This week we further read about Second Life, a gaming forum whose use is on the rise in the gaming world and educational world. In Second Life, people create an avatar, which is a virtual alter ego of themselves. In this "second life," people mimmic normal everyday humans. According to the articles read, people can even get married, convert their money made in Second Life to real currency, and can teleport and travel. Although Second Life can be used as a fun tool and a great learning tool, as seen in the articles, it can also lead to some trouble. One lady was arrested for hacking into her online husband's profile and killing off his character because she claimed his character was cheating on hers. Instances like this have shown that people can take online gaming too far and there is need for its regulations.
Online gaming such as Second Life, however, can also be an increasingly beneficial tool for people in the field of education. The University of Florida has already adopted its version of the Second Life forum. This gaming resource can be a great way for students to experiment with what types of jobs they may want to pursue in the real world. With virtual practice, they can more easily eliminate what types of jobs they don't like, without having to spend a lot of money majoring in that field, and then realizing they do not like that type of work.
Below is a video from Indiana University, Coordinator of Educational Technology, Robert, Appleman. In this video, he explores, how students are easily engaged in learning through the use of video games. With some of these newer games, such as the Nintendo Wii, students have to be more social with their gaming efforts, which aides in their education.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Week 12 Creating a Professional Web Presence Page
This week we learned about Distance Education. We viewed a presentation and also looked at some websites that offer distance education. I was very familiar with this subject because its been present in my learning here at UF, and more specifically in this class. I did not realize however, that they were starting to use some of these online education forums for students younger than at the college age. Online education consists of fully online classes, and also blended classes, which only have parts of the class online.
I think Distance Education can be extremely beneficial. It makes it easy for teachers to give information to a large number of students, that don't have to be right there in front of them. I think though that for the most part, online learning should be left to college and and high school students. At an elementary level, students need to learn social skills and interact with other students like they will need to do in real world jobs.
Click here to view a link to a website I found through a Google search on distance learning. The website it was found on is Elearners.com. This particular page on the site goes through a large number of the different pros and cons to distance education.
I think Distance Education can be extremely beneficial. It makes it easy for teachers to give information to a large number of students, that don't have to be right there in front of them. I think though that for the most part, online learning should be left to college and and high school students. At an elementary level, students need to learn social skills and interact with other students like they will need to do in real world jobs.
Click here to view a link to a website I found through a Google search on distance learning. The website it was found on is Elearners.com. This particular page on the site goes through a large number of the different pros and cons to distance education.
Week 11 Open Source Software
This week we learned more about Open Source Software. I had actually never heard about Open Source until this class so I was a little bit confused at first when trying to understand exactly what it was. Open source software is free and easily available online. Source Forge is one of the Open Software websites. With this website you can search different types of software and download it for free!! The only downside is that if there is a problem with the software, there is no manufacturer to guarantee that the problem gets fixed. There are usually forums though, in which you can write your complaints and suggestions to the software editor.
With software programs being so expensive, Open source software programs can be extremely beneficial to teachers. Teachers already have a limited budget, and minimal pay. The access to free software opens many opportunities for teachers to use these programs.
Click here to view a short video I found on Youtube that helps explain what Open Source Software is. In the video, it shows that for almost any expensive software, there is a free online version. I didn't even realize that Firefox was one an open source software, and I already use it.
With software programs being so expensive, Open source software programs can be extremely beneficial to teachers. Teachers already have a limited budget, and minimal pay. The access to free software opens many opportunities for teachers to use these programs.
Click here to view a short video I found on Youtube that helps explain what Open Source Software is. In the video, it shows that for almost any expensive software, there is a free online version. I didn't even realize that Firefox was one an open source software, and I already use it.
Week 10 Tech Tools for Critical Thinking
This week we learned and read about Open Source and Learning Theories. With open source, someone receives software for free with a specific software code. With this they are able to modify it, and make copies, either for money or for free. Learning Theories were created to better understand how humans and animals learn and respond to their learning environment. The three philosophical frameworks of learning theory are Behaviorism, Information Processing, and Constructivism.
Learning and understanding all of the components of the learning theories is very important to those in the field of education. With better understanding of each theory, a teacher can better teach their students and help their students retain information. As was seen from the presentation, each student will have their own learning style and it is a teachers job to help identify these styles and incorporate them into their lesson plans.
