Final stretch

We're at the end of the line to one especially interesting course. We talked about blogs, wikis, Flickr, delicious, YouTube, podcasts and many other forms of Web 2.0 technology. While I may have become converted to the use of delicious, YouTube, and podcasts and even wikis somewhat, I guess it all comes down to one thing for me: will these websites be accessible through the military network security. While I might use these tools on my own, using them as part of instructional design is something that is out of my hands. Again, It will be interesting to see if the military will allow me to use the tools I have been provided with!

Digital Gaming and the Army

After reading the An & Bonk (2009) article, "Designing Digital Game-Based Learning Environments" in TechTrends we were tasked with finding a educational digital game and evaluating it according to the Special Place criteria. I don't about all of you, but finding a game that was accessible was pretty hard to do. It took several false starts and downloads before I could find a game that was not meant for a 5 year-old and didn't take up so much space on my computer to be prohibitive for me to download. I not quite sold on the idea of using gaming for education, but there were some interesting games found by the class. There was one game that I was interested in playing (and I really hate video type games other than the Wii) was AmericasArmy. This is a game approved by TRADOC that teaches Army tactics and is also used as a recruiting tool. The game has also been translated in many different languages due to its popularity. Alas, no matter how I tried, I could not get the game to download correctly. While I don't believe in violent video games, I was curious to see what the Army was handing out to Americas teenagers. I guess I won't know until I get to TRADOC eh?

Wikis every where!

I guess old dogs can learn new tricks. I can't believe I am still using wikis to work on my group work.! After using wikis for a few weeks now I think I have a better handle on them, but they do still have some draw backs. I think the biggest drawback is the formatting issues. If you are using straight text, wikis are fine, but any type of paragraph formatting seems to be lost in translation -- or maybe it's just me? Other than that, being able to have a space to gather ideas and then copy/cut/pace that info to a word document for inclusion in a bigger document is not such a bad deal.

Actually using a wiki!

The Red River crew began another course on Tuesday and were assigned a group project with an extremely short deadline (5 week course). Our group of 3 faced a dilemma: How do we collaborate on a group project when we are working overtime completing project for two other courses? Answer? Use a wiki. Establish a wiki has allowed us to create all of our documents online and eliminate the need for e-mail one document and the hardship of merging documents to come up with a complete project to turn in for a grade. With the wiki, all members of the group can look at all parts of the project and add their two cents and changes to the document can be tracked. This also enables you to track group participation. What I really like though is this eliminates the need to print out documents. I like being able to send an instructor a URL and saying here is my work. I think I'm going to like this wiki thing after all.

Blogs vs. journals

I just received my May/June edition of Tech Trends in the mail. (Boy is it late!) Other than the great article by Dr. An in there on Designing Digital Game-based learning environments (sucking-up royally), the article that really caught my eye was "Blogs in Higher Education: Implementation and Issues" by Liping Deng and Allan H.K. Yen. Not to go all into the article, you can all read it for yourself if your interested, I just want to expound on one point they made which was to reiterate that blogs are actually just the electronic format of reflection journals that learners have been creating forever. The difference is that those journals (in blog format) can now be shared, contain links, references, be used for collaborative efforts and can help someone else understand a subject matter through peer-to-peer teaching. I never really thought of the blog as just a reflection paper. I have mostly been getting hung up with it being a collaborative discussion tool than just a reflection method. I guess everything has dual purposes doesn't it? And the light bulb comes on!

Catching up with my child

It is now week six in this course I am thinking back on all that I have learned. While last semester we did touch on what was meant by Web 2.0, we didn't really get into the nuts and bolts of the topic. This semester, I've learner to blog, how to make a wiki, how to tag and I'm discovering the ins and outs of podcasts this week. Who would have thought that for someone who worked in an information providing career field that I would be so woefully out-of-date and out-of-tune with technology? Instead of keeping up with the Jones and buying a new BMW, I need to be buying an iPhone, saving my bookmarks to Delicious, and setting a Wiki to plan my daughters 18th birthday party? While it may make me an "uncool" parent not to be up on the latest thing, it will make me an unemployable instructional designer if I don't realize that that technology is advancing and I must learn ways to utilize the tools that are now available. While you should never use tools just for the sake of the gee whiz factor, they should be used to empower the learner and increase the retention of information. So does anyone know where I can buy an iPhone on sale?

Blogging Assignment Entry #2

Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector (Williams & Jacobs, 2004).

The case study in this article involves the use of blogging as part of the MBA program at the Brisbane Graduate School of Business (BGSB) at Queensland University of Technology. The finding of the case study was that blogging has the "potential to be a transformational technology for teaching and learning, and universities ought to give strong consideration to the setting up blog facilities within their learning management system (Williams & Jacobs, 2004).

Some background: BGSB is a school that likes to be out in front with technology. In 199 it began to offering study guides and online learning and teaching (OLT) aides for courses to students for a fee. This was very successful and course enrollment tripled as course fees doubles. The school's philosophy was to be very flexible in its delivery of its content. BGSB then branched out and began delivering content through sites where students could download: notes, slide presentations, problem solutions, past examination papers, chat spaces and discussion forums. Although most of these downloadable content forms meet there purpose, the discussion forums did not, so BGSB decided to try using blogs.

What they did:

Two courses in the MBA program were chosen to participate in the study. The students were not given any specific instructions regarding the use of the blog other than how to log on and how to post their comments. They were also told that if they posted five contributions during the six week course they would receive five points toward their grade. The students were not mandated to participate in the study. There was a possibility of 102 subjects between the two courses.

During June – July 2003 an online questionnaire was given to the students of both courses. There were 51 responses received. The results are summarized here:

Reason for not participating in the blog

Question 1: If you elected not to participate in the MBA Blog, which of the following options best describes the reason for your decision?

For the marks (points) available not worth the effort 33%

I would have like to participate, but I wasn't sure I'd have anything to contribute 33%

I just preferred to read what other people were writing 8%

Not everyone "participates" in a blog by making an entry. Some people "lurk" in the shadows and read the entries. Allen (2002) states that observing is a way for lurkers to "become familiar with the ways of participating and overcome fears."

Blog as a medium for facilitating learning

Question 2: Do you think the MBA Blog assisted with your learning in GSN414/GSN451 (the two chosen courses)?

Strongly agree 17%

Agree 49%

Neither agree nor disagree 23%

Disagree 6%

There is strong evidence here to support that the use of blogs facilitated learning with more than two-thirds of the respondents.

Blog as a medium for student interactivity

Question 3: Do you believe the MBA Blog increased the level of meaningful intellectual exchange between students more broadly?

Strongly agree 17%

Agree 60 %

Neither agree nor disagree 20%

Disagree 3%

As one student commented on his/her questionnaire: "6 week module timeframes can create significant challenges for opportunities for discussion and debate amongst participants – blogging offers an opportunity to express one's thoughts & to be party to the thoughts of others – often quite stimulating. The MBA in my view is about more than the "data" – it is the process of thinking which develops intelligence" (Williams & Jacobs, 2004).

The telling portion of this study though perhaps was that when asked if they would have participated in the blogging exercise had they not received points for it, more than 69% of the students replied that they would.

Critique:

What can be learned from this study? Blogging can have a place in the education arena. Will all results come out a favorably as this study? Of course not. Not all material is suited to be handled using blogs. Methodology and use of technology should always be based on individual circumstances, courses, students, instructors and learning environments.

I believe that blogs can be used in the same type of situation as described in the case study. In the study the researchers left the blogs form/function open to the students. Me, I think that is wise. I think blogs should be a free flow of information where students can exchange information on subjects that are important to them. It is a peer-to-peer teaching tool. On the other hand I also think that blogs can also be used in situations where the instructor controls the discussion. By that I mean he/she proposes a topic and then directs the flow of the comments.

References:

Allen, M. (2002). Voluntary participation in CMC tends to be limited. [Article's reference- this link does not work anymore.]

http://www.curtin.edu.au/home/allen/we3/igm/12050101.html

Williams, J. & Jacobs, J. (2002). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2), 232-247. Retrieved June 12, 2009. http://www.eprints.qut.edu.au/13066/1/13066.pdf