School uniforms of the future March 4, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, Mobile Phones, classroom, podcasts.trackback
In the 1970s, I watched the Dick Tracy cartoon where the detective, Dick, would speak into his watch and communicate with headquarters. In the 1960s, Maxwell Smart from Get Smart was a popular show where the bumbling hero spoke into his shoe phone and had all sorts of gadgets.
Recently, Nike and Apple got together to release the “Nike +” running shoes and iPod Sport Kit, designed for use by joggers.
The Sport Kit allows your Nike+ shoe to talk to your iPod nano. The sensor uses a sensitive accelerometer to measure your activity, then wirelessly transfers this data to the receiver on your iPod nano. See source
With these shoes and iPod, joggers can now listen to music that syncs with their running tempo. A slow jog delivers a slower beat, a sprint changes the music to a more upbeat song. I really hate jogging, so I can’t see myself ever getting these items.
I remembered seeing an article about Levi releasing a new pair of jeans for the iPod with an “invisible” pocket to hide the iPod while it had a special controller in the watch pocket. 
I also found that jackets are now available where the iPod fits to the inside of the jacket and the sleeve becomes the controls.
What gadgets will students have in the future? We are getting closer to a convergence of technologies where mobile phones and cameras and GPS and voice recorders and music players and computers will be incorporated into one device. How long before these devices will replace laptop or desktop computers and become part of a student’s tools?
So if jean, shoe and jacket companies can make special items for the iPod, what will the school uniform of the future look like?
Will school uniform committees be brave enough to allow students to wear clothing that allows these new devices to be worn in such a way that they can be used in class? Will they consider student safety as they get to and from school by ensuring these devices are hidden from view?
I have a son who has trouble with handwriting and spelling. My hope is that by the time he gets to secondary school, he will be able to use a voice recorder to record his thoughts, stories, answers, essays, etc. and have his computer convert it to text for him. Imagine a uniform that had a microphone in the lapel of a jacket that was so designed to record only the wearer’s voice. This could then be turned into podcasts or text as described above.
Will classrooms of the 21st Century still be contained within 4 walls? I hope not. Imagine students taking their tools safely from learning site to learning site and using the tools at their disposal. A camera, computer, mobile phone and GPS for safety. It is conceivable that these will be in one device in the future and small enough to fit within a sleeve or pocket or even on the student’s wrist.
Of course, many teachers would argue that all of this is coddswallop. I’d argue I could teach many innovative things if this were to occur. Would students be easily distracted? Of course. But give them a real, rich and relevant learning task and they will stay focussed and interested.
So what will the uniform of the future look like?
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Future School Uniforms…
I have just received this from one of the blogs I read (Computers &21C Eduk8n). I have copied it all as I know some of you will be too lazy to look it up.
In the 1970s, I watched the Dick Tracy cartoon
where the detective, Dick, would speak into…
A great read Joseph! You are right of course – so many things are changing, but the way you have talked about the changing landscape of schooling via the uniform theme is fun and provocative. Nice way to get schoolies thinking. I like it!