Q. Reviewing your previous blog posts, what, if anything, has changed in your attitude toward online schools and online schooling over the past 15 weeks?
While I looked back my blog posts over the past 15 weeks, first blog reflection caught my eye. It was about the biggest question of the first week, and here is my response.
“I still doubt that social interaction can be possible through online learning. Interaction between teacher-students or students-students is one of the most important factors of the learning, but I always feel like the interaction through the online class is somewhat lacking. So my first question is how to enhance interaction in the online course.”
After 15 weeks of exploring online school and online schooling, I realize that interaction in online learning environment could be more active than face-to-face settings. Through the research about students-students interaction, I find out that by participating in the online discussion, which is an asynchronous discussion, students have additional time to compose and edit their thoughts, and think about unanswered questions, so it makes discussion deep and meaningful more than face-to-face.
Also, as I experienced through this course, if teacher leads discussion well (i.e. require 2 posts every week), and gives engaging discussion topics, the online discussion would have enormous possibilities that complement or replace face-to-face discussion.
Overall, I enjoyed this course during the past 15 weeks, it was challenging due to a lot of work to do, but I learned a lot both from the research papers and hands-on projects.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Week14 Blog reflection
What was the most difficult aspect of researching this topic?
I researched social presence in online learning. Social presence is the degree to which a person in perceived as "real" in mediated communication, so building social presence is vital for the learning, because when a learner construct social presence in online environment, he/she can participate in learning more actively, and it helps to increase the satisfaction about the learning and the instructor.
While I was researching this topic, the most difficult thing was defining social presence. I was confused with social presence and the interaction at first, but I found out that interaction is exchanging opinions each other through the discussion board or other media, and it can be an indicator of the social presence, but social presence is somewhat more deep perception of themselves in online environment, so those are totally different.
Also, I first tried to focus on K-12 level, especially elementary school level, because I think constructing social presence in online environment might be harder for young children than an adult learner. Thus, I tried to find out research exploring K-12 level, but I could only find 2-3 research, and those researches also focused on the other factors (i.e. emoticons and social presence) rather than social presence itself.
I had a couple of difficulties, but from this experience, I learned more about the relationship between social presence and online learning, and ways to enhance social presence in online environment from the interview.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Final presentation
Presentation- I included slide note, you can find it by clicking "Action-Show speaker notes"
Final presentation
References
Final reference list
Final presentation
References
Final reference list
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Week11 Blog Reflection
Q. What did you learn this week that struck you as particularly important in learning about virtual schools? Has your thinking changed as a result of what you learned this week?
One notable advantage of asynchronous discussion is learning can be enhanced through "extended think time," which means providing time for learners to think about the answers before responding, according to the research by Haaavind(2006). Also, the online discussion is delivered solely by text, learners could focus on the content and the goal of the discussion better than face-to-face learners. The author found out that collaborative discussion, which is exchanging opinions with sufficient depth and levels of engagement so that learners could deepen their thought (such as higher-order critical thinking) and knowledge about the subject, is possible through online asynchronous discussion. Several findings of this research struck me.
1. The discussion is highly focused on stated learning goals.
2. Collaborative discussion is possible when the instructor provides frequent, private, constructive feedback, and avoids public praise or critique.
3. Collaborative dialogue is enhanced when the discussion is designed in detail.
4. Social community of the learners could be developed by ice breaking activities.
5. Posting responses to others promotes a consistent thread depth
Another thing that I agree with this study is the part that the author states about the advantage of the online learning research. Online learning data is conducted via computer, which means that the research has no impact on the class. Researchers could conduct data without intruding the class.
One notable advantage of asynchronous discussion is learning can be enhanced through "extended think time," which means providing time for learners to think about the answers before responding, according to the research by Haaavind(2006). Also, the online discussion is delivered solely by text, learners could focus on the content and the goal of the discussion better than face-to-face learners. The author found out that collaborative discussion, which is exchanging opinions with sufficient depth and levels of engagement so that learners could deepen their thought (such as higher-order critical thinking) and knowledge about the subject, is possible through online asynchronous discussion. Several findings of this research struck me.
1. The discussion is highly focused on stated learning goals.
2. Collaborative discussion is possible when the instructor provides frequent, private, constructive feedback, and avoids public praise or critique.
3. Collaborative dialogue is enhanced when the discussion is designed in detail.
4. Social community of the learners could be developed by ice breaking activities.
5. Posting responses to others promotes a consistent thread depth
Another thing that I agree with this study is the part that the author states about the advantage of the online learning research. Online learning data is conducted via computer, which means that the research has no impact on the class. Researchers could conduct data without intruding the class.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Week10 Blog Reflection
Q. What did you learn this week that struck you as particularly important in learning about virtual schools? Has your thinking changed as a result of what you learned this week?
I learned that researching virtual school is difficult because of too many variables. We could not conclude online learning is better than face to face learning in terms of achievement. According to Hughes et al (2007), "[they] consider [the] achievement data "suggestive" because it was impossible for [them] to get consistent, high-quality data" due to low response rate, small class size, and lack of data which can be used as a statistical control for a prior knowledge.
