“I want the world. I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket,” spoiled brat Veruca Salt crooned in the 1971 film version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In today’s fast-paced society, demands for one all-encompassing device that serves as a convenient cell phone, personal organizer, gaming system, computer and media player sound eerily similar to Veruca Salt’s gluttonous insistences. However, unlike the greedy girl who got her comeuppance, the public’s demands are being met and exceeded through new technology in handheld devices.
Continue reading ‘The Whole World in Your Pocket: The New Wave of Handheld Devices’
Archive for July, 2004
What makes a successful online learning community? It’s almost a mantra now: “The quality of an online course is a function of the quality of interaction.” What does that mean in practice? The reciprocal and goal-driven interaction of ideas, resources, models, and opinions characterizes a successful e-learning environment, and results in an effective community of practice. Online learning communities are formed in distributed learning spaces that enable and facilitate sustainable exploration-driven interactions between learners and facilitators. These interactions are built on a solid foundation created by learning technologies and subject matter experts and informed by definable and measurable goals and objectives. Continue reading ‘Successful Online Learning Communities’
What is the difference between 100% Online Courses, Hybrid Courses, and Web-Enhanced Courses? Although online education has entered the general consciousness, there is still a great deal of confusion about what constitutes an online course, and which components are considered critical in developing a successful online educational course or program. Continue reading ‘What exactly is an online course?’
In a time of increasing globalization, where identities and nationalities are defined more by affiliation, community, and new “space” in the media (which includes the Internet), literature functions even more than in the past as the prime test of the importance and/or longevity of a culture. Continue reading ‘The Function of Literature on the Internet’
This articles takes a look at five major databases offered by many libraries: EBSCO, LexisNexis, FirstSearch, Newsbank, and Project MUSE. How can they be used effectively by students and faculty to improve research and writing skills, plus achieve learning objectives in online courses?
Continue reading ‘Weaning Oneself From Google: Academic Library Databases’
Apple announced big profits for the last quarter and its success, once again, was driven by the iPod division. The path for Apple’s success, in turn, provides important lessons for online learning.
Continue reading ‘iPod/iTunes Profitability Spell Out Important Lessons for Online Learning’
Rather than simply duplicating what exists in printed form or complementing existing collections, the digital presentation of literary production now often supplants traditional print media. Many literary productions are never even published in book form, and many libraries have holdings predominantly in digital formats. Aside from accessibility issues and the myriad of technological concerns that surround the shift from print media to electronic (delivered through the Internet), there are profound implications for users throughout the world, as the Internet and new infrastructures allow globalization and cultural diversity to take many different forms. Continue reading ‘The Internet, Literature: How We Know Ourselves and Our World’
Revolutionizing Learning:
Media Books as Learning Tools
Introduction
In a rapidly evolving digital world, people seek instant gratification. Cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players and other technological devices saturate the market as society responds to e-products that make life easier, more accessible, and most of all, convenient. E-books represent the ever-changing and fast-paced nature of today’s world. High-tech, low-cost advancements in technology are ideal as educational tools, and e-books continue to be an important and viable tool in the future of education. Continue reading ‘XplanaBook 1.0 Whitepaper’
Computerized scoring of student essays that goes beyond grammar, spelling, and syntax to assess argumentation, structure, logical sequencing, and mechanics has been the stuff of fantasy and phobia for years. Employing robust artificial intelligence systems, programs such as Vantage Learning’s MY Access! provide immediate diagnostic assessments, with suggestions, guidance, and feedback. It is a prompt-driven, web-based writing environment which encourages students to submit a finished essay or a draft, obtain instant feedback, and rewrite it. Because improving writing skills requires not only practice, but also a honing of critical thinking skills, automated approaches can result in measurable improvements, particularly when the instructional strategy is carefully developed and implemented. Continue reading ‘Computer-Scored Essays: Profile of MY Access!’
Librarians have the bug. The music and movie industries are trying to make sure everyone gets infected with the bug. With the continued problems of content piracy and bootlegging , industry leaders, artists, and authors are working together to protect the potential profits of their labor. The keys to success lie in coordinated standards and the adoption of common technologies. Continue reading ‘Well-Managed Digital Content Means Higher Profit Margins’
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