Earning Degrees Online?

The norm for most universities in America seem to be, to have both online and face-to-face classes, in order for students to earn college degrees, whether they are Associates Degrees, Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s Degrees, or Doctorate Degrees. Imagine earning your Master’s Degree, without ever having to step foot on campus, except to attend the Graduation ceremonies. How would you feel about that? I know, that with our class, simply meeting online every other week through Blackboard can be challenging for some students, as technology is never guaranteed to work properly when you want it to.

George Washington University, among other universities, offers students the possibility to earn Master’s Degrees and/or Graduate Certificates through the Educational Technology Leadership Program entirely online. To learn more about this, please use the following link: GWU-Educational Technology Leadership Program. Penn State is another institution offering online degrees at both the undergraduate level and graduate level. To learn more about online degree programs offered at Penn State, please visit the website: Penn State online Degree Programs.

Earning degrees entirely online can certainly be convenient for students, especially those who have full-time jobs and live far away from campus. Earning degrees online has been a hot topic for me, as I have had discussions about the topic both at work and in the classroom. In your opinion, can student earn degrees at the Master’s level entirely online and be as qualified for positions upon graduation as students who earn Master’s Degrees in face-to-face classes? Would you prefer to earn your Master’s Degree entirely online, and never have to step foot on campus, never have to spend gas money commuting to class, or never have face-to-face interactions with your professors and peers?

Husband and Wife Team Up to Teach YOU!

Common Craft, LLC is a Seattle-based company owned by husband and wife, Lee and Sachi LeFever. As a team, these two individuals "help educators and influencers introduce complex subjects" through the use of short videos and paper cut-outs. Each of the topics they cover (e.g., blogs, investing, electing a U.S. president) is ended with "in Plain English" to denote the simplicity and usability in their content.

I was introduced to Common Craft during my senior year at JMU in my Digital Rhetoric class, which was taught by Dr. Pavel Zemliansky (WRTC). For my final project, I created my own video based from the Common Craft series. A friend of mine, who follows Lee LeFever on Twitter, sent him my video, and he saw it and thanked my friend for sharing it.

Overall, I think that the LeFevers use a very creative approach to spicing up the way to spread knowledge to others. Take a look at their Web site and browse through a few of their videos. Have you ever heard of Common Craft prior to reading this blog? What do you think of their teaching methods? How could you see yourself using this information?

Women and the web

There have been many studies that suggest that the performance of females in academic learning settings from elementary school through university settings and beyond can potentially be adversely effected by the mere presence of males. The proposed reasons are numerous and include such factors as not wanting to appear too intelligent less it might discourage a potential "mate" and the aggressive nature of male communication styles which can tend to subdue female participation. There is evidence however, that the anonymous nature of web based interaction in learning settings can free females from those stereotypical shackles and level the playing field with respect to equal participation. An interesting story follows about how the world renowned Berklee College of Music is using the latest web based instructional tools to make music education more accessible to women. Have any of you educators experienced similar phenomenon with the use of technology to empower the voiceless?

Daisy Rock Guitars and Berklee College of Music Announce New Partnership to Empower Female Musicians Apr 25, 2007 In keeping with Daisy Rock's mission to "provide females with whatever it takes to learn to play guitar and enjoy music," Daisy Rock has entered into a partnership with Berkleemusic, the continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, to provide innovative new ways for women to learn how to play guitar. Berkleemusic's online music teaching platform provides a collaborative learning environment that encourages participation and removes the social pressures and dynamics that often occur in traditional one-on-one or classroom instruction. These online guitar courses combine personal access to Berklee's guitar faculty along with interactive Flash demonstrations, Quicktime movies, downloadable Mp3 files, and tablature to produce a unique educational experience where women can freely collaborate and thrive with like-minded musicians from around the world. Notable Berkleemusic online guitar students include Cathy and Kristen Henderson, founders of the popular band Antigone Rising. Initial plans for the rollout of this partnership include the development of online guitar classes designed specifically for women, as well as special packages tailor-made for women who enroll in online courses at the school. "As a female bass player during a time when male musicians outnumbered us by nearly 20 to 1, I wished there were more resources to help me and other women like me. By partnering with Berklee, I feel like we can really help women with better instruments, better education, and better opportunities. This is a huge step toward leveling the playing field and girls ruling the world!" - Tish Ciravolo, President & Founder of Daisy Rock Guitars "We're proud to be working with Tish and Daisy Rock Guitars. With our online learning environment, student's achievements are based solely on the merits of their work. One of the major goals for our online school is to empower more women to be involved in every area throughout the entire music industry. This partnership is an excellent step towards achieving that goal." - Dave Kusek, Vice President at Berklee For more information, visit their web site at www.daisyrock.com.

iPod touch. Touching student lives in the classroom.

