Second Life

This week we learned about a free application that is available for anyone with a computer. It is called Second Life, and it is a “a 3-D virtual entirely created by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhibited by millions of Residents from around the globe.” Users can create their own avatars, interact with people from around the world, and create and sell items in the game for actual money. There are 5 simple steps to start using Second Life that only take about 5 minutes. Once you have registered, you can explore Second Life. Helpful tools to use are called “SLURLs”, which are navigation and location-based linking tools used in navigation within Second Life. With SLURLs, you can instantly find a location you are looking for, find specific businesses or schools to collaborate with, and even post your own for other users to see. Everyone around the world is learning about Second Life, whether it is through a friend, a colleague, a class, or even a television show like The Office, who made a reference to it. It really is beneficial to a lot of people because it is a way to create your dream world, and see how to become successful in ways you would never be in the real world. Even though there are many positives about Second Life and other similar programs like it, some issues have arisen since its release. A woman in Japan had an avatar who was happily married to a man’s avatar, but after he suddenly divorced her without warning, she sought revenge. She used his identification and password to log into his account and murdered his avatar. She was arrested on suspicion of hacking. Another story is about a woman who was charged with plotting the real-life abduction of her online boyfriend. Despite these stories, Second Life is still a great application for many people, and has many skills you can learn from it, like the online games talked about last week.

Second Life is starting to be used for educational purposes, so as an education major, I need to learn about this program. It is very interesting how teachers are using Second Life to take their students to historical places that they might never be able to see, like Rome. Also, instead of students listening to lectures, they can use Second Life to learn information in a fun and creative way. A YouTube video we watched explained how Second Life has a pedagogical relevance, educational locations, and uses many educational tools. If I wanted to use Second Life in my classroom someday, I would need to learn about all of the techniques and used that are geared toward education. Yes, some aspects of Second Life are not meant for education, like making relationships, and dealing with money, but these are still real-life skills that teachers want their students to learn, whether it is in the classroom or not. I think online games are extremely helpful for teachers because they help bring new ideas and creative lessons that keep their students engaged.

This video shows how Second Life can be used not only for entertain, but for education and business as well. Joe Sanchez, the creator of this video, tells us that companies like IBM, and The Wall Street Journal use Second Life. Some companies hold meetings with their employees on Second Life instead of meeting in the office. Colleges are beginning to use Second Life, instead of face-to-face lectures, because students can gain a lot when working at home, and not being bothered by other students in class. Shyer students can ask questions through a chat box, or with a microphone, and nobody has to see them or know who they are. There are a lot of positives about using Second Life in education, businesses, and just simply for entertainment.

Gaming, Teaching, and Learning

Last week, we learned about how virtual schools and online classes were a positive effect on the learning population today. Not only can people take any class they want, they could take it anytime or anywhere they want. A couple videos we watched this week further instill this point as they interviewed real people who took online classes. They said they were flexible for their busy schedules, and gave many opportunities to people who may not have had the chance to go to school. Besides online classes, people are becoming obsessed with games. A lot of the games are online, and others are on gaming consoles, like Xbox, Wii, or PlayStation. According to one article we read, the opinion of most is that video games only help hand-eye coordination, and that some games send off bad messages that teach children how to kill. On the other hand, the author of this article felt differently. Marc Prensky feels that no matter what game a child is playing, they are learning multiple skills. Many people focus on the “surface” messages, like the graphics, audio, or text, but if you look past that there is much more to learn from a game. Presnky explained the “five levels of learning” that apply to all gamers. They five levels are “How,” “What,” “Why,” “Where,” and “When/Whether.” In the “How” level, the gamer learns how to do something, like learning how to control a monster, build a city, or virtually fight and protect oneself. At the second level, the “What” level, they learn the rules of the game. These rules cause the gamer to reflect and compare that game to what they know in real-life. The third level is the “Why” level which teaches gamers strategy. Many life lessons are taught during this level, like cause and effect, and second-order consequences. Level four, the “Where” level, is where gamers learn about the culture and environment. In many games this is the level where gamers learn how to deal with different cultures, roles, and the many different people in society. The last level, “When/Whether,” is where gamers learn how to make value-based and moral decisions, usually about whether something is right or wrong. Many people can learn how to make better real-life decisions from learning the consequences of making fake decisions in a game. Other than video games, there are a lot of online games that are created for the purpose of education. I looked at a few games that seemed perfect for children to learn in school. One was a word hunt, which teaches kids how to match words with a situation. Another game took me on a mystery case where I learned about plants, which could be a fun way for students to learn about the parts of a plant and their life cycle. Many games are created for educational purposes, and others are made for entertainment, but no matter what game kids are playing, they are always learning important life skills.

This video shows how schools are incorporating games into education, and vise versa. The example they use is the Wii, which is getting kids to get up and move around while playing their games. Games are also helping kids to socialize when they play multiplayer games.