On the other hand, interestingly, most of the researches indicate that online learning can have the same (or better) effect on academic achievement when compared to traditional learning. In ED PACE final report (Rockman et al, 2007), they found out that students who were taking online class outperformed students who were in traditional class in terms of Spanish proficiency except speaking which was hard to practice online. Also, they report that virtual students are better prepared for the next level of the course than students who were taking same course in the traditional school. Online students are eager to participate, highly responsible, and they feel in control of their learning. Of course, this interview is conducted from the teacher, and need more research to be proven, I think these are interesting results of the online learning research.
I learned that researching virtual school is difficult because of too many variables. We could not conclude online learning is better than face to face learning in terms of achievement. According to Hughes et al (2007), "[they] consider [the] achievement data "suggestive" because it was impossible for [them] to get consistent, high-quality data" due to low response rate, small class size, and lack of data which can be used as a statistical control for a prior knowledge.
On the other hand, interestingly, most of the researches indicate that online learning can have the same (or better) effect on academic achievement when compared to traditional learning. In ED PACE final report (Rockman et al, 2007), they found out that students who were taking online class outperformed students who were in traditional class in terms of Spanish proficiency except speaking which was hard to practice online. Also, they report that virtual students are better prepared for the next level of the course than students who were taking same course in the traditional school. Online students are eager to participate, highly responsible, and they feel in control of their learning. Of course, this interview is conducted from the teacher, and need more research to be proven, I think these are interesting results of the online learning research.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Week9 Blog Reflection
Q. Now that you have seen what other people did in creating their units, is there anything that you might do differently if you were to redesign your own unit?
I think I would add two things in my own unit, if I were to redesign mine.
First one is synchronous discussion. My unit only has asynchronous discussion that students post their ideas and respond to others. However, since the model of my unit is virtual classroom and class-paced, I think it is possible that students discuss synchronously using Skype or some other tools, and it gives a chance to meet other classmates and it motivates students.
Another thing is pre-assessment for the unit. I think diagnose students’ readiness is quite important for the students who are taking online course because it is hard to catch up the lessons if they don’t have pre-knowledge of the unit in the online course, especially for the math or science. Therefore, I would add pre-assessment as a gate for taking the course, so that recommending students to take a lower level course which is more suitable for them, if students do not reach certain level.
I think I would add two things in my own unit, if I were to redesign mine.
First one is synchronous discussion. My unit only has asynchronous discussion that students post their ideas and respond to others. However, since the model of my unit is virtual classroom and class-paced, I think it is possible that students discuss synchronously using Skype or some other tools, and it gives a chance to meet other classmates and it motivates students.
Another thing is pre-assessment for the unit. I think diagnose students’ readiness is quite important for the students who are taking online course because it is hard to catch up the lessons if they don’t have pre-knowledge of the unit in the online course, especially for the math or science. Therefore, I would add pre-assessment as a gate for taking the course, so that recommending students to take a lower level course which is more suitable for them, if students do not reach certain level.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Week7 Blog reflection
What are you most concerned about as you embark on creating a curriculum unit?
I'm concerning about how to incorporate interactive aspects in the unit. We've learned interactions between students-students/ students-teacher/ student-contents so far, and I think that the success of the virtual classroom depends on how well design interactive course.
In this interaction, frequency is important because increasing frequency also promotes student's engagement and retention of content. Thus, I have to consider the design of various kinds of interactions forms from simple questions-answers to collaborative problem solving or knowledge construction which promotes high-order thinking.
Also, quality of interaction is important as well, and this can be improved by diagnostic or remedial feedback. It promotes better outcomes and makes learners have responsibility for learning. Therefore, I need to think about how to improve interactions between various elements when I design the course, and that’s the most important key factor of online learning.
I'm concerning about how to incorporate interactive aspects in the unit. We've learned interactions between students-students/ students-teacher/ student-contents so far, and I think that the success of the virtual classroom depends on how well design interactive course.
In this interaction, frequency is important because increasing frequency also promotes student's engagement and retention of content. Thus, I have to consider the design of various kinds of interactions forms from simple questions-answers to collaborative problem solving or knowledge construction which promotes high-order thinking.
Also, quality of interaction is important as well, and this can be improved by diagnostic or remedial feedback. It promotes better outcomes and makes learners have responsibility for learning. Therefore, I need to think about how to improve interactions between various elements when I design the course, and that’s the most important key factor of online learning.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Week6 Blog reflection
Did you change anything in the Google spreadsheet? If so, what? Has your view of the schools you chose to research changed from the first week you looked at them? If so, how?
I was little skeptical about the possibilities of online discussion before this week, because I thought that online discussion had many downsides. For instance, I thought online learning could not have vigorous discussion because it is asynchronous and some student might not care about the discussion if they are not online.
However, after I read the article, and discussed with others, I find out that online discussion can be a powerful tool to make student learn deeply about the topic. Especially, from the asynchronous discussion, students can have enough time for organizing their thought, and developing their deep thinking.