Apple's new iPod Touch seems to be the new craze in the classroom and for many iPod advocates. iPod Touch offers many unique features previous versions on the iPod did not. Users can access the internet where there is a wireless connection and have the world at their fingertips. iPod touch. Touching student lives in the classroom is a collection of accounts from educators explaining how the iPod touch can revolutionize a classroom. This exhibit is making “mobile learning come to life” and hopes to change the world of education.
The iPod Touch offers “application” downloads which can be purchased in some cases accessed for free. These applications are explored through this iPod Touch collection exhibit and truly show how the iPod Touch offers something special to a classroom. Features like iTouch Flashcards allow students to drill and practice content being studied in class. There are even four planetarium applications science teachers may find applicable to their classrooms. Physical Education teachers can take advantage of the personal fitness applications available by Apple. You can check out this exhibit to see more user accounts of how applications are revolutionizing their teaching here!
Adding a microphone and ear buds is simple to do on the new iPod Touch! Teachers can record podcasts for students which makes creating lessons simple!
iPod Touch is a definitely something completely new to the education scene. In Waynesboro we have 2 iPod Touch mobile labs which are constantly being signed out and used by teachers. The awesome thing is you can import data using a memory stick to the iPod Touch so students can have your lesson in the palm of their hands. I use them in my room with various free education applications that the students can use independently, like handwriting applications and basic number recognition. Watch this YouTube video of a student explaining a project he has been working on in the classroom.
Do you think the iPod Touch is something to consider having in a classroom? Does it offer something new that no other technology can? Is the iPod Touch going to make a difference on learning? These are all questions to consider before purchasing for your own classroom and here for our discussion!

BYOL

Bring Your Own Laptop

Recently I read about a conference that caught my attention and curiosity – BYOL elearning 2009. (http://elearning.byol.com/). Bring your own laptop (BYOL) is a concept created by Rapid Intake Conferences based in Provo, Utah. Rapid Intake Conferences (http://www.rapidintake.com/) has designed a unique approach to technology training conferences in that all attendees will have hands on experience in every session attended. Unfortunately this is taking place next week, but there will be more next year, and hopefully I can attend.

"The idea behind this new line of conferences is simple," says Isaac Hess,
Director of Conferences and Events for Rapid Intake. "Every session in these
conferences will have a hands-on experience. And when I say every session, I
mean every session. These will be the only conferences of their kind in the
entire industry. No one else is doing this, and we're really excited."
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS63455+19-May-2009+PRN20090519

For me, I find this idea exciting and helpful for my learning style. I am definitely a kinetic and visual learner; I tend to drift off during an audio lesson (no offense to my professors – it comes from a very short attention span!), which makes a lot of my learning via research and online tutorials. The training sessions I lead are all hands on – each student has their own computer and several have commented it is much easier to learn and do at the same time, rather than read/listen and do later. If this is an effective training style in a classroom, why not in a conference setting? Not only does it give the attendees a chance to immediately practice what they have been taught, but it gives the presenters a chance to interact with the participants.

Do you think you would benefit from this type of conference, or would having a laptop in front of you be too much of a temptation and pull your attention away from the presenter? Would you have the strength to keep the laptop closed until it was time to play?

How Far Should Gaming Go?

The concept of “Gaming” has continuously evolved since the 1980’s with the advent of Pac Man and then Mario Brothers. Today, you will see Instructional Designers rushing to the drawing board to create “Educational Games” that will not only be cost effective, but will serve their purpose in the classroom.

I have some valid concerns about the long-term effectiveness of the use of “Educational Games” relative to the addictive nature of some people in “Gaming” environments. Most of us enjoy playing games on a social level, but some who have additive natures seem to immerse themselves into their “Gaming” world especially when it comes to “virtual” gaming. I believe that it is possible for some students to lose site of the actual learning goals of a game and become obsessive about conquering the game itself.

I think that there is a need for strong assessment of gaming activities used in learning environments to ensure that the specified learning goals are accomplished.

The onset of emerging trends in “Gaming” and “Social Media” are flooding in with the “Digital Age.” We, as educators, must take care to be wary of the Psychological and Social aspects of our student’s well-being in creating distinctive learning tools that can be properly assessed for effectiveness.

Do you think “Gaming” should be an exclusive tool for learning or should it remain as a supplement to reinforce learning?

Moreno-Ger, P., Burgos, D., & Torrente, J. (2009). Digital Games in eLearning Environments:

Current Uses and Emerging Trends. Simulation & Gaming, 40(5), 669-687.

http://search.ebscohost.com, doi:10.1177/1046878109340294

Chin, J., Dukes, R., & Gamson, W. (2009). Assessment in Simulation and Gaming: A Review of

the Last 40 Years. Simulation & Gaming, 40(4). 553-568. http://search.ebscohost.com, doi:

101177/1046878109332955

The Quest to Integrate New Technologies and Education

In past weeks we have discussed whether online classes should replace traditional face to face classes. The more common view seems to be that online classes should complement and enrich classes without completely replacing traditional face to face interaction and instruction. As new teaching methods are developed around new technologies, face to face interaction could be modeled to complement the instruction around new technologies instead of the other way around.

In a recent article, The Economist talks about Quest to Learn, a new school experimenting in this direction. Quest to Learn promotes what they call “gaming literacy” defined as “the play, analysis, and creation of games, as a foundation for learning innovation, and change in the 21^st century.” Instead of having usual classes like math, history and English, the day is divided into “domains”. One domain, for example, is called The Way Things Work. There, the students play that they inhabit the minds of scientist and thus learn about math and science.

But even though most of the instruction is done through computers, students do have some face to face interaction, however not in the traditional way. The day includes activities of “human simulation”, where students take the roles of the characters in their computer games. This idea is interesting, since it speaks of “translating digital into non-digital”, as opposed to a traditional classroom with some online instruction, where the non-digital is translated into digital.

The experiment of Quest to Learn gives us much to think about, not only in terms of the dichotomy of the digital replacing the non-digital, but instead of how the new technologies can model the development of new methodologies of education. Do you imagine education can be revolutionized following the concept of “gaming literacy”? What do you imagine?