Below is a video I found on YouTube which talks about the Cognitive Load on students. In this brief video, the lecturer describes how it can be hard to retain information and understand it when there are all new concepts to be learned. To learn these new concepts, you must relate already known information to the teaching of the new information.
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Learning and understanding all of the components of the learning theories is very important to those in the field of education. With better understanding of each theory, a teacher can better teach their students and help their students retain information. As was seen from the presentation, each student will have their own learning style and it is a teachers job to help identify these styles and incorporate them into their lesson plans.
Below is a video I found on YouTube which talks about the Cognitive Load on students. In this brief video, the lecturer describes how it can be hard to retain information and understand it when there are all new concepts to be learned. To learn these new concepts, you must relate already known information to the teaching of the new information.
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Week 9 Social Tools and Cloud Computing
This week we learned and read about social tools such as bookmarking and GoogleDocs. GoogleDocs is a free web tool where you can create a document and then send out a link to your peers where they can view that document and edit it all in one place. Social Bookmarking is also an online tool in which you can share your favorite websites, pictures, or videos. With Delicious, one of the bookmarking sites, you have your own page where you can easily add different websites that you like and categorize them with tags. Tags are keywords or phrases that help describe the website you saved to your account. Some of the other social bookmarking websites are StumbleUpon, Digg, and iKeepBookmarks.
Both Bookmarking and GoogleDocs can be extremely beneficial to those in the education field. Bookmarking can be useful for both students and their teachers. For students starting out a research project, bookmarking different websites could be helpful in finding information and organizing it into one place. For teachers, they could collaboratively use socialbookmarking with other teachers to find helpful websites for classes they are teaching. GoogleDocs could be used to aid students in their writing of a paper in which there are several drafts due. Instead of having to continue printing out the drafts, students can jut submit them online to a teacher and the teacher can see all of the drafts on one webpage. Also, GoogleDocs could help simplify group projects so students could more easily exchange information for their project.
Here is a video about BookmarkingDemon which I found on YouTube. This video explains how there are numerous different bookmarking websites and it can become difficult and time consuming to try and put links to your websites on all of them. BookmarkingDemon helps to simplify this process with the use of their software.
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Both Bookmarking and GoogleDocs can be extremely beneficial to those in the education field. Bookmarking can be useful for both students and their teachers. For students starting out a research project, bookmarking different websites could be helpful in finding information and organizing it into one place. For teachers, they could collaboratively use socialbookmarking with other teachers to find helpful websites for classes they are teaching. GoogleDocs could be used to aid students in their writing of a paper in which there are several drafts due. Instead of having to continue printing out the drafts, students can jut submit them online to a teacher and the teacher can see all of the drafts on one webpage. Also, GoogleDocs could help simplify group projects so students could more easily exchange information for their project.
Here is a video about BookmarkingDemon which I found on YouTube. This video explains how there are numerous different bookmarking websites and it can become difficult and time consuming to try and put links to your websites on all of them. BookmarkingDemon helps to simplify this process with the use of their software.
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Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Week 7 Digital Story Telling
This week we read about the digital technologies. I was excited that I have used all of the items described to us in the presentation. Some of the devices presented were digital cameras and its storage devices, PDA's, and digital video cameras. We were also introduced to Pod casting. This is basically an audio device uploaded to the internet that anyone can one listen to. The Mac computers have a Garage Band application that we learned how to use to create a PodCast.
It would be very easy to incorporate the digital technologies into the classroom setting. Most teachers have already begun to use many of these digital devices. I was introduced to podcasting in my AP Spanish class for my senior year of high school. We had to make our own podcasts in Spanish and upload them to the class website. Digital photography and digital videos could also be an especially fun way for students to present materials that they have learned.
Click here to view a website about Podcasting. I found this website through the Google search engine. It basically just gives ideas about how you can incorporate podcasts into teaching. It also gives links to some podcasting tutorials.
It would be very easy to incorporate the digital technologies into the classroom setting. Most teachers have already begun to use many of these digital devices. I was introduced to podcasting in my AP Spanish class for my senior year of high school. We had to make our own podcasts in Spanish and upload them to the class website. Digital photography and digital videos could also be an especially fun way for students to present materials that they have learned.
Click here to view a website about Podcasting. I found this website through the Google search engine. It basically just gives ideas about how you can incorporate podcasts into teaching. It also gives links to some podcasting tutorials.
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