Information Technology Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Education’

Advancements in technologies, such as the personal and the Internet, have definitely prefabricated our lives easier. Overtime, they have also become a means of earning a higher education, most especially to the middle-aged individuals who wish to continue their education to be healthy to compete with the demands in the workforce, but who do not have the luxury of time and money. This method of learning is called online education or distance learning. As a matter of fact, nowadays, there are numerous technology-based online colleges offering a wide selection of courses for a much cheaper cost.

The consistent developments in technology have paved the way for education so that getting a college degree isn’t as costly as it once was. This is one of major reasons why more and more students are choosing to get an online education.

Some might argue that while online education might be cheap, it has a lower calibre compared to that of regular campuses. This is definitely as misconception. The calibre of education that distance learning provides has the same standards, if not better. Also, online education is more convenient because it grants students to attend their classes, anytime and anywhere. All they need is a personal or laptop and an World wide web connection. This means that education can be enjoyed together with business trips or overtime jobs or even babysitting. Generally, working adults largely benefit in this set-up. These are some of the reasons why an increasing number of people opt for distance learning over the traditional classroom setting.

Just like in any other regular university, graduating with an online degree course requires self-discipline and commitment. Students need to have consistent study and time management in order to learn. They are presented with an opportunity of acquiring knowledge and enhancing their skills in their own pace while gaining professional experiences at the same time.

Online education instructs one how to be more responsible when it comes to time, workload and initiative in learning. With this in mind, undertaking an advanced knowledge and skill program based on the students’ interests is a really wise move to make. Being an expert in multi-tasking, the students will have a maximum advantage to others.

More people are realizing the advantages of getting an online education. It is fortunate that there are many online colleges to select from which help boost their careers and their opportunities for a superior life.

More Technology Articles

Cloud computing is

education level

The winner is not surprising that personal education in the clouds is a necessary tool for many businesses and even schools. With this type of calculation, not with others, such as grid computing, utility computing or autonomic computing can be confused. Even if you are not absolutely familiar with cloud computing you are in any case, they use regularly, such as personal applications such as Skype. The interesting part about cloud computing is that entire systems can be implemented on a rental basis. The project infrastructure and access tools and applications can be used in place of the most frequently rented from these companies and projects are executed.

The economy

“Cloud Computing” With the economy spiraling downward already cut their IT budgets, education can cloud computing is the answer to many problems, financial problems, particular computer. Many critics are wondering if this type of computing system really work in the long run, losing momentum as it promises a swift solution to a weak economy or if it as any other calculations. Regardless of the hype that was assumed in creating this new system, it is true that Cloud is another form of calculation, what most people like the social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, e-mail systems like Hotmail, E Business-mail filtering and monitoring of security itself is used. These are all forms of cloud computing.

What are the benefits of cloud computing to education?

It is not surprising that students are in a binding. Not only do they have on student loans and the purchase of books concerned, but they spend hundreds of dollars on software to prevent their duties fully and that their personal do not present them. In this sense, cloud computing grants personal users to form the desired applications without having to purchase the software, use the frustration of the military installation or the host personal memory with software. With platforms for different clouds, such as Software as a Service Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service, Cloud Computing is possible.

Considering the money saved by these cloud applications speculate further that the biggest advantage that cloud computing to the upbringing of their economic factor. Instead of buying software and infrastructure, rents, how often and how many services are intended to be used. All software and files on a remote host personal to free up disk space, while, at any time on the World wide web grants users stored. Given the amount of resources, the supply of cloud computing, users can easily find any type of infrastructure, services or software they need. This helps reduce costs for schools or any organization or company that cloud computing applications, these organizations no longer have to be cut to purchase costly software for a single mortal or a limited number of small staff and students.

Many experts in the IT industry believe in education cloud computing and the benefits they can offer to millions of personal users on a regular basis. However, only time will tell if this calculation is the system will be a success in the world of computing.

Running Head: Breaking the Technology Barrier

Breaking the Technology Barrier: Using Technology in Education

Patrick Wellert

ETC 558

Northern Arizona University

Abstract

It has long been difficult for instructors to effectively communicate the objectives and goals in a fun and exciting way that reaches the students.  In the changing times instructors need to find ways to include students into the lesson using the technology prefabricated acquirable to them. It has long been believed that instructors need to get over their fear and use technology openly with students in order to meet their educational needs. By including students into the lessons instructors will experience a more positive classroom experience.

 Breaking the Technology Barrier: Using Technology in Education

            Technology and education have always seemed to go together. In order to prepare students for the workplace or college they need to be healthy to be exposed to it. Instructors in the classroom use technology believing that the students are gaining valuable information and retaining the concepts taught but in reality the students need to be involved in the lesson and actively participating in activities that include technology. Student engagement is critical to student motivation during the learning process. The more students are motivated to learn, the more likely it is that they will be successful in their efforts. (Beeland, 2002).

