Trends in Wearable Technologies for Earth Science

In this chapter, we discuss the need for wearable technologies for earth science field research, a discipline that can be both extremely physically rigorous and even potentially dangerous at times. The field is also technically challenging because of environmental conditions as well as often being conducted in remote offline regions. Current trends in available wearable technology devices suitable for earth science applications are explored, in addition to describing possible modifications to existing wearable technologies in order to make them deployable, practical offline-capable geoscience systems. Offline Health and safety monitoring systems designed to operate on a low-powered personal body-area network system as well as offline (non-internet dependent) wearable communication technologies are particularly addressed. These types of wearable technologies represent some of the most complex aspects in this field as well being some of the most customizable systems with highly configurable components for remote back country fieldwork functionality.

Digital Badges

Digital badges provide credentials to demonstrate successful student acquisition of knowledge, skills, and experience. The digital badges can especially excel at demonstrating new and emerging technology experiences through the use of wearable devices tailored to prepare students for the modern work place. Digital badges become virtual tracking systems making it possible to show students' specific learning, skills, and ultimately their employability. Not only do they record data on the individual student, they can track the institution and issuer each student has interacted with. With each successive use of such badges, a virtual narrative can be recorded reflecting how the badge was earned, what criteria was used, what standards were met, the rigor, and the different levels of learning.

Wearable Technology Spending

Very little research has examined the applications wearable technologies can have in education despite industry experts forecasting major growth in the global market for these innovative devices (Futuresource Consulting, 2015). Notwithstanding this profound challenge, in the next 3 to 5 years school districts will need to make multimillion-dollar investments into supporting these technologies as they begin to enter the learning environment. Given this gap in the research literature, this chapter explores the potential decision-making challenges school districts and their leaders will have to face when wearables become more commonplace in education. Using the Strategic Model for Technology Acquisition (Ribeiro, 2015), the author outlines both the innovative opportunities and potential problems wearables pose for both school leaders and stakeholders in the near future. Moreover, this chapter is meant to serve as an informative resource for education leaders and presents strategic and research-validated approaches for procuring and supporting wearable technologies.

Mobile Technologies for Student Centered Learning in a Distance Higher Education Program

The aim of this study is to analyze mobile technologies for student centered learning in a distance higher education program with a focus on mobile online webinars (web-based seminars or conferencing) using mobile applications such as laptops, smart phones, or tablets. As wearable technologies continue to grow it could very well extend to smart glasses, smart watches etc. These tools can provide face-to-face interactions, recording flipped classrooms and parallel chat communications. The data collection consists of observations of ten online face-to-face webinars with 22 students, six interviews, and two surveys. Theoretically, the study joins the research tradition of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning with emphasis on collaboration, and Computer Self-Efficacy concerned with individuals' media and information literacy. Important conclusions from the study demonstrated mobile interactions increased student centered learning on theoretical concepts, assisted in the ability to review information critically, and provided experiences bridging professional teaching practices.

Developing an Elementary Engineering Education Program through Problem-Based Wearable Technologies Activities

This chapter describes the efforts and pilot study results of the Nebraska 4-H Wearable Technologies (WearTec) project, funded by the National Science Foundation's Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program. The overall goal for the three-year WearTec project is to study a systematic set of learning experiences focused upon the use of wearable technologies to effectively support student comprehension of the engineering design process and to increase interest in STEM academics and careers by students in grades 4 to 6. The key components of the WearTec project include (a) utilizing small sewable electronic components; (b) a focus on engineering design; (c) computer programming via the LilyPad Arduino microcontroller, and (d) bridging the formal and non-formal learning environments in order to deliver the WearTec project.

The ScavengAR Hunt

This chapter explains the design and execution of a pre-service teacher training case study using Augmented Reality (AR), Quick Response (QR) codes, and social media mobile applications installed on iPads. The ScavengAR Hunt activity centered on a story narrative inspired by works of fine art using trigger images from the AR mobile application ARART® and incorporated elements of the board game Clue®. Pre-service teachers in the study were divided into groups of 4-6 and assigned specific, individual roles related to a mobile application used in the ScavengAR Hunt, and completed specific tasks while exploring the campus of a midwestern university. The research monitored the groups in real-time through reports submitted on Twitter and responses from QR code scans. The ScavengAR Hunt served as a model for designing a mobile learning activity incorporating multiple mobile applications.

Wearables and People with Disabilities

Assistive technology including wearables, have a positive impact towards changing the lives of people with disabilities. Advances in glass, electronics, sensors, and a wide range of digital devices are substantially improving how people with disabilities (PWD) navigate the world, and allow greater possibilities for PWD who are competing in today's job market. This chapter explores the following topics related to disabilities: Historical developments changing the lives of people with physical and sensory disabilities, laws pertaining to technology access, technological advances in wearables for individuals who are deaf, blind, paralyzed, or other mobility and speech impairments, socio-cultural and vocational implications of wearables for individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind or speech impaired, and the applications needed for wearables to meet the on-the-job demands.

Wearable Technologies in Academic Information Search

Wearable technologies and appliances are making inroads into a variety of consumer and commercial applications, including leisure and entertainment, health care, and gaming. A natural evolution of the technology is in academe where faculty and students have begun exploring the possibilities of the technology in a variety of settings, most visibly in libraries where the process of seeking information using such devices holds significant promise. This chapter provides an inventory of the state of wearable technology, its challenges, its possibilities, and how it might be used in academe, including a study regarding the ability to access common library indexes using two wearable appliances: Google Glass and a smart watch.

Purpose, Scope, and Technical Considerations of Wearable Technologies

The purpose of this chapter is to concentrate on the technical considerations of wearable technologies. Approximately 50% of this chapter will be based on technical considerations while 30% is based on study areas, universities, degrees, and other information related to wearable technologies. For new readers of wearable technologies, we begin with a brief history and cover the scope of the field. The remaining 20% of the chapter covers useful information for interested readers of wearable technology.

Design and Development of Educational Multimedia

The decision to implement new technologies such as smart glasses, smart phones, and tablets in an educational setting without determining optimal use scenarios is an evident universal problem as the adoption of such mobile platforms becomes widespread. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with two Science and Technology (S & T) and three Information Technology (IT) public school instructors to further investigate this significant problem. The constant comparative method was used to analyze the qualitative data resulting from these interviews. Preliminary results demonstrate the educational use of tablet computers has several advantages, along with a few limitations needing to be addressed. Specifically, one of the main limitations of these new instructional technologies is the lack of interactive content, embodied in the audio, video, and pictorial multimedia. The urgent need to address this limitation has motivated the development of multimedia software to work seamlessly on tablet computers.