Manners, Manners Everywhere!

By Saleha Saeed

Netiquette, a linguistic blend of “Internet Etiquettes” is quite self-explanatory: the set of rules and guidelines one must follow while using the internet as a source of web discussions or interactive classrooms.

Since the tone one uses on the internet is under veil, the only reflective form of mannerism is the way in which discourse is written – the need of implementing netiquette is thus integral! Even though the regulations are very basic, I’d like to shed light on some points they incorporate:

• Be brief by using clear and concise language
• Be rational by explaining your stance if you “agree” or “disagree” to something
• Be courteous and avoid using CAPITILIZATION of phrases/words as it may depict yelling
• Be professional by avoiding slang, sarcasm, profanity and undue humor in your writing
• Be open-minded and respect others’ opinions even if they differ from your own

You may have noticed that these rules are to be employed everywhere in our daily lives. How often is it that we put them in practice though? More specifically, have you as a member of this digital forum kept these guidelines in view before making posts? Furthermore, how can netiquette be effectively applied online – should those who carelessly break such rules be penalized?

Free World-Class Education

By Nouraiz Nazar

“A free world-class education for anyone anywhere”, Khan Academy

One of the most common ways of learning these days is through different apps. Khan Academy, a website and an app available for iOS, Android, and Windows, aims to provide education to anyone, anywhere and anytime. This virtual educational instrument started in 2006, with more than 700 videos on different topics, regarded as great tool for extreme learning.

As a graduate, if one needs to prepare for SAT, MCAT or GMAT exams, and unfortunately met an accident, that person may not be able to go to a preparation class, but with Khan Academy one can always turn on laptop or use a phone or tablet, with an internet connection to learn and prepare while lying on a hospital bed.

I, as an Environmental Sciences student, don’t have sufficient practice with Calculus, and interestingly if next year after my graduation, I get a job in research organization where I would have to do Calculus now and then, I would not be able to come back to FCC, and take MATH 101 with Dr Ron McCartney. I will open Khan Academy app, and watch videos to learn calculus.

It is an interesting platform for the students to learn and teachers should widely incorporate technologies like Khan Academy and other virtual education resources in teaching. What do you think would be the importance of using these resources in your teaching practices? Would you, in near future as a teacher would consider, integrating the resources like Khan Academy into your teaching?

Use of Videos in Classrooms- Interactive Way of Learning

By Ammara Javaid

Nothing can be more exciting than use of videos in classroom. Isn’t it will enthuse all of us and motivate us when we will have interesting short documentaries, still shots and expertise talks instead of listening to our professors with absence of mind? Some of you disagree with me or some will agree as I definitely would prefer of having video lectures in our classrooms in the form of documentaries, short films, clippings, pictures, animation and so on.

In article “the chronicle of higher education” by Jeffery R. Young is written that now professors of different disciplines for example sociology, anthropology, foreign languages etc. assigning students to make video instead of writing term or research papers. As students can express their ideas and logical things more clearly than in written form. Kyle D. Brown has recently designed an IPhone app so that students can submit their video assignments easily as he thinks that now making video is as easy as writing assignments.

Even teachers can make their lectures more interesting by using videos in their lectures. An organization TED has made a web site on which there are thousands of videos from where teachers can enhance their lectures by using them. Also I think video lectures can be given by anyone from any part of the world.it can be more creative if teachers are suggesting and advising students to use videos in their courses because in videos student have to research on his own and he will experience things that he can share with everyone through videos which will useful for everyone. Video making enhance student’s ability to express their ideas as Michael S. Graver said “it’s kind of a way to showcase the talent around the country”

Online Program Connects Students Across Cultural and National Borders

Dear Team 4 members,

‘No Submission’ syndrome has struck your team again this week (unfortunately). Your assigned team member for this week too, did not send in the post as yet. I don’t know how to express in words but the picture embedded below translates my current emotions quite well.

Anyways, for this week, you will read and comment on the post titled “Online Program Connects Students Across Cultural and National Borders”. Read this post here and then come back to this very page to record your comments.

– Muhammad Adil Arshad

Wikis, Sites, Docs & Pads: The Many flavors of Collaborative Writing

Dear Team 4 members,

Please know that your assigned team member for this week did not send in the post as yet. Therefore, for this week, you will read and comment on the post titled “Wikis, Sites, Docs & Pads: The Many flavors of Collaborative Writing”. Read this post here and then come back to this very page to record your comments.

– Muhammad Adil Arshad

Learning with Video Games

By Wajih Asghar

Video games cover different aspects on one’s learning and thinking ability. However, games donot directly unveil their procedures which help us learn, most of the time while we play video games we are actually learning or training a certain part of our brain unconsciously, whether its logic and reasoning or retaining memory. Games have this amazing ability to mask their learning potential with interesting and engaging activities. These activities would depend on the game; if it is a puzzle game then you would obviously be working out your memory, other games like action and adventure help with our reflexes and ability to recall stuff that we learned earlier in the game.

Apart from all this, it would be interesting to note here that most kids learn English mostly through video games. In fact, many programs have been started to help out the disabled children learn through English and results have shown that they pick up English and puzzle solving quicker than when they would while sitting in class.

Though we might have gotten scolded a lot by our parents for playing non-stop it is now clear that video games help us more and have shown the potential for having a place in education in the near future.

The most powerful aspect of games that help us learn is that games our based on vision. We humans rely heavily on our visual senses which consume over half of our brains resources and are able to recall things (which we have seen) quickly as compared when we use our other senses to learn.

Lastly, games help us with some highly unthought-of aspects such as patience and discipline. Take an example, if you’re stuck on a game level that is continuously beating you and you can’t get past it you have to be patient, if you’re not you’re still going to lose, so regardless of how you react to it, you are still going to be taught to be patient by video games and be disciplined by them. If you are patient enough, you might even develop a sense of optimism.

So games not only help us in learning they also help to make slight adjustments to our behaviors.

Is your smart phone really making you smart?

By Zeeshan Khalid

We live in an age where technology and technological advancements are at their peak and this phenomenon is rampant across the globe. Almost every person living on the face of this planet has been affected by this technology either in a positive or negative way and sometimes even both. Technology has no doubt made many matters of life much easier and achievable which without these technological advancements would not have been possible. Every person may have a different experience and exposure to these technological advancements and so in light of their ‘experience’ they form a perception and a judgment about its importance.

In one recent week, the medical student sent 40 e-mails and 399 text messages, snapped 25 photos, bought two movie tickets, downloaded four songs, watched a full-length film, checked the weather forecast 15 times, shopped at Target, surfed the Web for 129 minutes and spent 5½ hours socializing with friends on Facebook — all from his iPhone 4S. (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/05/tech/mobile/smartphoneaddicts/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5)

Now for some people, the above stated case may be something normal but for most it isn’t. there are many people who feel that there life has become way much more organized and efficient because of the way technology is being utilized for multiple purposes ranging from the  house hold chores to the things work related matters.

Whatever the case maybe, the picture has both the sides. There may be many negatives but the most evident and ‘epidemic’ problem is the communication catastrophe between human beings. Communication touches every sphere of our lives. Technological changes have indisputably led to faster communication but the point is that are we communicating more effectively? We are getting to the point of information over load, but are we communicating effectively? Is our social life improving because of this technology? When was the last time you had lunch or dinner together as a family on one table? When was the last time you had a long healthy talk with your family members? Is technology making us more humans or are we headed towards social destruction?

Thanks to Micro-blogging, I can now escape the Grammar Police

Micro-blogging, a relatively new and precise form of blogging, has become increasingly popular in recent years. Professionals in diverse areas such as small/large scale businesses, career services, banking, entertainment, media, libraries, and researchers, in general, are beginning to use micro-blogging as informal learning tool to enhance their skills and knowledge. Some well-known micro-blogging platforms include: Twitter, Plurk, Jaiku etc.

