Week 4- Blog Posting #8-Reflections on Blogging

In addition to this video blog, which expresses my thoughts on using Web 2.0 and whether or not I see it as something, that I can definitely integrate into my class or if I see any weaknesses with including this type of media, I wanted to express my thoughts on blogging. I was impressed by the easiness of setting up a blog and even more how easy it was to include a video post. The blogger site is a great way to get started and I am pleased we were asked to do this. I have found that blogging has helped me to learn more by putting my thoughts down, finding news and research articles, and reading my colleagues posts. I find the entire world of blogging very interesting. I really like to hear others points of view. Maybe it is the fact that I teach speech and get to spend so little time having real discussions about the issues and important trends. I will continue to read my classmates blogs and hope they continue their blogging on their sites. I am excited to read further as we transition to our next class and after we finish the program. Then, we will be able to see what our classmates are interested outside of education, which I look forward to.

Thinking about why people blog, I decided to include two articles that provide reasons for blogging. I think we have all benefited from the blogging we have done in this class. Let's see what others value in being able to post ones thoughts for everyone to see. The first article by Susan Gunelius looks at ten reasons we should blog. The second article from the 2008 Scientific American Magazine takes a look beyond the therapeutic benefits and discusses the physiological benefits.

http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/Top-Ten-Reasons-to-Blog.htm

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-healthy-type

Week 4- Blog Posting #7-Second Life

I am still new to Second Life and have not spent a lot of time exploring. I went into Second Life and searched for places of interest. I did not find many related to my specific field. I think if I spend more time looking through more general areas and searching out groups, I will find more useful educational resources.

The last time I was in Second Life, as a group, we had to find educational locations. I found one that was a great place for newbies to frequent and learn more about scripting. The College of Scripting, Music, and Science was very useful. The first time around, I went through every floor and searched through the cards for content. I noticed on one of the floors that there were cards describing the different logical fallacies and misconceptions in reasoning. Each card used the name of the errors for easy perusing and provided a definition and example. At the time I made a mental note that this would be a great way to discuss reasoning and fallacies as an introduction into persuasive strategies in public speaking. I wasn’t quite sure how I would go about it at the time. It seemed like a large feat to ask student to register for Second Life and locate the descriptions. I didn’t know if it would be easier in groups, if the students had enough knowledge, or if I could bridge this activity with an evaluation of their time in Second Life. I did consider simply logging in and having a kind of virtual fieldtrip in class using the projector.

I pretty much left it at that, knowing when that section came along, I would try to incorporate this new find. Instead, I am excited about the new prospect I have by incorporating this Second Life trip into a Webquest that is a smaller part of a much bigger lesson. I really feel that when the Webquest is complete it will be very beneficial as a way to introduce my students to Second Life, teach this course content on reasoning and fallacies, and encourage them to use Web 2.0 and digital media. From what I have gathered, I am the only speech teacher at my college that is having my students branch out and learn and apply these new skills. While some of my students may be having difficulty adjusting and would prefer to be doing speeches and worksheets, I feel these skills are necessary and I would not be doing my job as an instructor if I did not share these new technologies with my students. I want to encourage growth and knowledge exploration. It’s important to me.

I went back to the College of Scripting, Music, and Science and found the exact location again. On level 6, Logic, I found my fallacies again and read through them to make sure they were great examples that would help my students understand reasoning and persuasive strategies better. Just as I remembered, they were great and I joined the group. The group information is included in the link below. There are guidelines, but overall, the people I have met in Second Life within the group are very nice and helpful. The goal of this group is to help others learn how to really utilize all that Second Life has to offer. In addition to the communication you can have in-world, the College also has a YouTube site that has multiple videos to enjoy and learn more about scripting and 3D. I think this group is one of the best for those getting a feel for Second Life.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/College_of_Scripting_Music_and_Science/Group_Guidelines

http://www.youtube.com/user/ScriptingCollege

Now I am excited about making a movie that helps my students begin this virtual trip into Second Life, and finding some tutorials to help acquaint them with this new world. I am sure that many of my students have never heard of Second Life, and hopefully some of them will continue to explore on their own after this assignment.

