'Online Learning' Category

Learning French Online

Published by Erica Nielsen on March 12, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Robert Yannick

Learning French is not easy, so don’t believe when someone tells you it’s as simple as learning one, two, and three. However, there are several methods that can help you understand and learn French in the most effective way.

One of the most wonderful contributions of the Internet is online tutorials. Now, you can study French and master it with less effort through online French lessons. There are countless online French courses in the Internet but it’s important that you know which program corresponds to your needs. It won’t be as useful and effective to you as it can be to others if it doesn’t suit you.

One way of learning French language is by studying the online course lesson via the Internet. However, there are also online programs that allow you to download the whole course so you can copy it on CD and listen to it anywhere you go. Aside from that, interactive programs are also available online in which you can assess your knowledge as you advance your French lesson.

In addition, you can make use of online French courses in increasing your vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. You can find such programs online that bring about creative and useful lessons that are designed for people who are having difficulty in learning French.

There are lots of websites that offers French vocabulary games and mind-benders that can help you enjoy while learning. Also, there are several online exercises such as critical analysis, web research etc. that could help you progress in a much enjoyable way.

On the other hand, in selecting online French courses, choose the one that offers money back guarantee so that you can demand for a refund if the product is a big flop. If you could find offers like a free trial on French programs, then it’s better. Other websites offer some free lessons hoping that you will like their programs. So take advantage of it and decide which program could help you most with your goal.

However, it is important to remember that you should take a mental break when you get tired to save the stored information in your overloaded brain. Whatever the medium you use in this pursuit, it is best that you know there is no such thing as instant learning. Therefore, if you are determined to learn French, you have to dedicate enough patience, willingness and time.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/learning-french-online-357878.html

About the Author: Yannick is a French teacher living in Paris, owner of ParisByPod , offering French lessons and daily podcast, live from Paris !

Interview with Michael Orey: Interviews with eLearning Professionals Series

Published by Susan Smith Nash on March 8, 2008 in Online Learning and Programs and Research. 1 Comment

Michael Orey, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, responded to interview questions on distance learning. Dr. Orey is a pioneer of online education, having developed multimedia learning materials since the 1980s. His insights and core philosophy of online education are valuable for all educators and administrators interested in motivating students and rehumanizing the online learning space.

What is your name, and what is your involvement with e-learning?
My name is Michael Orey and I am a professor in Instructional Technology. I teach online classes and have done so for about 10 years. I also consult with various companies who are engaged in e-learning in various ways. BTW, the photo I have provided shows me sitting on the Veranda of the Jekyll Island Inn teaching an online class using Wimba’s live classroom. This was during a Distance Learning Administrator conference and I believe that my photo was taken at least 5 times during my class because attendees at the conference loved seeing e-learning in action!

How did you get interested in distance education?
It was a natural progression of using technology for learning. I have been in the field of Instructional Technology since the early 1980’s. I was originally interested in Intelligent Tutoring Systems, but my interests just keep evolving as new and more interesting technology becomes available. I was never interested in distance learning when the technology available was postal mail, but as the web has grown, so has my interest in distance learning.

What is your favorite new trend in distance education?
I have been involved with technology for learning for years and over those years I have come to believe that teaching and learning is a very human endeavor. I think that the trends in distance education I think are the most interesting are the ones where closer connections are made between students and between students and teachers. Some of those are live classrooms like Wimba and some of those are 3-D virtual environments like Second Life, but more tailored to the support of collaboration.

What is your favorite technology?
I am a big Wimba user. I have been using a live classroom for nearly 10 years dating back to an early version of Placeware which is now Microsoft’s NetMeeting. I am beginning to believe that some sort of hybrid between Wimba and Second Life would be the next great App for learning.

What kinds of instructional materials do you use in elearning?
I have or are in the process of writing/editing three wiki-based books in my field. I use these in my online classes and make them freely available for others to use. I also have developed things like quizzes and assignments in WebCT to support learning. I use Impatica for recording lectures with Powerpoint. I use Captivate to do software demonstrations. I use videos to support learning as well and have begun to put these on YouTube so that they are freely available.

How do you use textbooks in e-learning?
I have already answered this to some extent with my wiki books. However, I also teach classes where I have not written the text. In these classes, most frequently, I use a collection of readings. These readings I scan into PDFs and provide within a password protected site like WebCT to the students in my classes.

What are your favorite social networks? How do you view them in e-learning?
I am in LinkedIn and Facebook, but I am not a “native”. I seem to only go to these sites when someone wants me to link to them, so I do.

Do you have a few favorite mashups or web applications that work together in innovative ways? Please describe them.
Other than those I just described, no. As I learn new and interesting technologies, I try to weave them in. I did a podcast for a class once, but I did not have a great deal of success with it, so I abandoned it. I have used a wiki to run a class once, that was pretty successful.

BTW, the books I edit online are:
Emerging Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Technology
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt
This is the oldest book I have. It has evolved over the years to include video, animations, images, narrated powerpoints and other media to support the content of the book.

World Almanac of Educational Technologies
http://www.waet.uga.edu
This book has as a goal to have a chapter from each country in the world so that we can all learn about how technology is being used everywhere. We only have a handful of chapters so far, but we are still hopeful that others will continue to contribute.

Foundations of Instructional Technology
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/ITFoundations/
This book is due to be ready in the fall of 2008. As such, most of the chapters are still just promises.

BTW, the wiki I used for a class can be found at:
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/mikeorey/
This wiki shows some of the ideas I have about Open Resources and Global Issues.

What is your favorite quote? or, what’s a book that caught your eye recently?
Unfortunately, my favorite quote is from my favorite author and not someone in the e-learning world. It is from Kurt Vonnegut:
Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.

Interviewed by Susan.

E-tutoring Benefits Aplenty

Published by Erica Nielsen on February 26, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Yatin Garg

Saves time and money: One of the major benefits of e-tutoring is the saving of time and money. Tutoring costs are generally 30-40% less than those in the US and the UK and on top of that, the students and parents save a lot of time and money on commuting.

Convenience: Rain or shine, the students don’t have to leave their comfy homes for tutoring. They also don’t have to cancel their scheduled appointments with tutors due to tutors unavailability. It is this convenience factor that is making e-tutoring a fast growing choice for the students.

Subject specialists: Students don’t have to stick to a single tutor. They can hire different specialists for different subjects and topics, and that too with ease.

Anywhere, anytime: Students can go for tutoring from anywhere where they have an internet access, be it a school or public library, cyber café, home, etc. They can have a session at any time suitable to them. Be it midnight or early morning, your tutor is always available.

Instant trouble-shooting: If you are stuck up in a homework question or you need to get ready for tomorrow’s exam, a tutor will be available immediately. So you don’t have to wait for the tutor, you can get them.

Multi-subjects at one place: Students can avail the tutoring in different subjects from one place. They don’t have to search for different subject specialists. A majority of the tutoring companies have the pool of different subject experts. It helps students to save time and money on search and hire.

Highly individualized and customized: Since it is one-on-one tutoring, tutoring is highly customized. The student can set his own pace of learning and do the topics of his choice. There is no pressure on him to finish the topic fast or go slow.

Security: E-Tutoring can be done from highly secured and comfortable environment of home.

Direct approach: It’s a myth that e-tutoring cannot be that interactive as direct tutoring. But chatting along with VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) makes it feel as if a tutor is sitting next to the student. Moreover, different tools like PowerPoint presentation along with animations, Flash movies, etc., make these tutoring sessions a great learning experience for the student.

Easy as 1, 2, 3: Most of the tutoring companies are using user-friendly software with highly secured interface. It helps to keep the student’s information confidential without hampering its usability.

Flexibility: Unlike direct tutor tutoring, e-tutoring offers tutoring of any length of time. Students can opt for tutoring sessions of any duration.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/e-learning-articles/etutoring-benefits-aplenty-326482.html

About the Author: The author is a Research Associate at www.tcyonline.com and can be reached at etutoring@tcyonline.com

Interview with Bill Hornbeck: Interviews with eLearning Professionals Series

Published by Susan Smith Nash on February 25, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Welcome to an interview Bill Hornbeck, President and CEO of StreamerNet Corporation, headquartered in Leesburg, VA. They provide access to digital media, which can be used as instructional content in an online course.

1. What is your relationship to e-learning?

Although we are focused on the eLearning sector as a result of our development of a unique media distribution platform on the web, I have been involved in one form or another for the past twenty-three years.

2. What is LearningPortal? How did it get started? What is the core vision?

The implementation of LearningPortal.com is based on technology meeting opportunity, but with a certain twist. Our entire vision is based on enabling the creators of knowledge-based content to have access to a distribution platform where the creator can actually be paid for their offerings.

I find it fascinating that, in a country that professes to be the single largest home to capitalism, there is this generation of citizens who seem to believe that products and services should be free of charge. While I can appreciate the benefit to advertisers when they have the willingness to trade brand awareness for goods, I cannot yet foresee a time when we can walk into a grocery store and read an ad in exchange for a quart of milk.

As we analyzed the visible evolution of advertising-based distribution of content, we became more and more confident that there was a solid opportunity to enable content owners to be properly and directly compensated for the sale of high-value knowledge products.

So, we built the LearningPortal technology to serve as a powerful online media vending machine – a web-based platform that can host and distribute content in the form of streaming or downloadable pay-to-view knowledge products.

There is no charge for content owners to place their materials on LearningPortal.com and all revenue is distributed through a revenue-sharing model.

We can even sell additional physical goods alongside the digital format so that a content owner can offer side products such as Books and DVDs. We can even sell the hat and the t-shirt!

3. Please list a few key links.

The main URL is http://www.learningportal.com

Here’s an example of an audio book: http://www.learningportal.com/Detail.aspx?id=WOuEzOJLJCZd59SDD%2fLY5g%3d%3d

4. What does LearningPortal offer? Please give an overview and then one or two specific examples (with links).

It’s important to note that the LearningPortal platform is not designed to deliver interactive courseware. We are more like a movie theater. In that regard, we do not compete with Learning Management Systems. We prefer to see our technology as an adjunct delivery system which fits particularly well with space-and-time-shifting requirements that can best be met by remote desktop viewing or by enabling downloads to the iPod and similar digital libraries.

A great example is our offering of the Tom Marks Panorama series called

Nuggets of Knowledge. The audio series is a wonderful collection of tidbits of knowledge that are perfectly suitable for off-loading for anytime listening. Nothing too fancy. Nothing earth shattering. Just loads of fun.

But, relative to the more specific corporate requirements, we offer a distribution platform that enables web-based delivery of post-event “replays” of corporate presentations and webinars. We find these offerings to be particularly effective within the trade association industry.

5 How do you see people using LearningPortal now and in the future?

The LearningPortal is a continuation of the original Internet theme of “anytime, anywhere access to knowledge”. In our case, we are properly focused on the enablement side. That is, we enable content owners to utilize a ready-built online distribution system to generate the revenue stream that is deservedly theirs. In so doing, we enable countless seekers of high-value knowledge-based content to go directly to what we anticipate will become the best and broadest source of searchable eLearning content.

6. What books or ideas have inspired you lately?

I am a broad reader of multidisciplinary subject matter. Almost entirely non-fiction. I was most stunned recently by the latest work of Ray Kurzweil, entitled The Singularity is Near. If you find it satisfying to recognize that the rate of organ repair and transplantation could enable a longer life, consider Kurzweils’s theme that exponential improvements in the world of bio will enable us to back-up the human brain within the next forty years – an accomplishment that may provide for immortality. It’s a great read.

Interview conducted by susan

E-learning in the Corporate World

Published by Erica Nielsen on February 24, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Vishwanath Shankar

E-Learning has progressed through the years from VHS video tapes, to elaborate synchronous online meeting tools through the internet. E-learning is not only being used in schools and universities but also in the corporate world. Corporations are using e-learning as a means of communicating, training and enhancing employee value across organizations and across countries.

Corporate Advantage

The corporate world is constantly on the look to increase efficiency and effectiveness in their workforce. There is a constant need to upgrade existing employees in new trends or products. Holding seminars, workshops or conventions detract employees from their work and results of such practices are at best weak. Being able to instruct employees while on the job through e-learning, can prove to be extremely valuable to any business.  E-learning solutions provide workers with important skills, making them more valuable as employees. A well-structured e-learning solution is the answer to the overall goal of efficiency and effectiveness. E-Learning means using technology for learning, and with technology evolving at its current pace, the bounds of e-learning are virtually limitless whether synchronously or asynchronously. Laptops, desktops, mobiles, i-pods etc, can all be used for e-learning.

The impact of e-learning can be tremendous, especially in corporations. E-learning for corporations addresses the precise requirements of business. E -learning provides business-specific concept, training of various departments across the country simultaneously, introducing a new product into the company or just upgrading employees. Since e-learning can be done in any geographic spot, there are no travel expenses. There is also no cost of conventions or hotels. E-learning is less expensive than learning in a traditional method. Facilitating employee’s growth and training on the job also increases job satisfaction. This heightens worker motivation and results in increased work performance. 

Worker Advantage

Flexibility is a major advantage of e-learning. E-learning has the advantage of taking class anytime anywhere. It is available when and where it is needed. E-learning can be done at the office, home, or while traveling, 24 X 7 X 365. E-learning accommodates different types of learning styles. Workers have the advantage of learning at their own speed. Workers can also learn through a variety of activities that apply to many different learning styles. E-learning allows the workers to select learning materials that meet their level of knowledge, interest and what they need to know to perform more effectively in their field. This way learning can be customized to the workers need. Workers can use the advances in mobile technology by e-learning on various handheld devices and PDAs during long tedious commutes. This cuts back on time wasted in traveling while advancing career growth. Through e- learning workers can review information as often as they like, move forward and backward through the instruction at the pace they are comfortable with.

Corporate E-learning Software’s

Corporate E-learning Software’s are specially designed keeping in mind the companies necessitates and employee requirements. They’re are various packages that make a successful corporate e-learning software-Communication package: facilitates all categories of users with discussion forums, announcements, surveys, news articles, and FAQs.

Designation package: can define, access, and manage roles, responsibilities, groups, user accounts, job profiles, and different clients.

Content Bank: Content Bank allows you to create content categories and define content types to be used in the system. It has powerful features to upload and store content in reusable format and in different versions. With easy-to-use search feature, the authors can quickly look for content to be used in their courses.

Syllabus Planner: This is a portal that aids instructors to plan the learning pattern and workflow. To efficiently deliver training to a workforce that has diverse needs, it is critical that your platform provides flexible course delivery options. WIZDOM provides you complete control over the learning plan (LP). You can create a hierarchal LP and attach any kind of content – PDF, DOC, PPT, Images, ZIP files, SCORM courses, or attach any item like Chat, Whiteboard, Offline Course, Discussion, Assessment, and Reference to the LP nodes.

Reports: This tool allows you to generate and analyze Site Usage Report; Course Usage Report, and Learners’ Activity Report.

The Bottom-Line

The bottom-line for any corporate is profit and success, with e-learning you accomplish this goal swiftly and easily.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/elearning-in-the-corporate-world-133828.html

About the Author:
Vishwanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e-learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about  LMS (Learning Management Systems) , He has been working in close co-ordination with  web development experts  to develop user friendly distance learning programs. It takes a professional like him to declare the big time arrival of e learning as a worthy substitute to conventional learning techniques.

Math Games Can Help All Students

Published by Erica Nielsen on February 21, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Sheryl Wood

In every math class, there are those students who just don’t seem to be able to grasp the concepts. Some of them outright hate math.  How can these students be reached?  One technique that can work to motivate students is with interactive math games that they play at their own pace.

