Johnson Module 5 Blog Links

I responded to the following blogs this week:

Michele Baylor
http://msmichelle8842.blogspot.com/

Rashida Brown
http://rashidabrown.wordpress.com/

Johnson Module 5 Blog

When you decided to obtain a DVD for your science fiction assignment in Module 4, where did you go to find a movie based on a Philip K. Dick book? Did you rent or purchase a DVD, or did you view it digitally on your computer using Netflix or a similar vendor of video-on-demand?

When I considered movies to watch based on Philip K. Dick books, I first considered renting a DVD; however, the Blockbuster where I used to rent DVDs has gone out of business.  Before they went out of business, I hadn’t rented a DVD for several years anyway.  My second thought was to order the movie from my cable provider and watch it on my television.  However, that is a costly process and I would probably not find any of the movies I wanted to watch because they were old releases.  My third option was to use the Netflix subscription we have.  Netflix charges a monthly fee, and we can watch any movie, series, or TV show they have available (and they have thousands) on our TV, desktop computers or mobile devices.  Netflix had one of the movies on the list, so I watched that one on my desktop PC where I could pause, rewind, and watch it at my convenience.

Is the current competition between DVDs and video-on-demand an example of increasing returns or Red Queens? Justify your response with sound reasoning and specific examples.

Thornburg describes the theory of increasing returns as two technologies entering the market at the same time.  One technology gets “locked in” and makes the other technology obsolete even if the other technology is the superior technology (Laureate Education, 2010a).  His example of Beta versus VHS formatted tapes and Panasonic versus Sony as examples.  Because ultimately VHS-formatted tapes were more easily available to consumers, ultimately the Beta technology was rendered obsolete when VHS was “locked in.”

The situation between DVDs and video-on-demand is more of a red queen situation rather than of increasing returns.  DVDs and VODs did not emerge on the market simultaneously.  Renting and purchasing DVDs from chains such as Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, and from general merchandise and mass merchandise stores, online, and so forth, was an established market for quite some time.  The need for even better, or “new and improved” technology resulted in the emergence of videos on demand through cable providers and eventually subscription services like Netflix.  The Blockbuster and Hollywood Video near me eventually were put out of business by the burgeoning business of VOD services. 

Where do you think DVDs and video-on-demand are on the four criteria of McLuhan’s tetrad?

On McLuhan’s tetrad, DVDs are becoming obsolete as they are replaced by VODs that are enhancing technology to make the way consumers retrieve (access and view) movies and television shows more efficient (Laureate Education, 2010b). 

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). McLuhan’s tetrad. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Red queens. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Johnson Module 4 Blog Links

I commented on the following blogs this module:

Brandi Renfro

http://ballinteach44-atl.blogspot.com/

Vida Martin

http://vidamartinfuturist.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html

Johnson Module 4 Blog

Thornburg defined disruptive technology as what happens when something is being done one way and something brand new comes along that “knocks it out” or replaces it (Laureate Education, 2010).  The new technology that disrupts the status quo meets a need more efficiently than the technology it obsoletes; costs less, and so forth.  Second Life is a disruptive technology because it is replacing what was previously done and how it was done with what it offers.

Rosedale said Second Life is making the web obsolete (TED, 2008).  The two main ways it is doing that is by replacing the web’s text and graphics (text to text) method of obtaining information from the Internet.  Second Life uses symbols or images rather than words, and it allows users to interact with each other in real-time.  Rosedale’s example of shopping on Amazon.com in the traditional web text to text sense does not allow for interaction with the millions of other shoppers who are probably on their website at the time.  With Second Life, users represented by avatars can interact with other users, thereby making Second Life more social than the web.