Teachers can use games in so many ways in their classroom. Our lesson this week only gave us a few online games, but the internet supplies thousands! I loved when my teachers let us play games in class because I thought it was better than reading a book. I thought we were just doing it for fun; little did I know that my teacher was getting me to learn at the same time. Games can make class time fun and make children want to come back the next day. All of the games I played in school are possible games I would like to play with my future students. In the 3^rd grade we played a game that involved us throwing a small ball to each student, and when someone caught it they had to answer a math problem. This was a fun way to teach us our times tables. There are so many other games that can be extremely educational for students, and as an education major it would be beneficial to learn about them so I have a lot of ideas for my future classroom.

Open Source

This week we learned about open source software and how it could save people tons of money. Instead of spending hundreds on Microsoft products, there are easy, free programs that you can download on your own computer, without having to go to the store or pay any cash. We watched a video about open source software and learned that most of it is able to be used on any computer, whether you have a Mac or a PC. We also learned that these programs are just as good, if not better, than the original versions. OpenOffice is a free software that has word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more, just like Microsoft Office offers, but its free! Not only do they have these programs, but there is also one called Gimp which is just like Photoshop, but yet again, it is free. It is so simple for customers because all they have to do is download it to their computer. I might download these softwares too because I just bought a new Mac, and I have been debating for the longest time whether to buy Microsoft Office for $150, or buy iWork for $40, but if these open source softwares are free, and work just as well, I would rather save the money. There is a site called sourceforge.net that allows you to search for downloadable software for your computer. It searching is made easy because they separate the software into categories, and everything is made easy for the customer. I think that open source software is really going to benefit a lot of people because it is effective and free.

This video explains how open source software can save you thousands of dollars. They refer to them as “smart alternatives,” and make the main point that these softwares are free. It gives you a different website than the one stated above, where you can find 30+ open source software programs that you could use every single day. 

As a college student, and a future teacher, saving money is a big deal to me. Like I said above how I was in a dilemma because I did not know which program to buy, now I don’t have to make a hard decision because OpenOffice is free and just as good as Microsoft Office and iWork. Even in the future, when I am a teacher, I am going to want to save money as much as I can, and using open source software will definitely help me. Not only will I benefit, but schools could benefit as well. Instead of buying Photoshop and Microsoft Office for every computer at school, they can download open sources for free, and save thousands of dollars! 

Distance Education

Distance education is becoming more popular as the use of technology increases. Instead of students going to class, and meeting face-to-face with their teachers, they have the option of using distance education. According to the presentation we watched in class, distance education is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy and andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that aim to deliver education to students who are not physically on site. It was first used in 1728 by the University of London, but now almost every college offers distance ed classes. There are five different types of distance ed courses available for students: through correspondence, which is conducted through mail, through the internet, which is conducted either synchronously or asynchronously, through television or radio, through a CD-ROM where information is transferred to a computer, or through mobile learning, where students can access their class through a mobile device or a wireless network. As distance education expands, it changes as well. Students could take an online class, a blended class, or a virtual class. In an online class the teacher and student are separated by distance, but can communicate by the internet. In a blended class, like EME2040, the students use the internet for class time as well as face-to-face meetings with the teacher as well. In this class we meet once a week, and all other times we communicate through moodle. In other online classes I take at UF, I use e-learning to communicate with my teachers. A virtual class is similar to an online class, except that everything for that class is online, and there a strict rules for virtual schools. Florida has its own online school called Florida Virtual School. It is similar to a regular school except that everything id done online. Teachers are available from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm, and a monthly phone call with parents is required. Class sizes range from 25 students to as many as 200 students, and teachers are enforced to give feedback to every students work within 48 hours. There are a lot of advantages to a virtual school, like expanding knowledge of digital media, no one needs to travel to learn, and it is helpful for people who cannot attend classroom courses. There are also a lot of advantages for taking any other distance education course. Students can work at their own pace, flexibility helps adults go back to school and work around their schedules, and students can take classes that are not offered locally. At the same time, there are some disadvantages like cost, security, motivation, and attendance. If you are responsible, and can manage your time well, and distance ed class is perfect for you.

This short video shows some advantages to using distance education. They are advertising OTEN, a virtual school that offers online and distance ed classes. The video shows a student running into a lot of problems that could make him late to class, while another student is relaxing by the beach on his computer, working on his online class. It shows how online classes are flexible and convenient for students.

As an education major it is very important for me to learn about distance education because it could be a possible job for me. If I was to choose to teach online classes I would need to know how they work, and the advantages and disadvantages of them. On the other hand, even if I do teach in the classroom, knowing about online classes will benefit me because I could inform my students about them, or I could expand my knowledge by using them as well. As a student, I can say that online classes are very helpful for me, so I know I will want to suggest them to my students.

