Post 4

"When is 'Virtual' Real Enough?" By Kate Conley

In her article, Conley tackles the idea of online education, and ultimately decides that the term "virtual," or as Merriam-Webster defines it as " being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted." Conley contends that this is the state in which online education is in, not *quite* real yet, for most educators anyway.

Conley goes on to reflect on her own education in the 1970s, in which she was expected to do work both in, and outside of class (though obviously not online). Her school also used no grades, and instead used written self and teacher evaluations. This was of course a radical method of he time, and parents were skeptical about how well this prepared their students for college. As it turns out, the colleges were happy to take these students.

It was from this experience with more "radical" education techniques that Conley proclaims that she sometimes becomes irritated with those who have negative reactions to online learning. As she points out, students are already attaining much of their information from online already, with or without formal education making use of it. Conley believes that using online resources is an excellent way to expand on more formal education, and should be embraced.

Personally, I am a big proponent of online education. A large portion of my own learning has come from online sources as of late, whether it be from an online only course, or utilizing the campus library through their online article database. Even something as controversial as wikipedia provides a nice place to start if nothing else. This is not to mention the ever increasing amount of news sites, blogs, and websites specifically dedicated to student learning. In this era of computers it would be folly to NOT have our students make use of this resource.

I would make sure to present projects in my class which would require an online source (not that it would likely be needed as a requirement.) However, it would also be part of the learning process to teach students which sources of online information are credible, and thus source-worthy. Just as one needs to be careful about using magazines or books when doing research, these same skills are all the more important to online learning due to the ease of publication. Educators should thus embrace online learning, not only as a fabulous tool, but to teach our students how to properly navigate the online environment.

Post 3

"Can Facebook Replace Face-to-Face?" Larry S. Anderson and Ellen Hildenbrand

This article asked the question, "can facebook replace face-to-face," or can we teach without actually seeing out students? Anderson believes we can. He notes the feelings of connectivity one has with social networking sites like facebook, as convenient as it is practical. While Anderson makes note that interfaces like facebook fall short in areas that face-to-face instruction thrives in, but believes that despite this the forum is superior. For example, the old addage of "don't judge a book by it's cover" comes to mind in Anderson's reasoning that assumptions made on one's appearance could be greaty reduced in such a format. Instead we are left with the information they provide, rom social interaction, "personal, professional, and political tendencies," among others. Ultimately though, Anderson is not saying we should ONLY use such a system as facebook, only noting it's use as a precurser to face-to-face instruction. Anderson notes further the convenience of exchanging media in this medium, as well as not being bogged down by an individual who doesn't know when to shut up.

Hildenbrand takes a decidedly different view of the topic. Most notably she feels the need as a teacher to be able to read her student's facial and body language, as well as the need for development in public speaking. Like Anderson though, Hildenbrand is not saying that teachers and students shouldn't use such technologies to enhance learning, just that it can't completely replace face-to-face interaction, nor should it. Both points are valid, and basicly say the same thing, with perhaps Anderson being more optimistic about the technology. Ultimately though, both say that facebook like social networking sites are useful tools, but that face-to-face is necessary for certain areas.

I personally would love to use facebook or a similar site to supplement my teaching in the future. Mind you, I would not use my personal facebook page to launch such endevours from, nor would I force students to make use of it. However, for those students who may too shy in a classroom setting to speak out, changing the format to an online one would allow for these people to get their ideas and questions out, all the while allowing the quick and easy exchange of media to suppliment learning.

Post 2

Hooked on Classroom Blogging, by Rachel Peters. (March/April 2009)

In this article Rachel Peters recounts her experience using blogs as a means to communicate with her class while she was in Vietnam helping Earthwatch Institute study butterfly diversity and population changes. Peters noted that this activity would provide an excellent opportunity for both her and her students to develop a better understanding of Vietnam, both it's geographical and human selves. Much like the article on using chat, Peters believe that a blog provided a similar real-time experience which would increase the interest of her children and this inspire them to become more willing to learn about the topic. Prior to leaving, Peters involved he class in many of aspects of her trip, including the food she would encounter, travel arrangements, and even games to help remember the local geography. Peters notes that she used Google's blogger to set up her blog. Peters had to think of a good way to hook 9 to 10-year olds on her blog, so the more traditional set-up of her husbands blogs seemed ill adapted to the task. Instead, Peters eventually learned to get her readers involved in the blog by adding quizzes and rewards, generating more interest and a desire to get involved from her students. This as a whole seemed like an excellent way to get her students involved in her study in Vietnam, and despite early problems with lack of excitement, she clearly adapted to her audience with wonderful results.

I certainly like the idea using a blog such as this to aid my students in learning more about the world through my eyes. However, I would like to expand these views to my students as well. As part of expanding on their understanding of different perspectives and the lives of others, I would consider assigning students to each create their own blog post about their family, or about a trip they took, or anything they wanted to share with the class. This could be done in the same way that current "show and tell" projects are done, only using a blog format to allow fellow students to see the information and pictures related to their peers whenever they wanted, and allow for comments on their own experiences.

Post 1

Chatting It Up Online, by Pamela Livingston.

The article, "Chatting It Up Online" by Pamela Livingston takes a look at the use of online Chat to increase the interest in reading for her students. Through the article Livingston makes several good points about preparing for for the chat. Among these include not telling her students about the chat until she and the staff were fairly sure the chat would happen, checking for potential problem areas like the school's firewall causing issues, display problems as a result of large windows in the computer lab washing out the projection, as well as checking the questions to make sure that they made the best use of the author's time by asking questions which would be hard to have answered through other sources. Livingston also made note that the ability to chat "live" with the author served to increase the experience for her students, as they did not have to wait an excessively long time for the answers to their questions from the author. Livingston also noted the benefit of this chat was in seeing the staff work together in order to make the chat happen, from the computer tech disabling the firewall to maintenance putting up blinds.

I've personally participated in chat sessions of this type before, I believe that they indeed would be a useful tool to use for my students to increase their interest in any number of subjects. I honesty don't know how I would adapt the ideas presented, other than varying the subject matter based on student grade and interest. As much as I would like to say I would be able to handle much more of the chat setup myself, personal experience with school computer systems leads me to believe otherwise. At any rate, I agree with Livingston that such an event would help to increase my students willingness to read, and thus learn, by being able to directly speak with the author of one or more of their favorite authors. By being able to speak to the person behind these books they may be able to grasp more greatly their own ability to write.

Standards: NETS 4. (See http://
cnets.iste.org for more information
on the NETS Project.)