Second Life reminds me of the virtual war game my son plays with other players around the world via his PS3.  Though they are not literally fighting in a war, their avatars in Battlefield represent them as soldiers that move about and interact with each other in an exact simulation of actively fighting in a war.  Sometimes when I hear him talking on his blue tooth headset with his teammates who are logged on from within and outside the United States, I think he has company over until I realize I can’t hear who is speaking back to him.  Watching him interact and move about on the screen while planning tactical maneuvers with his partners is so lifelike and realistic.  A promotional description of Battlefield states “Battlefield 3 delivers superior visual quality. In this video game the player feels the massive destruction, the highest quality of audio and lifelike character animations. It is an action packed realistic game where you feel the bullets whizzing by, the walls crumbling and the explosions throw you to the ground. The battlefields of this video game feel more alive and interactive than ever. The player steps into the role of the elite US Marines and they experience missions and combat. There is also a competitive multiplayer option ranging across diverse locations around the globe” (Studica, 2012). 

From the date of Rosedale’s presentation (2008) to now, I think technology such as the virtual war game Battlefield, has already emerged that will eventually replace what Second Life was/is capable of doing.  Rosedale himself said that Second Life at that time was not a replacement for online games (2008).  I believe the game my son plays is a refinement of Second Life and that more virtual world technology has already emerged that will eventually replace it or refine it until it is unrecognizable in its original state.

The ability to interact with people from around the world in real-time in a virtual world would expand the reach of continuing and higher education for instructors and students.  Being able to share information or collaborate on projects or research in the same place, looking at the same tools or information using virtual world technology would benefit my students, but would also benefit instructors.  The possibilities are endless. It would make it possible to research a project, shop for parts to build a component or put a project together, look at the same things at the same time and discuss it just as if you were in the store or library together is a fascinating concept and presents endless possibilities for learning, research, and so forth.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Disruptive technologies. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_967488_1%26url%3D

Rosedale, P. (2008). Philip Rosedale on second life. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html

Studica (2012). Battlefield 3 for PS3. Retrieved from http://www.studica.com/us/en/EA-Video-Games/battlefield-3/19728.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&gclid=CIH74Lnlu7ECFUkbQgod7mYAig

Johnson Module 3 Blog Links

I responded on the following blogs this module:

Jessica Green

http://jygreensblog.blogspot.com/

Rachel McCullough

http://emergingandfuturetechnologie.blogspot.com/

Johnson Module 3 Blog

I watched a repeat of an episode of the television series Undercover Boss where the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside (UCR) spent part of his time undercover assisting Professor Catharine Larsen (photo below) teach a chemistry class.  The class was state of the art, almost like an online class in a brick and mortar classroom.  The technology fascinated me.

In this episode the professor delivered her lecture interactively with students using whiteboard technology.  They were reviewing for a chemistry exam, the professor wrote the sample questions that were reflected on the whiteboard, the students selected their multiple choice response by clicking it on their hand held device that was connected to the whiteboard program, and the program then tallied the responses and gave statistics such as what percent of the students got the correct answer.  When the percentage of correct answers was unsatisfactory, the professor reviewed the materials/lesson and students then clicked in the answer again.  The end result of the one example that was televised showed the percentage of correct answers had improved to an acceptable level.

The embedded video (access via link below) - Designing Lessons for Interactive Whiteboards Part 5 Clickers - is an example of interactive whiteboard technology that demonstrates how the clicker actually works.  Kelly (2007) said that in the next 5,000 days of the web “We have to get good at believing the impossible”, because technology has already done what no one imagined it ever would, and it will continue to do so.  Clickers and interactive whiteboard technology are examples of the impossible coming to fruition in elementary, secondary and higher education classrooms, like I saw on the television show and as was demonstrated in the YouTube video. 

The rhymes of history, according to Thornburg, are “the affect or impact of new technology that rekindles something from the past” (Laureate Education, 2009).  Interactive whiteboard technology using clickers is revolutionizing instructor/student interactions.  This technology rekindles the long ago days when instructors lectured for hours, wrote on chalkboards and handed out tests on boards or paper, and students wrote answers in chalk, pencil, crayon or pen and ink.   

I was taken with how engaged a class of 250 students was throughout the lesson the instructor at UCR delivered.  Part of that engagement, I believe, was the inclusion of the interactive technology that was used to instruct, deliver course materials, and assess student mastery of subject matter. 

