Sunday, January 15, 2012

New Technologies for Education

Now a days advances in technology are found useful in the field of Education.  Microcomputers, electronic mail, interactive video, laser disc, satellites and teleconferencing, internet are few examples of the communication revolution which now challenges the field of Education.

Let us describe varied applications of the new technologies to school-based community education.  At the same time, we shall explain what these devices and system are, how they are advantageous, and what impact they have on the field of Education.

COMPUTERS -

Computers are now being used as teaching aids to help individuals to learn.  They serve to access information for learning, as well as to promote the formation of new ideas.

With the use of new softwares (computer programs), students can be assisted in writing, graphing , idea generating, word processing, and applying managerial principles to problem solving and research.

Computers can now be programmed to be interactive. Learners can proceed at their own pace, skip ahead, or review.  For the uneducated, nontraditional and reentry students, computers allow individual learning in an environment where they can avoid embarrassment, track their own progress, and engage in drill and practice until they are competent.

In computer-assisted instruction, student get a variety of responses by way of animation, graphic and audio.  Among areas surveyed to be beneficial to instruction are computer learning in mathematics, computational skills, basic reading skills and general education.

Recent researches also show that computer, learning lend itself to positive attitudes toward learning, such as by way of increased motivation and improved self esteem among learners.

On the part of the teacher, technology frees him from routine tasks so that he/she can give more time to the less formal kinds of teaching and counseling.

HIGH TECH PERIPHERALS - 

Specialized peripherals are electronic devises which can be attached to computers in order to expand the computer's use.  the use of peripherals has been helpful especially in the eduction of the blind, handicapped and disabled learners.

The light pen, the joystick, the paddle, and the mouse are devices that give options to learners for registering decisions on the screen and participating actively in the learning process.

The LANor local area network is a linking of computers to a base computer making it possible to share software materials.  Computers can also link several classes and send messages to everyone in the system.

Large screen projection can produce computer displays, visible to hundreds of students, on a screen or wall.

VIDEO - 

              The videodisc when linked with the computer can allow access to scenes or segments useful to a topic being studied.  The videodisc produces full - color pictures and a sound track.  Text, graphics, photos, slides and films can also be combined in a single medium.

              Today commercially produced videotapes, video compact discs or vcd, dvd or Digital Video Disc can be cheaply purchased.  As a portable medium, the learner can bring instructional materials at home or in classrooms.  he or she can also sop, interrupt or review the videos as he/she sees fit.

OPTIONAL DATA STORAGE - 

             Optional data storage can house huge amounts of data at a relatively low cost. On a computer disk (CD) you can have storage space for 250,000 pages of text, the equivalent of 500 books, instantly searchable and reprintable at one-fiftieth the cost of printing.



TELECOMMUNICATION or TELECOMPUTING - 

              Telecommunication is the transmission and reception of messages over long distance. It allows the transfer of the spoken and written word to anyone, anywhere, at any time. With the advent of fiber-optic technology, current transmission capabilities consist in a billion bits of information per second. This is equivalent to sending the Encyclopedia Britannica across the Atlantic ocean some six times a minute.

              Teleconferencing is designed as a substitute for face-to-face meeting and travel. It can transmit voices, at times images, and allows for instruction at off-campus locations.

      
              Televised instruction for distance learning is also afforded by telecommunications. The British Open University enrolls over 10,000 students in television courses. It, however, relies heavily on printed material as well as on the use of mailed assignments and self administered tests to assess student progress.

             Telecomputing is the use of the classroom computer to search through data base information sources and to get topic information. This has possibilities for instructional computing. Systems such as videotext and videodata can facilitate the flow of two-way messages by using a video display, local processing and a remote data base that is accessed through the telephone network.

Implication of the new technologies
              The new technologies are radically changing the nature and configuration of adult education. With computer information, educators are no longer the primary source of factual information. Changes are therfore occuring in the methods and content of instruction, both supplementing and changing the relationship between the teacher and the learner.

              It is clear that the relatively large expenditures required to purchase some of the more advanced communication technologies may well have the potential of broadening the gap between haves and have-nots in society and throughout the world.

