Second Life as a Disruptive Technology

I had not heard of Second Life until I started taking these courses. Even then, I hadn't actually looked at the site until now. It looks very fascinating. It has disrupted previous virtual worlds like The Sims. It is much more life-like and allows more interaction. I don't think it has much time though, before being displaced by something else. I believe virtual characters are on the way that will be able to sense your movements and emotions. Check out Xbox's Milo.
In the world of education, we sometimes offer cyberschool as an alternative to students who can't cope in public school for a myriad of reasons. I could see Second Life benefiting them by creating a better sense of real life interaction between the teacher and other students. However, thing like this always scare me a little because they give people a false sense of reality. In real life, you cannot be in control of the outcome of every situation, or just logout if you get uncomfortable.

Rhymes of History

One technology that rekindles thoughts from the past is something that I use on a daily basis-the copy machine. I usually take for granted the ease of making copies of documents I need for my students or for personal matters. The machines today are so sophisticated that they can copy on two sides, staple, collate, shrink, enlarge, and perform other functions that I haven't yet discovered.
Thinking back to when I was a little girl in elementary school in the late '80s-probably in third or fourth grade-being the teacher's pet that I was, I often had to make copies for the teacher. Back then it was not as simple as pressing a button. The teacher had to first hand-write or type (with a typewriter) the information that needed copying on this messy blue carbon paper. Next I would take the carbon paper to a big machine with a round drum. I remember ripping the top sheet off the carbon paper and laying it across the drum. Then the drum had to be rolled one time to make a master. The machine had to be filled with a smelly, clear liquid in order to work. Somehow, once the master was made, the machine was ready to roll. I would make copies, in blue ink, and you had to stand there and count the number of copies you needed. The earliest machines I remember had to be cranked by hand. I think we later got automatic machines. What a process!

Emerging Technologies Tetrad

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The Flip camera is an emerging technology in digital videography. The compact size, and the low price makes the camera appealing to the everyday consumer. The Flip is now available in high-definition which allows superb video quality. The camera plugs directly into a computer's USB port, eliminating the need for cables, and video tapes. It also makes it easy to upload and share video with others. My guess for the next technology to replace video cameras would be a device that records in 3D.

Identify an Emerged Technology

I responded to Laine and Emmorfia.

An emerging technology in my field is the use of Engrade, a free, web based grade book system for teachers. In past years many of the teachers in my school purchased Easy Grade Pro, which made life a lot easier on teachers. It stored and averaged all grades on your computer, but it was not free, not web based, and the teachers had to print out progress reports often.
The challenge is getting all of the teachers to buy in to using the program. Many prefer to stick to their old-fashioned ways of keeping records. If it were used by all, the teachers could all join the same network. Students and parents could access grades from all classes using only one username and password. Teachers would no longer have to waste paper and ink printing weekly or bi-weekly progress reports because the student could just go online and view their progress. What would make this technology even better would be if Engrade could pull grades directly into the report card system, eliminating the need for teachers to manually enter grades.

Click here to view a demo of Engrade.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

I responded to Amanda and Kimberly

I teach in a fairly new high school. The building is old but the school re-opened in 2006 under a new name and new concept. I have been there since the beginning, and have watched the school grow from 118 students and 8 teachers to 600 students and 30 teachers. With that growth, we have been continuously adding to our technology. However, the interactive white boards still have not totally caught on in our building. The first year, we had two portable boards, but no one was proficient in using them. Our technology leader somewhat trained himself on the basic functions, but when trying to turn it around to the staff, nothing seemed to be working correctly.

In the third year, the science labs were renovated, and all were outfitted with interactive white boards. Those teachers do use them on a regular basis. Last year, boards were installed in two more classrooms. These are rooms in which teachers are to bring their classes into to use the technology. The principal asked someone from the district to come in and train the staff. The woman had a two hour block of time, and spent most of it downloading software onto everyone's laptop. Presently, outside of the science department, the boards are not being used for much more than movie screens.

I don't think the resistance is due to lack of interest, but to lack of training. We would have more success if all of the conditions of Keller's model were met:

ATTENTION - Each time, the trainer had the attention of the staff at the beginning, but as things were not properly functioning, and people had nothing to do while waiting for software to download, people began to lose interest.

RELEVANCE - All teachers want to know how the technology can be used in their classroom. Often when these types of things are presented the focus is n reading and math. In order to get school-wide buy in, the art, music,and phys. ed. teachers also want to know how they can enhance their curriculum.

CONFIDENCE - Teachers want to be sure that they are not going to be fumbling around with the technology when they get in front of the class. They need enough training to feel proficient using it, not just a one time lecture.

SATISFACTION - Teachers need to be able to try the activities with a class, then go back and evaluate with their peers or a coach. Something must work right in order for them to be motivated enough to want to go back and try it again.

CONNECTIVISM

Click here to view mindmap.


I responded to Duane and Kimberly

* How has your network changed the way you learn?
My network has allowed me easy access to information. As a busy mom who works and goes to school full time, and is a part-time real estate agent, I would not be able to function without my network. I can do things form home that were virtually impossible to do a few years ago. Just the fact that I am doing this assignment proves that I am learning in new ways. The online university has afforded me the flexibility I need to pursue a higher degree, which will afford me more professional and financial opportunities at work.

* Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?
If you look at my mindmap, you will notice that I have definitely become more connected since becoming a student at Walden. As I am introduced to new technologies, I find one more fascinating than the next. The wiki is my new favorite. As you can see, I use it at Walden and in the school where I work.

* How do you learn new knowledge when you have questions?
I do what everyone else does, I Google it! I also learn a lot by trial and error. I have been able to teach myself a lot just by playing around, and using online tutorials. I find that I may spend a great deal of time teaching myself how to do something, but once I get it, it's great! I taught myself how to do an imovie a few years ago because I wanted to make a unique wedding gift for someone. Now, people actually pay me to create movies for them.

Collaboration

I do believe humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group”. When you think back to how the Pyramids, or even this country was built, there had to be collaboration of individuals working together to reach a common end. Technology has rapidly increased our ability to work collaboratively. In the past, people would fly all over the world to hold business meetings. Now the same meetings can be held from the comfort of one’s home or office. I can now be in the same class as someone on the other side of the earth, and we can be working on solving the same problem.

Rheingold discussed hoe people use collaboration to feed their own self-interests, but when you can find mass groups of people with the same interests, the payoff for the individual can be even greater. Technology allows people with a common cause to unify easily, form groups, and attract more individuals. With different members of the group having strengths in different areas, they can teach others, who will then construct new knowledge for themselves. This is more likely to happen because the individual already has an interest in a given topic. The technology allows the person to find many experts from which to learn.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

I responded to Duane Coleman and Shane Fairbairn