Of course, to make discussion successful, the teacher need to offer clear guidance for students and the learning community should be built before the discussion.
I was little skeptical about the possibilities of online discussion before this week, because I thought that online discussion had many downsides. For instance, I thought online learning could not have vigorous discussion because it is asynchronous and some student might not care about the discussion if they are not online.
However, after I read the article, and discussed with others, I find out that online discussion can be a powerful tool to make student learn deeply about the topic. Especially, from the asynchronous discussion, students can have enough time for organizing their thought, and developing their deep thinking.
Of course, to make discussion successful, the teacher need to offer clear guidance for students and the learning community should be built before the discussion.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Week5 Blog reflection
Q1. Did the results of your TPI fit your image of yourself as a teacher?
My scores are generally fall in the 30-35s. Transmission and developmental perspectives are the highest (34), and social reform is the lowest (27). My profile is almost flat except social reform perspective.
My dominant perspectives are transmission and developmental and back-up perspectives are nurturing and apprenticeship, social reform perspective is actually below the line "Recessive."
In terms of the internal consistency, my belief, intention, and action of apprenticeship corroborate each other, and my sub-scores of transmission is not quite similar but more differ from each other.
I think the results of my TPI generally fit my images of myself as a teacher. I always think that the effective teaching usually related to the how to teach the contents well, so teacher’s main role is to teach content efficiently including giving clear objectives, good questions, and proper feedback so that students learn the contents and have confidence with it. Also, the effective teaching is to understand how students think, as well. The good teacher adapts their knowledge to learners’ levels of understanding and ways of thinking. However, when I taught students, I usually didn’t think about the education as a tool of social reform.
Q2. Do you think the TPI results are different for the same person teaching online and face-to-face?
I think it depends on the school, teacher, and subject, but for me, if I teach students online; I might more focus on the first two perspectives, transmission and apprenticeship. Teacher and students do not meet face-to-face setting, it means that teacher don’t know much about the students. Although, they communicate by tons of e-mail or phone calls, there is a limitation if people don’t meet face-to-face. Thus, the teacher will focus more on the contents rather than students’ development or nurturing. It may lead the improvement of the contents’ quality, because the teacher can concentrate more on the quality of the course. Also, the structure of the course might be developed, so it is possible that teacher organize contents from simple to complex one more effectively (apprenticeship perspective).
My scores are generally fall in the 30-35s. Transmission and developmental perspectives are the highest (34), and social reform is the lowest (27). My profile is almost flat except social reform perspective.
My dominant perspectives are transmission and developmental and back-up perspectives are nurturing and apprenticeship, social reform perspective is actually below the line "Recessive."
In terms of the internal consistency, my belief, intention, and action of apprenticeship corroborate each other, and my sub-scores of transmission is not quite similar but more differ from each other.
I think the results of my TPI generally fit my images of myself as a teacher. I always think that the effective teaching usually related to the how to teach the contents well, so teacher’s main role is to teach content efficiently including giving clear objectives, good questions, and proper feedback so that students learn the contents and have confidence with it. Also, the effective teaching is to understand how students think, as well. The good teacher adapts their knowledge to learners’ levels of understanding and ways of thinking. However, when I taught students, I usually didn’t think about the education as a tool of social reform.
Q2. Do you think the TPI results are different for the same person teaching online and face-to-face?
I think it depends on the school, teacher, and subject, but for me, if I teach students online; I might more focus on the first two perspectives, transmission and apprenticeship. Teacher and students do not meet face-to-face setting, it means that teacher don’t know much about the students. Although, they communicate by tons of e-mail or phone calls, there is a limitation if people don’t meet face-to-face. Thus, the teacher will focus more on the contents rather than students’ development or nurturing. It may lead the improvement of the contents’ quality, because the teacher can concentrate more on the quality of the course. Also, the structure of the course might be developed, so it is possible that teacher organize contents from simple to complex one more effectively (apprenticeship perspective).
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Week4 Blog reflection
What did you learn about the design of online courses this week that will affect how you think about this form of instruction in the future?
This week’s assignment that comparing instructional design models from the different provides was a great chance to think about instructional design of virtual learning. By comparing and assessing the sample courses, I noticed that the two big advantages of the virtual learning are individualized learning from one another and proper use of technology.
First of all, students study module by their pace, and take individualized test and quiz. When they take multiple choice or short answer questions, they get feedback immediately, and if they get wrong, they can go back and check their weakness. It allows students reflect their learning.
Also, I like the concept of virtual lab in science class. Although it is not a real lab, student can do experimental work individually in the virtual lab. In the traditional classroom, group of students experiment together due to the limitation of resources and time, so some of the students do not get a chance to do experiment their own and just watch what others do. However, in the virtual lab, each person can do experiment by their own, so it is useful to grasp the concept of the science.
The proper use of technology can be a powerful advantage of the virtual learning. For example, when the instructor explains something, he/she can present it with picture, animation, or interactive multimedia. It is useful when the instructor uses it properly, and virtual learning environment is appropriate for do that. Also, other new technologies which can promote learning (such as mobile phone technology or virtual lab interface) allow students to understand deeply and learn better. However, the instructor should have in mind that using too many technologies can make students distracted from learning core concepts.
This week’s assignment that comparing instructional design models from the different provides was a great chance to think about instructional design of virtual learning. By comparing and assessing the sample courses, I noticed that the two big advantages of the virtual learning are individualized learning from one another and proper use of technology.
First of all, students study module by their pace, and take individualized test and quiz. When they take multiple choice or short answer questions, they get feedback immediately, and if they get wrong, they can go back and check their weakness. It allows students reflect their learning.
Also, I like the concept of virtual lab in science class. Although it is not a real lab, student can do experimental work individually in the virtual lab. In the traditional classroom, group of students experiment together due to the limitation of resources and time, so some of the students do not get a chance to do experiment their own and just watch what others do. However, in the virtual lab, each person can do experiment by their own, so it is useful to grasp the concept of the science.
The proper use of technology can be a powerful advantage of the virtual learning. For example, when the instructor explains something, he/she can present it with picture, animation, or interactive multimedia. It is useful when the instructor uses it properly, and virtual learning environment is appropriate for do that. Also, other new technologies which can promote learning (such as mobile phone technology or virtual lab interface) allow students to understand deeply and learn better. However, the instructor should have in mind that using too many technologies can make students distracted from learning core concepts.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Week3 Blog reflection
As a student, I would like to choose the course which has plenty interaction with the teacher, adequate multimedia for contents, homepage easy to navigate.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Week2 Blog reflection
Q. Write a tweet-length paper (140 characters) that describes what you would be thinking if you were a parent choosing a school for your child, or if you were a student looking for an online school.
If I were a parent choosing a school for my child, I would consider the quality of the program, frequency of interaction between teacher and students, and the design/ interface of the virtual school homepage.
First, the quality of the program is most important thing when we choose a school, and it would be same when we choose a virtual school. Second, since virtual school has a risk that students fall behind the schedule of the course, the interaction with teacher is also crucial. A teacher has to encourage students to take course successfully, and advise them regularly. Also, sometimes, students learn a lot from their colleagues, so I would check how the interaction (Between students and students) occurs during the course. Finally, design/ interface of the school might not be thinking as important as two others. It is also important to motivate students. Simple but easy to use interface would be preferred.
If I were a parent choosing a school for my child, I would consider the quality of the program, frequency of interaction between teacher and students, and the design/ interface of the virtual school homepage.
First, the quality of the program is most important thing when we choose a school, and it would be same when we choose a virtual school. Second, since virtual school has a risk that students fall behind the schedule of the course, the interaction with teacher is also crucial. A teacher has to encourage students to take course successfully, and advise them regularly. Also, sometimes, students learn a lot from their colleagues, so I would check how the interaction (Between students and students) occurs during the course. Finally, design/ interface of the school might not be thinking as important as two others. It is also important to motivate students. Simple but easy to use interface would be preferred.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Week 1 Blog reflection
Q1. What did you learn this week that surprised you?
I could roughly grasp the meaning of online schools and online schooling. Though, it’s a little bit confusing until now. Also, the interesting thing that surprised me from this week was the theory from “disrupting class” that learning market also has been following a “disruptive pattern.” According to the author’s assertion, computer-based learning is in its “incubation period,” and when we analyze the pattern, within a few years, the world is likely to begin flipping rapidly to student-centric online technology. The author is expecting that those flipping period is from 2012, approximately.
Q2. What was the biggest question you were left with at the end of this first week?
Although we discussed about the pros and cons of the online schooling, I still doubt that social interaction can be possible through online learning. Interaction between teacher-students or students-students is one of the most important factors of the learning, but I always feel like the interaction through the online class is somewhat lacking. So my first question is how to enhance interaction in the online course. Also, I want to research more about the successful examples of the online schooling.
I could roughly grasp the meaning of online schools and online schooling. Though, it’s a little bit confusing until now. Also, the interesting thing that surprised me from this week was the theory from “disrupting class” that learning market also has been following a “disruptive pattern.” According to the author’s assertion, computer-based learning is in its “incubation period,” and when we analyze the pattern, within a few years, the world is likely to begin flipping rapidly to student-centric online technology. The author is expecting that those flipping period is from 2012, approximately.
Q2. What was the biggest question you were left with at the end of this first week?
Although we discussed about the pros and cons of the online schooling, I still doubt that social interaction can be possible through online learning. Interaction between teacher-students or students-students is one of the most important factors of the learning, but I always feel like the interaction through the online class is somewhat lacking. So my first question is how to enhance interaction in the online course. Also, I want to research more about the successful examples of the online schooling.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Week 1 Blog post
Hi, my name is Yaeji. This is my second semester as a M.A. student majoring in Instructional technology. I grew up in Korea, and I was an elementary school teacher for 4 years in Korea before I came to TC. I'm interested in Technology in school, such as how can technology change school environment and teaching.
