Laureen Kodani | ePortfolio
 
Microblogging can be an effective tool in an educational context. There are several useful reasons Twitter can be a beneficial microblogging tool. One example involves using Twitter as a quick and easy communication tool for instructors and students to build learning communities. Real-time information pertaining to assignments, class schedules, and hot topics can be distributed efficiently via Twitter. Another example involves furthering a discussion that would normally end when synchronous sessions end. A learning community can debate, advocate, dissuade, or simply share about course-related topics long after class ends. Since technology is dynamic and continually changing, course discussions could also be dynamic while engaging learners beyond the classroom (virtual or F2F) environment. Learners can become curators of significant information anytime, anywhere. Microblogging can be accomplished via mobile devices and its interactive and convenient nature of can enhance learning experiences.

Three specific reasons to support Twitter as a useful tool in an educational context.  A micro and macro perspective:

Hashtags can be utilized to target a specific audience.
Micro - Students enrolled in a course
Macro - All who are interested in the same topic, field, industry.

Hashtags can be utilized to manage specific information.
Micro - Query course content, course discussion thread
Macro - Query relevant topics in a specific field, industry, and query discussion threads in a specific topic, field or industry.

Social and professional networking to acquire new knowledge about educational technology and trends.
Micro – build learning community amongst students and instructor
Macro – expand your reach by networking with others interested in the same topics, field, or industry to acquire more and new knowledge 

 
Background & Overview:

The Internet was made public in the 1990ʻs, however, Project Gutenberg began offering free electronic books in 1971 (“Internet timeline,” 2000; “Project Gutenberg,” 2012). The first electronic document by Project Gutenberg was the Declaration of Independence. Since then, digitized reading materials have become routine and perhaps expected (Mealer, Morgan & Williams, 2011). More than 2,000,000 titles are available from various electronic distributors and the number continues to grow ("Survey of Kindle," 2011). The 2011 Horizon Report described the practice of electronic books to be a meaningful impact in the area of higher education (Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine & Haywood, 2011). There are several eReader devices available such as Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook, and Kobo.

An essential point to keep in mind is the difference between eReaders and tablets. Although some eReaders have wireless features to access the Internet, they should not be considered the same device as tablets such as Appleʻs iPad. However, eReader applications can be easily installed on tablets.

Discussion:
What are the implications of implementing eReaders in a higher education learning environment? Are eReaders being utilized in learning contexts? Are there formative and summative opportunities with eReaders? Here are a few advantages and disadvantages to consider:

Advantages:
  • Accessibility
  • Cloud-based
  • Contextual search capabilities, annotation and citation tools, highlighting, and bookmarking.
  • Lightweight portability for mobile learning (BYOD)
  • Individual and social interactive features
  • e-ink for easy reading
  • Text to speech feature
  • Available on multiple platforms
Disadvantages:
  • Lack of page number identification
  • Eye fatigue for some eReaders
  • Not all models have touch screen capabilities
Other Considerations:
  • Device and Internet access required
  • Entry level behavior skills required
  • Digital Rights Management (DRM)
  • Intellectual Property & Copyright
  • Accessibility, American Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • RAM (memory)
  • Battery life (dependent on eReader device)
  • Overall cost (versus printed textbooks)
Summary:
A thorough context and learner analysis is necessary in order to determine whether this technology can be integrated to successfully meet learning objectives.

References:
Internet Timeline. (2000). Teacher Librarian, 27(5), 68.

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 horizon report: Higher education edition.
Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2011-Horizon-Report.pdf.

Mealer, C. K., Morgan, P. J., & Williams, C. W. (2011). ereaders in higher education. (Master's thesis, University of Alabama). Retrieved from http://csm570spring11.pbworks.com/f/eReader.

Project Gutenberg. (2012, April 08). Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.

