Carleton University Power Outage

As I am sitting here typing on my MacBook Pro, I take it for granted that the technology I am using is also using electricity.  There are multiple things that we use in our lives that use electricity, and most of them are technological.  Most people and by people I mean students are the most active on computer, mobiles, social networking, and the list goes on.  There are new technologies that shape our lives daily; students are the ones who have grown up with it and it only advances from here.  Since they have grown up with it, the world around us obviously has to update themselves and progress with technology.  It is brought into the workforce and education.  There is always a devils advocate with any subject, and people say technology is distracting to kids and students, giving them too many tasks to think about. Who is emailing me?  Who is texting me?  What did the professor say about that last slide?  Students are constantly on the go with technology and it’s constantly at their fingertips.  It always has its advantages though.  Students are able to communicate, collaborate and network more efficiently for school.  The classroom has a different teaching method now using PowerPoint.  Instead of the professor writing out his/her notes on the chalkboard, they can become more interactive by talking to students and letting the students engage.  The downfall with the technology in the classroom is our electricity may be out. Which brings me back to the point in the beginning.  Carleton University had a power outage last Wednesday causing classes to be cancelled.  At that moment, it probably meant freedom, no class!  However, the next class, it made students focus on an extra lesson. 

There are many options, given that as I said, most people are connected through technology, which gives the Teaching Assistants, and Professors options to fix the problem.   The professor or TA could easily create an email to students (as most of them have smartphones and get it on the spot) to explain the situation and direct them further what to do and maybe have screenshots of more difficult tasks on the program they were to be using in that class.  They could also ask certain students who understand the concept to create a peer-to-peer group and help each other out.   This would be beneficial for the students as they get to network and collaborate with their classmates. There could be an online segment to explain the class offered for students who could not make it to the different segments at the school.  With technology, the list goes on, and as most people know, there does not need to be person-to-person contact anymore. That is the beauty of technology; it always advances.