Digital Divide

So what exactly is the.....Digital Divide?

According to the Oxford Dictionary it is:
" the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, and those who do not:a worrying “digital divide” based on race, gender, educational attainment, and income."

There is a digital divide happening across our country in the urban poor and rural country.  

In an article written by the Hechinger Report, in January of 2012, a school housing nearly 1,000 students only had 24 computers available in a computer lab.  With such little access to computers these children were struggling with such basic tasks as saving files to flash drives and setting margins in Microsoft Word.  Here is a short 1 min video on the challenges this school is facing.

http://vimeo.com/3414126

Rural communities are facing the challenge of getting Internet access out to the community.  I found in an article written in the Denver Post of how a local cable company, Comcast is helping families receive the access for their children.  Comcast on a National level has launched an "Internet Essentials" program to provide families with at least one child on a free or reduced lunch school plan the opportunity to receive monthly Internet service at the price of $9.95 and a voucher worth $150 for a low-cost computer. 

As we all know technology is everywhere, but we rarely stop to think of those who do not have the resources to take advantage of our technological advances.  I hope this has made everyone more aware that schools and communities are still struggling to keep up with the ever changing technology.

Sources:
http://hechingerreport.org/content/as-some-schools-plunge-into-technology-poor-schools-are-left-behind_7463/

http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/digital%2Bdivide

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_21351636/educations-digital-divide-more-about-bandwidth-than-computer

TechnoKids

Remember in elementary school when your teacher wanted to show you an educational video?  She would have to go down to the library and hope it was not being used by another teacher, or the school may not even have the video in the library at all.  Do you remember asking a teacher a question they did not know, and the teachers response was "I'll have to get back to you on that."

Gone are the days of having to wait for anything.  Technology has taken learning to a whole new level.  Teachers are now using SMARTBoards, educational websites, and Youtube to make learning not only educational but FUN!

SMART what?  SMARTBoards are the new whiteboards.  Except they are much cooler.  SMARTBoards not only allow teachers to write on them.  They give teachers access to the internet, allow them to save their notes for students who may have missed class, and allow children to interact with them in every subject.  These "Magic Boards" are making their way into classrooms around the country from elementary to high schools.

As the mother of a 1st grader at JV Washam Elementary, I see and hear about how my child is using technology on a daily basis.  Her school is fortunate enough to have SMARTBoards in every classroom.  With this technology they are able to look at and discuss many different websites as a class, and not just a one-on-one basis of computer usage.  I have compiled a list of excellent websites her school is using which consist of the following:

• www.starfall.com-used mostly in Kindergarten curriculum as a fun way to introduce a variety of topics in a fun educational game setting
• www.razkids.com- Is an excellent source for early readers.  Teachers do have to buy the service for their classroom, but it is well worth the price.  Children are first tested to see what level they begin on beginning with A and going through AA.  After their individual reading level is determined the children can begin to read books at their level.  They are able to read the book silently to themselves, or have the book read aloud to them.  When the book is read to them each word is highlighted as it is read.  After reading the book silently and listening to the book they are asked comprehension questions.  After answering the comprehension questions correctly the children are given points which go to the Raz Rocket room.  In this room you are able to "buy" different items to decorate your room.  If you do not have enough points for a particular item then you continue reading until you gain enough points for your purchase.
• www.sheppardssoftware.com- This website is used for math problem solving and other educational activities.  It is free for everyone to use.  This website begins with Pre-K skills, and goes up to eighth grade and beyond to Algebra and Geometry.  The website uses games and pictures as their teaching strategy and gives instant feedback.
• www.voki.com- Is an awesome website for literature.  Students at all grade levels are using this site for the creation of avatars.  The students are first creating stories, and then they are able to design and create an avatar to tell their story.  This site is helping them with spelling, and proofreading.  If a student has spelled a word wrong they will be able to tell by listening to what their Voki says, and they are also able to listen to what the Voki says and are able to decide if it makes sense or not.
• www.dogonews.com-  Is used to keep students informed on current events, holidays, and certain significant historical events.

While students are still using textbooks in the classroom the use of technology is becoming widespread.  No longer are students just using the computer on their assigned weekly or bi-weekly computer lab time.  Computers are being used on a daily basis in the classroom by teachers and students.  Beginning as early as Kindergarten students are given access to computers, and teachers are incorporating all sorts of different avenues into the learning process.  Children are now more excited than ever to go to school.  Learning has become a fun creative process through the use of technology.

Look for my next post which will discuss the "digital-divide" between schools with technology access and those that do not have the access.

eLearning and eTraining: Is there an option for me?

So far here we've covered some of the details of eLearning and eTraining. With this particular post, though, I’d like to take a step back and cover what specifically eLearning is and which eLearning options are currently available in the educational marketplace. If you’re like me you’re likely to be surprised at what is available and how broad our eLearning options really are.