Survey of Kindle, Nook, Ipad, Sony and overdrive ebook store collection size. (2012, January 12). Retrieved from http://www.ebookreaderguide.com/2011/03/13/kindle-nookcolor-ipad2-sony-overdrive-which-ebookstore-has-most-ebook-titles/


 

A very successful conference! Day 3 was just as informative as Days 1 and 2. Today included more sessions of mastersʻ research projects. Here is a list of presentation topics for sessions I attended with links to the pages where you can easily access the recordings and discussion forums:

Meileneʻs session, Learning Pronunciation of Chinese Surnames, Proper Salutations and Useful Greetings Using VoiceThread, was useful for me because she did an exceptional job of designing her instructional module and presenting the data. I was reminded how important it is to help the learner make meaningful connections to the content being taught. 

All of the session recordings are available so if you were unable to attend, be sure to watch the recording. I look forward to 2013 TCC Online Conference!!
 
We are on day 3 of the conference and I am only now posting a reflection for day 2!! I have been attending great sessions and found the time slipping away faster than I could manage. The quality of information has been refreshing and enlightening. Here is a list of presentation topics for sessions I attended with links to the pages where you can easily access the recordings and discussion forums:
The session by Jason G. Caudill, PhD posed a question about using OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Open Education Resources (OER) as a means to encourage learning outcomes with credentials. I feel this can be used in educational and business contexts. This is definitely a topic I plan to learn more about. 

It is exciting to see my fellow graduate candidates doing such a great job in sharing their research data and mini-online course projects.

Okay, back to day 3 for me….more to come! Donʻt forget the Mayan Temple Treasure Hunt in Second Life. I hope to experience that 

 
WOW! What a wealth of diverse information. If you have not yet attended any of the sessions, you are missing out on a great opportunity. I implore you to make time for 2012 TCC Online Conference. There are more sessions today and tomorrow. Please take advantage of them! 

We are currently on day two of the conference and I am still feeling the excitement generated from day one! I was able to participate in several sessions. Here is a list of presentation topics for sessions I attended with links to the pages where you can easily access the recordings and discussion forums:

All of the presentations provided valuable information pertaining to their respective topics. I learned something new at each session.

One topic that stood out for me included the systematic but reasonably easy way for evaluating Websites using the CRAAP test. CRAAP stands for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. With an overwhelming amount of open source information available to instructors and learners, we must be mindful about qualifying sources used to support our academic endeavors.

Another topic that stood out for me included Dr. Eva Dobozyʻs presentation on LAMS (Learning Activity Management System). This learning system strategically sequences learning activities in a social constructivist learning environment. In this session, the emphasis on teaching students to develop their critical thinking skills really caught my attention. Critical thinking is an important skill and can be applied in every area of our lives.

The highlight of my day was also the source of some personal anxiety. I presented my masterʻs research entitled “Information Literacy for Electronic Resources.” Despite having laryngitis, I was able to present and received wonderful feedback and comments. Please visit my session page to access a recording of my presentation and to participate in a discussion forum on my topic.

You can also view my published storify about the conference. 
Enjoy the rest of the conference!!
 
Tonightʻs class session was informative, however, it also put me in a state of anxiety about the 2012 TCC Online Conference next week! I am preparing for my graduate presentation and am suddenly feeling nervous, concerned, and doubtful! I plan to practice, practice, and practice over the next three days in preparation for my rehearsal presentation this Thursday.  Of course, Iʻll practice again before my actual conference presentation next Tuesday.

I am excited about participating in the conference as a presenter and an attendee. There are many presentations to choose from. One of my strategies is to read through the list of topics in order to make thoughtful choices of which presentations to attend. I also hope to access recordings of presentations that I may miss. Abstracts of the papers are provided which will help me get an overall idea of what to expect.

