Web 2.0, Clouds, and Podcasts. ¿Que?

   Upon beginning to read about web 2.0, cloud computing, and podcasting I constantly had the feeling I was trying to read a foreign language. I never realized how detached and ignorant I am about new technologies and how they affect the field of education. I mean, as a college student I acquired my Facebook account in 2004 with my .edu email account, yet I never thought of it as a web 2.0 technology. Growing up using computers, later utilizing the internet for educational learning, and becoming proficient in the Microsoft Office programs just seemed like normal ways students put technology to educational use. When I visited the Discovery Education website on web 2.0 tools, I was impressed at how many programs are out there available for people to use for sharing information. I guess we tend to stick to our comfort zones and what tools we have grown comfortable using (e.g. Power Point) that we do not seek newer and more playful tools such as Prezi.

    I had the hardest time wrapping my brain around the language used to explain cloud computing. As hard as I try, I really don’t know much about the differences between an infrastructure (IaaS) and a platform (PaaS). I think it would have been great to have some known examples of such so that maybe I could research the product and learn more about what it does. Software as a Service was somewhat more comprehensible because I know the names of a few softwares and understand what they are intended to do. Despite not fully understanding the technical aspect of cloud computing, I did understand the reasons some educational institutions are turning to cloud computing services. It seems that despite the benefits of adapting cloud services, the negative aspects do imply some serious repercussions, such as sanctions due to privacy violations or exporting information (Nicholson, 2009). As a user of the iCloud through my iPhone and iPad, sometimes I wonder if any of the contents in it could be accessible to the public. Not that I have content that I should be ashamed of, but privacy is something that should be respected and one trusts big companies to protect it. I see it as a customer’s right to have their privacy protected. Hopefully, with the increase of cloud computing use by educational institutions, more clear guidelines and expectations are also set up for the protection of the customer.

   Although podcasting was popular during my undergraduate years, I never had a college course where it was used as a tool for learning. I’m slightly jealous that I didn’t get to use it as a tool because I was always one of those students that wished I could listen to lectures again to make sure I had a good grasp of the learning material. If podcasts are really not too difficult to create, I definitely think this tool should be continued to be used in education, even for elementary education. At the same time I realize not all students can learn simply by listening, so vodcasts should also be utilized more frequently for students like me who are visual learners.

   Small slightly irrelevant side note: my outdated Microsoft Word does not recognize many of the terms and names, such as iPad and podcast, as I completed a spell check on this summary. It suggested that I might have meant “vodka” instead of “vodcast.” No, Word, no drinking for you tonight.

Upon beginning to read about web 2.0, cloud computing, and podcasting I constantly had the feeling I was trying to read a foreign language. I never realized how detached and ignorant I am about new technologies and how they affect the field of education. I mean, as a college student I acquired my Facebook account in 2004 with my .edu email account, yet I never thought of it as a web 2.0 technology. Growing up using computers, later utilizing the internet for educational learning, and becoming proficient in the Microsoft Office programs just seemed like normal ways students put technology to educational use. When I visited the Discovery Education website on web 2.0 tools, I was impressed at how many programs are out there available for people to use for sharing information. I guess we tend to stick to our comfort zones and what tools we have grown comfortable using (e.g. Power Point) that we do not seek newer and more playful tools such as Prezi. I had the hardest time wrapping my brain around the language used to explain cloud computing. As hard as I try, I really don’t know much about the differences between an infrastructure (IaaS) and a platform (PaaS). I think it would have been great to have some known examples of such so that maybe I could research the product and learn more about what it does. Software as a Service was somewhat more comprehensible because I know the names of a few softwares and understand what they are intended to do. Despite not fully understanding the technical aspect of cloud computing, I did understand the reasons some educational institutions are turning to cloud computing services. It seems that despite the benefits of adapting cloud services, the negative aspects do imply some serious repercussions, such as sanctions due to privacy violations or exporting information (Nicholson, 2009). As a user of the iCloud through my iPhone and iPad, sometimes I wonder if any of the contents in it could be accessible to the public. Not that I have content that I should be ashamed of, but privacy is something that should be respected and one trusts big companies to protect it. I see it as a customer’s right to have their privacy protected. Hopefully, with the increase of cloud computing use by educational institutions, more clear guidelines and expectations are also set up for the protection of the customer. Although podcasting was popular during my undergraduate years, I never had a college course where it was used as a tool for learning. I’m slightly jealous that I didn’t get to use it as a tool because I was always one of those students that wished I could listen to lectures again to make sure I had a good grasp of the learning material. If podcasts are really not too difficult to create, I definitely think this tool should be continued to be used in education, even for elementary education. At the same time I realize not all students can learn simply by listening, so vodcasts should also be utilized more frequently for students like me who are visual learners. Small slightly irrelevant side note: my outdated Microsoft Word does not recognize many of the terms and names, such as iPad and podcast, as I completed a spell check on this summary. It suggested that I might have meant “vodka” instead of “vodcast.” No, Word, no drinking for you tonight.

