Module 6 - Addressing the Digital Divide

Over the past 5 years, social networking technologies have grown astronomically in size. From the evolution of MySpace to Facebook, to blogging and now Tweeting, social networking sites are creating more channels of communication that can be accessed from a PC all the way to a cell phone in your pocket. Keeping society connected 24/7. In today’s educational society, social networking sites (SNS) are becoming students’ primary means of communication among each other. The educational systems, who normally take a back seat to implementing new technology, is now looking at possible advantages of incorporating SNS with a student’s academic life. Because the social networking trend is starting to spawn in the educational arena, expanding on the concept of Teacher Tube, a spin off of YouTube could be a way to assist in making this emerging technology valuable.

ESN (Educational Social Networking) sites could be designed to create a secured education channel for the end users. ESN’s would contain built in active monitoring tools for content, and like Teacher Tube, the ESN’s would have new creative education logos distinguishing social based from education based. With the creation of ESN, we can address parents and teacher concerns about privacy and possible abuse of the sites as it relates to the content that is placed on a user’s profile. Roach (2006), conducted a study which engaged social networking technologies in education, and found that over half of the students respondents would “read a blog authorized by a faculty member” that pertained to course information and school activities. So why not take advantage of the technology and aggressively implement social networking in all course curriculum?

A recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota concluded that there was no difference in the level of technology proficiencies between students of low income households and those of upper or middle class households. Overall, indicating that SNS can produce positive reactions if introduced in an educational setting. The article outlined social networking sites as an important trend that is taking over all traditional forms of communication. The author discusses how these sites can be utilized to create better communication between students and instructors. The article corresponds to my research interest on incorporating social networking technologies in the K-12 educational environment. Although the author’s population of study only included college level activity, the overall message of utilizing social networking technology/sites in the educational system is strongly supported. Utilizing “safe” sites such as Youth Twitter and Intranet sites setup by independent school districts, gives teachers some hope of being able to increase learning through technology without putting fear in the hearts of administration. Therefore incorporating social networking technologies in an educational setting should also be on society’s radar for increasing communication and participation between parents, students and the educational system.

References

Harris, K.. (2008). Using Social Networking Sites as Student Engagement Tools. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 25(18), 40. Retrieved February 15, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1588751771).

Roach, R (2006). Prospective college students receptive to electronic social network ingrecruitment methods, survey finds. Diverse Issues in Higher Education online December 2006 edition

Module 5 - Red Queens and Increasing Returns

When we were given the assignment in Module 4, I went to my own video collection first. Surprisingly I had all three videos; therefore I purchased them sometime down the road. For years I have purchased and collected DVD movies, but with the advances of technology, consumers do not have to buy or rent movies from your local Wal-Mart or video store. Internet access has provided a means for viewing or downloading the movie of your choice. Downloaded movies can be burned to a disk to view on a DVD player or simply viewed via computer media software.

Much like DVD’s did to the Laser Disk, the internet will soon follow McLuhan’s tetrad model and obsolete the need for DVD’s. Video on demand enhances the need for access. Instead of getting up and taking a trip to the video store, one could access thousands of movies without leaving the comforts of their homes. Streaming video will eventually cripple the DVD market, making the concept of purchasing DVD’s obsolete. Today both technologies are still trying to stay a step ahead of the other; therefore classifying them as Red Queens. Once society had the ability to download or stream movies via the Internet, technology was advancing in another arena. Televisions are becoming slimmer and the picture quality is increasing. HD video quality sparked the concept of Blue Ray technology, which assisted in keeping DVD’s from being left behind. So with the concept of the Red Queen, you start to see two technologies shooting up and everything else falling aside (Thornburg, 2008). Some markets today have the ability to stream HD quality video via the Internet, but until it becomes wide spread, DVD’s will still have somewhat of an advantage over video streaming.

References

Thornburg, D. (2008). Red Queens, butterflies, and strange attractors: Imperfect lenses into emergent technologies. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.