To begin with, when you see or hear the term eLearning, the first thing that probably pops into your mind is perhaps something along the lines of online education. While online education does makeup a significant portion of what the term ‘eLearning’ represents, there’s certainly much more to it than that. For starters, the letter “e” in eLearning (as we've discussed in class) means electronic, and many technological devices are encompassed in that one simple character and term. For instance, long before online education developed through applications like Moodle or Black Board, institutions were using things like video cameras, VCRs, and telephones to help facilitate instruction. The first electronic instruction I remember receiving was when I was in elementary school. We had a Spanish teacher that loved to use video tapes (VCRs seem so dated) to aid her instruction, and I also had a few teachers that liked to use Laser discs to break the monotony of regular lecture. Given that telephones, VCRs, and Laser Discs aren't extremely modern technologies, eLearning and eTraining isn't some new concept. Newer, more widely used technologies like the internet and video communication applications have, however, helped make eLearning and eTraining more adaptable to time, distance, location, and availability and because of that eLearning has really evolved greatly over a relatively short period of time.

With that in mind, there are currently a wide range of options out there as to where and how one can receive instruction on either an expansive or limited, free or costly basis. Currently, teachers are using web applications that some of us use on a social level, like Skype and YouTube, to integrate with devices like white boards and programs like Power Point or Prezy in efforts to conduct a simplistic yet unconventional learning environment. Don’t take my word for it, just take a little time to search around for videos that are out there on YouTube that can and have been answering a wide array of questions pertaining to whatever you can think of. Just last spring I had an economics teacher use some YouTube videos as supplemental instruction to help “sink in” some concepts that were a little harder to grasp in one lecture. At the same time, instructors are also finding more ways to use email to communicate lessons: an eLearning tool I’m sure you probably forget about when thinking on what eLearning or eTraining is about.

Comparatively you probably aren't aware of just what all is out there and available and the different methods of teaching used by instructors all across the globe. For instance, I bet you weren’t aware that currently in just about every state in the U.S. you can receive a kindergarten through 12^th grade education completely online (from the comfort of wherever you chose) through an educational software company entitled K12. K12 plays host to both public (free) and private (pay) accredited education avenues where, much like home schooling, kids can advance at their own pace.

Similarly, there are applications and software out there like Coursera, edX, and Udacity that offer online courses through high ranking universities like MIT, Stanford, Harvard, the University of Michigan, Princeton, and a few others. The one drawback to the majority of the courses offered through these educational mediums, however, is that completion of said courses cannot be substituted for college credit for a comparative course at most traditional colleges and universities in the U.S. As a matter of fact, some states are fighting against online education altogether. Instead, what you’ll receive upon completion of one of these courses is a certificate presented by the instructor and the mere value that you've received from taking elite courses from some of the most elite universities in the nation. Perhaps that doesn't sound like much incentive, but close to 3 million registered users of these programs seem to think that being given the option to take these courses, at their own leisure might I add, from such prestigious institutions for free presents just enough value to garner their participation in this growing educational market.

By and large, eLearning and eTraining is growing at a rapid rate, and much of that is to be contributed to the advances in technology that have enabled distance learning and online education in general. Still yet many pundits are adamant in their beliefs that even though eLearning has become a huge aid to educators at every level, it could never completely take the place of the conventional, classroom setting. Perhaps they’re right; maybe they’re wrong. Whatever may be the case, it still should be very interesting to see what such a growing industry will look like when my kids (who have not even been conceived yet) are where I am now. Given that Coursera, edX, and Udacity all three are in their infant stages with neither having been in existence more than 3 years, there’s definitely much to be expected in the future.

So, what are your thoughts? Could you see the conventional classroom fading into non-existence? Why or why not?

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K12_(company)

http://www.k12.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELearning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_management_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coursera

http://www.coursera.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdX

http://www.edx.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udacity

http://www.udacity.com

An Abacus to a Sony Xperia Z?

I’ve managed to pretty much be “on the scene” during the acceleration of the “Electronic Age” and into the “Information Age.” As amazed as people are today about the advances in Information Technology, there was a time when that term had not even been invented. We still had to learn, if we could, each new technology that makes up Enterprise Systems today.

I doubt anyone in our class uses a Palm® device (currently called a WebOS device) but that was all we had for the first smartphones. It kept track of our lists of things to do, appointments, calendars, favorite contacts; It could also communicate with a network over an InfraRed wave connection, to sync information. Basically, the Palm replaced our DayPlanner®s. It had no Internet access, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, camera, weather report, not even a background picture. Some “bleeding edge” businesses used them for writing notes when with a client and synchronizing with the company network server when they returned; but, for tackling databases, spreadsheets, real written documents, network administration, and passing data to a co-worker without returning to the company’s location, it was “Not ready for Primetime.” Moving from a paper system that we learned during the course of focused face-to-face classes seminars and training, to a handheld that had a 60+ page User Guide to read, and many other steps in advancing technologies, each took less time than the previous technology; but stilt least a week for the Palm®. Today’s smartphones use apps that are so user friendly that learning to use the new system doesn’t need a 60+ page instruction manual. You just read the description of how the app works online, then download it.