Uses of Technology

            There are numerous uses of technologies that are acquirable to instructors to include students into the classroom’s lesson. These include Interactive Whiteboards, Proximas, PowerPoint games, interactive DVDs, Ventrilo chat software, Myspace, Blackboard, and scavenger hunts. To place the uses of technology into an effective practice, instructors need to help students set achievable goals; encourage students to assess themselves and their peers; help them to work co-operatively in groups and ensure that they know how to exploit all the acquirable resources for learning (Hall, 2006). The following are how some technology is used to help students learn.

Interactive Whiteboards

            There are two different types of whiteboards. The first is a virtual version of a dry erase board. It grants students to see what the instructor or other students write or draw using a special pen. The second functions similar to a normal whiteboard but also contains a projector screen, an electronic copy board or as a personal projector screen on which the personal image can be controlled by touching or writing on the surface of the panel instead of using a mouse or keyboard. They function by connecting a projector to the whiteboard panel with the use of a personal and software. It is important to know the different functions in order to determine which whiteboard is right for the educator. By knowing the difference you can also learn the terminology and comprehend the basic functions of each.

Proximas and PowerPoint

            PowerPoint is a software program that is being used in the classroom as a tool to incorporate learning activities into the curriculum. PowerPoint enables instructors and students to actively create presentations with graphics, charts, diagrams, and photos in their slideshows to help make often complicated ideas and lessons more manageable and understandable. It is a way for students to engage in research, and present information to their peers. When students are actively learning, taking an active role in the learning process, they seem to comprehend the information better, and enjoy the lesson. The use of a game also granted Jones and Mungai to directly address the learning style needs of the visual (58%) and somatosense learner (22%), which represents eighty-percent of those involved in the content related courses. When constructed with different learning styles in mind, games can often accelerate the learning process (Jones & Mungai, 2003). By itself PowerPoint is not a cure-all remedy, but rather a tool that needs to be understood and used properly for it to be effective as an active learning tool. It also has shown that students that did use PowerPoint as a learning tool were more engaged in the discussions (Rowcliffe, 2003). This will encourage instructors to use PowerPoint as a way to involve students into a lesson by stimulating discussion. For PowerPoint to take place in a classroom an Interactive Whiteboard or a Proxima is needed. A Proxima displays a personal screen onto a screen much like a projector at a motion picture theater. The individual is healthy to display items such as websites, PowerPoint, and interactive games. A way for students to interact using this technology is through games created by instructors and used in the PowerPoint lesson. Games such as Hollywood Squares, Jeopardy, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire are created using slides and links to answer the questions. Instructors might use a blank template and fill them with different answers for the students to use as a review. Instructors might even let the students create their own review using the blank templates. This activity can also be used in a small group or team setting.

 Advantages to the Students

Learning sciences research tells us that students learn much superior “by doing” rather than “by listening.” This means that passive learning – the traditional lecture – is being replaced in our classrooms by more active learning activities that accentuate student problem solving, discussion, presentation and other “authentic” learning-by-doing-activities. (Day, 2004). By including students into the lesson it opens up a realm of possibilities because students can retain roughly only 10% of what they write down.

Teacher Apprehension

            So why are instructors not using technology that engages and interacts more frequently with students? There are many reasons why instructors feel apprehensive or uncomfortable using an interactive whiteboard, proxima and PowerPoint. The first of which could be the length of time from their college prep program until now. Instructors often get exposed to and learn new technologies in their instructor prep courses. Some might not have been prepared enough upon entering the workforce. Even though the availability of technology in American schools has increased (US Department of Education, 2000), information released by The National Education Association (2004) indicates that less than 35% of public school instructors feel they are “well prepared” or “very well prepared” to use this technology effectively.

            The second reason is blockage from the school’s control or security system. Instructors claim that the firewalls and filtering systems create blockage in their attempts to educate and communicate with others with technology (Murray, 2004). The instructors and other users can become frustrated when they do not comprehend why a certain item like a website used for a scavenger hunt or a hyperlink in a PowerPoint are not available.

            The inconsistency from school to school is another reason. At one site there might be access to all different types of technology while at another the absence is very evident. The general public perception is that our schools are using technology and managing our resources in that area well. In several surveys done some schools do show almost 100 percent use of technology while in others the use of technology is nonexistent (Starr, 2003).

Summary

The research has shown that there are proven benefits to using technology in the classroom. The capability to integrate technology into the classroom can add valuable information and ideas to our students.

By facilitating Proximas, PowerPoint, and interactive whiteboards our instructors will be healthy to reach a broader audience of learners.    

References

Beeland, W.D. (2002). Student engagement, visual learning and technology: can interactive

whiteboards help? Retrieved Might 31, 2008, from www.apexavsi.com

Day, J. (2004). Enhancing the classroom learning experience with web lectures. Retrieved Might 31, 2008 from http://smartech.gatech.edu/dspace/handle/1853/65

Hall, B. (2008, March 4). Explorations in learning. Message posted to Student Centered Learning, archived at http://secondlanguagewriting.com/explorations/Archives/2006/Jul/Studentcent
eredLearning.html

Jones, D. C. & Mungai, D. (2003). Technology-enabled teaching for maximum learning.

International Journal of Learning, (10), 3491-3501.     

