Final Thoughts...

I have to say that through the final project, I really was able to learn about the many advancements in e-learning, with great input from my partners. From Liz and Tom, I was introduced to this new way of sharing and creating projects using the google docs program. What became even more interesting about it was the relationships we began to devlop through the proecess, without ever meeting face to face. To me this was important because it shows that with e-learning, you can still have a one on one type relationship in any form of e-learning courses. The benefits of this technology are phenomonal, and still leave one with the lessons learned within a classroom. I thank my partners for showing me a new and great way to organize, create, and learn!

Judy Lightfoot

Judy Lightfoot is a writing coach, academic tutor, curriculum consultant, and a freelance writer/editor as stated on her home page (http://home.earthlink.net/~judylightfoot/). In researching her further, and reading published articles, I realized that Dr. Lightfoot is an advocate for educational technology, yet she doesn’t ever mandate as this being the only educational tool. This became most clear in an article published by Seattle Weekly. She talks about a private school in Seattle that is deciding over making laptops mandatory. Some believe it is necessary while others feel the computer labs are sufficient to offer student access. In reading more about the issue, I realized that if this kind of situation became mandatory in school, many students throughout the United States will not be getting the same education as those that are privledged. When did education become about economic status? Let’s be honest, there are more children in the country that cannot afford a computer, let alone a laptop, how can that become a necessary item like a 5 star notebook. If big businesses decide to donate enough laptops to cover the countries population of children, then maybe a solution could be made. Judy Lightfoot states that many of the students that attend this private school are children of big business people. I think this points out an issue with e-learning. Although technology is VERY important, there are many that are not going to benefit from this. It’s cost is too high to apply nationally, and will ultimately keep those without the monetary funds on the bottom. How can we enforce something that many of us cannot supply?

In this weeks readings I was brought to realization that this information has been a constant within my education through the years. My generation, the twenty somethings, seem to have learned and processed so much information through the great technological advances, that one doesn’t realize the basics of it all. From learning about computers through grammar school games such as Oregon Trail and that Lotus game with the turtle. Although I remember being completely entertained by this, I now realize I was getting a full education in computer usage, and an introduction into prompting and commanding. What was most interesting about these chapters was not only the complete breakdown of computers, but also it’s offering to teach how to apply these basic tools. The beginning chapters describe basic background information from hardware of the computer to in depth explanations of computer networking and connecting. What became evident through the readings is the need for those to understand the technologies they are using. What I mean by this is a teacher needs to offer their students insight into how exactly they got connected to the webpage they are on. In chapter 5 there is the most informative breakdown of how those using their computers for internet based applications are able to do so. We learn the different networks, them being LANs, WANs, and the internet. Some may think this is basic information that will never truly apply to themselves, but the basic knowledge gives users the ability to problem solve technological issues. I also feel that in education it’s important to work from the ground up learning the history of through the present. Computers offer a completely well-rounded education. Not only does it apply science, math, and English, but computers offer the use of common sense to students, i.e. if you right click to copy, you will right click to paste. As I often state, e-learning is an outlet for students beyond classroom learning, constantly expanding ones horizons.

Online Social Networking

Online social networking is website driven internet communities that all users to communicate with each other, often about a common interest. Through these environments, users “chat” through message boards, e-mail, etc. The practice of this networking was most commonly seen through online communities such as MySpace and Facebook. Communities such as these tend to take away from the professional and educational aspects of online networking.
The benefits from using the internet as a networking tool could ultimately out weigh the cons we see. With proper privacy regulations, schools could use this to their advantage. The biggest risk we see in the misuse by bloggers who use the internet in a non-professional manner. With the right education on internet ethics and morals, the uses may become much more educational. By creating boundaries, misconduct becomes deterred. There are many resources that offer safe networking tools, such as Ongaurd (http://www.ongaurdonline.gov/, 2007), which is a government based website that offers parents tools to making internet use safer for their children. Such uses have been practiced in the business and medical field for years, and writers, such as Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams (2006), show the benefits and success of implementing internet based networking for companies. Within this book, we also see the uses of you tube and other web organizations that benefit these companies and how. With its’ application being successful within these fields, it could be a positive contribution to school rooms. I can’t help but imagine learning Spanish from students and teachers in Spain will someday be a classroom reality. The internet and its’ communication tools offer school outside of the classroom, which appeals to many students. Schools definitely need to implement its’ use.
In reading the assigned chapters, it makes it evident that there is no excuse why somebody would not be able to apply online networking to schooling. Within these chapters, every step you need to take to use electronic networking is present, and the most effective, chapter 11, offers a look into how to use this networking process to create collaborations. What I mean when I say this is, not only can students learn from using the internet for educational means, but they also learn the “science” behind how to create an online forum for education. More specifically, it becomes most interesting when students can offer their pages as an e-learning experience through opinion based polls. Through this, they offer a question and response area, causing students to think and react based on their personal and educated ideas. How could a forum such as this not be beneficial to students?

References

Tapscott, D., & Anthony Williams, (2006). Wikinomics: how mass collaboration changes everything. New York: Portfolio.

Oram, A. (2004, April 5). Online Transactions. Message posted to http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2004/04/an_experiment_with_online_soci.html

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