Numerous studies indicate that teachers too, across the globe, are frequently utilizing micro-blogging technology to facilitate the instant exchange of information and communication. Teachers, when surveyed (Costa et al., 2008), stated that micro-blogging is a ‘ready to go’ learning approach for students as most of them already are the regular practitioners of micro-communication (~ 140 characters) via text-messaging. Students, in general, find the concept of using cell-phones in classrooms as academic tools overly amusing. And one can see, why? First, it allows students to stay anonymous while posting any comment or question (‘handle’ identity can be shared selectively with the teacher while protecting it from the fellow students). This is ground breaking, in particular, for the students who feel apprehended in sharing their opinion in larger groups. Second, it provides students with an opportunity to focus more towards the quality of an idea to be shared without worrying about the accuracy of language (Grammar). It happens quite often that students who lack language skills, struggle to put forth their thoughts, even the good ones. Thanks to Micro-blogging, such students can now register their contributions with all fairness. Last but not the least, it allows every student in class to floor his/her view about the topic under discussion within no time. For example, utilizing micro-blogging technology, a teacher can collect 50+ responses to any given statement/question and then flash them on a large screen (SMART boards) in less than a minute.

Despite of some noteworthy benefits, the practice of incorporating micro-blogging in classrooms for teaching and learning purposes is not without criticism. Critics believe that micro-blogging maybe a fine tool to explore for students outside the classroom premises but in classroom it is more of a distraction. Classrooms are meant to serve as learning communities, where teachers primary role as leaders is to help students overcome their fears, how colossal they maybe. Micro-blogging may provide students the temporary shadow to hide the fears but it surely cannot eliminate them. For absolute success, teachers should conduct regular and frequent face-to-face teaching sessions.

Bearing in mind the above two perspectives, please address the following questions: Can micro-blogging help to improve interactions among students? Should teachers make a switch to digital discussions from face-to-face discussions? Should students, being the primary stakeholders, have a say in this decision?

 

 

Reference:

Costa, C. & Beham, G. & Reinhardt, W & Sillaots, M. (2008). Microblogging In Technology Enhanced Learning: A Use-Case Inspection of PPE Summer School 2008. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Social Information Retrieval in Technology Enhanced Learning (SIRTEL’08). Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Smart Education: The Best Way To Teach!!!

By Komal Shamas

The concept of smart education is indeed a blessing to the students of 21^st century. Technology has changed the way of our life and by utilizing these technologies in education, students can learn more effectively.

Firstly, students don’t need to carry heavy backpacks. They just have to turn on their tablet or Pc to study in the class. By using online websites (e-book) they can read many books without carrying them. Smart classes are just like watching movies or animated visual that used to teach a lesson. This kind of visual are eye-catching and students can learn through it. Students also learn that how to utilize new technologies and it is kind of practical learning. Smart education saves the time of teachers. They don’t have to draw the diagrams on the board to show the students, teachers can show the students diagram from their smart board.  Pakistan should also take some steps to promote Smart education as Korea is promoting in these days.

Reference:

Retrieved September 21, 2013, from Technology in education: Smart Education in Korea: South Korea’s Making the Switch to Digital Textbooks

MOOCs? A big question for the world

MOOCs? A big question for the world

By Maida Ali

 In the article Myers quoted Mike K that there’s something fundamentally wrong when a college degree can cost upwards of $100,000 when all of the information can be learned for free (Myers, 2011). Answer this, if God forbid your mother needs a lifesaving treatment from a doctor, who would you choose? A doctor who paid $100,000 for a college degree or the one who learned it free from online courses? If no courses have been introduced for such important fields, then WHY NOT?

Let’s talk about reality for a change, the live (face to face) educational system provides a student to be groomed and progress at the same time. Through online courses you may pass written tests for any job but not the interview. Does grooming mean you sitting on your couch, eating popcorn in a casual wear studying for ‘Fundamentals of Economics’ while chatting with your friends on Facebook?

I am not criticizing the use of technology at all, progressive schools like Ngnee Ann Secondary School (Singapore) is doing it commendably (Course Site). They merged technology with their old school ways making it a balanced equation. We take out one thing from this equation and everything might fall. And MOOC’s do not fulfill the criteria to be in this equation.

References

Video of the Week. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from Technology in Education, FCC:https://sites.google.com/site/educ240fcc/student-of-the-month/johndoe

Myers, C.B. (2011, May 14). How the internet is revolutionizing the education? Retrieved September 10, 2013, from The Next Web: thenextweb.com/insider/2011/05/14/how-the-internet-is-revolutionizing-education