EDUC 7108 Module 6 Blog

As a leader in educational technology I can stress the ideas of new and improved technologies to others by explaining how these technologies can be beneficial to them. People need to know how valuable these things are to them. Thornburg states, “Valuable means understanding a culture well enough to help people incorporate new ideas into that culture” (Laureate Education, 2009). Using technology in the classroom, keeps the students interested and motivated to learn. I can also stress how important it can be to all different levels of learning because technology can cater to different learning styles and basically all aspects of life. Everyone needs to understand and be able to become productive members of society this includes having those 21sy century skills. We are a computer generated society and there is no way of avoiding that. The idea is to keep abreast to changing times, Inventors of today know this, that’s why there are various things being created every day.

Laureate Education . (2009) Diversity and Globalism. Retrieved August 22, 2010 at http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199715&Survey=1&47=5847480&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

EDUC 7108 Module 5 Blog

I used Movie On Demand to view the movie I chose which was Next. This was a service through AT&T. It was much more convenient than literally getting up going to a store to purchase the DVD. Increasing Returns is when an emerging technology drives it competition out of business. The definition of Red Queens is when Red Queens happens when two competitive technologies take over and drive other technologies out of the market (Laureate Education, 2009). I think that DVDs and Video on Demand are examples of Red Queens because VHS tapes are rarely visible now and these two technologies are on the rise and have literally taken over movie industry. I also think that these two technologies are in enhance field of McLuhan’s tetrad. I say that because of the advancements of digital technology.

Laureate Education (2009). Increasing Returns Retreived August 10, 2010 at http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199715&Survey=1&47=5847480&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

EDUC 7108 Module 4 Blog

Second Life

Second life is a virtual world technology that allows users to interact with each other as in a real world setting (Wikipedia, 2010). It lets people get real world experiences in society through communication with each other on the levels of personal and business aspects. Second life is considered to be a disruptive technology. Second life allows for people to be very creative and use their higher level thinking skills in making decisions that will benefit them. It’s in a social atmosphere and can promote collaboration.

“Disruptive technology is a new technology with the same function as an existing technology that functions more efficiently and obsoletes that technology” (Laureate Education, 2009). I really think that there are various different forms of virtual world’s simulations/gaming systems that may have been replaced by Second Life because of its sophistication. As technology advances rapidly, I really think that Second Life may be replaced within the next five years.

Laureate Education. (2009). Disruptive technologies. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199715&Survey=1&47=5847480&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from July 24, 2010 from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html.

Wikipedia. (2010) Second Life. Retrieved July 24, 2010 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

EDUC 7108 MODULE 3 BLOG

One technology that I think represents a rhyme of history is the telephone. As stated by Thornburg, “A Rhyme in history is an affect or effect of a new development rekindles something from the distant past” (Laureaute Education, 2010). The telephone has advanced over the years starting from landline phones, to mobile phones and even internet phones. The idea behind it is communication. Communication has always been an important facet in history even before telephones were around. Being able to relay information has dated back to even before the mail was delivered by the Pony Express. Telephones just added to the idea of people having the need to communication and interact. Telephones are and have been an important part of business, government and industry, in addition to our own personal lives. Just about everyone I know owns a mobile phone. The mobile phone has more means of communication that ever with its enhanced capabilities. The capabilities being access to the Internet, text and picture messages, and email which encompasses various forms of communication from oral to written.

I have enclosed some Websites about telephones in my references.

Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century.(2010). Telephone Timeline. Retrieved July 11, 2010 at http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3625

Thornburg. D. (2009). Rhymes of History. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved July 11, 2010 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?

CourseID=4199715&Survey=1&47=5847480&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
Wikipedia (2010). Telephone. Retrieved July 11, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone

EDUC 7108 MODULE 2 BLOG

The digital camera and enhanced the way we view photography. It has enhanced picture imagery with the ability to take and delete pictures on site, enhance pictures through features like contrast, brightness, crop, and other image editing features. The digital camera can also store images. The digital camera replaces the need for film and film processing. According to YourDictionary.com (2010), “Unlike traditional film cameras that record a light image on film (analog), digital cameras record discrete numbers for storage on a flash memory card or optical disc.” This comes with the introduction of digital technology. The camera takes video with sound or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. Pictures can also be uploaded to computers. With the general idea of the purpose of any camera being to take pictures, the digital camera retrieves the idea of keeping memories from personal to business reasons. It also helps to create imagery from routine life experiences. Even though digital cameras come in many forms, camera phones are more preferred.

References
YourDictionary.com. (2010). Digital camera. Retrieved June 28, 2010 at http://www.yourdictionary.com/computer/digital-camera.

EDUC 7108-Module 1 Blog

I chose to discuss Google Docs. Google Docs came on to the scene in 2006. It is an online collaborative tool for documents. It allows people to edit documents together online. Documents may include Word, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and forms. Users have to have a Google Account to use this service. Each user can have 1 GB of space (Google, 2010). Some other benefits include the advantage of sharing work and being able to access your work from anywhere. This is a good benefit to have in education and especially distance learning. Google Docs is also integrated with Blogger which is another service provided by Google.