Q1. What made you interested in this course?
Online schools and online schooling is one of the notable changes in the school settings, recently. Every school and education company tries to provide online courses to meet customers (students and parents) need- anytime, anywhere learning. However, sometimes they just provide courses without deep understanding about what virtual schooling is. It makes students fail to learn something from the course. So I decided to take this course to understand the online schooling, especially, how to design courses to motivate students, what kinds of instructional theories can be adapted to the virtual learning, and how to maximize the interaction between students in the online course. I hope I could research those more throughout the course. :)
Q2. What experience do you have with online learning? Was it positive or negative and why?
I have several experiences with online learning. However, most of them ended in failure. My first experience was taking the course “virtual communication” when I was in college. At first, I was interested in the course because I could pace myself with learning. I could only take the module which I decided to do. It felt like I took an active part in learning which was different from other traditional courses that I just sit in the classroom and learned what the teacher taught, passively. However, as time passed, I failed to manage myself, and finally fell behind the course. After that, I had tried several times to take online courses-at school, at work- due to its convenience, but most of them were ended negatively like this experience.
I decided to take this course in spite of those failures, and I hope I can finish the course successfully. :)
Q1. What made you interested in this course?
Online schools and online schooling is one of the notable changes in the school settings, recently. Every school and education company tries to provide online courses to meet customers (students and parents) need- anytime, anywhere learning. However, sometimes they just provide courses without deep understanding about what virtual schooling is. It makes students fail to learn something from the course. So I decided to take this course to understand the online schooling, especially, how to design courses to motivate students, what kinds of instructional theories can be adapted to the virtual learning, and how to maximize the interaction between students in the online course. I hope I could research those more throughout the course. :)
Q2. What experience do you have with online learning? Was it positive or negative and why?
I have several experiences with online learning. However, most of them ended in failure. My first experience was taking the course “virtual communication” when I was in college. At first, I was interested in the course because I could pace myself with learning. I could only take the module which I decided to do. It felt like I took an active part in learning which was different from other traditional courses that I just sit in the classroom and learned what the teacher taught, passively. However, as time passed, I failed to manage myself, and finally fell behind the course. After that, I had tried several times to take online courses-at school, at work- due to its convenience, but most of them were ended negatively like this experience.
I decided to take this course in spite of those failures, and I hope I can finish the course successfully. :)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The social implications of information and communication technologies
What are the implications, according to Castells. Do you agree or have other perspectives?
* The implications of information technology for economy
- Fundamental transformation in the labour market- emergence of flexible forms of work and employment. (stable, long-term employment-> diverse employment status across the whole spectrum of occupational structure)
Firms have to manage the contradiction between labour involvement and temporary connection of labour with firm.
Workers’ value depends on the capacity to store specialized knowledge, reprogramming skills according to the change.
The relation between firms and workers is becoming increasingly loose.
- Massive entry of women and new rural migrants
* The implications of information technology for education
- Contextual factors (pedagogic quality of the school, family background, and teacher are powerful factors that condition the potential benefits of information technology
- Teachers can share knowledge and skill so that they deepen their specific knowledge.
- Students may rely on a much broader field of expertise than the one physically available to them
- Distance learning : open university and adult learning with lower cost, and much quality can be possible
* The implications of the pervasiveness of the internet as a communication medium
- Internet cannot be controlled, technically or politically, except by disconnecting a communication system from the global network
- There is no virtual world independent from the physical/ social world.
* Inequality in the information age
- ICTs are not related to inequality and social exclusion. It helps to alleviate poverty and inequality on the contrary. However, the context of global, informational, and deregulated capitalism can be a major factor of social exclusion.
I agree with the overall opinion about implication of information and communication technologies which Castells presents, especially for the education part. Through the development of information society, teachers and students could share their information with each other, so they can make community. It makes students play roles as an active learner, organizer, and knowledge creator. Also it makes teachers play roles as a supporter, and peer-learner. Yet, the fundamental reform should be preceded, such as better working/ studying conditions, the reduction of class size, and building infrastructure of technology in education.
However, I disagree with the implication that Internet cannot be controlled, technically or politically, except by disconnecting a communication system from the global network. I think it can be controlled by government; also it is possibly controlled by the public. For example, in South Korea, the members of the internet community insisted that Tablo (famous singer of South Korea) fabricated Stanford diploma, and it lasted about 6 months and most of the people believed that Tablo told a lie before it turned out to be true that he graduated Stanford, finally. Like this, the internet can be controlled by various factors rather than before, so people need an ability to judge and select “right” information.
* The implications of information technology for economy
- Fundamental transformation in the labour market- emergence of flexible forms of work and employment. (stable, long-term employment-> diverse employment status across the whole spectrum of occupational structure)
Firms have to manage the contradiction between labour involvement and temporary connection of labour with firm.
Workers’ value depends on the capacity to store specialized knowledge, reprogramming skills according to the change.
The relation between firms and workers is becoming increasingly loose.
- Massive entry of women and new rural migrants
* The implications of information technology for education
- Contextual factors (pedagogic quality of the school, family background, and teacher are powerful factors that condition the potential benefits of information technology
- Teachers can share knowledge and skill so that they deepen their specific knowledge.
- Students may rely on a much broader field of expertise than the one physically available to them
- Distance learning : open university and adult learning with lower cost, and much quality can be possible
* The implications of the pervasiveness of the internet as a communication medium
- Internet cannot be controlled, technically or politically, except by disconnecting a communication system from the global network
- There is no virtual world independent from the physical/ social world.
* Inequality in the information age
- ICTs are not related to inequality and social exclusion. It helps to alleviate poverty and inequality on the contrary. However, the context of global, informational, and deregulated capitalism can be a major factor of social exclusion.
I agree with the overall opinion about implication of information and communication technologies which Castells presents, especially for the education part. Through the development of information society, teachers and students could share their information with each other, so they can make community. It makes students play roles as an active learner, organizer, and knowledge creator. Also it makes teachers play roles as a supporter, and peer-learner. Yet, the fundamental reform should be preceded, such as better working/ studying conditions, the reduction of class size, and building infrastructure of technology in education.
However, I disagree with the implication that Internet cannot be controlled, technically or politically, except by disconnecting a communication system from the global network. I think it can be controlled by government; also it is possibly controlled by the public. For example, in South Korea, the members of the internet community insisted that Tablo (famous singer of South Korea) fabricated Stanford diploma, and it lasted about 6 months and most of the people believed that Tablo told a lie before it turned out to be true that he graduated Stanford, finally. Like this, the internet can be controlled by various factors rather than before, so people need an ability to judge and select “right” information.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Final project
Write 1-2 paragraphs on what you plan to do for your final project. Your final paper topic needs to be approved by me and this is a good vehicle to let me know what you're thinking about doing. It should include the following: whether you plan to do a literature review or mini-study, what broad question you'll be exploring, what resources you plan to use (this can be broad—what literature or area of a literature, doesn't have to be a complete list of references), and how it relates to class.
I plan to do a literature review for final project, the resources can be articles about e-learning, m-learning, teens and cellphone use.
and my question is like this:
-what are the major features (including benefits and downside) of the mobile communication among teens?
-How can we use mobile phone in a classroom? (cases)
According to the survey conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project, 45% teens had a cell phone in 2004, but the rate had climbed steadily, and it reached 71% in 2008.
When we look at the users, nearly 2 in 5 teens sending text messages everyday, more than half of them talk to their friends on the phone everyday. It means they communicate through mobile phone almost everyday, and it is inevitable to think about mobile communication aspects among teens.
Especially, mobile phone has multiplied possibilities such as texting, web browsing, and game playing, so it can be a "mini-laptop," and it makes "anytime, anywhere learning" possible.
I will first explore the features of mobile communication among teenagers, functions of mobile phone such as enhancing intimacy, making community, information sharing. Especially, I will more focus on the use of mobile phone in a classroom, the aspects of online-research, using references(dictionaries), social networking(teamwork) and so on. In this part, I would like include examples or experiments of phone use in a classroom.
Also, it is important to recognize the concerns of the mobile phone can cause. As we know from the fact that most schools ban smartphones, sometimes it distracts student from learning. or it can be a powerful tool of cyber-bullying. Also, we face some interface issues when use it in a classroom, such as small screen, limitation of message length and non-verbal cues.
After looking through those aspects, I will conclude with suggestions for future research.
I plan to do a literature review for final project, the resources can be articles about e-learning, m-learning, teens and cellphone use.
and my question is like this:
-what are the major features (including benefits and downside) of the mobile communication among teens?
-How can we use mobile phone in a classroom? (cases)
According to the survey conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project, 45% teens had a cell phone in 2004, but the rate had climbed steadily, and it reached 71% in 2008.
When we look at the users, nearly 2 in 5 teens sending text messages everyday, more than half of them talk to their friends on the phone everyday. It means they communicate through mobile phone almost everyday, and it is inevitable to think about mobile communication aspects among teens.
Especially, mobile phone has multiplied possibilities such as texting, web browsing, and game playing, so it can be a "mini-laptop," and it makes "anytime, anywhere learning" possible.
I will first explore the features of mobile communication among teenagers, functions of mobile phone such as enhancing intimacy, making community, information sharing. Especially, I will more focus on the use of mobile phone in a classroom, the aspects of online-research, using references(dictionaries), social networking(teamwork) and so on. In this part, I would like include examples or experiments of phone use in a classroom.
Also, it is important to recognize the concerns of the mobile phone can cause. As we know from the fact that most schools ban smartphones, sometimes it distracts student from learning. or it can be a powerful tool of cyber-bullying. Also, we face some interface issues when use it in a classroom, such as small screen, limitation of message length and non-verbal cues.
After looking through those aspects, I will conclude with suggestions for future research.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Online Dating- Can I Trust It??
About ten years ago, when I was a high school student, I signed up for on-line dating site for fun. I uploaded the flattering picture of me, and waited for boys and after about 2~3minutes, someone talked to me. We chatted for a while and it seemed like we understood each other well. Most of all, he had a good looking appearance, so we decided to meet up offline. I expected a lot for dating. However, when I went to see him, I couldn't find him at first, and when he talked to me, I was upset, because he was totally different from what I've thought. The picture was just a picture, and I couldn't feel the same way about him from on-line setting, and I'm sure that he felt the same way inside, because that was the last time I saw of him. After that experience, I don't believe on-line dating anymore.
However, according to the article, "The Truth about Lying in Online Dating Profiles," Although the deception in online dating was frequently observed, the magnitude of the deceptions was not that big. The participant of the experiment lied on at least one of the fields in their profile, but the author said that "many of these deceptions would be difficult to detect face-to-face." The interesting thing is the deception fields of males and females are different. Men usually lie on their height, and women usually lie on their weight.
Back to my own experience, I wondered that my experience was “a few extreme lies” that the author mentioned, but I concluded the extreme deception was possible about ten years ago. However, recently, there are many other supporting devices such as webcam, face-time video phone except photos, so it is hard to deceive others, and also if the purpose of the online-dating is meeting face-to-face, people don’t think that it is necessary to lie on their profile.
Truth behind Internet dating - funny animation
However, according to the article, "The Truth about Lying in Online Dating Profiles," Although the deception in online dating was frequently observed, the magnitude of the deceptions was not that big. The participant of the experiment lied on at least one of the fields in their profile, but the author said that "many of these deceptions would be difficult to detect face-to-face." The interesting thing is the deception fields of males and females are different. Men usually lie on their height, and women usually lie on their weight.
Back to my own experience, I wondered that my experience was “a few extreme lies” that the author mentioned, but I concluded the extreme deception was possible about ten years ago. However, recently, there are many other supporting devices such as webcam, face-time video phone except photos, so it is hard to deceive others, and also if the purpose of the online-dating is meeting face-to-face, people don’t think that it is necessary to lie on their profile.
Truth behind Internet dating - funny animation
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Iphone consumes me??
In this week, I was intrigued by two articles. One is about YouTube, and the other is about the relationship between technology and human brain from the NYTimes.
Lange analyzed the YouTube (video-sharing website) as a tool of maintaining social network. For people who use YouTube, the quality or contents of the video are not the problem. They do video sharing to create, maintain, and negotiate social network, to establish "affinity" The interesting idea is "Publicly Private" and "Privately Public" the term the author used. "Publicly Private" is to share private experience in a public way. In this case, people can view the personal information or the face of the owner, and anyone can access the video. However, there are several factors hinder the spread of video such as cryptic tagging, technical problems, or including private contents. In contrast, "Privately Public" is to share public things in a private way. The video contains widely accessible contents, and it makes connection with many people without sharing id identity of owner. For example, MadV invokes the global awareness by sharing video "One World", but he avoids to connect with his fan, and to show his real identity. The division of the owner's characteristic is interesting, because the author doesn’t use the dichotomy between private and public video sharing, instead, he narrows down the degrees of "publicness."
The Message by MadV
According to the article, "Attached to Technology and Paying a Price," people get more stress, when they juggle e-mail, phone calls, and other information simultaneously. There is an interesting story of Mr. Campbell's family. The story was like a sitcom for me. Mr. Campbell, goes online when he wakes up everyday, using his laptop and IPhone. When he works, on his left monitor, tweet appears constantly, the middle monitor displays computer code which he uses for work, and Skype, also on the right side of monitor, and he has e-mail, calendar, web browser, and a music player. He is a kind of a heavy technology user, and he sometimes misses the informant massage, because he has to manage bunch of information everyday. His wife, Mrs. Campbell also has an experience of getting lost in Facebook and phone. His daughter can't hear when she spends her time with devices such as laptop, iPod Touch, and DVD player. Also, his son is obsessed about Facebook and iPhone, so he can't focus on his study. I think I was interested in this family, because I feel like I DO those similar things everyday. After I've been using the IPhone, I usually check e-mail for 10 times at least, go to Facebook, and chat with friends. I feel nervous when I don't have the phone. I usually communicate with people through IPhone. Recently, I start wondering that how could I live without Iphone before. However, it is true that it disturbs my life. I'm doing several things together(multi-tasking), sometimes I don't feel I concentrate even for one thing, but when I'm trying to concentrate one work, I feel bored because I'm accustomed to "nonstop interactivity." Am I addicted to IPhone? It feels my life is subordinate to Iphone. =(
Therefore, I'm thinking that trying to live without Iphone for a week at least. Will it be possible? =)
Lange analyzed the YouTube (video-sharing website) as a tool of maintaining social network. For people who use YouTube, the quality or contents of the video are not the problem. They do video sharing to create, maintain, and negotiate social network, to establish "affinity" The interesting idea is "Publicly Private" and "Privately Public" the term the author used. "Publicly Private" is to share private experience in a public way. In this case, people can view the personal information or the face of the owner, and anyone can access the video. However, there are several factors hinder the spread of video such as cryptic tagging, technical problems, or including private contents. In contrast, "Privately Public" is to share public things in a private way. The video contains widely accessible contents, and it makes connection with many people without sharing id identity of owner. For example, MadV invokes the global awareness by sharing video "One World", but he avoids to connect with his fan, and to show his real identity. The division of the owner's characteristic is interesting, because the author doesn’t use the dichotomy between private and public video sharing, instead, he narrows down the degrees of "publicness."