Week 3- Blog Posting #6-Communities of Practice

When I consider the idea of online communities, I consider the use of social networks to stay in contact with those people that you know but rarely see. I guess I am a rarity in terms of community resourcefulness. I have always been a loner and in my off-line world, I have few connections. I have a small family that is disinterested in creating anything resembling a family. I have friends that enter and leave my life without so much as a goodbye. I left for over a year and lived hundreds of miles from my home. What I am aware of is how much those connections really do matter. I was able to secure a job in days (the same day as faculty orientation) because of the connections I had made during my graduate years. I am using this program (EMDT) as an opportunity to really utilize these new colleagues and friends. Before getting back into research, I primarily used the Internet for social sites and checked in daily to check email or update my status. I found a great article that really addresses the problem that most have creating a community and that is the way that they use social sites. The website Chief Marketer is directed at marketing, but I was interested in the ideas that the article included to encourage community engagement. I think the biggest problem I have had making a connection to communities is my lack of willingness to come back. The key is a commitment to ongoing participation and working together over time. All of the tips could easily be attributed to any type of lesson plan, webquest, or tutorial that incorporates media. These tips include changing the topics and letting the users have a voice. Award and recognize participation. Much like gamers level up and have bragging rights, those who frequent discussions and contribute to forums like to be credited. Let users follow the discussions as well as communicate one on one and build deeper connections.

http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/online/1014-online-communitites-ideas/index.html

http://searchenginewatch.com/3634590

In addition to looking at how we can relate online communities to our off-line relationships and education, I wanted to explore the actual use of social media communities. The article by Liana Evans discusses the entrance into communities. What I have found when using new technology is that there is a definite way to use it and those that are new tend to stand out. As we have all been warned not to walk around in Second Life wearing a box, what about other communities? This article is valuable because it looks at how to approach communities as a newbie. The best way to familiarize oneself with anything new is to spend time learning. Online communities operate just like real-life communities. There is an initiation for any new group of friends and you have to take it slow and learn the virtual ropes.

Week 3- Blog Posting #5-Social Media

Researching social media, I still see a large amount of articles that focus on the business side of this new trend and little that focuses on the relevance of social media and its impact on education. I found one article that looked at the use of social media and its pending outcome in higher education. More and more, it seems that college is no longer valued for its ability to educate. Many feel that college is where you go to get a job. The goal is to pass courses and get a degree. A blog by grant McCracken looks at college as a place of “knowledge production” and not “knowledge distribution”.

http://www.cultureby.com/trilogy/2009/09/is-the-university-next.html

It still seems that even with the growth of social media, the growth of knowledge distribution from teachers to students is lacking. There is the direction that colleges are heading: access to knowledge from the Internet, greater online resources, individual student mastery, and self-instruction. The teacher has evolved into a guide to help students find and use information rather than the source of the information. The only thing left behind is the degree/ the name of the college/ the grades that get students a job.

This is all relevant because as educators, we need to strive to distribute new knowledge and information. With the trend, I am worried that social media is having an impact because students are more aware of these new technologies and use them more and better than those whom are in place to teach them. It helps when educators are informed. The use of social media is not a bad idea, but there is a divide that I see between the generations. How do we teach the digital natives and the digital immigrants in the same classroom so that both receive the same benefit to get the job? That is my struggle now. I am requiring that my students familiarize themselves with digital media and social media tools whether they see an advantage or not. I feel very strongly that college students should be using these skills despite their generation or age. I think that in order to stop the gap from widening, we have to stop making excuses and forgiving those who are new to technology. It is time to encourage them to learn and begin distributing knowledge rather than watching others produce knowledge. The production value has to grow for all students, not just the digital literate.

http://www.slideshare.net/GeoffBrown3231/the-space-between-action-research-and-social-media

The second view I wanted to focus on was not my interpretation of social media and how it relates to me as an educator, but as a learner. I found a great slide show on slideshare called The Space Between…Action Research and Social Media. Web 2.0 and Action research are similar in terms of the associated content, including: convergence, participation, usability, design, and remixability among others. If our goal as learners is to reflect critically, the best way to do that is through experience or action. To learn something completely, the best method is to immerse oneself or become a participant not an observer. The next step in learning is growing from those experiences. The focus should still be on distribution of knowledge through sharing and collaboration. I have always believed that top down information is not complete. We need to know how everyone understands and learns based on his/her place and experiences. I learn better from those that treat me as a collaborator and not as a consumer. Many people still prefer to learn in the more traditional ways of lecture and consumption, but we can teach them to learn differently by bringing more to the learning experience. By looking at open source, we see how valuable and innovative people can be. By moving from a one-way model of knowledge acquisition to a two-way model, we can open discussions in the classroom that can lead to more inclusive and relevant learning experience.

