1. Have you thought a great deal about the future of education before this course?

If so,
has your view been altered after examining the course materials?

The future of education has honestly not been something I had thought a lot about until
reading and watching this unit's materials. I had no idea that the United States
education system has been rated so low worldwide. These results were upsetting to
me. It is obvious that there is a need for reform in the United States education system.
The next generation of students requires a new and improved approach to teaching. It
is important to implicate new technologies and personalize education for each student.
For success in the future of learning, educators need to integrate new tools to prevent
students from falling off the radar. Successful teachers need to change from a lecture-
based platform and facilitate students in active participation in their studies. In order to
do this teachers need to: (1) Rethink how institutions work; what are the student's
needs? (2) Educators should change their roles to guiding and mentoring students; this
will foster a student-centered experience. (3) Educate students to reflect on their
current work-force realities. Teachers need to strengthen the link between real-world
experiences and course work.

2. Which technologies in the most current edition of the NMC Horizon report are your
currently using in your educational context or do you expect to be introduced soon?
Who is using the technology? Has it changed the classroom/training room/work place?
How?

Internet technologies are by far the most used technology in my field of education.
Internet technologies allow students to have access to an enlarged realm of expertise
and knowledge. In the United States, mostly everyone has access to the Internet and
uses it daily to do research and make educated decisions. The Internet has completely
changed the way the classroom functions. Professors are no longer the sole source for
students to glean wisdom on a topic. The web can be a very helpful tool for educators to
teach students to become self-learners and life-long researchers. More and more
educational institutions are encouraging students to bring their own device to class,
requiring students to find a balance between using their technology as entertainment
and for educational purposes. It is important for students to know how to navigate
the abundant resources on the Internet and make wise decisions as to which sources are
accurate and reputable. Internet use incorporated into education by professors is
imperative. The next generation of students is highly versatile in technology and
incorporates the use of the Internet into their lives daily.

3. Which NMC report technology do you think presents the greatest opportunity for
carrying education in a new direction in the future? Why? Which NMC report
technology do you think might be most challenging to implement in your educational
context and why?
In order to change education in the United States it is imperative to re-think and re-
design how schools work. It is only rational to change as times are changing. The
current student is digitally savvy at an early age, uses technology daily, and is highly
involved with social media. It is clear that the education and teaching prototype that
has been used for hundreds of years is no longer applicable to the current student. The
education platform and fundamentals need to evolve just as the culture and student-
type has. Rethinking the foundation of schools facilitates a "domino effect" of
beneficial tools for the current student. When shifting education from the lecture-
centered model to student-focused there are more opportunities for students to be
successful. In order to be successful in the change, the learning environment and space
will need to be redesigned. Most importantly, teacher's roles will have to change to fit
the current student. I believe rethinking how schools work will be one of the most
challenging to implement because it requires a huge change from educators. Teachers
are at the center of the process and will have to change their approach to teaching.
Change is hard, especially with educators who have been practicing a specific way for
many years. Without teachers on board to revamp and rethink how schools work, the
whole change will not work and students will continue to suffer.

Adams Becker, S., Freeman, A., Giesinger Hall, C., Cummins, M., and Yuhnke, B. (2016). NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12
Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Hall, C. (2016). NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher
Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Baggaley, J. (2013). When prophecy fails. Distance Education, 34(1), 119-128.

doi:10.1080/01587919.2013.770426

Dew, J. R. (2012). The Future of American Higher Education. World Future Review (World Future
Society), 4(4), 7-13.

Houle, D. (2008, 5). What is a Futurist?. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQyysb8nqMQ

The Agenda with Steve Paikin. (2011, 7). Don Tapscott: Education 2.0.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U63Q2Q8frXc

2Revolutions LLC. (2012, 3). The Future of Learning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoSJ3_dZcm8
STEP 1 : Identify your topic and keywords

What is your topic? The Benefits of Technology Integrated into Teaching

Keywords used to search for your topic:

Rethinking Schools

*schools

Technology in school and education

Technology in the classroom

As you search and modify your keywords, keep track of them.

Helpful hint: Put * at the end of the word teach* for example, and it will
search for teach, teacher, teachers, teaching.

STEP 2: Identify three sources related to your topic: one from a popular magazine, one
from a trade journal, one from an academic journal. Remember you are using the Post
Library for this activity.