References

Kelly, K. (2007). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web. Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html

Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Rhymes of history. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_967488_1%26url%3D

Johnson Module 2 Blog Links

I responded on the following blogs this week:

Tim Weaver
http://weave1-weave1.blogspot.com/

Rachel McCullough

http://emergingandfuturetechnologie.blogspot.com/

Johnson Module 2 Blog

                                Mobile Devices and Applications

Roscorla (2012) said “In the next year or so, the Horizon Report suggests that mobile devices and apps as well as tablet computing will enter the mainstream in K-12 education” (p. 1). She also said “Increasingly students want to bring their mobile devices to school” (p. 1).  To that end, schools are cited in the report that have changed policies so students can bring mobile devices and use them as part of the educational process.  I believe the trend toward mobile technologies will increase as more educational institutions K-12 and post-secondary embrace this innovation and the convenience it affords the teaching and learning process.

   

References

Roscorla, T. (May 2012).  Six emerging technologies from the 2012 K-12 Horizon Report.

Retrieved from http://www.convergemag.com/policy/6-Emerging-Technologies-2012-K-12-Horizon-Report.html

Johnson Module 1 Blog Links

I responded on the following blogs this week:

Rashida Brown

http://rashidabrown.wordpress.com/

Vida Martin

http://vidamartinfuturist.blogspot.com/2012/06/open-source-technology.html

Johnson Module 1 Blog

Click to access link then click to watch video

Skype is a current technology that went from being a way for friends and families to connect using technology, to an educational tool that can connect students and teachers of all levels (K-postsecondary) around the world.  Not only is Skype being used to connect students, as you can see from the link, but it is used to connect industry around the world as well.  I once had a Skype interview for an online instructor position – I was in California and the HR representative from the organization was in Wisconsin!  Skype has made learning opportunities more convenient, because students and instructors in K-12 and higher education have access to other students and instructors in other parts of the world.  What an easy way to get the expert in your class – just call him/her on Skype.  Skype to Skype calling is free, and downloading Skype on computers is free as well.  There is no expense to teach students about life in America or in Africa when they can connect across the Pacific and Atlantic using Skype.  It is tantamount to acquiring an international education without ever leaving home. 

In post-secondary and adult education, Skype connects students and instructors as well.  Learning communities are formed in each of my classes, and except for time zone constraints, Skype has made meeting with the members of my learning community extremely easy.  We are able to collaborate, share information, and work on projects together using this technology.  Instructors are available via Skype as well, so tutoring and one on one support is also easily accessed.

One of the problems with Skype or any technology is connectivity – if a teacher has a Skype session scheduled but the system is down, or some students cannot log in from their remote location, which is a problem.  The day without Blackboard that I experienced recently is an example of connectivity issues with technology and how it can disrupt the learning process.  No convenience is foolproof, not even with the most advanced technological processes at work.

When using Skype with K-12 students, teachers have to use precautions so students are safe from online predators.  They must monitor discussions to ensure the students stay focused on the assignment, or that adults who should not be involved in the discussion are not.  This is easily done when Skype is set up in the classroom and the instructor is actively engaged with his/her students during the online interaction.

Skype works best in K-12 especially when there is a focus for the lesson, with written instructions, questions and opportunities for critical thinking and problem solving for the students.  Post-secondary and adult education students can be given a lesson focus, and perhaps a summary of information to complete an assignment or work out a problem to guide their interaction during the Skype conference.

Schools that use Skype in the classroom need to have fast Internet connection speeds, preferably wireless, and an open network to facilitate fast and secure connections for their interactions.  Instructors are challenged to develop a reciprocal relationship with instructors and experts across the country and around the world.   This will make the best use of Skype technology for students from K-12 to post-secondary and adult education.

Thornburg (2009) said that educational technology is constantly changing and “These trends, in many cases, are larger than the current technologies that support them” (p. 1).  The use of Skype technology in educational settings will advance with the growing trends with the suggested ways of managing current challenges, as well as keeping an eye on the future trends for this technology.

References

Thornburg, D.D. (2009). Current trends in educational technology. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201270_01/PH_EDUC/NCATE_EDUC_8848_EDUC_7108/Module%201/Resources/Resources/embedded/current_trends_in_ed_tech.pdf