Murray, C. (2004). Teachers: Limited time, access cut school tech use [Electronic version] e School news, 1-5

National Education Association. (2004): Technology in Schools. Retrieved Might 31, 2008 from

http://www.nea.org/cet/

Rowcliffe, S. (2003) Using PowerPoint effectively in science education: lessons

from research and guidance for the classroom. School Science Review 84 (309).

Starr, L. (2003). Encouraging instructor technology use [Electronic Version] Education World, pg 1

US Department of Education. (2000). World wide web access in public schools. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistic.

Technology has absolutely changed the way mankind works. It has become an integral part of our lives and basic movements of man are now solely dependent upon technology. Technology has prepared mankind to work faster, smarter and grants the brain to concentrate on other exciting and challenging goals and milestones. The last decade is dedicated to the workmanship of technology and its impact on the human race. http://education. ixs. net/. It has given us sleeker cell phones, world wide web mobility on individualized individualized that can now fit in purses and an extensive database of knowledge called the internet.
There is no avenue that technology has not touched. The complete workforce of mankind now works with technology. Thousands of industries and organizations around the world are now reaping the benefits of technology. And the education system is no exception to the rule. Technology has advanced and honed policies, streamlined academic activity and provided extensive reporting that was never doable before. One-of-a-kind systems are now acquirable in the market that immediately notify parents if their child or kids arrive late at school and grant instructors to remotely send homework and grade papers online. Students crossways the world now search and prepare term papers all from easy browsing the world wide web at home or libraries. The basic principles of knowledge have not changed but the very edifice of obtaining and teaching has been revolutionalised by technology.
Other benefits of technology in the education arena are the administration functionality that technology provides. It grants colleges and universities to monitor thousands of students at one given go and grant hundreds of students to register classes that are suitable to the instructors and the students by the click of a mouse. Elementary and high schools can use sophisticated voice mails to update parents of the progress of the updates of their children. Technology has also been healthy to successfully deploy dedicated networks crossways intranets within college domains to share documents and reports.  
The primal goal of these communications servers are designed to streamline information and messaging within the school system’s administrative and teaching community. This type of system can also help assist communications between various designated groups, clubs, the entire student body, and parents. Through this, everyone can stay superior informed of special events and check the system frequently for any updates or changes that might have occurred. All student games, activities and individualized information of students can be stored and retrieved at any given time by school officials.
The other important benefit of technology in the education sector is the exponential increase in enrollment due to the availability of online courses. People do not have to be physically acquirable to take part in an important meeting or class crossways the world. Easy bandwidth connectivity will do the job and grant thousands of people in one global sphere to easily communicate with people in dispersed areas.
Hundreds of companies exist that build and wage applications and sophisticated softwares that further improve on the benefits of technology in education. Applications now wage video conferencing and remote logins to servers. For more information and details visit: http://education. ixs. net/content/Technology-and-education. php

Utilizing 3D modeling design students can experience various engineering and product development processes as they use personal assisted design (CAD) software to build models from their very foundation. A whole host of projects for the classroom can be enhanced using 3D modeling design, including calculus, chemistry, personal programming and physics. The only limitation on 3d modeling design projects is the imagination of instructors and students.

 

3D models design Discovery in the Classroom
3D models design Best for Student Learning

3D models design Discovery in the Classroom

Using 3d modeling design students can experience the process enabling them to produce prototypes and models as they discover how inkjet nozzles deposit falsity materials on to a building platform in layers thereby producing a three dimensional model. 3D prototyping in the classroom can reveal how rapid prototyping technology has been used in various industries through hands on design projects. Instructors could educate students using 3D modeling design projects regarding the properties of various polymers, plastics and metals used in the falsity of models during rapid prototyping. The study of 3D modeling design in the classroom would open up a wide variety of interests as students were healthy to complete projects from begin to finish.

In industry, 3D prototyping requires the talents of many people working in a coordinated manner to reach a desired goal. By organizing students into design teams and using 3D models design formats, students would learn how to contribute and coordinate their activities to reach a common goal as design team members. Comprehensive 3D models design projects would require students to design, plan and implement project objectives and encourage them to cooperatively work toward completion of those objectives. Contributions on many different levels would be doable by all members on a 3D models design team with apiece one working toward the successful result of producing a working project prototype.

3D models design Best for Student Learning

Being introduced to a 3D modeling design project would give students a glimpse into the world of professional design and grant them to discover what it would mean to have a career as a member of a design company. The 3D modeling design project would grant them to see the many roles involved and the skills necessary to be a contributing member of a design team. 3D prototyping projects are an excellent avenue toward releasing a number of skills and ambitions for students. As a design team member students could express creativity, innovation and knowledge as they complete a 3D prototyping project which has drawn from a number of academic disciplines.

3D modeling design projects could be organized to show students the relevancy and dependency of various disciplines that might otherwise seem separate. Students can discover first hand how personal skills, architectural skills and engineering skills all can come together and work to produce a product that is superior and more functional then the products before it. 3D modeling is an excellent venue for releasing and innovation and creativity possessed by the students as they strive together to complete projects. A classroom using 3D prototyping projects would benefit both instructors and students by providing an nearly unlimited application of skills and knowledge.