Wearables.... are YOU ready??!!

I just had coffee with Sarah Goldstein from The CIJE (shout out to The CIJE - the organization that is doing soooo much for getting Jewish Day Schools into the 21st Century!!! www.thecije.org) where we were talking about Virtual/Augmented Reality and "wearable" devices. Afterwards, as I walked back to my office - all caffeinated - I stated to think; "Are we ready for the influx of "wearables" and what they will mean to our schools??"

Really, stop and think about it...

A "wearable" device is any kind of electronics that is worn on the body of the individual.  It can be a watch, earrings, rings (yes, there is a computer mouse/pointer that fits on a finger like a wedding band!), and so on.  

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These "wearable" devices can do things from telling simple time to interfacing with the Internet and pulling down texts and emails. There is even a version that accepts phone calls!

At a birthday party this week, my son got a digital watch.  It was a plastic affair - opaque face, plastic wristband - you know, the kind of thing we used to get as a toy out of a cereal box.   But... when he taps the opaque plastic face, digital numbers appear with the time and date.  What is scary is that there are "wearables" that look just like his toy watch! So how can we tell the difference between a possibly restricted device and a toy?

My son's toy watch



 
The "wearable" with email

So, you may think; "that will never happen here..."

Well, don't count on it.  The predictions are that, this year, "wearable" devices will start to become ubiquitous in the workplace and the classroom.  "Wearable" devices had a huge presence at the Los Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.  If your school has a cellphone policy, or texting-during-class policy, how are you going to handle this new intrusion into the educational arena?  We schools are so often re-active with technology where we should be more pro-active. 

Now, my fellow educators and administrators, don't say I didn't warn you!!

As always, your comments and thought are solicited on the blog site.

Regards...

Yossie

Yossie Frankel
Director - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.org
Shalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org

Midreshet Emunah V'Omanut - Jerusalem - yfrankel@emunahvomanut.org
Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
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