Iʻll try my best! If you are available, feel free to attend my presentation next Tuesday, April 17th at 6:30 p.m. in Track 1.  Here is a link for more details (youʻll need to page down a bit to find my name). https://tcc2012program.wikispaces.com/Tuesday 
 
What a great discussion in class tonight! One classmate likened the brainstorm session as a, “category 5 hurricane of ideas.” LOL! We discussed the Internet of Things (IoT) and how we could utilize this emerging technology in an educational context. The IoT refers to an intelligent intercommunication process between smart devices connected via the Internet to gather and relay data. For example, radio frequency identification (RFID) gives any object a virtual identity that can be used for a variety of purposes. Smart phones with applications designed for specific purposes serve as objects for IoT. With Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the amount of traffic for users and unique addresses is almost limitless.   

Several ideas were shared and I was happy to hear the ingenuity of my classmates’ ideas. Some ideas included using IoT to track and replenish school supplies, creating a database that catalogs user identification (students, faculty, etc.) with appropriate levels of Internet use within a school system, measuring and recording PE students progress for applicable class activities, and more.  

Thinking about the IoT is somewhat conflicting for me. I feel excited and confused about the possibilities. I am excited because I can grasp using IoT for familiar and new purposes. At the same time, I am confused because it seems like an extremely large potential of possibilities beyond what my mind can fathom. Anyway, time and technology waits for no one, it certainly won’t wait for me!! I guess I’d better try and keep up. 

 
Augmented reality (AR) is considered an emerging technology and is expected to have a significant influence in education in the next two to three years (NMC Horizon Project Shortlist, 2012). As smart phones and computers with video cameras become more commonplace, this hybrid reality concept can be an effective way to reach learners of all ages.

We were privileged to have a guest speaker in class who has utilized AR in marketing. He shared how interactive experiences can motivate consumers to respond positively by layering virtual images or videos over real world environments. By using a smartphone’s camera, GPS location, compass, AR app, and a browser, you can receive information (text and/or graphics) that is layered upon the image captured by the camera. This augments the real world environment.

Students who may be studying architectural history could contrast and compare the past and present conditions of a building or area with an AR app designed specifically for that purpose. Visiting a historical site is helpful, however, adding textual content and historical images could add to the learning experience. With imagination and creativity, a fulfilling learning experience can be delivered using AR. This is only the beginning of a new learning era!!        

Reference:
NMC Horizon Project Shortlist: 2012 Higher Education Edition. Retrieved from http://horizon.wiki.nmc.org/file/view/2012-Horizon.HE-Shortlist.pdf

 
The movie Iron Man does an excellent job of illustrating the benefits of gesture-based computing (GBC), particularly from an engineering perspective. This week’s assignment challenged us to imagine and describe, in approximately 250 words, a learning scenario which utilizes this very concept. I teamed up with a cohort colleague, Ross Uedoi, and we discussed various benefits in educational contexts. In fact, we agreed that architectural engineering could benefit significantly from GBC.

We imagined college students in an architectural engineering program and working in teams using problem-based learning (PBL) to analyze historical and current data to forecast, plan, and design future development in a rapidly growing city. GBC in a 3D learning environment would provide an immersive and collaborative real-world scenario for the students to simulate their projects by literally demonstrating past, present, and future city plans with overlays. This mixed-reality learning environment enables intuitive, innovate, and creative ideas to be examined and tested.

How would you use GBC in an educational context?  
 
We are working in groups to chart a tsunami evacuation route using Google Maps. The route includes the home of a group member who lives in a tsunami evacuation zone. As a group, we collaborated on a Google map while learning how to geotag photos of the route, upload images to our Google map, and to add descriptions for each point added to our route.

I find it interesting that, collectively, our group agreed that this important task was not as simple as we thought it would be, LOL! During the process, we were challenged with trouble shooting how to upload the geotagged images from a Verizon smart phone versus an iPhone to our Google map. After two group meetings which included great collaboration, we have a few more tasks to complete. Overall, this assignment is not only important for our safety, it has been a valuable learning experience relevant to emerging technologies.

I look forward to completing the assignment and viewing other group results.  

Copyright © 2010-2011 Laureen Kodani. All rights reserved.
Creative Commons License
Laureen Kodani ePortfolio by Laureen Kodani is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.