Before that, plotting or rendering designs, architectural plans, and engineering specifications were all handled by written instructions on paper until the inkjet plotter came along. When the drawings became more detailed, the builder of the product could learn more about the job at hand and fewer mistakes were made. Then another process, the existing Internet which had to be accessed through portals made up usually of Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), became useable enough to pass the source files on to the builders. Learning to use new software allowed the builders to see the plans in 3 dimensions and rotate the plots of the product. Additionally, numeric controllers were advancing far enough to be used in more applications, so trimming materials or machining a part could occur using output from those same digital plans. Tolerances closed up as a result of those two advancements, for much higher quality furniture, homes, and the aforementioned Palm® as a result of the planners and builders training themselves in some cases through trial-and-error, to use the electronic communication and systems.

Going back further, communicating with someone away from home or the office was practically impossible. What we call cell phones today do not even actually use cellular strategy for their operations any more (towers are used instead) but the name stuck because we coined the term as the service became available. Those who could afford the commitment flocked to one of the introductory carriers to demonstrate how they could use mobile phones. I had to suffice with using payphones to call my colleagues and loved ones. I’ve seen the kiosks left from torn out payphones but the last functioning unit I’ve actually seen was in my apartment complex three years ago, and that was removed before I left. I could count on my sister or my Mom to trip over the cord that connected our home phone to the wall. At that time, even cordless phones (and facsimile machines) were only available to “the rich uncle” or they were a sign of moving up in the world for those who could afford them. The device that most closely resembled the collaboration process today, did not support teleconferencing…teleconferencing is one of the most effective teaching methods adopted for distance learning.

Instead of running printouts and copies (we got in the bad habit of calling those, xeroxes, in the same way a tissue is often called Kleenex®) of assignments and worksheets, and items that needed multiple copies; we had carbon paper, for large quantities we had a printing service handle it, and for quick large quantities on-site we used a mimeograph machine. That device involved making a master, sliding it into a carrier slip, attaching the assembly to a small drum, then (few numerical controls) turning a hand crank until the drum spat out the required number of copies. If you watch an old movie and wonder “Why are the students portrayed as sniffing the assignment sheets as soon as they are handed out?” The explanation is due to the mimeograph’s consumables. Strong solvents evaporated from inks to leave a purple or brown impression on the pages. Today we can depend on digital printers to electronically transfer our downloaded homework—without any ink sniffing.

Practically any advance in technology, even a bigger bomb or improved firearm, can be considered an advance in communication. Learning as many advanced technologies as we have today can only be accomplished thanks to even the most unnoticed electronic devices. I think I have seen nearly every advance, albeit some observations were in museums, Betamax® or on film. Learning each new technology rewarded us with the ability to create newer technologies to learn but also made learning faster and easier as the technologies progressed from analog through hybrid to digital methods. I became in some ways jealous of the younger generations that could skip directly to the current technologies without spending the time to learn obsolete ones.

You still want to know “What is an abacus?” That was the device that people used when they ran out of fingers and toes for mathematics. How long would it take (without Google, or any other electronic assistance for that matter) you to gain the knowledge to use the device?

E-learning; now or later?

     In the past when an individual was deciding on whether to take an online or traditional class, one of the determining factors was whether that individual was comfortable with not having the environment that comes with a traditional class room setting: instructor, classmates, tangible visual aides etc. This no longer seems to carry as much weight in the decision making process because online classes have become the norm. Not surprising because the pace at which technology changes is extremely fast and the society is striving to keep up.  A new dilemma now arises for the average student: whether to take an Asynchronous class or a Synchronous class.

     Simply put a Synchronous class is real time virtual learning and an Asynchronous class is self paced online learning. In a synchronous setting both the instructor and students are required to participate at the same time; it is just as though everyone is in a class room except for being mobile. Students can view virtual white boards and even raise their virtual hands during the class. Asynchronous class members are given the course materials by their instructor and work to meet deadlines at the time of their choosing. In some situations the student is left entirely to themselves, but usually they can communicate with the instructor and classmates through discussion groups or through email. At the end of the day a student now has a choice of what suites their individual learning style.

The below video is by black board collaborate; an example of synchronous e-learning.

 

                                                http://youtu.be/K5s9wXUQlyk

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_learning 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronous_learning 

http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/online-learning/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-classes/

http://people.howstuffworks.com/elearning1.htm