As you read the articles, list the characteristics/journalistic style of writing that qualifies
the publication as either a popular magazine, trade magazine/journal, or academic
journal.

Popular Magazine Trade Magazine/Journal Academic Journal

From Blackboards to
School
Bluetooth: Wireless Integrating Technology in the
Title Communication in the
Slate Technology in Classroom
Age of Google
Agriculture Classrooms.
Educators/Teachers,
Educators/teachers,
Audience Teachers and Educators School leaders,
School administrators,
Parents
Informative. Has a
Informative, lists benefits of
motive to promote Direct, Edgy, Statistic
technology use, uses graphs to
Characteristics Wireless Slate use regarding social
depict age ranges appropriate for
technology for media use
specific technology types
educating.
Magazine/Journal The Agriculture Journal of School
Technology in the Classroom
Title Education Magazine Public Relations
Year of Publication 2010 2016 2012
Helpful Hints: Source: Select
Source: Select Source: Select
Magazine.
Magazine. Academic
Using the
Limit to: Select Journal.
navigation bar on The database will
the left side of your now show popular peer-
screen. magazines and trade
journals reviewed. The
Select Full- text database will now
show trade journals

Step 3: Share the three sources in the discussion board. First include the full APA citation
of each source. Below each citation give a brief summary of the article. The summary
should also address how the article relates to the technology trend you have chosen.

Porterfield, K. k., & Carnes, M. m. (2012). School Communication in the Age of Google. Journal Of School
Public Relations, 33(2), 115-130.

This academic journal describes social media use in schools. It begs school leaders
to accept that connections and information go hand and hand with current students.
Social media in schools is here to stay and it is up to school leaders to adopt new
ways of supportive teaching using these technologies.

Thompson Hirschy, S. (2016). Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Exchange (19460406), (231), 90-
93.

This trade journal describes how integrating technology in the classroom is

beneficial for teachers and students. It emphasizes the need for age appropriate use
of technology integrated in students education.

Whisenhunt J, Blackburn J, Ramsey J. From Blackboards to Bluetooth: Wireless Slate Technology in

Agriculture Classrooms. Agricultural Education Magazine [serial online]. November 2010;83(3):6-8.
Available from: Education Source, Ipswich, MA. Accessed August 29, 2017.
This magazine article describe how wireless slates are being used by teachers to
increase student interaction in the classroom and are more cost efficient than
interactive white boards for school budgets.
 Unit 2

Of the historical events and trends you learned about in this units course material,
identify ONE event that you believe was both highly significant at the time and can be
directly linked to the current state of education.

Defend your arguments by giving concrete examples:

1. Why was the event significant in the past?

The passing of Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972 was a highly significant
moment in the United States education timeline. Discrimination in education based on
sex was ended when it was passed in 1972. The law states: No person in the United
States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance. (Sass, 2014)

This meant that women had as much of a right to furthering their education as men did.
At the time, this was one of the most monumental advances in the womens rights
movement! Women could now go to college, play sports, and potentially have higher
earning jobs. The opportunity for women to advance for the future had expanded
immensely! Imagine, just 40 years ago women did not have the same access to higher
education as men did. Women had limited access to jobs, career opportunities and
advancement in the work place. Most importantly, their freedom to learn in areas that
interested them was restricted.

2. How is this event impacting education today?

The future of education was greatly impacted by the passing of Title IX, Education
Amendments of 1972. Having educated women in the United States only benefits the
country as a whole. The quote in Meeting President Obamas 2020 College Completion
Goal summarizes it best: A vibrant, prosperous America depends on its educational
system-in fact, the future of our democratic society depends on the positive contributions
of our active, engaged and well-educated citizens. (Kanter, Ochoa, Nassif, & Chong,
2011) Higher education accessibility for all people benefits the success of American and
the success of education in America. Educated women add to diversity in education and
the overall improvement of the education system. The Condition of Education 2016
reported that 44 percent of full-time instructional faculty in degree-granting
postsecondary institutions were female. Women have become an interactive and essential
addition to higher education learning! It also reports that since the year 2000 attainment
rates have been higher for females than males at each education level after secondary
education. (Aud, Rathbun, Flicker-Wilkinson, Kristapovich Xiaolei, Zhang, & Notter,
2013) Women are taking advantage of the opportunity to learn at a higher level therefore
this affects their employability. The employment rate for individuals with higher levels of
education is 89 percent. In comparison, only a 51 percent employment rate is seen for
 those who did not complete high school. (Aud, Rathbun, Flicker-Wilkinson, Kristapovich
Xiaolei, Zhang, & Notter, 2013) Also, since the passing of this law in 1972, occupational
gender segregation has decreased, largely due to women moving into formerly male-
dominated jobs. (Hill, 2011)

3. Do you think this event will still be impacting education 5 year into the future? Please
explain why or why not.

The passing of Title IX Education Amendment of 1972 will continue to impact women
well into the future. The parallels between education and the current workforce are
undeniable. Equality in education goes beyond the classroom; it affects Americas
economy. Womens roles have changed tremendously in the past 100 years (largely due
to their progress in education). Today, 40 percent of mothers with children under the age
of 18 are the sole or primary income earners for their household. (Hill, 2011)
Unfortunately, with the change in womens roles since they were granted education
equality in 1972, there continues to be a sizeable pay gap in male and female incomes.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women in 2015 earned only 80 percent
of what men did annually. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016) This pay gap is seen
even in post secondary education faculty. The Condition of Education report for 2016
states: the average salary for all full-time instructional faculty was higher for males than
for females in every year from 199495 to 201415. (Aud, Rathbun, Flicker-Wilkinson,
Kristapovich Xiaolei, Zhang, & Notter, 2013) Although it has been a slow progress,
women are projected to reach pay equality with men by 2059 (based on the rate of change
in pay from 1960-2015). (Hill, 2011)

The Title IX Education Amendment of 1972 has ignited a chain reaction for womens
rights in American. It has affected and will continue to affect the future of American
education and economy.

References:

Aud, S., Rathbun, A., Flicker-Wilkinson, S., Kristapovich Xiaolei, P., Zhang, W., &
Notter, L., (May 2013). The Condition of Education.

Hill, C. (2011). The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap. The American Association
of University Women. Spring 2017 Edition. 1-12.

Kanter, M., Ochoa, E., Nassif, R., & Chong, F., (2011). Meeting President Obamas 2020
College Completion Goal.

Sass, E. (2014, Feb 13). American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016c). Current population survey: Highlights of

womens earnings in 2015. Table 1. www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-
earnings/2015/home.htm.
History and Founding

The Oregon Institute of Technology is a public, state-supported institution located in

beautiful Oregon. The main site college site is in Klamath Falls with other locations in
Salem, outside of Portland in Wilsonville, and La Grande. It was founded in 1947
initially serving World War II veterans in vocal rehabilitation. At the inception of Oregon
Tech, classes were lead by Winston Purvine and held in a deactivated World War II
Marine Corps hospital three miles northeast of Klamath Falls. In 1964, O.I.T. moved its
campus onto a geothermal site overlooking the Upper Klamath Lake (Oregon Institute of
Technology, 2017). Recently, in 2015 the Oregon Institute of Technology became an
independent public body governed by its own Board of Trustees. The Oregon Institute of
Technologys main campus in Klamath Falls has fairly small classrooms with a student-
to-faculty ratio of 20:1. This intimate approach to the classroom allows professors to have
an individualized capability in teaching. (Oregon Institute of Technology, 2017)

Demographics:
In the fall of 2013, Oregon Tech had 76.6% white, 8.1% American Indian, 7.8%
Hispanic, and 4.6% Asian students. The majority of the ages in attendance in 2013 were
between ages 18 and 22 years old. In the 2016 enrollment, 52% of students were male
and 48% were female (OIT Cite). The population of Klamath Falls, Oregon (where the
main O.I.T. campus is located) in 2014 was 21,119 people (96% urban, 4% rural). The
city is a bout 25 miles north of the CaliforniaOregon state border. The estimated median
household income in 2015 was $38,890 (Onboard Informatics, 2017).

Current state of the Organization:

Oregon Tech today offers Bachelor of Science programs in health technologies,
engineering, management, applied sciences and communication. O.I.T. offers over 20
bachelor and masters degrees. Currently, the classroom at Oregon Tech is composed of
lecture halls and labs for hands-on learning.