              Still, the new technologies have freed many individuals to enjoy their leisure and to work at home in a distraction-free environment. And in the future, most educational services are foreseen to be delivered electronically by teleconferencing, cable and satellite television, computer networks and other means yet to be discovered-provided educators learn how to use the media in congruence with principles of community education.

Reference:

Educational Technology
by: Paz I. Lucido, Ph. D. and Milagros L. Borabo, Ph. D.

EDUC. TECH.: GUIDELINES IN THE SELECTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATER...


Click the link below for more details:

EDUC. TECH.: GUIDELINES IN THE SELECTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATER...: The following are guidelines in the selection of instructional materials or educational media: 1.) SIZE Is the material (text or picture...

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Web Logs or Blogs

The web log or simply blog is a digital diary or a personal account or a group account for a class in a specific course in the secondary or in college which everybody can share. It can be a web page which can serve as a venue for posting updates regarding researches, projects, ideas, comments, photos, poetry and what else is ne to be shared to others. Though the blog a community of learners can be created and become connected for an engaging learning experience. (Candelaria D. Garo)

Blog Definition:

A blog (also called a weblog or web log) is a website consisting of entries (also called posts) appearing in reverse chronological order with the most recent entry appearing first (similar in format to a daily journal). Blogs typically include features such as comments and links to increase user interactivity. Blogs are created using specific publishing software.

Variations of the term blog:
Blogging: The act of writing a post for a blog
Blogger: A person who writes content for a blog
Blogosphere: The online community of blogs and bloggers

The World Before Blogging:


There was a time when the Internet was just an informational tool. In the early life of the World Wide Web some 20 years ago, websites were simple and provided a one-sided conversation. As time went on, the Internet became more interactive with the introduction of transaction-based websites and online shopping, but the online world remained one-sided.

That all changed with the evolution of Web 2.0 (the social web) wherein user-generated content became an integral part of the online world. Today, users expect websites to provide a two-way conversation and web logs (or blogs) were born.

The Birth of Blogs:

The earliest blogs started in the late 1990s as online diaries. Individuals posted information on a daily basis about their lives and opinions. The daily posts were listed in reverse date order, so readers viewed the most recent post first and scrolled through previous posts. The format provided an ongoing inner monologue from the writer.

As blogs evolved, interactive features were added to create a two-way conversation. Readers took advantage of features that allowed them to leave comments on blog posts or link to posts on other blogs and websites to further the dialogue.

Blogs Today:


As the Internet has become more social, blogs have gained in popularity. Today, there are over 100 million blogs with more entering the blogosphere everyday. Blogs have become more than online diaries. In fact, blogging has become an important part of the online and offline worlds with popular bloggers impacting the worlds of politics, business and society with their words.

The Future of Blogs:

It seems inevitable that blogging will become even more powerful in the future with more people and businesses recognizing the power of bloggers as online influencers. Anyone can start a blog thanks to the simple (and often free) tools readily available online. The question will likely become not, "Why should I start a blog?" but rather, "Why shouldn't I start a blog?"

http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/p/WhatIsABlog.htm

Friday, January 6, 2012

INPUT DEVICES

In computing, an Input Device is any peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance. (Wiki)

1.) Keyboards - is a human interface device which is represented as a layout of buttons. Each button, or key, can be used to either input a linguistic character to a computer, or to call upon a particular function of the computer. Traditional keyboards use spring-based buttons, though newer variations employ virtual keys, or even projected keyboards.
2.) Computer Mouse - is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons. It sometimes features other elements, such as "wheels", which allow the user to perform various system-dependent operations, or extra buttons or features that can add more control or dimensional input. The mouse's motion typically translates into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows for fine control of a graphical user interface. (Wiki)

A pointing device is any human interface device that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer. In the case of mice and touch screens, this is usually achieved by detecting movement across a physical surface. Analog devices, such as 3D mice, joysticks, or pointing sticks, function by reporting their angle of deflection. Movements of the pointing device are echoed on the screen by movements of the pointer, creating a simple, intuitive way to navigate a computer's Graphical User Interface. *(Wiki)
3.) A Scanner

EDUC. TECH.: TECHNOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY

EDUC. TECH.: TECHNOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY: HARDWARE - the visible, physical information processing machines. This refers to technical equipment, such as the computer Compact Disc (...