Week 2- Blog Posting #4 -21st Century Skills & Lifelong Learning

Not much has changed in regards to how children think. I remember cheating, being cheated on, and watching others cheat as a student. It is no surprise that students are still cheating. When I was in school, the key was to write answers on anything from shoes to notebooks. If I had had access to a camera, cheating would have been much easier. It is the familiar movie plot of scoring the test and copying the answers without the hassle, or planning involved carrying out such a risky behavior. While on Facebook, I became friends with Woody to get a free burger from Fridays.

http://www.prnewswire.com/container/tgifridays/tgifridayssocialmedianewsrelease-woody-jackdaniels/

On the page I saw a link to a free seminar on hi-tech cheating for educators.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/webinar-cheating?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=cheating-webinar

The seminar is offered twice in October by Common Sense Media and I think that if I can arrange it, I am more than interested in looking at how students are cheating with today’s technology and maybe learning some more about how I be more aware as an educator. To better explore this concept, I also found an article on U.S. News & World Report (2008). In this article I learned that students were anteing up in terms of their use of technology and far they were willing to go to cheat. I have to address plagiarism in my class and the use of purchased assignments since I teach speech and there are a plethora of speech topics, samples, and for sale finished projects. What I had not considered was the use of other devices such as wireless earpieces used to share answers. Apparently, students in China were cheating on national college entrance exams using this Wi-Fi technology.

I think the questions being asked aren’t necessarily how are digital immigrants and natives different, but how are we the same and what that means.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2008/10/03/cheating-students-use-technology-too.html

Looking at the students is an important role of an educator and one I feel some colleges overlook. An article titled, The 50% Solution, does just that. It calls attention to the tendency for colleges to focus on 18-20 year olds as the primary goal for graduation and the future of

our welfare as a nation. The article criticizes the solution of targeting students who are just entering college as a “50% solution” because it is not recognizing the non-traditional students that are growing in numbers. I have seen both sides of the spectrum as a teacher. Previously, I taught at a college that had dual enrollment, which arranged for students to take college credit courses and receive their associate degree before or at the same time as their high school diploma. While I thought this program was very opportunistic, I also felt that several students were not ready for a college education and certainly were not serious enough as learners. The amount of students I saw that understood the skills they could learn and apply as lifelong learners were far and few between. What I did notice and what I see now is that non-traditional students are returning to school during the economical hardships we are seeing in our economy and these are the students who want to learn and respect their role as a learner.

With this is mind, the article takes the variables of this and translates them to include students who are still in the workforce and those who do not want to attend a college with all the unnecessary bells and whistles. Adults want an education at this point, not a social group of friends on campus or the chance to swim in a newly built rec. center. I think that is why online education is becoming so highly coveted by lifelong learners who are looking to enhance their current skill set or add new ones to an already established repertoire. The article included several steps that should be considered to allow an easier transition for those looking to continue or finish their education. I know first hand how difficult it can be to try and get a degree when life intervenes. My husband is a prime example. He started at Devry out of high school, but the program was wrong. He began going to a community college, but had difficulty adjusting to general education and a lack of student based learning that included engagement. He knew more than his teachers and was always shelved with “busy work”. He started online and was very comfortable in the program but was at a disadvantage because he would not finish for five years because of the online program setup. He began hoping to transfer credits. He then moved across the country to attend Full Sail and finish in two years. He was less than six months from graduating when he was unable to secure a personal loan to finish due to the restrictions after the economy sank. He is now faced with the problem of whether to use his skills to pursue a job or finish at the local college to have any type of degree. If the recommendations from this article were in place, he would not be faced with such a difficult struggle.

I understand how important the collegiate system is and the old idea of a well-rounded person, but I do believe we are also restricting many smart, productive members of society from pursuing an education because of the hang-ups within the system. Web 2.0 may be a solution to encourage non-traditional students to be considered an important 50% of lifelong learners that are being ignored.

http://www.rethinkinghighereducation.com/2009/09/the-50-solution/

Week 2- Blog Posting #3- Media Literacy

Media Literacy is a unique understanding that I don’t think most people have actually researched or spent time asking questions about. We are a society that is bombarded by media messages and if we don’t have the background to understand, synthesize, and evaluate those messages we get lost or we are passive in our media experiences. Aside from Web 2.0 tools, it is important that the very basics of media be taught so that the universal understanding and use of media is creative, explorative, and collaborative. I spent the last week teaching audience analysis and these fundamentals are lost. I asked students to identify characteristics of different demographics among groups and asked them to think about messages need to be created with the audience in mind. Students were programmed to respond that there are no differences between different races and ethnicities as well as different sex and gender groups. I understand the obligation to be politically correct and take a stance that everyone is equal. What my students didn’t understand is the feelings of inequality that many still feel. I felt it was naïve of my students to take this approach and my job as an educator to guide them to a better understanding of audience analysis by looking at the differences of the audience. I found this video at the website for the Center for Media Literacy. This video while targeted at advertisement really addresses the points in my audience analysis activities from class; it is important to ask questions and know your audience. It also emphasizes how important it is to achieve media literacy not only in our education and work endeavors, but also on a personal level because it really can make us understand the why in life and make us better consumers and better at being critical of the messages we process. Teaching communications there is a huge push for incorporating cultural diversity and community mindedness through civic involvement and I found this video to be a great summary of all.