Mission Statement:
According to their mission statement posted on the O.I.T. website, the Oregon Institute of
Technology strives to offer educational opportunities for the emerging needs at a state,
national and international components. Its goal is to offer hands-on, applied degree
programs to ensure the success of their students, public service and statewide educational
opportunities (Oregon Institute of Technology, 2017)

Technologies:

The technologies that Oregon Tech uses most are digital strategies and learning
technologies (Johnson, Adams-Becker, Cummins, Estrada, Freemam, and Hall, 2016).
Oregon Tech offers use of the specific technologies that students will use in their
professional setting after graduation. For example, a part of the Diagnostic Medical
Sonography program has an ultrasound lab that is composed of ultrasound machines and
equipment. Students have a scheduled lab course each semester and are encouraged to
practice scanning techniques and instrumentation in their free time. Students are also
tested on these technologies throughout the course of the program. Learning technologies
are also expressly used in and around O.I.T. For medical professional students, there is an
exceptional anatomy and physiology program with access to cadavers for learning and
detailed anatomical models. These methods of teaching are a very fitting for the current
students and the types of degrees that Oregon Tech offers. O.I.T.s motto is Hands-on
education for real-world achievement. This method of teaching has ranked O.I.T. #3 in
the Regional Colleges West. The rankings are based on factors of excellence in teaching
methodology and academic quality (U.S. News and World Report L.P., 2017). The
Oregon Institute of Technology boasts a 95 percent employment or enrolled in graduate
school within 6 months of their undergrads attainments (Oregon Institute of Technology,
2017).

References Page

Oregon Institute of Technology. (2017). About Oregon Tech. Retrieved from

http://www.oit.edu/visitors-info/about

Oregon Institute of Technology. (2017). Mission Statement and Core Themes. Retrieved
from http://www.oit.edu/visitors-info/about/mission-statement

Oregon Institute of Technology. (2017). Student Demographics. Retrieved from

http://www.oit.edu/faculty-staff/institutional-research/student-demographics

Oregon Institute of Technology. (2017). Diagnostic Medical Songraphy. Retrieved from

http://www.oit.edu/academics/degrees/diagnostic-medical-sonography

Onboard Informatics. (2017). Klamath Falls, Oregon. Retrieved from http://www.city-

data.com/city/Klamath-Falls-Oregon.html

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Hall, C.
(2016). NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New
Media Consortium.

U.S. News and World Report L.P. (2017). Oregon Institute of Technology. Retrieved
from https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/oit-3211

Paper Requirements:

Write 2-3 double-spaced pages of content (This page count does not include
the Title and References pages)
Times New Roman, 12 pt. font style
Use clear sections headings in bold font style
Include a correctly-formatted Title page
Include a correctly-formatted References page
 Unit 3
1. Why is futuring an important exercise for educational organizations?
Futuring is very important for the success of educational organizations. Foreseeing trends
that are developing in our society and expecting change allows educational organizations
to prepare for those changes. According to The Steps for Futuring, futuring leads to
planning and program development. The process of futuring does many things but most
importantly, it situates educational leaders from a reactive state to a proactive state that
will anticipate change. It forces educational organizations to prioritize program
importance and leads to higher quality decision-making. Futuring is important for
educational organizations to expect developing issues in the future and to address the
necessities of students (Sobrero, 2004). The video The Future of Education describes
great ways that educators can use a futuristic approach to best serve students needs. This
requires educational organizations to use current data to formulate an action plan to best
suit students for the future (George, 2013). Another important aspect of futuring is that it
challenges past beliefs and compels educational leaders to rethink how they have done
things in the past (Mietzner, & Reger, 2005).

2. In the past, have you used futuring techniques in your professional field? If yes,
please explain. If no, now that you have learned about these techniques give example
of how you can currently use these techniques in your professional field.
I am currently an ultrasound technologist. My hope is to found and teach an ultrasound
program as a higher education professor when finishing my Masters in Education. The
medical field is one that uses futuring quite often. I look to the past and see how far
ultrasound has come in just five years and cant wait to see what happens in the next 5 or
ten years! ( I expect that the 3D and 4D ultrasound will only continue to advance, that the
areas of specialty will only become narrower and that there will be some areas that
computers will take the place of the ultrasound tech entirely. On a personal level, the
reason I decided to go to grad school for teaching was from a furturist point of view. Im
foreseeing that my current profession has been really hard on me physically and that I
want to continue in the field without the physical strain it puts on my body. Ive only
been in the workforce for 7 years and am already having shoulder issues and have had to
get cortisone shots in my elbow. I decided that now is the time to take steps toward the
future and not to wait anymore! When reading the Advantages and Disadvantages to
Scenarios article Ive found that this is considered an Action Scenario. Im hoping that
when I get my Masters in Education I will found and teach an ultrasound program,
which will lead to less strain on my body physically (Mietzner, & Reger, 2005). I love
the quote in The Steps for Futuring that says, Have the courage and ambition to
change yesterdays logic! (Sobrero, 2004). The concept of futuring has completely
changed my whole thinking! The future is a continuance of past relationships and
dynamics but is ultimately changed by action and choice (Mietzner, & Reger, 2005). It
makes me want to take action today because the future is affected by my choices or
inaction today.

