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
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