Thursday, August 21, 2008

Opinion Article

I sent a note to Dr. C. about the use of the BLOGs as the the infrastructure for the course. She has very valid points about the use of BLOGs for this course ,but in my opinion, BLOGs are not an effective mechnism for holding/controlling on-line class participation.

First, blackboard and moodle, with all of their problems, at least provide a means for understanding what has been posted and provides a single point for all class participation. When I post an article there ,I know that all of the other students are aware of it, its not open to a public domain forum, and there is a common mechnism for class participation.

Introducing and using new technology is an important part of educational experience; however, using that new technology as the backbone for the class adds additional problems to the learning experience. What if someone doesn't latch on to the technology right away. They are lost and with the fast pace of these classes that means they're toast!

Again my personal opionion!

Al

3 comments:

Jean said...

Basically what you are saying is that you can't cope with information being in scattered locations - so you are looking to Dr. C to enforce aggregation for you! (See other posting for the solution.)

askill said...

Dave: Data aggregation is one point. I agree that I don't like being the vehicle to consolidate 15 weekly inputs but I can manage it. But the other issues are more important.
Products like Blackboard and Moodle provide a specific set of capabilities that enforce and support the on-line learning process - not the least of which is security.
Blogs being the very "loose form" capability they are, just don't have the horsepower to provide an effective on-line experience.

Lyr Lobo said...

The cognitive load of navigating even your aggregated feeds is heavy considering 22 blogs and a diverse range of approaches for each activity. *smiles*

Those are simple words to say and a powerful experience when you work with it for several months.

Yes, I find it much easier to use Moodle, askill. During this class, we've developed some new skills, evaluated socio-technical tools, studied in a virtual world and in some cases, have a better sense of how today's generation is using the Internet.

It is so hard to forecast the future when the present remains a mystery.