Beyond SXSWedu: The Wearable Conversation Continues

SXSWedu 2015 session on Wearables in Education

The conversation from our Wear to Learn session on Wearables in Education at SXSWedu continues. We truly enjoyed the active participation in our session and were excited to see some after-conference summaries that both captured and continued the discussion. In the Implications of Wearable Technology in the Classroom, Drew Thompson provides an excellent review of the conversation in the session and the questions raised.

Much more than a talk about wearable devices, however, the discussion provided a glimpse into how educators – the audience by and large – view and think about the potential benefits and consequences of such products in the classroom.

Carolyn Foote, a District Librarian at a high school in Austin, Texas, raises questions about the integration of Wearable Tech into the public school environment. In her SXSWedu recap “Where do we go next with wearables?”  she asks:

How can or will wearables increase “connectedness” within our student communities?  (and my question, will these increase “within school community connectedness” or will we outlaw this access forcing these communities to be “outside of school” as many districts have done with Twitter, FB, etc.).

We’ll have our own reflection on the session later this month; however, if you were unable to attend, both reviews captured the potential and some of the complexity of integrating Wearables into the learning environment. The conversation from Wear to Learn at SXSWedu is one that needs to continue. 

I loved that they went beyond the “these wearables are neat” approach, and delved into the questions we are facing in education as wearables start infiltrating the market.

SXSWedu 2015 Wearable-session

Hope to see you at SXSWedu next year!