Math games do not replace the need for a teacher. There is nothing that educational software can teach in math that can be taught without a teacher. Math is one of those subjects that really requires an instructor. However, math games can be used to reinforce and reward in the math classroom.

Imagine if you are teaching junior high math and realize that some of your students do not know how to add and subtract. If you have to take valuable class time to teach these basic elementary math skills, the rest of your students will suffer. However, if this student group is not able to do simple addition or subtraction, they are going to struggle all year. One way to encourage them to practice in a fun, competitive way without detracting from the overall class is to allow them to play math games. Perhaps devote the last 10 minutes of the class to free time. Students that are working at grade level can get a jump-start on their homework assignments, and students who need extra practice can play math games. You can set up the math games so that they focus on the areas the students need to practice. You can make random groups and rotate them so all of your students get a chance to play during the week. This way, certain students are not identified and all students receive important practice.

One benefit of math games that is often overlooked is the fact that the students are working independently. Sometimes those students who struggle in subjects, especially math, are embarrassed about their difficulties. If you were to play a group practice game or ask them to answer questions orally, they might be too embarrassed to try their best. On the computer, however, these students are not faced with their peers. They can progress through the math games at their own level, gaining valuable practice each day.

As you are shopping for math games, you need to realize that there is a wide range of products available. You will still be able to find traditional math games. These are the games where students practice their basic facts with arcade-like programming. But, math games are no longer only the arcade-style games you may remember. You can find software that contains your students’ favorite cartoon or movie characters. As they move through the levels they must answer math questions to proceed. Some math game software keeps track of the student’s progress and personalizes the lessons. Students advance levels once they’ve reached competency on skills being worked on. Some math games have features that encourage and build analytical skills, problem approach, logic and systematic thinking. While your students may not realize this is math, you know that these thinking skills are essential to finding success in the subject. You can even purchase mystery programs where the students act as detectives solving “math mysteries.”

Whatever program you decide to use in your math classroom, be sure to set aside time when the students can play math games. Everyone, from gifted students to those who struggle, can benefit from playing with numbers, and the computer is a great way to make this happen. With math games, math can become a little bit more fun for everyone.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/math-games-can-help-all-students-337508.html

About the Author:
Visit  AllEducationalSoftware.com  for  math games  to help everyone conquer their math fears!

How the Employers Look at Online Degree?

Published by Erica Nielsen on February 21, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Jullie Harvard

Nowadays, it is common to earn a degree through online education program. You can choose any major that fit your needs from degree programs offered by various online schools. Many of us are getting a degree for the purpose of career advancement or making a career switch. So, the acceptance of the degree in the job market is important. The common concern for most students who are planning to pursue their degree online is whether the degree earned is equally competitive with the standard degree which earned through campus-based university.

In deciding whether to go for online study or follow the campus-based degree program, the acceptance of the degree in the job market may become your key consideration factor. You may choose to pursue the traditional campus-based degree program just because you worry that online degree may not widely accepted in the job market, so it may affects your career opportunities after your graduation.

In the early introduction of online education, your concern about how the employers look at online degree may be valid. But the growth of online education in past 20 years shown that online study has become popular as more and more students are getting their degree through this channel. Statistics show that generally a degree that earned from campus-based or through online has no differences, but employers do have concerns about fake degrees issued by diploma mills.

The market demands have pushed the online education to growth rapidly, and it has becomes one of the most profitable industry which attractive diploma mills to compete for the market share. The diploma mills are unauthorized universities that offer online degrees that are not accredited by accrediting agency which approved by Department of Education. Those degrees that issued by diploma mills are illegal and they are not accepted in the job market. Employers nowadays are well aware about those fake degrees and they have tried their best efforts to reject them. So, if you are earn your degree from a diploma mill, the consequences may not just losing your job opportunity, but you may be dragged into a legal case due to holding an illegal degree.

Most employers have a list of accredited online universities and their degree programs, or they can easily access the list from the accreditation database from Department of Education’s website. Any degree from an unknown or suspicious online university will easily draw attention by the employers. If you are earning a degree from a reputable and properly accredited university, your online degree should have no different than the degree earned through campus-based university.