Social Tools

As our society becomes more internet savvy, people tend to stay online at all times of the day. Instead of having meetings with clients, people will video chat, instead of hanging out with friends, kids will hang out on Facebook. People have always been extremely social, and we still are. The difference between pre-internet years and now is how communication is being exchanged. People are still communicating while they are online, just they are not face to face with anyone. This week we talked about the pros and cons of internet communication, and whether it is hurting our social skills, or helping. Everyone has a different opinion, but I feel that communication is being used by everybody, whether they are online or not. The internet offers so many helpful social tools, like Google Docs. This is a free, web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, form, and data storage service offered by Google. People can create documents, and share them with other people who can then edit them. We watched a video in class that described how Google Docs made it easy for an editor of a newspaper to work. Instead of sending copies of the newly edited story, they writer can go onto Google Docs and see the edits that were made, and can even continue editing it. Sharing documents and files has never been so easy. Another great social tool on the internet is social bookmarking. This allows people to organize, store, manage, and search for bookmarks of resources online. The difference between social bookmarking, and regular bookmarking, is that you can share your bookmarks with everybody on a social bookmarking website, and you can make tags about the website, which will make it easy to find in the future. We used the website Delicious, which is a popular social bookmarking site that is very easy to use. Social bookmarking can help many people find the sites they need in half the time. Even though many people are spending too much time on the internet, most of the tools it offers can really benefit people.

Social tools can help a teacher out in so many ways. Teachers love to communicate with other teachers to share activities, lesson plans, and other ideas that can benefit everyone. Teachers who use Google Docs can easily share everything they need to with others, even their own students. If teachers need to give an assignment, they can create it on Google Docs, share it with their class, and the students can finish their assignment and send it back to the teacher, all on one website. Social bookmarking can help teachers a lot to. A video we watched in class showed how a math teacher used social bookmarking to find websites about a certain area of math. Instead of searching the web through thousands of math websites, he could go to his bookmarks, search through the tags for the specific math topic he wants, and his search would be cut down tremendously. When I told my mom about Delicious she was so excited. If you go on her computer you will see hundreds of bookmarked teacher sites, and she never knows how to find the right one she is looking for. Social bookmarking websites can organize all of her websites, and make it easier for her to find the right site. If all teachers knew about this, I am sure they would sign up right away because they are always looking for educational websites that look almost the same, and social bookmarking could differentiate them, and save teachers a lot of time. 


http://www.alltipsandtricks.com/top-10-social-bookmarking-tools-for-educators/

This website explains why social bookmarking can help teachers out. It says it is highly useful for educators since it allows specific categorization of websites for easy access and sharing. It then gives 10 great social bookmarking websites that will help in the classroom and with other educators. Delicious is the second one it gives, and it says that this site is specifically designed for teachers and teaching. 

Podcasts

This week we learned about podcasts, and learned how to make them. Podcasts can be used for many different reasons, like teaching a lesson, communicating with people on the internet, or just for fun. The definition an article we read in class said that podcasts are audio files that can be played on the computer or downloaded to MP3 players, such as Apple’s iPod. Another article we read said that podcasts are an automated technology that allows listeners to subscribe and listen to digitally recorded audio shows. The files are downloaded to your computer daily, once you have subscribed to a podcast. People make podcasts about anything. It is a way to teach, learn, or express your feelings about something, and have an online audience watch. They could be filled with words, pictures, and music, or it could be as simple as talking in front of the camera. Creating a podcast is very easy. We did it this week in class, and because I have a Mac I was able to use the program Garageband, which allows you to create music or podcasts. If you do not have a Mac, you could download the free program Audacity, or if you have a PC there is a program called Sound Recorder that is already installed on the computer. On Garageband, all you have to do is hit the record button and start talking. Once you have finished you can add in effects, music, or pictures to enhance your podcast. It was the first time I had ever used Garageband, and it was so simple to learn, so anyone could do it. 

Technology is being used more and more in the classroom. Now teachers are using Smart Boards and the internet themselves, and at the same time they are encouraging their students to use computers too. Podcasts are an easy way to make technology in the classroom different. Teachers could give lessons through podcasts, have announcements, assign podcast projects, and much more. If teachers knew how to make podcasts, they could have all of their students subscribe to daily podcasts that the teachers could post everyday. These daily podcasts could be reminders, tips and tricks, or even additional lessons outside the classroom. Teachers in higher levels, like college, could use podcasts as their main way to instruct if they are teaching an online class. Once teachers know how to make podcasts, they could show their students how to make their own. Students could use podcasts to express their ideas with other students, learn from their peers, and become knowledgeable. 

This video explains what a podcast is, and why it is important for podcasts to be used in the classroom. Some of the examples of how podcasts could be used are if a teacher is absent, they can make a podcast about their lecture and won’t need to worry about getting a sub. Another example is they could make podcasts about school news, or if school is cancelled the teacher could make a podcast allowing students to do an extra credit assignment. The examples are endless because there are so many different ways a teacher could incorporate a podcast into the classroom.

My Podcast

My podcast was one of my history questions for my test that I was studying for. It was about the Proclamation Line of 1763. Podcasts are very simple to complete. I just got a Macbook Pro, and was able to make my podcast on GarageBand. In the teaching field, they can be helpful because teachers can make podcasts that go along with their lessons, or if it is an online class, they can post the podcasts online for students to watch.