3. A product of your final paper is your vision of your educational context in five
yearsthis is a scenario! Since you are writing only one scenario, rather than
several alternate futures, what are some of the challenges you will face? (In other
words, discuss the pros and cons of scenarios. Be creative! Use charts or graphic
organizers to organize your thoughts and ideas)

Ultimately, the advantages of using scenarios out-weigh the disadvantages. For any
organization (education especially), it is important to think to the future and exam all
possibilities. Using the scenario technique, allows the organization to see all possible
outcomes (negative or positive) and envision what they will likely need. Scenarios also
foster excellent communication throughout an organization and promote participant
coordination (Mietzner, & Reger, 2005). It allows organizations to look at all avenues
and even helps managers re-think or change their methods of doing things. Most
importantly, it foresees instances that can problematic. For example, in 1970 Shell was
prepared for the change in oil circumstances because of using futurist scenarios and
ended up benefitting from the oil price shock after the Yom Kippur war (Mietzner, &
Reger, 2005). Using Scenario outcomes allows organizations to be prepared for the
future. There are, however, some downsides to the use of scenarios. Forming a scenario
is highly dependent on those participating in them. It takes a deep topic knowledge and
understanding to form scenarios with multiple futures/outcomes. Today, the best futurists
rely on their reputation and proven performance instead of science. Also, there isnt a
best practices example with scenario methods, techniques and approaches to futuring
that rookies have access to (Mietzner, & Reger, 2005). The other difficulty with forming
scenarios is not focus on the most obvious outcome or the most wished for outcome. It is
important to think outside of the black and white scenarios and formulate unimaginable
possibilities.

References:

Brouchard, Jennifer (2012). EDU505 - Scanning Tool. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOXigjg1BwQ&feature=youtu.be&t=17s

George, S., (TEDx Talks). (2013). The Future of Education. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah-SmLEMgis

Mietzner, D., & Reger, G. (2005). Advantages and disadvantages of scenario approaches

for strategic foresight. Int. J. Technology Intelligence and Planning, 1(2), 220

239.

Sobrero, P., (2004). The steps for futuring. Journal of Extention, 42(3).
Unit 4
Discuss two of the technology trends you read about this week (week 4) that play an
important role in your FVE case study project. What aspects of your vision does it
impact? Why are these trends so important?

(1) The first technology trend that will play an important role in my FVE case study
project is virtual learning. In regard to my FVE case study project, I am using the college
I attended for ultrasound school. I am hoping to create an ultrasound program and
curriculum that is similar, but improved, from the one I attended. With that in mind, I
have a vision of implementing virtual learning to apply theory to real-life case studies.
This would mean that as an educator, I would give students material read and research,
and then test their knowledge and actions in a virtual reality scenario. Offering students a
way to apply their materials directly to real-life scenarios will enforce their knowledge of
the study materials. Using this method, we can discuss outcomes from the virtual reality
and outcomes based on the different actions of the student. This is an ideal way to teach
students about real work-force scenarios before they are in the work force (Johnson,
Adams Becker, Cummins, Estrada, Freeman, and Hall, 2016). They can see medical
scenarios from a point-of-view that was never available to students before! Virtual reality
learning will also be beneficial for students to understand the why of what they are
learning. It applies directly to scenarios they will be faced with when they are in the
workforce. I would also like to test students using virtual reality scenarios too. What a
better way to be tested than to be put in a scenario just like the ones youll be tested in
when faced with real-life patients, pathology, doctors, and reading radiologists?
Obviously, theres no way to create every scenario that students will face when they are
in the work force but virtual reality teaching will be the best to prepare them to handle
real-life circumstances (Leer, & Ivanov, 2013).

