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Virtual World WebQuests: Principle elements of research supported learning experiences within virtual learning environments by Carl Anderson (Book) in Education & Language via kwout

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Virtual World WebQuests: Principle elements of research supported learning experiences within virtual learning environments by Carl Anderson (Book) in Education & Language via kwout

I just published for the first time using Lulu.com. For those who don't know about Lulu, it is a service that lets you independently publish books for on-demand publication. That means, if you have 3 people who want the book they print 3 copies, if you ahve 300,000 people wanting the book they print 300,000 copies. Pretty cool.

Anyway, this book is my masters capstone. It is a detailed description of how virtual worlds can be utilized to effectively create cost effective 3d immersive WebQuests. Building on research done in the fields of game based learning, virtual worlds, constructivism, and intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation I built an art curriculum that utilizes the pedagogical structure of a WebQuest but utilize a virtual world to house it. A platform evaluation is also present. I have to note that this platform evaluation was performed in the fall of 2007. Since then there have been more platforms that have surfaced. The results of this evaluation is not meant to be an end all be all off virtual world assessment for education but rather a suggested guide for educators to apply in search of the correct tool to fit their own needs.

Clifford Stoll on Teaching

While I disagree with Clifford Stoll's opinion that computers should not be in our schools his thoughts on the matter have been influential to me in forming my own opinions and beliefs about education and technology. Particularly when it comes to assessing technology. Whenever a new tool comes out Clifford's voice always sounds in the back of my head reminding me to question its necessity and question its value. The conclusion I usually come to is somewhere between Clifford Stoll's extreme view that computers should not be integrated into the classroom and the other extreme. In this very entertaining TED talk he talks about teaching and children and very eloquently illustrates what a great constructivist classroom should look like. I remember back in the early '90s Clifford giving speeches and being very vocal on his view of technology in the classroom and have wondered what he has been doing since he has not been in the public eye much the past 10 years. Evidently he is teaching 8th grade physics, or rather teaching 8th graders college physics.






If the embed doesn't work click here for the TED site with this video.

What Software Programs Do Our Students Need To Learn To Prepare Them For the Future

I hear too often that we should stick with this platform or that or we should use a certain software program because our students need to learn how to use them when they leave school. This bothers me to no end and lately has really gotten under my skin. I think the footnote at the end of Dean Shareski's post, "Unlearning," says it all:

Footnote:
One of our high schools sent 2 students to a provincial skills competition in video editing. They realized a week before the event that the competition would be using Macs, iMovie and Final Cut Pro. These students had never used a Mac. Their teacher wanted to pull them out of the event but the organizers encouraged them to compete. They received a 20 minute tutorial immediately prior to the full day competition. They gained a silver medal out of 15 competitors.

Skills are transferable between platforms. Of course there is always a learning curve with a new platform but in your students case it looked to be a 20 minute curve (not bad).

When I was in high school we used Macs. They were Mac Classics with Claris Works and Hypercard installed on them. How often do you think I use these programs? How often did I use them in college? The fact is we can't prepare students for the exact technology skills with the exact platform they will be using when they leave our institutions because those platforms have not been invented yet. We can, however, expose students to different types of computing and different types of applications that share conventions with other similar programs. We have been using office and studio software long enough to anticipate which skills will still be needed in future programs and future platforms.

If we look at current developments in IT as predictors of the future apps we see cloud computing on the quickly approaching horizon as being extremely significant. The nice thing about this category of software applications is they do not exist on anyone's personal computer, they exist online. If they are online it does not matter what platform you use to access them so long as you have a reliable web browser and a decent connection.

The advent and probable future significance of cloud computing makes it possible to discard costly systems like Windows and Mac and go with an open source operating system on a cheap PC and still have access to the same programs you would on a machine running proprietary OS software. Think of the cost savings and what it could mean for schools' tech budgets. Take Apple or Microsoft out of the budget and you suddenly have a lot more money to spend on hardware.

Sure, we still will probably want to have a handful of powerful machines with proprietary software installed for our power users but what percent of student use computing fits this category. I agree with Clarence when he says that sometimes all he wants is a simple OS with access to the internet and a few basic applications.

Installing My First Linux OS

Well, I am excited. I have been reading/researching open source software for a long time and finally have a spare machine to install Linux on. Our school just got 4 used laptops from Johnson Space Center and I have the go ahead to do a trial. To this point we have played around with Open Office, GIMPshop, Firefox, and to some degree Scribus but have never installed an open source OS on any of our school computers.

My goal is to install Linux on a handful of school computers in the computer lab and load them with open source software that equates with the proprietary software our students and faculty are used to. I will make signs that will be posted next to each machine explaining how they are similar and different and provide a small "Smart Card" next for every two workstations that have graphic oriented tutorials for use.

Distro:

This has perhaps been the most frustrating part of this experiment. There has been a lot of press about using Ubuntu in schools and it appears to be a very reliable OS. However, for some reason the kernel did not jive with these Dell Latitude D600s we got from the government. After a little digging I found that PCLinuxOS 2007 works well without a glitch. Installation was a cinch using this distro. Normally when we have to format and install a new Windows system it is an overnight ordeal. Once I figured out how everything was to be configured PCLinuxOS took no more than an hour.

When you startup PCLinuxOS under the logo is a slogan, "Radically simple." Radical indeed. So simple everything is intuitive but still good enough to have everything I need: Office Software, Image Software, Internet Access, Multimedia Editing Software, and a Reliable File System.

Why is this so exciting?

If my trial is successful and the students take well to this new OS and to the open source software we can run on it our school district stands to save thousands of dollars. We estimate that our little school district alone would have to pay Microsoft around $70k to renew our licenses for Windows and Office. What would you do with an extra $70k? Currently our school district has three computer labs and only one of which is truly up to date. Our teachers just received new laptops but our student use equipment is either out dated or there is not enough for teachers to plan any real tech integration. If we take this money, invest a large portion of it in infrastructure (network, hubs, servers, etc.) and take portion of the money to spend on shipping slightly outdated computers from government agencies and cooperate partners we can get very close to a computer student ratio worth talking about. I have blogged here before about how I am not sure our district is ready to implement a 1:1 laptop program yet and I still feel that way but this would be the next step in that direction. Besides, the jury is still out on the effectiveness and appropriateness of a 1:1 computing. I strongly suspect the research will point us in that direction but for now I propose, at least for our school, that a 5:1 or a 3:1 program is what is best right now.

If we can put 5-10 computers in each classroom it would drastically change the way our teachers teach and our students learn. SMARTboards and high performance teacher laptops are great but they lack the engagement that hands on computing can offer. Placing the tools where we want them to be used is a huge step in becoming a school that teaches 21st century skills well. I hear almost daily from teachers, "I would use this if I knew I could get my students in the lab." Why don't we put the lab in their classroom. The other positive aspect of a 3 or 4 to 1 program would be that it would force teachers to be creative with their instruction. It promotes collaboration and differentiated instruction.

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