Even though the advantages are numerous, there are a few issues with Google Docs, one being that you have to have Internet access to work with the documents. Google Docs also has less features than Microsoft Office and space is limited on the server because of the vast number of Google Accounts. The technology probably would be better if it incorporated more features.

These are links to information on Google docs:
http://www.docs.google.com/
http://edutech.msu.edu/online/GoogleDocs/GoogleDocs.html

References

Google Docs. (2010). Retrieved June 7th from http://www.docs.google.com/

Module 5 Responses

I have posted responses to the following blogs.

http://blogberrios.blogspot.com/
http://sbreeden71.blogspot.com/

Module 5 Blog: New Technologies

In my workplace I am always encouraging teachers to use new technologies. I have held trainings and provided individual assistance. The enthusiasm is there, but the teachers may use it one time and that’s it. The problem I hear from them is there just is not enough time in class or they have various discipline issues in their classrooms that make it hard to use technology. Some teachers are just not interested in learning anything new and it can be frustrating especially when we know that technology can help and motivate our kids.


In using Keller’s ARCS model, I could have generated satisfaction for using the new technology. As stated by Driscoll (2005), “Opportunities to use newly acquired skills or knowledge in meaningful ways allow for the natural consequences of learning.” I could have showed the teachers some ways that this could actually help them in their everyday classroom experiences. I could have also connected the students learning styles to the technology. Another thing I could have done would be to continuously provide individual assistance to help them build confidence in using the new technology.


Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Module 4 Blog Responses

These are the two blogs that I have responded to for this module.

http://msmomo-educationaltechnology.blogspot.com/
http://martinefanfan.blogspot.com/

Module 4 Blog Connectivism-Mind Map

Usually when I have questions I usually research the Internet or ask others within my network. Learning to connect with others has been a unique learning experience. The digital tools that really help me facilitate learning would include the use of Google Docs, eBooks and blogging. When I was getting my masters degree, I was introduced to eBooks because University of Phoenix used them a lot. It took a lot to get used to EBooks, but through consistent use I adjusted and it really helped me. Blogging gives me the chance to exchange my ideas with others and get feedback. Connecting with others does help learning because learners bring more to the table than just themselves. Learners bring different academic skills, learning styles, technical skills, etc.

Module 3 Blog Responses

These are the two blogs I responded to:

http://blogmitchell-stevens.blogspot.com/
http://sharon-mcdaniel.blogspot.com/

EDUC 7105 Module 3 Blog: Collaboration

I truly do believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group. Examples include businesses and schools. People within these settings have a common goal that creates the idea of communication and collaboration to meet those goals. Based on past experiences and inventions, people have had to work together in groups to live among each other. As stated by Howard Rheinhold (2008), “….human communication media and the ways in which we organize socially have been co-evolving for quite a long time.” Communication is very important is every aspect of life. The constructivist theory focuses on the need for people to collaborate and construct knowledge together. This theory is not new because it just encompasses both views from the behaviorist theory and the cognitive theory.

Technology can facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles. With the advancement of technology, humans are more able to communicate effectively through cellphones, instant messaging programs like Yahoo messenger, and Skype. People are able to share thoughts and opinions through blogging and wikis. Documents can be shared through Google Docs. All of these technologies create collaboration among learners through the constructivist theories because they can be used to facilitate learning with meaningful connections to real life.

Rheingold, Howard. (2008). Way-New collaboration. Retrieved April 5, 2010 at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

EDUC 7105 Module 2 Blog

After reading through the conversations with Bill Kerr, Stephen Downs and Karl Kapp, I tend to agree with Kerr about all the –isms. There seems to be potential for all the different learning theories in education. No one theory can uniquely explain how we learn, if so then we would definitely not have as many beliefs as we do.

I personally believe that we learn through cognitivism but can see the aspects of behaviorism in the respect to stimulus and response and constructivism in respect to problem solving and creativity. We have to be susceptible to change and understand that all theories cannot whole-heartedly explain every aspect of the way we learn. As stated by Kerr (2007) in reference to –isms, “They evolve, they listen to criticism and move on.”

http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html

http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html

EDUC 7105 Module 1 Blog

I believe people learn best through the cognitive learning theory. The cognitive theory views the learner as active, constructive and playful. It attempts to learn the internal process of behavior and emphasize knowing rather than responding (Saettler, 2004). I believe the cognitive theory helped to develop learning strategies. The basis of this theory relies on the fact that prior knowledge is important for students to learn. As stated by Siemens (2004), factors that influence learning in the cognitive theory are existing schema and previous experiences.

The purpose of learning theory in educational technology is to determine what methods by which we can use technology to accurately promote learning. Even though there are a number of learning theories in education, the Cognitive learning theory is most useful in the 21st century because of the advancement of technology. The cognitive theory closely relates the symbolism of how the brain works to how a computer works. This is very important in the 21st century being that at certain grade levels (years) in a student’s education, it is assumed that they know certain academic facts to build on for the next year.

Saettler, P. (2004). The evolution of American educational technology. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Siemens, G. (2008, January 27). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf