After reading Sandy's reflection post, I was even more assured and agreed on the idea that courses, software, or anything with regard to technology and teaching should focus more on what the student is to learn about a particular subject and much less on having to learn a new system or new technology JUST to get to the objectives of the course itself.  Course software should not be so difficult to learn that it requires a separate course on learning to use it.  That same idea goes back to my initial reflection on the tutorials thus far...make use of what people are already comfortable with and is familiar to them.  Reduced stress in having to learn something new and more emphasis on course objectives occurs.  Twitter and Facebook are very familiar to most.  What better way to make an impact than to meet the students where they are as opposed to making it an uphill battle to get to me?

Thanks for your post Sandy!

Sandy Yarchin's Blog

SECOND LIFE
    
     After reading the .pdf about Second Life, I initially was not certain I would enjoy our be interested in using an application such as this.  I've since read the article again as well as that of the avatars and the presentation to better understand the app.  I must say that I am indeed a believer in this software.  I love technology, and although it can be a burden as much as a help at times, the benefits outweigh the limitations immensely with Second Life. A few key points I recognize as great are:

1. It's robust. The ability to function smoothly, be/stay powerful, and still handle a multitude of visitors for all over the world is awesome.  Second Life would have been an easy fix for the case study by Morin (2005) where the Personalized System of Instruction model was used to integrate a college course at a university in Texas using Japanese students and American students.  One issue with the case is that the attempts to build a community amongst the Japanese & American students failed.  There appeared to be no sense of any motivation to even want to reach out and get aquainted.

2. Real life simulations.  The software gives the look and feel of being at an actual institution or any where in the world.

3. The avatars.  Just as with any online course, students who would otherwise be less vocal in a face to face environment can feel comfortable and free to be active.  Likewise, the ability to create this other "you" is a great perk as well. You can be who you want to be "in world"

These are wonderful benefits to make any distance education course "real", however, not without a couple flaws.

1.  Robust may be too much for some.  Those with older systems or units may have to relocate to be able to enjoy Second Life. 

2. Steep (it appears) learning curve. As with anything, how to do or work something comes with instruction.  If that instruction is too overwhelming and/or difficult to learn in a somewhat timely manner, students may lag behind or become disgusted with the system all together.  Ample time to learn the system and/or acknowledgement prior to enrollment (as the presenter stated she does with her courses) should help alleviate difficulty learning the program.
    

Reflection of Tutorials

REFLECTION OF TUTORIALS

    Thinking back on the tutorials thus far, I have to say I was most fascinated by the tutorial on using Facebook and Twitter in the academic realm.  It never occured to me that it was even possible to conduct, manage, and maintain an official college course with the use of social network sites.  Over the years I've come to think of Facebook as a place to look at pictures, get a good laugh from time to time, and keep in contact with my triathlon committee.  In a sense, I recently had felt I had outgrown Facebook.  Twitter has become my source for breaking news and getting the word out to customers about my business promos, however, with both, it just never "clicked" that academia could make use of these tools.

     Coming into this E-Learning program, my desire  had been to hone my knowledge and skills in the area of design as opposed to teaching. After the Facebook/Twitter Tutorial, I began to consider teaching.  It also eased my anxiety about the course all together.

     The other tutorial that struck me was Wikis. Honestly, they were pretty tough for me to grasp for some odd reason, however, the Wikis in Plain English tutorial showed ways that I could use them in both design, teaching, even family trip planning.  I've learned that collaboration is key in an online learning environment; wikis make it simple.

     Use of these three applications would be a tremendous help on the front end and the back, in my eyes.  If I utilize the applications that most, if not all, students are already familiar with, it lessens the learning curve. Likewise, a straightforward, simple wiki that provides practically real time collaboration within a team/group can only serve to improve relations among team members as well as the course overall.