(2) The second technology that I will implement in my FVE case is collaborative
learning. I would like to implement a collaborative, online learning space for students
who attend the ultrasound program. This space will have social media aspects intermixed
with learning from peers. For example: I am currently a member of a Facebook group of
ultrasound techs around the world. This Facebook page is contains posts on interesting
cases, people venting about patient or doctor interactions, and also some students that
have questions about a case that they scanned or a review question that they dont
understand. This Facebook page is a great resource for students of ultrasound knowledge
from beginner to expert. Theres continuous discussion about similar situations that
others have experienced and what the outcome was. The great part of this is that it allows
students to learn from each other and their peers regardless of physical location. The use
of Internet in teaching is so crucial because it gives students access to endless expert
knowledge in that area. Collaborative learning allows students to go beyond the
classroom and interact with others in their profession from all over the world! Students
can unite around learning new concepts or advancing their knowledge on a subject while
integrating web-based resources that will expand their learning (Adams Becker, Freeman,
Giesinger Hall, Cummins, and Yuhnke, 2016). In the 10 Major Technology trends in
Education number 9 on the list was social media use in schools. Students today view
social media as an interactive part of their lives, not just a past time. In using
collaborative learning through a social media outlook, students can connect that
interactive part of their lives to their learning (Riedel, 2014).

References:

Adams Becker, S., Freeman, A., Giesinger Hall, C., Cummins, M., and Yuhnke, B.

(2016). NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New

Media Consortium.

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Hall, C.

(2016). NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas:

The New Media Consortium.

Leer, R., & Ivanov, S. (2013). Rethinking The Future Of Learning: The Possibilities And

Limitations Of Technology In Education In The 21st Century. International

Journal Of Organizational Innovation, 5(4), 14-20.

Riedel, C., (February 3, 2014) 10 Major Technology Trends in Education.

Unit 5
Choose a public policy or economic trend relating to both the field
of education and your FVE case study. Discuss the effect the trend
has on your organization and document the information you
provide with research and data from current resources. Be sure to
cite and provide references using APA format.

The main goal of education should always be to meet the needs of the student. In the case
of post secondary education, the debate has been the benefit of online learning versus
traditional methods. According to The Progress of Education Reform, the cost of online
education is not definitively less expensive (Education Commission, 2011). So the
question is, do students have more success with online learning than traditional
classrooms? This should be established on a student-by-student basis. We have
determined in this module that education should be individualized to each student. A key
to success in students attainment of post secondary degrees is periodic student coaching
and mentoring. For me personally, when I graduated high school and entered college, it
took me almost a whole quarter of college to figure out how to prioritize my time and
how I learned best. Most students going into college directly from high school have
struggled with this same problem. Coaching and mentoring for students periodically in
post secondary education would give students a vision for their future, assist them in
finding their best way of learning and ignite a passion for what they are learning. Another
benefit of post secondary mentoring would be to reassess students degree choice, as he
or she got closer to their degree attainment. According to The Rising Cost of Not Going
to College: Overview, 29% of students with degrees say they should have chosen a
different major to better prepare them for their ideal job after graduation (Taylor, Parker,
Morin, Fry, Pattern, & Brown, 2014)! Reading this shocked me! Its hard to believe that
almost 30% of graduates feel like the money, time, and education they spent in college
was not worth while. College coaching could help students discover this earlier in their
curriculum path to avoid regrets or wasted time and money on degrees that students feel
they do not use.

Undoubtedly, the data shows that higher education is valuable to students and improves
their annual income and employment rates (Taylor, Parker, Morin, Fry, Pattern, &
Brown, 2014). The dispute should not be if online education is better than traditional
methods of higher education. The goal of higher education establishments should be to
help equip students to find their own best methods of learning and personally empower
them be life-long learners whether its online or in a traditional classroom.
Education Commission. (August 2011). Higher Education Reform: Next-generation
model to success and control cost. The Progress of Education Reform, 12(4), 1-4
Taylor, P., Parker, K, Morin, R., Fry, R., Pattern, E., & Brown. A. (2014, Feb 11). The
Rising Cost of Not Going to College: Overview.

