Week 14: Using Gaming for Teaching and Learning

This week we talked about using gaming for teaching and learning. The primary game we talked about in class was second life--basically virtual life, a place where you can do everything in another world with a person you've created. We discussed in class whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. Although the Internet has wonderful programs that can be really useful for education, I think online games is where it becomes a little too risky.

Most children are used to navigating the online world, and as many parents can tell you, most already have online games they play. In this society, it's easy to become swept away with the Internet. It is so incredibly important for teachers and educators to teach children the importance of not letting the Internet take over their life. Using online games for teaching does the opposite. It reaffirms what children are beginning to believe--that it's OK to rely on the Internet for everything. I'm not saying every situation is a bad one, but you must be very picky and cautious about how many online games you use when teaching children.

One area where gaming really hasn't hit too hard yet is journalism. There are no clear, everyday uses for gaming in the journalism field. It is an interesting thing to think about, though. Using games for informing adults and attracting readers is much different than teaching children, first of all. In a constantly evolving world it's interesting to think about how you could use games in journalism. For instance, you could use them to accompany a story or in some interactive way on a publication's website. Actually, using it as an interactive way is really great idea. It'll be interesting to see over the next few years how games begin to permeate journalism.

All that said, I don't want to sound to critical. Like I said before, yes it is a very dangerous area to get into. But to be fair, it's important to evaluate all sides and look at the benefits of online games, too. The below video show how five graduate students from IIT Delhi are trying to make learning easier for  kids through games they are developing. The video, a news report from NDTV, shows the benefits to gaming for teaching and learning. They're really are a lot of benefits. You just have to be extremely cautious.

Week 13: Distance Education and Virtual School

This week we talked about distance education and its influence on  education and society. We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of distance education verse in-classroom education.

What does it mean to be a Gator? Can you be a Gator and not take UF classes on the UF campus? In reality, it probably doesn’t make that much of a difference when you're looking for a job. Your degree doesn’t specify whether it was online or not. But there is something special about being on campus. There’s something special about being around 50,000 other Gator fans.  Socially, you can’t compare the two. Education, however, is hard to measure. In today’s world it’s much easier to take online classes and that is generally an accepted thing. I think a lot of it depends on the classes and the major. Some classes, like science or journalism classes, would be better taught in the classroom rather than over the Internet.

Despite how much it has taken off, though, distance education is still being developed throughout society. It’s still something people are kind of iffy on.  However, some distance education classes can be used in really great ways. When I first started as a journalism student, I had a hard time getting the hang of some of my reporting classes. So, I took free online courses with the Poynter Institute. The Poynter Institute is not necessarily as school, but it’s a good example of how I have been able to use online classes to improve my skills as a journalist. The classes I have taken have been very good and helped a lot, which says a lot about how good online classes and distance education can be.

But just because I had some online success with class doesn’t mean they are all great. As we talked about in class, it is still an area very much up for debate; they each have pros and cons. A chapter, Benefits of Distance Learning, in A Teacher’s Guide to Distance Learning, provides a great look at some of the benefits for distance learning from a teacher’s perspective. We always look at the students when discussing whether distance education is beneficial or not, but what about teachers feelings on distance education? Check out the article for more details. Another article on QuintCareers.com provides a great list of distance education pros and cons. Both articles really show some of the drawbacks and benefits of distance education, so check out both for more details.

Week 12: Creating a Professional Web Presence

This week we talked about the importance of having a professional web presence, some online place where future employers can go to learn more about you and see some of your work. As college students getting ready to look for jobs, it's important for us to show that not only can we do a job, but we also know how to use technology and the Internet for educational purposes.

For our Web Presence assignments we are using Google Sites. Google Sites, like most of the other online tools we looked at this semester, is incredibly easy to use. Through using Google Sites we're able to create an online site with our resume, portfolio, and personal information. As we discussed in class, a web presence is an important development for students to have. It shows you are using the Internet in positive ways--for more than just Facebook.

I was really excited about this assignment. As a journalism student, I'm always building up my portfolio with stories. Journalism is an applied field--it's a skill that's not taught through book work. To get a job as a journalists, employers want to see clips and photos. Sending in tons of copies of stories can get expensive. Being able to give a future employer a site for them to see a variety of stories you've written is such a plus. When I started by internship at The North Florida Herald last summer, one of the very first things the editor told us was that we have to have some online place to put our work. That was the first thing he told us! It's so important for student journalists to have somewhere to showcase their skills because in this day and age, you won't find a job without it.

The work, though, doesn't stop with simply creating a web presence. You have to constantly be developing your site to improve and reflect what you are doing at that point in your life. This blog offers "101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence."  The blog really emphasizes somethings (like blogging every single day). The list offers great ways to continue to develop your web presence and impress future employers. 
 

Week 11: Open Source Software

This week in class we talked about open source software and cloud computing. Open Source Software are  online tools, like Audacity or Gimp, that people can download and use for free. Programs like Google Docs are cloud computing programs. Although open source and cloud computing can be difficult to understand, looking at the tools they produce really clarifies things.

Open Source Software is wonderful because it's free and very useful.  For instance, open source software allow people to use programs like Gimp instead of Adobe Photoshop. Open Office is another good example of open source software--it's a down-loadable program  that's compatible with programs like Microsoft Word. As we talked about in class, open source software and cloud computing are another great example of how technology can provide a multitude of benefits for users.

To be honest, I like open source software because it's free. Why? Beacause I'm a journalist (which almost guarantee's a life of poverty) and a college student. As journalism takes on more and more--from designs to online media--a journalist must be able to use a multitude of things. Having open source software can help make working on assignments and projects easier. I can use Gimp to work on designs and photos instead of buying photoshop. If there's a compatibility problem with a word document, I can use Open Office. I can use Google Docs for ideas and brainstorming, or I can use Audacity to create sound clips. Open Source Software is useful for anyone, but because the field of journalism covers such a large area, cloud computing and open source software really help me out.

There are a TON of resources out their for people to take advantage of. The few programs listed above are not the only programs out there. For a more complete list of open source software programs, check out this list provided by Damicon. The list breaks open source software down by category and is an amazing resource for people to take advantage of.