The Message by MadV
According to the article, "Attached to Technology and Paying a Price," people get more stress, when they juggle e-mail, phone calls, and other information simultaneously. There is an interesting story of Mr. Campbell's family. The story was like a sitcom for me. Mr. Campbell, goes online when he wakes up everyday, using his laptop and IPhone. When he works, on his left monitor, tweet appears constantly, the middle monitor displays computer code which he uses for work, and Skype, also on the right side of monitor, and he has e-mail, calendar, web browser, and a music player. He is a kind of a heavy technology user, and he sometimes misses the informant massage, because he has to manage bunch of information everyday. His wife, Mrs. Campbell also has an experience of getting lost in Facebook and phone. His daughter can't hear when she spends her time with devices such as laptop, iPod Touch, and DVD player. Also, his son is obsessed about Facebook and iPhone, so he can't focus on his study. I think I was interested in this family, because I feel like I DO those similar things everyday. After I've been using the IPhone, I usually check e-mail for 10 times at least, go to Facebook, and chat with friends. I feel nervous when I don't have the phone. I usually communicate with people through IPhone. Recently, I start wondering that how could I live without Iphone before. However, it is true that it disturbs my life. I'm doing several things together(multi-tasking), sometimes I don't feel I concentrate even for one thing, but when I'm trying to concentrate one work, I feel bored because I'm accustomed to "nonstop interactivity." Am I addicted to IPhone? It feels my life is subordinate to Iphone. =(
Therefore, I'm thinking that trying to live without Iphone for a week at least. Will it be possible? =)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Session 8
Now that you've identified some themes and begun to refine your questions, reflect on (1) what do you think you need in order to move forward on your final project? (more concrete questions, more reading in a particular area, etc. etc.) and (2) How can you get what you need?
After last week's critics, I've identified a few themes which I want to research more.
First, I'd like to concentrate on the identity of the cyber world. Some people express his/her hidden selves when they communicate with people on virtual world. That is more obvious in anonymous settings, however sometime it appears in nonymous settings such as Facebook or YouTube. Why people show their unseen characteristics to the public? What do they want by showing their personality to the people?
Another thing which is related to the identity is preteens' identity on cyber world. As my article of last week was about meaning, identity in children's virtual worlds, I really want to more focus on this area like whether virtual interactions, such as Participating on virtual community, making avatar and creating personal blog, are helpful to construct children's identity. I'd like to find the cases of the virtual worlds' negative effects if any, for example, identity disorder caused by over-immersion to the virtual environment.
Another theme I'd like to research for the final project is technology in classroom, especially the features of new technologies such as cell phone, Facebook, second life in classroom settings. I want to focus on what advantages and disadvantages of using these social network environments are.
I found an article about benefits of cellphone use in classroom from the New York Times. According to this article, student can use mobile application for an air test device by using Bluetooth, identification of the exact type of bugs or trees by taking picture, or creation of community among isolated schoolteachers. so, “Anytime-anywhere-anyhow learning” could be achieved by using mobile devices.
Click the link below to read whole article.
Dial-a-Class By ELIZABETH GREEN
After last week's critics, I've identified a few themes which I want to research more.
First, I'd like to concentrate on the identity of the cyber world. Some people express his/her hidden selves when they communicate with people on virtual world. That is more obvious in anonymous settings, however sometime it appears in nonymous settings such as Facebook or YouTube. Why people show their unseen characteristics to the public? What do they want by showing their personality to the people?
Another thing which is related to the identity is preteens' identity on cyber world. As my article of last week was about meaning, identity in children's virtual worlds, I really want to more focus on this area like whether virtual interactions, such as Participating on virtual community, making avatar and creating personal blog, are helpful to construct children's identity. I'd like to find the cases of the virtual worlds' negative effects if any, for example, identity disorder caused by over-immersion to the virtual environment.
Another theme I'd like to research for the final project is technology in classroom, especially the features of new technologies such as cell phone, Facebook, second life in classroom settings. I want to focus on what advantages and disadvantages of using these social network environments are.
I found an article about benefits of cellphone use in classroom from the New York Times. According to this article, student can use mobile application for an air test device by using Bluetooth, identification of the exact type of bugs or trees by taking picture, or creation of community among isolated schoolteachers. so, “Anytime-anywhere-anyhow learning” could be achieved by using mobile devices.
Click the link below to read whole article.
Dial-a-Class By ELIZABETH GREEN
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