For this discussion, locate two external resources (not from the
course materials) that pertain to your FVE project. As part of the
Unit 6 paper and presentation, you are required to find additional
resources so this activity will give you a head start on that part of
the project.
In your initial post, provide an active link to the articles and a 1-2-
paragraph summary of each. Provide your insights and opinions on the
content of the article.

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.postu.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=9&sid=132ad292-65d7-4b08-ab9f-
23b627881b0d%40sessionmgr4007
Barriers and Enablers to the Use of Virtual Worlds in Higher Education: An Exploration
of Educator Perceptions, Attitudes and Experiences discusses the history of the use of
virtual worlds in education since its conception in the late 1980s and reasons why virtual
reality hasnt yet become a main source for teaching for educators. When asking
educators why they are not teaching with virtual worlds 30% said that their institution
doesnt provide adequate technology or funding. 54% of educators said that their
institution doesnt provide technical supports to use virtual worlds and 36% said that their
institutions dont provide teaching support for the use of virtual worlds. I chose this
article because it is important to have a realistic approach when adding virtual reality to
my FVE case. I want to plan for the future while looking at reasons why in the last 30
years educators have struggled to teach using virtual reality.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.postu.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=
b0f0d7c4-15e9-42b5-966b-cdc262d88aaf%40sessionmgr4008

Using Media Clips with Visual/Virtual Generation: We are Doing it Backwards

discusses the new generation of students and how they grasp concepts best visually,
unlike past generations who would prefer to read to gain their information. According to
this article, engaging students in a visual way helps them better remember concepts.
Todays students have difficulty developing critical thinking skills and thinking logically
from instructor-based information. The academic journal explains a study where students
were required to search and find media clips to demonstrate managerial concepts in their
 business class. This article states that the study found that it was beneficial to have direct
student interaction in searching and finding the articles themselves rather than having the
clips presented to them.
Donovan, C. P. (2016). Using Media Clips with the Visual/Virtual Generation: We are Doing it
Backwards. Business Education Innovation Journal, 8(2), 92-103.

Gregory, S. s., Scutter, S. S., Jacka, L. l., McDonald, M. m., Farley, H. H., & Newman, C. c. (2015). Barriers
and Enablers to the Use of Virtual Worlds in Higher Education: An Exploration of Educator
Perceptions, Attitudes and Experiences. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 18(1), 3-12.

In your responses, first read the articles your peers have presented, then
identify similarities and differences between your articles and those
presented by your peers.

Unit 6
This week you have read about demographics and education.

Discuss two of the demographic trends.

Why are these trends so important?

When possible make connections to your FVE case study project.

The first demographic trend that I found to be very interesting is the changing age profile
of the United States. According to The Changing Demographic Profile of the United
States, the U.S. has had a 103% increase in population since 1950. Since the year 2000,
the number of people aged 65 and older has been steadily increasing and represents
12.4% of the U.S. population (Shrestha & Heisler, 2011). People in the U.S. are living
longer and having fewer children. These factors put a serious strain on Americans Social
Security system (Reznik, Shoffner, & Weaver, 2006). Former president George W. Bush
described this issue in his State of the Union Address in 2005,
In today's world, people are living longer and, therefore, drawing benefits longer.
And those benefits are scheduled to rise dramatically over the next few decades.
And instead of sixteen workers paying in for every beneficiary, right now it's only
about three workers. And over the next few decades that number will fall to just
two workers per beneficiary. With each passing year, fewer workers are paying
ever-higher benefits to an ever-larger number of retirees.
From 1945 to 1965 the worker to beneficiary ratio dropped from 41 to 4 workers per
beneficiary. It is projected that this number will drop to 2 workers per beneficiary by
2030 and only continue to decline from there at which point the program will become
financially unsustainable (De Ruby, 2012). I was thinking back to one of our previous
units discussing major historical changes in education and remembered an article that I
came across while doing my research for that discussion. In addition to the bad news
about the state of Americas Social Security system because of the pay-gap between men
and women, women will receive less Social Security after retiring then men because their
Social Security is based on an annual income scale. This is a really tough pill for me to
swallow. Its important for lawmakers to make a change to adjust to the higher life
expectancy and the change in population. It is imperative to have reform government-
funded programs like Social Security. These programs simply cannot stay the same with
changing age trends and population growth.

