online projects

I have found the modules quite interesting. definitely a wide variety of content. It was interesting to learn from everyone else's expertise. The online posting of the assignments is and interesting medium for communication in a class. It would be interesting to use this for group projects that I wanted to be used to teach the class different topics. Each group could post their assignment online, I as the teacher could post any clarifications I thought were necessary and other classmates would be required to post comments and perhaps do the small test to ensure reading and comprehension of the material. That way students can learn from each others expertise and share their opinions and knowlegde. Definitely an interesting idea for future use in my classrooms.

Online group work

While I fully endorse many aspects of online learning and hope to use such aspects as online communication through course websites and online testing, I think that strictly online group work is something I will avoid as much as possible. I found this project very frustrating as I was in a group of 3, the other two members of which were more into procrastinating than I was. This resulted in my emails to them not getting returned for several days, usually until I emailed again and me being somewhat stressed about getting it done as I didn't really have any other means of communication with them. We suggested online meetings but never seemed to all be around at the same time. In the end, it did get done, but the clash of styles is more difficult to overcome when working online. Its much easier to ignore the anxious group member when its just an email than when you have to interact with them in person. In the end our group certainly pulled the project together and everyone did their fair share but the process was much more frustrating than an in-person groups project would have been.
Not something I will be assigning my students!

The benefits of online usage

The more I observe teaching and engage in it myself, the more I become convinced that blending traditional in-class teaching with online teaching/communication is definitely the way of the future. Teaching is severely limited by several time consuming activities, namely note-taking, information delivery and testing. Online communication can improve these areas dramatically. Instead of having students spend the class taking notes, the teacher can post them online before class so students can print/read them, then the class can be spent in discussion/activities to make the material clearer. Various other forms of information could also be delivered online, some class discussions could take place online. You could encourage students to do readings by having quizzes at the end of online readings that count for a small percentage of their course mark. And of course there are all the advantages of online testing that I have already commented on in the course discussion. It is definitely a technology and communication form that I hope to take advantage of in the future.

Wierd Inequalities

I remember reading a while ago about a small developing country, I believe it was in Africa, where people who lived without running water, electricity or traditional phones actually used cell phones. The cell phones were a cheap means of communication in the country as the towers were cheaper to put up than the full infrastructure needed for traditional phone lines. So you would have these simple fishermen, out on the lakes/sea fishing in old fishing boats by traditional means and then checking online or calling around on their cell phone to find out the market with the best price for their catch that day. It is a strange world we live in now. In fact this article suggested that with technological advances such as satellite technology and wireless communications some developing countries will skip straight to these technologies without putting the usual (and costly) infrastructure in place at all. It will certainly be interesting to see how technology changes the world. I think the last estimate I saw indicated that 1 million new people in China are getting online every month (I think, very very rapid expansion any way). This will definitely change the world. I think the next few generations will have far more global perspectives and that is going to change the world.

Safety Online

In looking over my post topics of the last few weeks, I must say I feel this is the most important one and one that worries me far more than someone stealing my identity or pirating my material. I don't think anyone is trully safe online in any sense. If its not someone stealing your identity then it is a con artist trying to get your money or a predator after you or (much much worse) after your children. I think with the advent of the internet parenting appropriately and even teaching have been greatly complicated. Fewer children are inclined to talk to to a stranger face-to-face than online. Online you have such incredible anonymity and the power to be anyone you choose. This to me is very frightening. In addition, there is the near certainty that your children will be exposed to innappropriate material at a young age. I remember coming across very inappropriate sites with a friend in high school when working in the school library. I don't know if they had filters on the computers at that early stage, but I would guess not by what we accidentally found. I even remember the search we used because it was so ridiculous that it came up with porn images. Who would imagine you could search for 'sea monkeys' and instead get porn. Needless to say my friend and I were both shocked and embarrassed to have such images pop up on a library computer!!
I don't want my children or my students exposed to such material at the young ages they are now using computers at but I also can't prevent them from using computers as they will never learn responsible, safe usage if they never touch a computer. Certainly a dilemna I will continue to think about for many years. I don't believe the internet will ever be completely safe. We've had streets for thousands of years and their still not safe. So we will simply have to learn to do our best and teach our kids to at least be smart about it.

privacy online

I know many people still don't like doing banking online or buying things online as they fear their personal information won't be safe. However, as recent events such as hackers getting information from stores and banks alike directly from the businesses computers, even if you don't put information over the web it is still stored in many locations by web-accessible computers. Therefore, even though I don't like the idea of my information going into cyberspace, I realize that its never 100% safe even if I don't. Personally I am willing to risk somewhat higher exposure in order to have the benefits associated with operating in an online world. I like being able to shop online, find information, bank etc etc from the comfort of my living room. If that means a risk of people learning more about my habits, more about me then so be it. I do however have spyware, ad-aware and virus protection software running on my computer and my Nerd-OnSite husband makes sure I delete cookies regularly to limit my exposure to the best of my ability. Its that or head back to the dark-ages before the internet! A world I hardly even remember anymore!

Piracy and copyright

Well, I must admit that piracy is certainly a widespread phenomenon in all forms of media. I think most people have had copies of tapes, videos, CDs and even high end computer programs that aren't paid for. It's definitely a white-collar crime. Its especially tempting in the cash-deprived education system where it has the added justification of being in the best interest of your students.
I must say that I find the issue of copyright very challenging. So much is essentially free for the taking on the web so how are you to know what is and isn't considered copyrighted? Many teachers have websites where they post their notes, assignments, worksheets etc. Are these copyrighted or are they considered free for anyone as they are easily downloaded and any student, at the very least, can have a copy? Are images and pictures ok to take? Certainly a lot of websites advertise lots of free images so on another website where the picture isn't stated to be copyright protected its easy to assume the site originally got it free themselves. What if you take someone else's posted note or worksheet but then modify it to suit your course/class, would that still be considered against copyright regulations? Many sites where the work is clearly original are also clearly intended to allow free sharing including sites like YouTube and and many photo sites where people can post their original material for everyone to share. Can those people still claim copyright if you use it elsewhere?
So many questions, so few clear answers and all those "free" resources on the web sure are difficult to pass up as a busy teacher!

Always connected

I have found several of the posts on the issue of connectedness of interest. Online communication certainly provides a great deal more freedom and flexibility in communications as we no longer have to find a mutually convenient time to phone or meet. In teaching this would likely be more of an issue in communications with parents than students as I personally would be happy to communicate with parents by email but not students. I have a husband with a Blackberry and his 'always-connected' status drives me, and occasionally him, crazy. He ends up always being on call, answering emails at dinner, all evening, all weekend he is 'available' to his clients. This would definitely be a problem for me as a teacher and as other people mentioned it would be best to set guidelines for yourself and those you communicate with about when you would and wouldn't respond to emails to allow for time when you are not your job. Always connected seems to be the direction our society is determined to head but I think we will pay heavily for it as the stress of essentially always being at work will be too much for many people. There are already many more people taking stress leaves,switching or quitting jobs entirely and these numbers will only rise as we allow our work to infiltrate more and more of our life.

Connectedness is wonderful, and its flexibility is wonderful but reasonable limits and guidelines must be set for one's own sanity.