For students who are planning to earn their degree online, they should not worry about how the employers look at their degree because online degrees are wide accepted by most of employers. What you need to focus on is finding an online degree program that is properly accredited by an accrediting agency approved Department of Education. You can access to the accreditation information from CHEA.org website.

Summary: As long as you are getting a degree from an accredited online university, which the accreditation is done by an accrediting agency recognized by Department of Education, you shouldn’t face any problem when you use the degree to start your career after graduation.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-education-articles/how-the-employers-look-at-online-degree-337414.html

About the Author:
Jullie Harvard is the author of   http://www.studykiosk.com  , an online degree directory that lets you browse  online study programs  offer by various online schools to help you understand  what makes online education your best option .

Online University

Published by Erica Nielsen on February 19, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Peter Salazar

Getting an online university degree from an online degree is more convenient in many cases. Of course this issue can vary from person to person. A person who wishes to have a globally recognized degree right from his comfort at home may opt for an online degree from a worldwide reputed online university. There are numerous such universities offering an online degree but some of them may not be globally recognized. So, before opting for any online degree it is very much necessary that one should thoroughly go through the history of information on a particular university. The university directory is of great help to choose an online university with ones personal preference.

Some of the most popular online universities are University of Phoenix, The Art Institutes, and Strayer University, Westwood College, South University etc.

Online universities offers an online degree on a number of subjects like psychology, liberal arts, culinary arts, creative writing, public relation, game art and design, graphic design, interior design, multimedia and web design, engineering studies, gerontology, family and community services, advertising, marketing, information technology, political science, economics, criminology, sociology, hospitality, public relations, human resource and many other streams including management as well. These online degrees are not limited to only certified degree or bachelor degree. One can opt for a masters degree as well as a doctorate degree online from a reputed Online University.

The most effective part of these online universities is that they offer a flexible online degree program without any discrimination based on caste, race, or nation i.e. anyone whether he is a as American, Asian, or a African can opt for a online degree course at any stage of his or her life. They can also opt for dual degree program like one can take an online degree in Hospitality as well as in Human Resource.  This leaves an advantage on the student’s career where he can be flexible in choosing his job in either hospitality or human resource. 

Last but not the least; online universities are the most cost effective universities where we are gratis of hostel fees. Also, we can complete our degree at minimal fees.  We have the comfort of home where we can work with our daily life and have our online degree at midnight. These online universities have no doubt simplified education to its highest level that have led to an imperative revolution in the system of education.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/college-and-university-articles/online-university-336905.html

Free Online Games: Education Spiced Up With Entertainments

Published by Erica Nielsen on February 18, 2008 in Online Learning. 0 Comments

Author: Bob Flushman

It is true that the word “educational” do not often link it to any degree of enjoyment to people but to young kids, they are as fun and as productive as they could possibly be. Research shows that the developing brain of children in their early stage have active capacity of absorbing almost anything thrown at them. Therefore if you have young kids then bring some twist to your teaching method. Introducing online educational games in your teaching process where they can have both fun and knowledge can be highly rewarding.  

Generally educational games are highly underestimated but unfortunately the least visited applications in an entertainment site reside within this educational category. Max out the application of the internet which is considered as the most amazing learning tool where you will find answer to any kind of questions with a few points and clicks. There are plenty of on-line resources for kids especially when it comes to free kid’s educational games on varied subjects like math, English, geography etc.

Educational games are have been specifically designed to teach people about a certain subject, grow their concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. But no wonder why children’s educational computer games have often encountered more negative critics instead of positive critics. Centralized by increasing technological and informational society, education to the growing children will be provided through a mediated combination of learning and enjoyment experience.  

Online educational games will help even the teachers to assist students on social aspects such as critical learning, knowledge based communication and effective interpersonal skill that traditional method of teaching could not offer. The recent emergence of educational games spiced up with entertainments are helping the children to take interest and learn fast their subjects as well as their guide that may be their parents at homes or teachers at school to teach them with ease.