The second trend that got my intention was, of course, healthcare and healthcare
spending. As a healthcare professional, these types of trends are always important to me
and will impact the students I teach in the future. The correlation between fertility and
healthcare spending was shocking to me! I hadnt linked this factor into healthcare until
reading this units materials. In the article, The Changing Demographic Profile of the
United States fertility trends in the United States were discussed and how they change
healthcare spending. For example, more and more woman in the U.S. are having children
later in life which increases the risk of having children born with health conditions that
require neonatal support or, in some cases, long-term healthcare (Shrestha & Heisler,
2011). Women are considered advanced maternal age after the age of 35 because their
risk of having a baby with health conditions increases. Also, women after the age of 35
are at higher risk for developing high blood pressure and gestational diabetes (Mayo
Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2017). These are all factors that will
need to be addressed with my students and its important for them to make the connection
to the rising cost of healthcare.

De Rugy, Veronique. (2012). How many workers support one social security retiree?.
Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Retrieved from
https://www.mercatus.org/publication/how-many-workers-support-one-social-
security-retiree
Hill, C. (2011). The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap. The American Association
of University Women. Spring 2017 Edition. 1-12.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2017). Pregnancy after 35:
Healthy moms, healthy babies. Retrieved from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-
depth/pregnancy/art-20045756
Reznik, Gale L., Shoffner, Dave & Weaver David A. (2006). Coping with the
demographic challenge: fewer children and living longer. Social Security Bulletin,
Volume 66 (Issue No. 4).
Shrestha, L. B. & Heisler, E. J. (2011). The changing demographic profile of the United
States [Electronic version]. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
Unit 7
This discussion board has three parts:

1. Discuss one topic/concept that was new to you this week. Has it, or your readings in
general, changed or matured your ideas for the "call to action" items in your final
project?

In the article How do Education Professionals Understand creativity? The concept

of implicit theories was totally new to me and very interesting! Implicit theories are
defined as many human activities that are guided by conceptions and ideas that
subjects apprehend from their experiences, their interactions with others and objects,
and from knowledge and value of their socio-cultural environment (Castro-Fajardo
etel, 2014). This article discusses how through our lives we are acquiring theories
about relationships, ideas, objects, just life in general based on our experiences and
relationships. People do this unconsciously and base beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
around these acquired implicit theories. Also, there are no actions that humans
take on a day-to-day basis that implicit theories affect. This article is discussing the
implicit theories that educators have acquired over time about creativity and what is
actually scientifically true about creativity in education. It performs a study to
contrast these implicit theories and what is actually true. This study concluded with
several myths that educators have about creativity. The first one is that childhood is
the golden age for creativity and the second myth was that teachers believe that
the school environment kills creativity. The implicit theory concept makes me
wonder what misconceptions I have about, well, everything! It is frightening that
each person is acquiring implicit theories based on their past and then relating to
future experiences based on one solitary experience or a false believe.

2. Thinking back to the first week of the course, how have your thoughts about the
future of education changed?

After this class I think about the future all the time! Before this class I would think
about the future in my own little world and what I would do next year or how
decisions I made would affect my future. Sadly, I hadnt thought about the bigger
picture! In the very first unit when we began discussing the future and the video
What is a futurist? was in our units materials. I felt SO convicted. I was totally
one of those people who didnt think of the bigger picture, especially when it came
to education. Throughout this class I have found that there is a united theme: Change
is happening, its not a bad thing, and embrace it! I was listening to a podcast from
my church over the weekend and my pastor said something that I felt fit well into
our class. If youre not embracing change, your world stays small. He was
implying that without change, and opening yourself up to new experiences and even
sometimes difficulties, that you and your world stays small.
 3. Based on the unit content and your reflection and analysis of the course material
please end your post with a reflective question(s) that will help stimulate this weeks
discussion.

What changes were you initially afraid or skeptical of and now, after taking this
class, your viewpoint or outlook on changed?

Castro-Fajardo, L. 1., Santamaria, A. a., Bernalhearnandez, K.k., Gomezhernandez, F. g.,

& Garciacepero, M. m. (2014). How Do Education Professionals Understand
Creativity? A Study of the Implicit Theories on Creativity in a Sample of
Educators. Journal for the Education of the Young Scientist & Giftedness, 2(2),
41-48.

Houle, D. (2008, 5). What is a Futurist?.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQyysb8nqMQ