http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article709.html

One of the hardest areas of bringing Web 2.0 into my life has been the pull I have felt from so many new areas. Before starting the program, I was stopping in on Facebook and MySpace, but was not using the Internet for anything other than Google, maps, reservations, and search. Now, I have a website, a blog, a bookmark site, and several social networking sites. I have also found that keeping them all organized and checking in daily has been a lot to handle. I don’t think prior to this class, I would have considered myself computer literate- I’m getting there. I have always used computers; but much more in the traditional standards of writing papers and using them at work for reports and inventory. All of the authorship and collaborative projects are completely new to me. As an undergraduate, I majored in creative writing and have always enjoyed writing in pencil on paper. The technology shift has definitely been something I have put off. I am still nervous about moving into games like Second Life and WOW. While my husband is a true gamer, I am the person that gets stuck on a cliff looking at the sky or the ground being attacked.

All of this aside, I’m explaining that I have always been the type of person to sit down and concentrate on a project by myself. I got into the habit of working to music, but am now finding it more and more difficult to work without distractions with a two-year old running around. If multitasking is much more similar to task shifting, I should be an expert. However I think while I can multitask, I prefer not to. I prefer a quiet place where I can think. It is not surprising that there is more and more research looking at the harmful effects of multitasking. Are we really thinking differently or just accustomed to more interruptions and life’s noise? I found an article that is finding a correlation between the time spent multitasking and the latent effects. Apparently if spending time on the computer or involved texting, chatting, and emailing is how you spend your days, you may be slowing down your ability to process information away from the computer. According to the article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106 No. 33, August 25, 2009, “ in every test, students who spent less time simultaneously reading e-mail, surfing the web, talking on the phone and watching TV performed best”. Is it true that our computer is muddling our brains? More research needs to be done, but it is an interesting point I haven’t seen discussed yet. I will be eager to follow the future studies and see how this notion evolves.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/multitasking/

Week 1-Blog Posting #2-Learning 2.0

Reading about how many teachers still regard the use of technology and even the words associated with Web 2.0 as a fad, I thought about how some educators still cling to the idea that traditional teaching must work because people have been educated this way for years. It also makes me consider the idea that traditional learning requires the students to learn on their own and I wonder if today’s students do that. With the consistent improvements in technology, life has become increasingly simpler and easier to get by without a lot of work. Education is a perfect example of how students become used to completing just the minimum and expecting that meeting the assignment is enough to receive an A. Very few student’s try to go beyond the expectations of their teachers to fully engage and learn the content in a meaningful way.

While instructors may consider the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom to be overrated, what about the truth behind the students desire and use of resources? Teaching research methods in my class, I find out quickly that even in a less technologically advanced area in which all students do not have regular access to a computer, they still only consider the Internet as the best place to find materials. The reason students like the library is the convenience.

I found a press release that looks at another aspect of why people don’t go to the library. Last year the New York Library Association released a report that public school library books are over 20 years old on average. The costs that states are paying for books have not been kept up and the book in the libraries are outdated and not accurate or relevant. When I was in high school, I know that the only time I visited the library was when we visited as a class. I did not check out books and remember a small number of popular books always being checked out. These books were for enjoyment and usually the last purchased as an enticement to keep kids coming into the library. If I needed to do research, I went to the public library. I remember there being a lot of outdated books there as well, but more books on the shelf.

http://www.nyla.org/index.php?page_id=1520

The trips that I have taken to libraries recently make me question the money that seems to be missing. Many are outdated or focusing on newer materials, but not replacing books that are reference materials. Many libraries seem to be having problems bringing youth into them and away from the bookstores. How can we create a library that is more geared toward younger students, especially digital learners?

On the website engadget, I found an article that discussed how one school is changing the library to stay current in today’s technological world. How would you react if your child’s school were nixing all books in favor of e-readers? A Boston prep school is doing just that. The headmaster feels that books are outdated. The new learning center will include, “three flat screen televisions, laptops, 18 e-readers, and a coffee bar” (2009). I know that while many will be hesitant to welcome this endeavor, I sure would be excited as a student. I would spend more time in the library. The more time students are in the library or high tech learning center, the more opportunity they have to learn and pick up a book- even if it is a Kindle.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/05/boston-prep-school-nixes-all-the-books-in-its-library-replaces/