Monday, June 28, 2010
Communicado
The internet has drastically changed the ways that we communicate. There is IMing, social networking, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, iReporting, Sykpe and virtual worlds. As the means of communicating online continue to develop and evolve so does the way that we integrate them into distance education. Siemen's spoke of how the more that people got comfortable with all the different ways to communicate online, the more they were able to adapt from the usual f2f classroom to an online environment. The evolution of communication online started with AOL. AOL provided its users with chat and IM and this was the beginning of a revolutionary change in the way that we communicate. I think that online communication is just beginning to peak but there are many more new types of communication that is still waiting to be diffused into our everyday lives. If a professor maximizes the tools of communication that are available then students can, share work, talk, text, type, collaborate, tweak and change, listen, comment and announce their learning advances. These types of communication breakdown into two categories synchronous and asynchronous communication. Synchronous happens instantly, like IMing and asynchronous happens over time, such as blogging :) Each of these types of communication have their benefits to distance education and I think to have an 80% asynchronous and 20% synchronous environment would facilitate the best learning. Students are more likely to process the information and share it with a different intensity, if they have time to do so. Instant conversation is also important and should be included but at a disproportionate rate.
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Kat...
ReplyDeleteI like your connection to one of the original online communicators, AOL. This online service gave us the ability to use the online resources and communicate through instant messages, email messages, and group chats. This was the extent of the service. Video was eventually integrated, and although it was interesting, it never really caught on. With the improvements on bandwidth and computing ability, video, messaging, and web surfing can be all done at once while still being able to do more. This continued growth I feel will lead to even more capabilities.
Hi Kat,
ReplyDeleteI must admit before I enrolled in Walden’s distant education program, I was not really aware of what online technology tools had to offer. All I knew regarding technology was introduced by my school district which has mostly been technology equipment and software. But now, I have become more conscious, engaged, and comfortable with online technology tools. If it were not for this program, I do not think I would have taken the initiative to explore the different online technology tools available. My question to you is how do we convince teachers who were just like me about the benefits of on-line technology tools like, Wiki’s, Second Life, Blogging and etc?
Kat,
ReplyDeleteSuper job. I like the reference to AOL boy have we come far since then. I lost a son in a cra accident in 2004 and he was active on Sykpe I am ashamed to say I haven't even tried yet. I guess he knew what was new and innovative. I can understand more and more why they say web 1.0, web 2.0 and now web 3.0. The interenet is exploding and I find it interesting on a daily basis what is going on in the social communication and collaboration sites online. Recently most of the teachers aty school got into the new facebook fad. Many have already shut down their pages because they said it was too hard to keep up with messaging everyone. Many now feel that it is demanding their time.
What are you thoughts on the Facebook? Do you think Facebook is just another fad like Myspace?
LaTonya,
ReplyDeleteI think that teachers need a little fire lit under their butt. I am kinda saddened by the lack of enthusiasm most teacher's have towards learning. Teachers are often regarded as the worst students and it is very true. I teach a lot of teachers in my district and I am appalled at their lack of motivation to catch up with today's technological advances or even yesterday's?? In the business world if you can't keep at pace with all technological advances than you will lose your job but in teaching we just coddle. Sorry, I have some strong feelings on the issue, lol.
Lynne,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your son.
I think that facebook and myspace are very different. Facebook has a lot of different applications built into it that make it long-lasting compared to MySpace. I think the fact that FB can be updated many times a day is the reason that people visit it more frequently. Occasionally, I am overwhelmed by FB but I can let it go for days and it is not a big deal. The teachers in my school are all different ages and yet we stay very connected through FB and it has increased the bond in our building.