3/12 Class Reflection

For this class we did a good variety of things, first we went into a discussion about 21st century learning tools and the Net Generation, witnessed presentations on virtual reality, and went to work on our podcast speeches.

In our discussion on the Net Generation and 21st century learning tools, what stood out for me was the topic on figuring out how to use these new technologies at our disposal today (Internet, multimedia, personal computing, etc.) in an effective manner in the classroom. Being a child of the 80s I got to witness the how teaching was traditionally done and witnessed how technology rapidly grew and changed up to now. At the present it's really a "here and now" world when it comes to information and if we don't act even faster than these changes are happening then we will be certainly be left in the dust by those who did act faster.

With the virtual reality presentations, they brought me to see the benefit for those who can not be somewhere in person but I still think the technology has a long way to go until VR makes it's way into mainstream use. There's still touch and smell to work with!

For our podcast recording session, we split up into two groups to record our speeches based upon Dr. Wagner's talk. With what we all recorded, I found that it was a bit difficult to put together a focused and balanced piece since the topics varied widely and some topics like web 2.0 and beyond were talked about more than other topics. Just in my opinion, if more specific subjects were used like the future of Web 2.0 or views on the Net Generation then I think a much more focused and powerful piece would result out of a project like this one. Overall, it was a fun project to do nonetheless.

Podcast Script Revision (Actual One Used)

With Dr. Wagner, even though she talked a lot about the future she even mentioned that we should not forget to leave our elders or late adopters behind. With this, my concern with the late adopters of today is that they are going to be left even farther behind than the late adopters in the past since the pace of change is getting faster and faster as technology improves. I think a main cause of this is that technology in the past never changed over as fast as it does today. Take the land line telephone for example, it’s basic function has never really changed for about the first 100 years of its existence then with the inception of the cell phone in the early 80s it took only about 20 years to add a camera, web browser, gps, and more to it…

Points from Dr. Wagner's Talk

So what did I take away from Dr. Wagner's talk?

Basically I got authoritative and multifaceted viewpoints and opinions from someone who has been involved with many different areas of instructional design and technology.

• In the area of teaching, we need to be more aware of our dependence of technology for our resources. For example, if teachers use free web resources they need to make sure that they do not fall into any type of pitfalls such as limited functions and being entirely dependent on the free resource for teaching.
• With our communication infrastructure, the US is 17th in the world in broadband use which indicates we are not entirely ready to move towards it being a mainstream technology.
• At the moment the trends in e-learning are in the development of rich internet applications such as Google Earth and the movement towards using more green technologies.
• In the world of Web 2.0, since so much more communication is out in the open and recorded, we need to be a bit more personable and willing to share more. With that being the case, we also need to be much more aware of what we state and exclaim or else it may come back to bite us.
• Ubiquitous computing will be something to look forward to into our future, technology will be more transparent in use and be more of an afterthought.
  
• As we go further into the future, we should not forget to leave our elders or late adopters behind. If we are make more advancements we should try to get as much people involved or else progress will take even longer.
• In regards to the present, Dr. Wagner suggests that we should think about technology in the now since we have so much to sustain us for the future.
  

Dr. Ellen Wagner Talk Reflection (3/05/09)

For this day in class we had the pleasure of having Dr. Ellen Wagner of talking and discussing with us her views and opinions of the role of technology is playing in education today and for tomorrow. With her years of her major involvements and experience in numerous institutions and companies such as Macromedia, she definitely is an authority on the topic of instructional technology (for more on her history and background, look here). It was great to hear and even discuss with someone who is actively intertwined and connected with the area of our studies because I felt she really gave us a real world or grounded viewpoint.

This opened up my mind on the topic since she brought up so many different angles to ponder about such as infrastructure to support new technologies, the trappings of being dependent on technology, the need for technology to be transparent for our elders, ubiquitous computing in the future, and havning to live your life more in public in the Web 2.0 world. All of these varied topics regarding our lifestyles just reinforces how much of a major role instructional technologies play in our present environment and will be in our future. We need more leaders like Dr. Wagner who can see the "big picture" from many different sides so we can have a more defined roadmap of where we are going with all of this before it is too much for us to make any sense out of it.

Lost in the Supermarket (of information)

Emerging Technologies in E-learning

In our reading of Emerging Technologies in E-Learning by Delich, Kelley, and McIntosh, we are given a brief history on the evolution of the web, a tour of popular e-learning technologies being used today, an examination on how those technologies are being used in our daily lives, and a brief glimpse into the future of e-learning. This was a great introduction to the world of Web 2.0 since it gave a broad snapshot of what was being used today with all of the relevant links and glossary definitions to explore and refer to.

The article describes social computing as being the essence of Web 2.0, with that not only does the author of the message or information has a voice but so does the participant or learner -- that potentially doubles the amount or more of sources to explore through. There is no doubt that by having someone to participate in the discussion brings out more critical thinking than a one way version but I sometimes wonder if it is necessarily more effective if we have to spend time and energy in sorting through long threads of irrelevant content. Sometimes I waste time in sorting through responses in blogs and forums that just say things like "That was cool" or "I know how you feel" or "That's true". It's great that the responses show an enthusiastic audience but it holds very little or no value in getting more out of the content being discussed.

In reference to artificial intelligence of computers such as those depicted in science fiction, maybe some sort of brain can be implemented to sort and maybe delete or put aside the irrelevant information so that a visitor to the site can explore and get right into the relevant material. However, I am afraid that has a possibility of increasing a type of fear also often portrayed in science fiction and that is the fear of computers taking control of humans.

Fourth Week (2/19)

For this fourth week of class we touched on a good array of topics within the Web 2.0 realm, starting with identifying the basic types of technology adaptation groups, then on to examining the effects and issues associated with Web 2.0 technologies, and closing with a discussion on what kind of direction should we look towards as educators.

Regarding the technology adaptation groups there were three basic types mentioned:

1. Pioneers or early adapters
2. Users who jump on the bandwagon when the technology becomes mainstream
3. Late or non-adapters

As educators utilizing digital technologies, there is no doubt that we need to be pioneers -- especially now since technology evolves at a much more rapid pace than ever. They need to adapt early so that their students can can adapt at the appropriate times.

In examining Web 2.0 technologies, we started off with a great presentation by Zack, Jeff, Jonathan, and Brian on the use of blogs, wikis, and twitter. This led to quite an interesting discussion on issues such as:

• Non participants (lurkers).
  
• Problems with your idea becoming everyone other people's ideas.
  
• Your thoughts and expressions being seen by others such as present or future employers and being detrimental to your image.
  
• The convergence of all the technologies presently offered and actively used.

With Web 3.0 lurking somewhere in the near future, a big question about it is that will it address these issues or create much more to deal with?

In looking where educators need to go in utilizing the massive flow of information available online, we need to define how to put all of that into some kind of context that can be formed into knowledge,and figure out a way to apply experience to that knowledge so that wisdom can be gained. I believe a probable solution to that lies within the advancement of virtual technologies that will immerse the learner of the future much deeper into replicated situations and environments.