the one I had the least prior knowledge of, and I learned a lot! Of interest were the types of wearable technologies that expanded my conception of what a wearable could look like (e.g., I didn't consider implanted devices as a type of wearable before!). The ethical concerns of wearables are very similar to Big Data & Learning Analytics, as the collection, management, and security of data are high priorities for people as well as governments. Wearables seem to link in very well with immersive experiences, as mentioned in the example of the Meta Park. Virtual and augmented reality applications can also be more readily implemented with the help of thoughtfully designed wearables that can remove the need for bulky equipment. Overall, well made OER with a good pace and activities that were easy to understand and not too overwhelming.

Hi Team Wearables, Congratulations! This was a fun OER. I started out wondering about the applications of wearables in education and how much useful it would be but at the end I could see applications of wearables in education. Good work!

Team Wearables, THANK YOU for a fascinating, well-written, well-structured, well-paced and informative OER experience! I found your use of WordPress a refreshing and effective platform choice, especially the way you used a third party commenting plug-in to improve the UX compared to WP’s native equivalent. I loved learning about e-tattoos and enjoyed the companies you chose to profile. The section on design principles was also very useful, and I think I will apply it to some of my own work in the future, so thanks for that as well! Overall, you’ve created an excellent OER! The only >small< element I think could be improved is the video on the SAMR model. The one you used isn’t horrible — there are MANY out there that ARE — but it doesn’t give a good example for REDEFINITION in my opinion. Replacing a paper written essay with a collaborative public blog, an audio podcast and a fully edited video is replacing ONE technology with several, which is NOT a practical application of Puentedura’s theoretical model. How could a teacher realistically find the time to redefine that essay assignment with all those multimedia activities? Anyone can redefine an activity if the activity is radically changed. How can technology be used to redefine a student writing an essay on paper with a pencil? How about a speech recognition system, or a tablet with software that converts survive writing into digital text? (You get the idea...)

Thank you team Wearables for this informative and engaging presentation. I particularly found the concepts of Textile Wearables and Organic Computing to be particularly interesting. The activities and content flowed logically and were well-integrated. My only (very minor) suggestion would be that under the "Wearable Tech Start Ups Activity" you may want to put the form after the description of the start up companies. I found myself a bit confused and clicking back thinking I had missed the list of companies. It did not strike me to scroll down! Just a thought...overall, good job!!!

Hi Aziza, Thank you so much for your feedback and kind comments. It's wonderful to know that you enjoyed our OER and learned so much from it! Thank you for your suggestions to improve the content! We'll look into those before publishing the final.

Hello Carlo, Emily, Miguel and Scott. At first, when I saw the amount of text on your OER I was discouraged but I must say that I barely skipped any text during my reading because the way you've presented your information was right. I enjoyed the complexity of your arguments, there was a nice flow to them and I did not experience any frustration or boredom through your OER. Even your activities were thoughtful, they matched well your content and supported our reflexive journey through the OER. In term of the information you've chosen to present, I must say that I am impressed. I found your case studies both fascinating and inspiring...it's probably the first OER which made me feel like I was discovering things that were really new to me.I completed the OER on my phone and the format was well supported. Like Matt, I'm not a fan of the Wordpress format but I quickly forgot about it as the information presented was so interesting. To make the OER even better, I would suggest adding some concrete examples for each of the Universal Design principles as it was challenging to really grasp the difference between some of them. Very clever OER with some welcome layers of complexity. I truly enjoyed it and felt I was learning. Thank you

This was a really intriguing way to end our Opportunity Forecasts! It even brought together multiple things from earlier weeks. Nicely done. I'm not a huge fan of the Wordpress format, but you guys did it seamlessly. Very nice flow and intuitive directions .... which can be tricky. One idea for feedback: there was at least one time (once on the 'Frameworks' page, but possibly more throughout the OER) where it mentions the fact that we're in ETEC 522 (ie. "We will refer the ‘cube’ from earlier in ETEC 522, ..."). But we're supposed to be designing the OER for an open, global audience who might not have the ETEC 522 background. So I would just suggest changing the wording in these instances to be a little more applicable to the general public. Minor detail though! Overall, loved it - especially learning about the new companies at the end.