 The advent of online educational games had brought a new revolution in the world of education providing additional information to the growing children. These computer-aided learning programs are said to be highly effective when designed to address a specific problem or teach a certain skill in any subjects. So whether its letters, numbers or colors that you would like your child to learn and respond to you positively online educational games can be a good option for you to avail. Just try and see.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/computer-games-articles/free-online-games-education-spiced-up-with-entertainments-303463.html

Malware and Web 2.0: Security Challenges

Published by Susan Smith Nash on February 16, 2008 in Online Learning and Tech Trends. 1 Comment

Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.

Paden found out the hard way that going without an antivirus program can really throw a spanner into the works. Granted, she did not start out without antivirus protection. Her new computer came with a 6-month trial subscription to one of the most familiar programs on the market. After the program expired, though, the cost of renewing it seemed very high. So, Paden decided to download a version of the same program from the university where she was a student. The university had obtained a license to offer a version to its students. Although it was the same program, it was very slow, and Paden became frustrated with it and decided to take off the program. Within two weeks, her brand new computer had crashed.

“It was a nightmare!” said Paden, as she brushed her dark wavy bangs away from her face and grimaced. “I am taking two online courses, so you can imagine how difficult it was for me.”

Without realizing it, Paden had encountered the two most common problems that organizations and individuals encounter in antivirus programs: high costs and big footprints. The reason that the program slowed down her computer was because the “free” antivirus program that her university offered was a clunky version that required a great deal of computing resources in order to run.

After she had her computer back up and running again, Paden decided to not go a single minute without a robust antivirus program.

“I decided to go with AVG Internet Security, version 7.5. It was about half the price of the other antivirus program, and it had everything — antivirus, firewall — you name it,” she said. She decided to purchase it after reviewing one of AVG’s websites at http://www.avg-antivirus.net.

In reality, the AVG solution that Paden selected had even more functionality, with the ability to remove viruses, spyware, adware, worms, and trojans. It also had a firewall and antispyware capabilities.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect was that AVG 7.5 was specially designed to have a very “light” footprint, which is to asy that it does not bog down computing processes as it runs.

Ironically, a month after Paden purchased AVG for her computer, her college switched to AVG. The college purchased enough site licenses to provide a copy of the program to administrators and faculty members which helped protect the school avoid having virus-infected files uploaded into the course management system.

Potential malicious codes and malware embedded in Web 2.0 applications have added to the need for a solid antivirus solution. Wherever there is code, there is the potential for malicious code. AVG recognizes patterns and can eradicate the malware before it has a chance to affect computers.

Two new popular applications are expected to face growing challenges with malware in the future.

Truly Viral Videos: The first, malicious code in flash players and in embedded script for YouTube videos can wreak havoc. In this case, a highly popular and rapidly spreading “viral video” will disseminate bad code instead of the expected good cheer.

Web 2.0 Malware Vectors: The fact that people can embed code into their blogs, MySpace, iGoogle, Bebo, or other spaces and enable unique functionalities makes the Web 2.0 environment truly unique. The openness and ability to share also makes it truly scary, since any of the applications could potentially be tainted. If malware is in the embedded code, what is it making your computer do? The possibilities are truly frightening.

AVG is aggressively and proactively addressing Web 2.0 vulnerabilities. While other antivirus programs are doing so as well, the light footprint makes AVG more flexible and nimble.

Another advantage for individuals and organizations is the availability of 24-7 local support. Walling Data Systems, at http://www.avg-antivirus.net/, the largest distributor of AVG software, makes sure that clients have several ways to obtain support. Clients can call in, send an email, and obtain live online assistance.

While Web 2.0 applications and the newly robust abilities of online courses have led to a more dynamic experience and extreme openness, they are also increasing user vulnerability. No one should stop using the web because of scary applications, but everyone should definitely keep antivirus programs up-to-date.
web 2.0 malware - computer virus

Author: susan smith nash, ph.d. First published at E-Learning Queen.