CBA 3 for Module 1

   The readings for module 1 gave me mixed feelings about the use of technology in education. Since before I began my graduate program with NAU-Extended Campuses, I have been fascinated in the field of higher education and distance learning. My undergraduate experience was very traditional in the sense that all my courses were in person and never required online work (this was from 2004-08). Taking online courses has definitely been a challenge, but I've been able to see a positive side to the increase in distance education due to the shifts in higher education that we are seeing today.

   I was already familiar with the content in Howell et al.'s article on the 32 trends affecting distance education because I had used it before as reference for a class paper. The trends I find most interesting are the enrollment trends and the change in student demographics, such as older adults and adults working full time. I used to be opposed to for-profit institutions like the University of Phoenix or other proprietary schools because of their recruitment practices and high costs, but as I've learned more about HE and online education I have realized they are simply meeting a demand for higher education that cannot be met my traditional institutions. For that reason I also applaud traditional institutions like NAU for realizing the demand for higher education and creating the extended campuses and online programs for those who cannot physically access the Flagstaff campus.

   As I read the articles on the use of social networking sites by universities and faculty, I began to see reluctance on my part to accept these types of changes in higher education. Although it is a new concept that has not been explored much, I do not think creating a sense of classroom community through the use of social networking would make any significant changes in learning. Hung and Yuen’s article demonstrated that students still do not believe faculty-student interactions via SNS’s are appropriate. Students still feel as their privacy is being invaded if a professor were to use SNS's to contact them or learn more about them (Teclehaimanot & Hickman, 2011). Personally, I like to keep my professional (school and work) and personal (friends and family) lives separate so having a faculty or school administrator interact with me on Facebook would be uncomfortable and would lead me to set stricter privacy measures. Just as some employers judge potential employees by their SNS profiles, I think faculty could use information learned through SNS's to judge a student.

   Lastly, as much as I tried to understand the logic behind the use of mobile digital devices in education, I could not see it being an adequate tool in K-12 education. The main argument behind the use of mobile devices in 21^st century education is that children are already tech savvy and could be learning how to use the tools more efficiently, since today’s workforce now depends strongly on technology. As much as I tried to understand the rationale for children to be using mobile devices for school, I feel like all the problems associated with their use (distractions, access, filters, appropriateness of content, and measurability of learning) outweigh the gains claimed to come from using mobile technology in learning. Colleges using SMS to help student transition into higher education “during periods of vulnerability”  is a little different than using mobile technology for learning because the mobile media is being used as a social tool, rather than an instructional tool (Jones, Edwards & Reid, 2009). In their study, Jones at al. found that students do see SMS communication between themselves and instructors on class relevant topics to be useful and gives them a sense that the instructor cares about their success in the class (p. 209-210). I do see a good use to the applicability of mobile technology in education, but I do not agree that it should be imposed on students for the sake of innovation.

   All in all, I feel like an old person because of my reluctance to embrace the use of certain technologies in education. I feel like young people already spend too much time connected via technology rather than interacting face to face. In the case of distance education, this lack of face to face interaction is inevitable and the use of technology is very justified, but to have to impose online learning or to completely change an educational system that still relies heavily on real people to transmit knowledge doesn't seem right.