The conversation in class got me thinking about online education at the k12 level. Just how prevalent is it? Is it a growing trend or a fad? I found a couple sites in the dayton area for online education. There are apparently ties to homeschooling, private schooling, as well as public schools. That makes sense. It seems a natural extension for a parent who's keen on homeschooling anyway. Can anyone see online education being someday seen as a solution to America's education budget woes? After all, having no physical building would really cut down costs.
http://www.thegraceacademy.org/
http://www.ohiodigitalclassroom.org/local_resources/dayton.php
http://www.k12.com/ohva/
The department of education is taking an interest in the online education phenomenon. Here's a link of the report concluding that online education = higher test scores than a brick & morter school.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 bits
Web 2.0 site list: http://web2.ajaxprojects.com/?Title=Web+2.0
Web 2.0 apps: http://www.go2web20.net/
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Second Life
Opened a Second Life account. The last time I tried this program was a couple years ago. Things like flying and moving seem to be easier. There's still a learning curve. I'm in the process of trying to edit my avatar.
So far Second Life has crashed on me a dozen times or so. Perhaps it's the computer I'm using. During loading a pop-up will ask you if you want to enable streaming media. This seems like a good idea, but if you crash a lot check "disable" since this seems to help lessen (but not eliminate) the number of crashes.
As I'm in the process of editing my appearance I appear as an amorphous glowing green cloud. I have to say I kind of like that appearance.
Some of the features I've run across are instant translation! Someone said "hi" in Russian which was translated directly. I'm not sure how advanced the translation device is, but the idea is pretty cool. I suppose so long as you stick to basic vocabulary, there will be less chance for miscommunication.
I've also found links to the language communities referenced in class. That's probably the most interesting aspect for me. It would be great to use this to practice foreign languages (if I can ever get the hang of it). Apparently you don't get to pick your last name. They offer an assortment of equally cheesy ones for you to choose from. My avatar is Ash Webwyre. See you online!
So far Second Life has crashed on me a dozen times or so. Perhaps it's the computer I'm using. During loading a pop-up will ask you if you want to enable streaming media. This seems like a good idea, but if you crash a lot check "disable" since this seems to help lessen (but not eliminate) the number of crashes.
As I'm in the process of editing my appearance I appear as an amorphous glowing green cloud. I have to say I kind of like that appearance.
Some of the features I've run across are instant translation! Someone said "hi" in Russian which was translated directly. I'm not sure how advanced the translation device is, but the idea is pretty cool. I suppose so long as you stick to basic vocabulary, there will be less chance for miscommunication.
I've also found links to the language communities referenced in class. That's probably the most interesting aspect for me. It would be great to use this to practice foreign languages (if I can ever get the hang of it). Apparently you don't get to pick your last name. They offer an assortment of equally cheesy ones for you to choose from. My avatar is Ash Webwyre. See you online!
Week 1
Okay this is the first blog post.
I'll be checking out second life here in a bit. Then I'll take a look at something which might be of interest for the research project.
For a relevant aside: I'm currently sitting in the library, typing the text for this on a laptop small enough to fit in my purse. I've also got my cell phone on vibrate and I'm texting back and forth with a friend of mine from high school who just friended me on facebook. In my lap is the book I'm outlining on the notebook to my side for my ENG 700 course. We talked about the multitasking future of our technology based society and the millenial generation. I never thought about it too much, but I guess I'm guilty too, despite the fact that I'm not a member of the millenial generation.
It makes me wonder if this is really a generational issue at all or if it is purely a technology culture issue which the younger generation happens to be catching on to faster than the rest of us. Why would they catch on sooner? Because they don't have preconcieved ideas about the way the world should be and therefore don't have barriers to their acceptance of the emerging culture. It will get the rest of us soon enough.
I'll be checking out second life here in a bit. Then I'll take a look at something which might be of interest for the research project.
For a relevant aside: I'm currently sitting in the library, typing the text for this on a laptop small enough to fit in my purse. I've also got my cell phone on vibrate and I'm texting back and forth with a friend of mine from high school who just friended me on facebook. In my lap is the book I'm outlining on the notebook to my side for my ENG 700 course. We talked about the multitasking future of our technology based society and the millenial generation. I never thought about it too much, but I guess I'm guilty too, despite the fact that I'm not a member of the millenial generation.
It makes me wonder if this is really a generational issue at all or if it is purely a technology culture issue which the younger generation happens to be catching on to faster than the rest of us. Why would they catch on sooner? Because they don't have preconcieved ideas about the way the world should be and therefore don't have barriers to their acceptance of the emerging culture. It will get the rest of us soon enough.
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