Attempt to Embed your content in other locations

This was not difficult to complete.   It is easy to embed Html code into a Google blog. The HTML code was readily available in Soundcloud and Flickr. YouTube is a part of Google so embedding it in a Google blog was only a click.

 

Join SLED and attend one event

Initially, I assumed that Second Life was just a game with little educational value but I am beginning to understand how second Life works as I found Rutgers Island, Rutgers University where there is a virtual walking trail that provides instruction. Also there are many YouTube videos that provide instruction on how to use Second Life. I joined the mailing list at http://tinyurl.com/qfvv4 and did an educational tour of Williamsburg with the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. I can see how learners in second life can emerge themselves into the subject matter and learn by role playing. I also learned about Sloodle, a free and open source project which integrates the multi-user virtual environments of second life and created an account. Like Second Life, it is going to take some time to learn how to navigate the landscape and make use of all of its features to create instruction. With this generation of gamers, who spend half their lives playing xbox or play station, it well worth the effort for any educator to take the time to learn to how to create instruction in Second life.

 

Create and use a couchsurfing account

Here is my couchsurfing profile.

Like Facebook, Couchsurfers create  profiles to attract users of similar interests. Unlike facebook,  Couchsurfers are rated by other Couchsurfers . This was designed as a safety feature to weep out undesirable surfers.  Couchsurfers  can have their ids and addresses verified bythe website, another safety measure. This is intended to increase the likelihood of Couchsurfers  finding hosts. With over five million registers surfers in several different countries, Couchsurfing has grew since Casey Fenton, in1999, came up with the idea after travelling from Boston to Iceland and finding shelter with University of Iceland students whom he had previously emailed.

 

Still, In a more perfect world, Craigslist users should not have to be worried about being robbed by criminals who placed bogus online ads to lure them into traps, but there have been reported robberies and even homicides of Craigslist users. My gut feeling of inviting stranglers over to spend the night might be inviting trouble. Still, I am reluctant to be too critical of couchsurfing. Couchsurfing does provide a worthy public service by finding hosts for people who become homeless as a result of natural disasters, and I have friends who met their spouses online. These marriages seem to fare no better or worse than marriages of people who met in a traditional way.
Perhaps Couchsurfing will eventually have as much impact on the world as Facebook and Twitter had on the Arabs Spring. In this period of globalization, perhaps the kindness of strangers is what the world needs to further tear down the walls that divide us.  

INTRODUCTION VIDEO

 

 

 

One of the most important lessons that I learned in this class is that social media, web 2.0 and the web technology that follows has the potential of improving education opportunities in every school. Social media make it possible to put a quality, well qualified teacher in every classroom and home and thus improve opportunities in the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas.

 

Blogging Course Feedback/Self Reflection

This course really started off uncomfortable. I never felt comfortable making a video of myself. I always preferred to be the guy behind the camera. Initially, I did not understand the first assignment. Why was I being asked “what causes the seasons/temperature differences on earth thru the year?” What has this to do with social media? Late, I would learn the relevancy of the question as I read the Private Universe Theory. As the course progressed, I learned terms and concepts such as social bookmarking, and crowdsourcing. I discovered web 2.0 sites, like Wikiquotes and Wikivoyage, that I also never knew existed and gained an understanding of how these sites could be used to promote e-learning. I never blogged before this class and now I am thinking of creating new blogs. I have to admit that I never got a handle on Second Life. I read an email and logged on at the specified time but was unable to connect. I did not know whether to run or fly. This class required more work than I expected. Before the start of this class, I read reviews from former students and this class was supposed to be a breeze. While this class is not difficult, it is time consuming and far from being a breeze.

Over the past two years, I have been on light duty status, worker compensation. my goal is to obtain a certificate in distant education and use it to obtain employment in a community college in order to avoid sitting home on disability popping pain killers. While I can no longer shoot a weapon from the prone position or risk having to defense myself or other against an offender, I can still work. This class exposed me to a lot of unfamiliar information. After this class is over, I will review sites like Wilkiversity to learn more. More importantly, this class opened my eyes to some of the tools available to create instruction for today’s students and thus has helped me toward my achieving goal.
 

I read the blogs of the students in this class. Most are far more familiar with social media. Perhaps, it is generational. My children grow up playing the Simms and probably would not have a problem with Second Life. Perhaps, it is the result of teaching in a title one school in Baltimore where most students lacked computers or access to the internet that I saw no need to learn social media sites to create instruction. Still, one of the most important lessons that I learned in this class is that social media, web 2.0 and the web technology that follows has the potential of improving education opportunities in even the most disadvantaged school districts by making it possible to put a quality, well qualified teacher in every classroom and home. More research should be conducted in the use of social media in underachieving school districts, solving the digital divide might make it as close as possible that no child is left behind.

 

Review Wikimedia

Wikiquote is great. There are quotes from John Locke to John Foster Dulles. Today’s undergraduate English composition students must love this site, it great for teachers too. Using quotes could be the attention getter in Robert Gagnes’ nine events of instruction. Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote No people on earth can be held, as a people, to be an enemy, for all humanity shares the common hunger for peace and fellowship and justice. ... No nation's security and well-being can be lastingly achieved in isolation but only in effective cooperation with fellow-nations. I think this is a great quote and sums up the dilemma in countries like North Korea and Iran. I would ask my students if they agree with Eisenhower and if so to ponder whether it is justifiable to punish the citizens of such nations with sanctions or war when the real enemy is their governments. Quotes can also be the ninth step, enhance retention and transfer in Gagnes’ nine events of instruction. At the end of instruction, a powerful relevant quote could be used to help students encode the material into long term memory as well as retrieve it at a later date. 

Wikivoyage offers a starting point where students can learn about regions around the world.  Travel topic range from car camping to visiting famous cemeteries. There are also star articles about different locations that have been competitively selected as the best the website offers. As with most other wiki sites, this is my first visit but I will not be my last. I learned that the Antarctica is driest continent on Earth, despite all the ice. The winter temperature at the South Pole can plummet to -80°C (-112°F).  There is a great deal to be learned from this site, and there is a need for wikivoyage and similar websites A recent poll revealed that nearly one-third of young Americans couldn’t locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi. Additionally, a poll of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 revealed that 6 in 10 couldn’t find Iraq.  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12591413/ns/us_news-education/t/young-americans-shaky-geographic-smarts/