Comments on Sandy's Tutorial Post

I enjoyed your post, Sandy, on the technologies we have been investigating (My Overview of the Tutorials).  Like yourself, I am mindful of using technologies that are appropriate for the audience and online course.  I especially liked your suggestion of using Fotobabble as a welcoming point for students new in a class.  Had not thought of that, and I like it!  With the plethora of online tools today for use in online teaching, the internet today can often replicate many traditional educational activities such as lab experiments, field trips, etc.  (Larreamendy-Joerns and Leinhardt, 2006).  I see Second Life having potential in these areas, but I noted in my own blog that I am not sure how I would make use of it in teaching math. 

Your point about the potential for students to become too bogged down in the technology is well-stated, Sandy.  As noted by Paloff and Pratt (1999), the use of technology can bring a whole new set of issues, most related to social presence.  By focusing on the objectives of the course, and emphasizing use of the technology truly as a tool, the students will keep their sights on the course goals and not get overwhelmed by the technology to be learned.

So congratulations on tackling all these new technologies to try them out, Sandy!  Thanks, too, for your insightful post!

Second Life in Online Learning Environments

Warburton describes Second Life (SL) is a "multi-user virtual world platform". (2009)  I have to admit that I have never used Second Life myself ... have only heard about it through other people and the news.  As such, I did benefit from the two readings on Second Life and its use in online education as well as the "Creating Community with Second Life" recorded workshop by NC States DELTA.  These opened my eyes to the possibilities of using Second Life for much more than a societal escape from ones own "real" existence.  In my mind, it is these educational uses for Second Life that lends legitimacy and validity to the concept of a "virtual world".

While I cannot think of any way I could incorporate Second Life into my teaching of Statistics or Calculus, there would be plenty of uses for SL in other areas of mathematics such as the history of mathematics.  I could have the students explore "worlds" such as Plato's Academy or the secret gatherings of the Pythagoreans ... if such worlds exist in SL.

In so many other areas, though, I think that SL would be an amazing way to open doors to explorations for the students.  My husband and I are very big Frank Lloyd Wright fans and my interest was very much peaked when Amanda Robertson and Cathi Phillips took us into the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum!  What a great way to have architecture students experience the works of FLW without actually going to Fallingwater or his famous Robie House (Chicago).  The usefulness of SL in the sciences are also bountiful!  The cell exploration, the space ship, etc. "worlds" are such vibrant ways to bring these things to life for students and get them to interact with things they might not otherwise be able to have "hands-on" experience with.  And the art museum and historical tours you can take!  SL becomes such an amazing new way for teachers to present material to students and have them truly experience the material in ways before unthought of.

The technology hurdles cannot be ignored, however.  Some students might find it very daunting to participate in SL.  Amanda Robertson describes the lengths to which she goes to prepare her students for their upcoming SL experience.  I think that would be necessary.  While students might really like the experience in the long run, they might find the work on the front end to be a little overwhelming.  This might be magnified if their computer capabilities ... both user-related and hardware-related ... are not of the level needed for full participation in SL.

Course Tutorials Thus Far

The course tutorials in which we have participated thus far have given us the opportunity to expand our "technology bank" of tools that can be used in creating an online learning environment.

My favorite has been one of the digital bookmarking tools, Google Bookmarks.  I went into detail as to why this is my favorite in my discussion activity in Week 3.  In a nutshell, however, I find it so incredibly useful as it enables me to access no matter where I am, the hundreds of AP Calculus and AP Statistics websites that I have bookmarked over the past many years.  I have three computers from which I work: my personal laptop at home, my school laptop, and my computer in the studio from which I teach my inter-active video conference classes.  Google Bookmarks allows me to pull up any one of my saved websites regardless of the computer I am on!

The other tools we have investigated are FaceBook, Twitter, Wikis, aMap, and Muzy.  My personal thoughts on these varies as I feel their use depends upon that which is being taught.  I very much can see usefulness of these ... but not so much in my own teaching of Calculus and Statistics.  I have started a Twitter feed for my NCSSM Online AP Calculus class (7 whole followers!).  We use it to send reminders to the students about due dates, tutorial sessions, etc.  The students seem to like it.  My Online students also have set up their own FaceBook group so that they can collaborate and work and support one another.  As for the other tools, I do not see myself using these but, again, I am sure in other areas of instruction, they would be very useful.