Thursday, September 22, 2011
Global Diversity
How has this element evolved? What online tools are available today for global learners?
I agree with Dr. Siemens (2008) that distance learning enables me to communicate with people around the world thus encouraging my own knowledge globalization. The nature of distance learning took hold and grew with Internet access. The difference in time zones is not as noticeable when I am completing assignments and discussion deadlines. The available technology concerning applications has grown over the years. Just as we are blogging other applications include WordPress, Wikispaces, Linkedin, Ning and TypePad just to name a few.
Skype™ can also be used for promoting face-to-face communications since it is using the Internet infrastructure for streaming video feeds. All of these technological advances has impacted how and what is learned. Now I just received an email from Skype stating a new feature has been added. The new Skype feature is called GroupMe which enables a group of people to chat using their cell phone and the service is free. This feature could be used in group learning communities in realtime discussions or group collaborations.
I received Siemens (2011) eLearning Resources and News blog summary email weekly. The September 1, 2011 issue identified how massive open online courses are becoming popular. He cites Stanford University open online course on Artificial Intelligence as an example of the next stage in education. The course begins with a video consisting of several instructors who say they want to teach the world. Siemens also stated that the next level for education is ripe for global connectedness.
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). The Future of Distance Education. Baltimore, Author.
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I posted comment blogs to the following links:
ReplyDeletehttp://cathymarzialiedtech/blogspot.com
http://anethajaye.blogspot.com
Val Mitchell-Stevens
So, I went and checked out George Siemen’s site and the Stanford University open online course on AI. I was amazed to learn that over 100,000 students from around the world had registered for the class. I wasn’t amazed that 100,000 people tried to enroll. Who wouldn’t want to take free classes from a world-class university with some of the most brilliant minds in STEM. I was amazed that 100K+ students actually got into the class. The article stated that they wanted at least 200,000 students and it speculated about the day that classes could welcome millions or tens of millions. How could class instructors could even begin to manage hundreds of thousands of students? Of course, it’s an AI class, so AI systems will help the instructors manage the massive amounts of information posted and grading. What a lucrative endeavor for the company that will automate the class! So, I am now reminded of Parker’s (2008) argument that quality assurances must be linked to outcomes (p. 307). It will be interested to hear how the students fare in such a class and whether AI systems can really provide the students the quality feedback that they expect.
ReplyDeletehttp://singularityhub.com/2011/08/18/100000-sign-up-for-stanfords-open-class-on-artificial-intelligence-classes-with-1-million-next/
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteDo you think using GroupMe would be a good resource for use in a middle grades classroom? Promoting mobile technologies as an instructional resource has become a popular trend among educators. GroupMe would fall into this category. Do you think this would be a good resource for use in k-12 instruction?
~Laura
I perceive an interrelationship between global diversity, communication and collaborative interaction that allowed for discussion on all three elements no matter which single element we chose to discuss. This has been evident in all the blogs I've read so far and in my own blog when I was writing it. Ultimately technology has opened communication on a global scale; has allowed diverse groups of people and individuals to interact with each other, learn together, and do business together in realtime; and has fostered collaborative interactions that are not impeded by time or distance such as the exchanges we have with each other in our learning community via our classroom platform, blogs, email and the like.
ReplyDeleteCathy,
ReplyDeleteI have been following Dr. Siemen's electronic mail blog I am on his mailing list. He is really globalizing learning. He took the summer off but my September 2011 newsletter indicated he was off and running again.
Val
Laura,
GroupMe is a wonderful tool for K-12. I believe that GroupMe could be used to stimulate the need to read in K-3 grades. The older children will use it as a chat tool. I signed up for it and received a comfirmation message. I have to play around with it to figure out how to establish the groups.
Val
AJ,
You are right there seems to be an interrelationship especially since time and distance are no longer barriers.
Val
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteGroupMe works as follows. One number is assigned to a group of contacts. Enter that number after composing text and press send. The message is sent to the entire group. Responses are sent using that single group assigned number.
Val