Running Header: Learning Theories and Emerging Trends 1

Allen Baragar
Learning Theories and Emerging Trends Paper
EDUC 6343 Emerging Technologies
Dr. Meyers
University of St. Thomas
5/3/2020
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Introduction
When I began my life as an educator, I did not give much thought to pedagogy, learning styles,

differentiation, gamification, LMS, or a thousand other acronyms that used in the education field.

I was concerned with not looking like a fool who did not know what he was talking about while

doing my best impersonation of a teacher. I wanted my students to be successful and gain an

education that would be useful to them. I knew what a lousy professor looked like because I had

had plenty throughout my college career. I wanted to mimic what my good or great professors

did, but I was still a fish out of water. During my short time as a professor, I have found my way

by making many mistakes and learning from others. This course and the other courses in this

program have helped me become a better professor and grow by leaps and bounds.

Current Learning Theories

As a former engineer who turned to education as a profession, I did not have several

years of educational training or background before becoming a professor. I did not receive

training on many learning theories other than what I could discern from my own professors'

teaching styles. The current learning theory that influences my teaching is best described as the

21st Century Classroom, as defined by Huss (2018). I agree with Huss when she states that we

are not talking about the 21st century as the future because it is already here. We must stay

abreast of the technology available to our students and us. If we are not at a minimum using

basic software applications to educate our students, then we are doing them a great disservice. As

a professor who teaches in a department with the term “technology” in it, then I need to be able

to use technology to teach my students. As I prepare to migrate my physical class lecture to a

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virtual presentation, I hope that I can achieve the same results and student success that I have

been able to accomplish in person.

Trends in Pedagogy

Disruptive innovation upsets the apple cart in the field of education or any area of

practice. Technology advancements and trends towards virtual classrooms would be what I

consider disruptive innovation. It starts small and builds upon its success. The program at the

University of St. Thomas would is disruptive innovation in action. A completely online master’s

program from an accredited, non-profit institution of higher education is disruptive to what

centuries of history has told us to be true. As Dewey (2018) discusses in his paper, education

teaming with industry is one of the trends that I believe will propel us forward. As a department

that teaches our students how to operate chemical plants, we work with our industry partners

quite a bit. One project that we are currently working on will allow our students to use

augmented reality (AR) to perform rounds as well as troubleshooting the process with a handheld

device that stores the operating procedures and troubleshooting guides. We are also teaming with

an industry training company to test and enhance their virtual training operator (VTO). This

software allows our students to operate a game like a character in a running facility using an X-

Box controller. We can expand our classroom education with virtual hands-on troubleshooting

that allows the students to “work” in a volatile environment without the risks of being exposed to

hazardous chemicals or situations.

Staying Current on Emerging Technology Tools

In their conference paper, Aboseq, Ahmed, Shahbez, and Pervez (2018) state that

technology is changing every day. This statement would be an understatement if there ever were
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one. As a college student pursuing a degree in Management of Information Systems, I learned

that my degree would only represent that I was trainable and knew how to study technology.

Other than that, the technology I trained on while in school would be obsolete when I graduated.

The pace of technological changes is fantastic. The microprocessor is less than 50 years old, and

we have already reached the maximum capability of a single processor until a new technology

evolves. Technology in education does not move quite as quickly, but educators must keep up

with what changes are coming. For me, the best way to keep up with technology is to read,

research, and work with it. I volunteer to beta test new technologies for our industry partners and

software companies that provide us with training materials. I have several RSS feeds, online

forums, magazines, and companies that I follow to determine what they have coming out in the

future.

Establishing and Maintaining Technology Infrastructure

The current pandemic that we are facing as a nation and a global environment, we have

exposed many issues with our technology infrastructure. This issue is not an education issue; this

is a national issue. The nation lacks preparation for this at any level. Many assumed me included

that many of our students would have devices that they could use with reliable internet

connections. We have had years to upgrade our infrastructure to meet the needs of our most

remote students, and we have not done that. I am building a home in an affluent area that

accounts for more than 30% of the local tax base, and we do not have reliable, high-speed

internet connections available to our homes. The "no child left behind," and 1:1 initiative is over

a decade old, and we still have students who cannot connect during this crisis. Building this

infrastructure is not an easy task. As Herold (2020) pointed out, we have school districts that

cannot meet this demand either with connections or devices. As a former Technology
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Coordinator for the local school district, this is a tough task. Who is responsible for maintaining

the hardware? Who provides the connections for the students? Do we offer subsidies to families

that cannot afford either a device or a connection? The problem runs deep, and the solution is out

there.

Addressing Student Learning Needs Through the Use of Emerging Technology Tools

I find it interesting that Barr (2019) says that we are in the 4th Industrial Revolution when

others would consider that we are in the Information Revolution, and the industrial age is dead.

Either way, we are in an era when things change overnight. It took us to the 1900s to reach mass

production and the industrial revolution. The first computer used dates back to 1958. Ten years

later, we sent men to the moon. Fifty years later, we have reached the point where

microprocessors can no longer increase in speed without a breakthrough in technology. Where

will we be in the next 50 years? For our students to create the next microprocessor or the next

space shuttle, we must teach them with the next major technology tool. The beauty of the tools

that we have access to and the tools that are coming out; we do not have to teach all students the

same way. We can customize our lessons to the needs of the students. As educators, we can tailor

our students learning by using the tools that we have available to us now. We can configure our

LMS systems so that students can move forward through content at their pace. We can convert

our lectures to a flipped classroom where students take pre-assessments so that we can determine

what we need to focus on during our lectures instead of spending time on material that students

understand.
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Conclusion

This course has taught me that it is ok to try new ideas and integrate new technologies

into my class. After the crisis that we have faced and the learnings from this course, I feel that I

can lead a group of instructors/professors not only into 2020 but many years to come.
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References
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/09/30/the-7-biggest-technology-trends-in-2020-

everyone-must-get-ready-for-now/#38cefb452261

Dewey, J. (2018). Innovative Ecosystems. Innovative Ecosystems -- Research Starters

Education, 1–4.

Herold, Benjamin. “The Scramble to Move America's Schools Online.” Education Week, 31

Mar. 2020, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/03/26/the-scramble-to-move-americas-

schools-online.html.

Huss, R. (2019). Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century classroom. Internet Learning, 7(1).

Pervez, Shahbaz & Ahmed, Saima & Shahbaz, Muazma & Abosaq, Nasser. (2018). USE OF

CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION.