“Games and Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks”
Gibson, Aldrich, & Prensky
Chapter 5: “Rethinking Cognition, Representations, and Processes in 3D Online Social Learning Environments”, Jones & Bronack
1. How can 3-D technologies be used to create online social environments and support social interactions among community members? What are the theoretical rationales underlying the pedagogies of using 3-D environment for the benefits of learning and to achieve educational goals?
By using avatars, participants have a visual to connect with and trust begins to be developed among the members of the 3D learning community. We learn within our environment, the 3D technology allows instructors to design environments that enhance knowledge growth. Text based communications, audio abilities, whiteboard sharing of ideas, links to resources and readings, and overhead displays are all aspects of 3D learning environment. Trust is built among the members because there is a real-time interaction among the participants no matter their expertise on the topics. Cognitive scaffolding occurs among the members of the 3D learning environment as they are supported throughout their knowledge acquisition. The discourse and interaction among the participants has the ability to occur one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. This interaction enriches the learning experiences that mirror traditional physical learning environments.
The use of 3D learning environments is based on the following theoretical rationales:
Social constructivist – learning is a result of the willful interaction among members within the learning environment
Sociocultural – individuals can conquer task with the assistance of members within the learning environment
Piagetian constructivism – within the learning environment, authentic tasks and participation of all develops knowledge
Situated learning – within the learning environment, the members learn from one another
Cognitive apprenticeship – learners work on authentic activities that allow them to acquire, develop and refine new skills
Chapter 13: “Reliving History with “Reliving the Revolution”: Designing Augmented Reality Games to teach the Critical Thinking of History”, Schrier
2. How was the game “Reliving the Revolution” designed and PDA used to support collaborative problem solving activities?
“Reliving the Revolution” RtR is a redesign of MIT’s “River City AR” game. AR or augmented reality is a location-based game that uses wireless handheld devices such as PDAs to provide virtual game information in a physical environment. RtR allowed four teams to walk around Lexington, Massachusetts retrieving electronic information with PDAs based on GPS, global positioning software, coordinates. Each team was provided a different perspective before and after the Battle of Lexington. The four historic roles varied from minutemen to a woman townsperson. The goal of RtR was to determine who fired the first shot at the Battle of Lexington. As the teams acquired the electronic information, took notes, viewed the present day locations, and “saw” the episode from the eyes of their historic role via the PDA, they came back together after 1hour (the time limit to acquire the information) to share, reflect, and debate over the solution. The PDA allowed participants to interact with the physical world as well as the virtual world. The students collaborated throughout the AR game, with their partners and then as a whole. Through the situated learning experience provided by the AR game, the students were learning by doing. The development of the RtR game occurred as a prototype and then a redesign as the teacher observed and surveyed students before and after the project. By bringing the pages of the textbook to life, the teacher provided students a more authentic learning experience.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Reflective Summary #1
To keep up with the technological trends in society, secondary schools must begin to branch into virtual learning communities exposing their students to knowledge based instructional designs. As I have read over the past four weeks, virtual learning communities are an exciting field for instruction. In a virtual community, Grossman (2006) suggest millions of people have the ability to connect from all over the world to help one another based on common interest. Participation within a virtual community allows for synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (delayed) interaction (Shumar & Renninger, 2002). For a rural secondary school, this is a new concept.
Concept
I would like to develop an online learning community for a high school physics class I will teach next year. The computer supported learning community will supplant the traditional face-to-face instruction. The examples from the literature demonstrate success when both are utilized with proper guidance and instruction (Oshima & Oshima, 2002). The course will not have textbooks like traditional generic high school physics classes. In conjunction with the Oklahoma PASS objective and teacher supported resources, the curriculum of the course will be generated from materials found throughout Internet sites. Infinite amounts of information are accessible via the Internet.
I plan to prepare the course using a program similar to Desire 2 Learn. I would like to further explore Moodle, based on conversations with other high school teachers. Moodle is an instructional support site similar to Desire 2 Learn that allows scaffolding of knowledge. The course content would be accessible online along with homework submission, asynchronous discussions and quizzes. The direct instruction would be provided within the classroom recorded and podcasted for later review.
The students would be assigned to groups due to limited availability of computers around the room. Computers would be positioned at each lab station. As projects or experiments are assigned, the students will have the Internet available to search for assistance, post their findings, or for lab write-ups. Students will be responsible for reflective blogs (journals) periodically addressing question prompts related to individual knowledge. This would allow me to determine their levels of understanding and whether reteaching was necessary. Discussion threads within Moodle will allow the class knowledge to grow. Communication capabilities designed within the computer support learning community will allow the students the ability to share ideas, questions, data, resources, etc. With the use of technology students will be able to access the course content at anytime and anyplace. If they are absent from class, the podcast of the class time would be available at their convenience. With the enthusiastic interest of YouTube among youth (Cloud, 2006), class activities, labs, or student demonstrations would be periodically recorded and posted to YouTube.
Strategies
Strategies needed to prepare for a high school physics computer supported learning community offered at Maysville would include:
Needs
1 – Redesign of the room. Internet drops would have to be placed in the same proximity of the lab tables. Each lab table would have a computer networked to a printer server within the room.
2 – Purchasing of equipment. Six computers, printer server, printer, cables for all connections, and software, Ipod with microphone for podcasting, digital video recorder for demonstrations/activities to be uploaded to course site would all need to be purchased. Along with purchasing a SmartBoard, LCD projector, instructor laptop computer, and CPS handheld student response units for in class instruction and assessment.
3 – Download software. Moodle, Marratech and Skype downloaded to all computers for connection capabilities (allowing distance learning without purchasing the traditional Tanberg or Polycom equipment for digital course delivery).
Interest
4 – Identification. Group assignments along with identification and passwords would need to be established for all students in order for them to access the online course content. Due to limited computers, students would be assigned to groups whose size would be based upon enrollment numbers.
Leadership
5 – Time. Time must be invested by the instructor (me) setting up the computer supported curriculum, designing the syllabus, and preparing the instruction strategies, question prompts and assessments. Time will need to be spent on demonstrating and reviewing usage procedures with Moodle, podcasting, videoing, SmartBoard, CPS units, blogging, etc.
6 – Online course development. As I explore Moodle further, I would need to design the specific instructional requirements/syllabi and download the student roster.
Literature Support
The concept of a computer supported learning community is completely new to Maysville; therefore, to decrease the student’s anxiety levels, I will need to spend adequate time with the students on the “how to” of using the equipment and software. In the Oshima & Oshima (2001) article, along with our group discussion, my physics learning community will be a combination of face-to-face and online. With guided instruction and question prompts similar in the Hewitt (2001) article, the knowledge growth will be a whole group / class effort. Even though students will have individual task, group activities and research projects, the ultimate knowledge growth for the course topics will require efforts from the entire class.
As I have begun to experiment with a few of these concepts, blogs, webquest, etc. in a class I am teaching now, I have found students are just working to complete task to get a grade. Using strategies as the teacher did in Hewitt (2001), I foresee the students developing an appreciation and richer understanding of the concepts. Teaching a junior/senior level physics class is an exception, because the student are choosing to enroll in the class and have an initial desire to learn the material.
The leadership of sustaining the computer mediated community will be the responsibility of the instructor, which will be me. As the year ends, the computer supported learning community will cease to exist because of the science course rotation. The duration of the community’s life cycle will only be for one school year. As for the life cycle of the computer mediated activities, the course will experience the stages according to Levin & Cervantes (2002) several times dependent on the number of curriculum/instructional activities throughout the school year. With the use of Moodle, the activities will be 1) proposed, 2) refined through the use of a discussion thread, 3) organized by having a rubric posted, 4) pursued by researching the Internet and connecting to other classrooms around the world, etc. 5) wrapped up by posting the findings, and 6) published due to having the final lab write up posted to the classes Moodle site and to personal blog pages.
Venturing into designing and developing a virtual learning community is an exciting endevour for me. As I have ponder over teaching physics in this format, I find myself dreaming about the activities, lab designs and technology exposure Maysville students will encounter. Prior to this course and reading assignments, I would have never dreamt of teaching in this manner. Therefore, not only will the students have a heighten anxiety level, but I will also. Only through further knowledge growth on virtual learning communities on my part will I be able to decrease my anxiety.
References
Cloud, J. (2006, December). The gurus of YouTube. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570721,00.html
Hewitt, J. (2001). From a focus on tasks to a focus on understanding: The cultural transformation of a Toronto classroom. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, & N. Miyake (Eds.), CSCL 2: Caring Forward the conversation (pp.11-41). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Levin, J. & Cervantes, R. (2002). Understanding the life cycle of network-based learning communities. In K. A. Renninger & W. Shumar (Eds.), Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 269-292). Cambridge University Press.
Grossman, L. (2006, December). Time’s person of the Year: You. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
Oshima, J. & Oshima, R. (2001). Coordination of asynchronous and synchronous communication: Differences in qualities of knowledge advancement discourse between experts and novices. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, & N. Miyake (Eds.), CSCL 2: Caring Forward the conversation (pp. 55-83). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shumar, W. & Renninger, K. A. (2002). Introducation: On conceptualizing community. In K. A. Renninger & W. Shumar (Eds.), Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 1-15). Cambridge University Press.
Concept
I would like to develop an online learning community for a high school physics class I will teach next year. The computer supported learning community will supplant the traditional face-to-face instruction. The examples from the literature demonstrate success when both are utilized with proper guidance and instruction (Oshima & Oshima, 2002). The course will not have textbooks like traditional generic high school physics classes. In conjunction with the Oklahoma PASS objective and teacher supported resources, the curriculum of the course will be generated from materials found throughout Internet sites. Infinite amounts of information are accessible via the Internet.
I plan to prepare the course using a program similar to Desire 2 Learn. I would like to further explore Moodle, based on conversations with other high school teachers. Moodle is an instructional support site similar to Desire 2 Learn that allows scaffolding of knowledge. The course content would be accessible online along with homework submission, asynchronous discussions and quizzes. The direct instruction would be provided within the classroom recorded and podcasted for later review.
The students would be assigned to groups due to limited availability of computers around the room. Computers would be positioned at each lab station. As projects or experiments are assigned, the students will have the Internet available to search for assistance, post their findings, or for lab write-ups. Students will be responsible for reflective blogs (journals) periodically addressing question prompts related to individual knowledge. This would allow me to determine their levels of understanding and whether reteaching was necessary. Discussion threads within Moodle will allow the class knowledge to grow. Communication capabilities designed within the computer support learning community will allow the students the ability to share ideas, questions, data, resources, etc. With the use of technology students will be able to access the course content at anytime and anyplace. If they are absent from class, the podcast of the class time would be available at their convenience. With the enthusiastic interest of YouTube among youth (Cloud, 2006), class activities, labs, or student demonstrations would be periodically recorded and posted to YouTube.
Strategies
Strategies needed to prepare for a high school physics computer supported learning community offered at Maysville would include:
Needs
1 – Redesign of the room. Internet drops would have to be placed in the same proximity of the lab tables. Each lab table would have a computer networked to a printer server within the room.
2 – Purchasing of equipment. Six computers, printer server, printer, cables for all connections, and software, Ipod with microphone for podcasting, digital video recorder for demonstrations/activities to be uploaded to course site would all need to be purchased. Along with purchasing a SmartBoard, LCD projector, instructor laptop computer, and CPS handheld student response units for in class instruction and assessment.
3 – Download software. Moodle, Marratech and Skype downloaded to all computers for connection capabilities (allowing distance learning without purchasing the traditional Tanberg or Polycom equipment for digital course delivery).
Interest
4 – Identification. Group assignments along with identification and passwords would need to be established for all students in order for them to access the online course content. Due to limited computers, students would be assigned to groups whose size would be based upon enrollment numbers.
Leadership
5 – Time. Time must be invested by the instructor (me) setting up the computer supported curriculum, designing the syllabus, and preparing the instruction strategies, question prompts and assessments. Time will need to be spent on demonstrating and reviewing usage procedures with Moodle, podcasting, videoing, SmartBoard, CPS units, blogging, etc.
6 – Online course development. As I explore Moodle further, I would need to design the specific instructional requirements/syllabi and download the student roster.
Literature Support
The concept of a computer supported learning community is completely new to Maysville; therefore, to decrease the student’s anxiety levels, I will need to spend adequate time with the students on the “how to” of using the equipment and software. In the Oshima & Oshima (2001) article, along with our group discussion, my physics learning community will be a combination of face-to-face and online. With guided instruction and question prompts similar in the Hewitt (2001) article, the knowledge growth will be a whole group / class effort. Even though students will have individual task, group activities and research projects, the ultimate knowledge growth for the course topics will require efforts from the entire class.
As I have begun to experiment with a few of these concepts, blogs, webquest, etc. in a class I am teaching now, I have found students are just working to complete task to get a grade. Using strategies as the teacher did in Hewitt (2001), I foresee the students developing an appreciation and richer understanding of the concepts. Teaching a junior/senior level physics class is an exception, because the student are choosing to enroll in the class and have an initial desire to learn the material.
The leadership of sustaining the computer mediated community will be the responsibility of the instructor, which will be me. As the year ends, the computer supported learning community will cease to exist because of the science course rotation. The duration of the community’s life cycle will only be for one school year. As for the life cycle of the computer mediated activities, the course will experience the stages according to Levin & Cervantes (2002) several times dependent on the number of curriculum/instructional activities throughout the school year. With the use of Moodle, the activities will be 1) proposed, 2) refined through the use of a discussion thread, 3) organized by having a rubric posted, 4) pursued by researching the Internet and connecting to other classrooms around the world, etc. 5) wrapped up by posting the findings, and 6) published due to having the final lab write up posted to the classes Moodle site and to personal blog pages.
Venturing into designing and developing a virtual learning community is an exciting endevour for me. As I have ponder over teaching physics in this format, I find myself dreaming about the activities, lab designs and technology exposure Maysville students will encounter. Prior to this course and reading assignments, I would have never dreamt of teaching in this manner. Therefore, not only will the students have a heighten anxiety level, but I will also. Only through further knowledge growth on virtual learning communities on my part will I be able to decrease my anxiety.
References
Cloud, J. (2006, December). The gurus of YouTube. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570721,00.html
Hewitt, J. (2001). From a focus on tasks to a focus on understanding: The cultural transformation of a Toronto classroom. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, & N. Miyake (Eds.), CSCL 2: Caring Forward the conversation (pp.11-41). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Levin, J. & Cervantes, R. (2002). Understanding the life cycle of network-based learning communities. In K. A. Renninger & W. Shumar (Eds.), Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 269-292). Cambridge University Press.
Grossman, L. (2006, December). Time’s person of the Year: You. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
Oshima, J. & Oshima, R. (2001). Coordination of asynchronous and synchronous communication: Differences in qualities of knowledge advancement discourse between experts and novices. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, & N. Miyake (Eds.), CSCL 2: Caring Forward the conversation (pp. 55-83). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shumar, W. & Renninger, K. A. (2002). Introducation: On conceptualizing community. In K. A. Renninger & W. Shumar (Eds.), Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 1-15). Cambridge University Press.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Case Study #1
The online website “MySpace.com” can be classified as a social virtual community where individual’s exchange and share personal information, ideas, interests, etc. with each other. As an active member of MySpace.com, I have had the ability to communicate with life long friends who live miles away along with reconnecting with friends from high school and college and even meet new friends. Throughout my two years as a member, I have participated in asynchronous emails, instant messaging, altering the design and layout of my personal page, uploading photos and videos, blogging and viewing many other personal pages.
At first I was apprehensive to join the virtual community due to my inexperience with this type of communication. I initially asked for assistance from “Tom”, the main support expert for the website. Through emailing, he was able to guide me through developing my page and offer suggestions to ask for help from other users. The site itself was very user friendly to allow anyone to develop a basic MySpace.com page.
Through my observations, the purpose of MySpace.com is to bring individuals from various locations together in one virtual world and allow for social interactions among the members. MySpace.com allows individuals to express themselves verbally and artistically. The social interaction among members allows individuals to share their thoughts, photos, and interest to just name a few with all or just selected members. MySpace.com also allows members to post and view events, forum discussions, and classified ads. Members are able to view numerous videos and listen to a variety of music, all housed within the MySpace.com cite and not on personal profiles.
To join MySpace.com, an individual needs a computer and internet connection. Having a scanner or digital camera allows members to share personal photos within the community. Various websites provide html programs to alter backgrounds, to add music, videos, and pictures to enhance the appearance of a MySpace.com page. Each member can determine the amount of personal information they want to share with the community and can alter responses at any time. Generic identity questions are asked to each member when setting up personal profiles. But through the open ended questions, personal responses vary in revealing amounts. The MySpace.com page design, images, videos, music, pictures, and accessories are endless based on an individual’s imagination. Just about anything you want displayed on your page has an html code enabling you to post it.
The MySpace.com virtual social community provides members opportunities to express their individuality, to communicate with members and to learn from each other. Even presidential candidates have MySpace.com pages. As MySpace.com becomes a global communication mechanism, limitations begin to dwindle. Dependent upon the amount of time a member spends within the community will determine the amount of knowledge they gain. Individuals are not limited to making friends with those living next to them. Due to MySpace.com, physical distance is no limitation to “truly” knowing the person on the screen. Not only can members asynchronously email one another, but instant messaging and chatting are also forms of communication components to MySpace.com. Members can upload surveys to all their “friends” by posting to the bulletin board. Individuals can blog their thoughts for all to see and even post comments to a particular friend’s page. MySpace.com does have security features in place. Each member can limit who views their complete profile, post to their comments column, preview personal photos, or leave messages. As members upload photos, MySpace.com technicians review the images to determine appropriateness for pubic viewing. The technologies assist in channeling the information that an individual desires to share. Bulletins are only sent out to those on a member’s friend list. If a new comment or email is made to a member’s profile, then they can have an email notifying them of the new communication.
Comments to a MySpace.com page from two different friends:
Kalyn and Nick
Dec 20 2007 7:00 AM
Comment Back - Send Message - Block User
Just dropping by to say hi!! I haven't seen you in awhile!
The Meaning of K8
Dec 20 2007 12:14 AM
Comment Back - Send Message - Block User
I"m keeping warm, maintaining electricity and of course, getting sick now that it's back up to 60 degrees again. Hope all is well with you, looks like you had fun in DC. Have a GREAT Christmas!
Email communication in MySpace.com page between two different friends who had lost contact over the years:
Date: Jan 23, 2008 2:18 AM
yeh, yeh, I know what you mean...I'm living the dream myself. I've been in GA a couple of years now...it was just the right time, right situation, etc. It is beautiful here and I have fallen in love with the mountains. Have you kept up with anyone from school? The only person I have stayed in contact with is ?????. I can officially say I've known her half my life...now that makes me feel older.
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 16, 2008 5:21 PMoh, just about the same as everyone else. school, marriage, job, more school, divorce, more school, job...typical stuff. wow you're in georgia, what took you there?
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 16, 2008 12:13 PMRight, nothing like the mention of Mr. ????? name to bring back some traumatic memories. I was just surfing through and thought I recognized your smiling face. What have you been up to in say, the last seventeen years or so?
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 15, 2008 7:51 PMSure thing, band at ????? High in the 80s.
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 15, 2008 1:22 PMDoes Mr. ????? ring any bells?
MySpace.com is a great social network that allows an individual to set around in their pajamas on a Saturday morning catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, educating themselves on public figures, or use their imagination to alter the appearance of their page. The virtual community allows members to feel a sense of belonging. A safety net is always there because a member can exit the community at any time by deleting their profile. They can then reenter under a new profile name. MySpace.com is not a community that requires you to interact with on a daily basis. As time permits, members can participate at their leisure. Personally for me, MySpace.com is used to unwind and relax. It is enjoyable to look at pictures that have been posted, read through comments and blogs of my friends, and regularly change or add to my page appearance.
The virtual learning community from a pedagogical and technological perspective I chose to investigate was Tapped In, http://tappedin.org/tappedin/. Tapped In is a virtual community that connects educators worldwide from all levels of the profession. After reading an article referencing Tapped In, I wanted to explore it further. Once I accessed Tapped In, I explored as a guest and then decided to join as a member. I participated in a chat designated to familiarize new users with the website. The text chat was guided by a Tapped In support person. After the chat, I searched through the website to find various things of interest. I especially appreciate the calendar full of after school professional development opportunities.
My initial impression of this website was that it was overwhelming. Small images with lots of links throughout the page. But as I spent more time exploring, I felt the website was a wonderful virtual learning community. The entire website seemed designed to increase/enhance a user’s educational knowledge. Tapped In can be identified as a knowledge-based learning community (Reil & Polin, 2004). Members can construct, use, reconstruct, and reuse knowledge. Tapped In is designed to allow members to plan and conduct learning projects, participate in topic specific discussions, and attend online professional development session. The virtual community has built in support systems to assist in the development of a user’s knowledge in how to benefit from the website. Mentors are in place to guide knowledge construction.
The purpose of Tapped In is to transform teacher professional development. The website was established in 1997 by SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning (“Welcome to”, n.d.). Tapped In provides its members with online tools, resources, colleagues to connect to and support. Through the Tapped In experiences educators enhance their abilities to implement authentic learning activities.
Tapped In allows organizations to design and utilize collaborative online courses, workshops, seminars, and mentoring programs. To participate in Tapped In a computer and Internet connection are required and the individual must log in as a member. Members are identified by first name. It is up to the member to express additional information either through text or via profile. An individual must login to actively participate within Tapped In. During the membership sign up individuals provide minimal personal information, but they do identify their area or expertise, company and location. Members have the ability to post a picture and include personal interests within their profile. Tapped In provides members the opportunity to collaborate and network on learning projects, to enhance personal knowledge of topics and to search for members and resources. The learning possibilities are enormous. Through the peer networks Tapped In has developed, educators can engage in numerous activities, discussions, projects, online professional development and mentoring assistance. As time advances, topics and projects are reinvented to accommodate the needs of the members. Tapped In support personnel track and respond to the avenues educators advance towards.
Tapped In is designed for organizations (such as schools, professional development groups, etc.) as a virtual building with three floors. The first floor is designed with the reception room and public rooms. Members can access the help desk, news, and conference rooms from the first floor. The second floor houses group rooms that can either be open to the public or private to group owners and their selected members. The third floor is designed as personal office space for the organizations members.
Communication within Tapped In occurs via text-based chats or private messaging. Threaded discussion boards are designed for every room and conversation transcripts are emailed to the participants. Members can send messages to each other for later retrieval. Tapped In also allows members to share and store room information, post messages and agendas. Monthly newsletters are emailed to members and members have the ability to search for other members and resources. Knowledge is constructed both synchronously and asynchronously through member participation within the group rooms and public professional development rooms.
As individuals participate within Tapped In, educators can enhance their educational expertise in various fields of interest. By engaging in discussion threads or chatting, members begin to feel connected and valued within the community. Their collaborative efforts towards project development or knowledge growth enable them to contribute to the wealth of knowledge found throughout the virtual community. Below is a listing of the professional development sessions available on a particular day.
9 12:00 PM Religious Educators Forum
1:00 PM K-12 Campus Tour and Classroom Support
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Tapped In Tips & Tricks-Virtual Fieldtrip of TI
Tapped In is supported through organizational memberships and sponsorships that strive to enhance classroom-centered learning. The virtual learning community has designed help desk assistance for member support. Frequently asked questions are also readily available to view. Monthly newsletters are emailed to continue the connections with each member. Through the communication design features, members are able to connect at anytime to one another, access stored information, retrieve messages, and search for resources. Tapped In provides members a virtual community tailored to their interest because of the variety available.
Since its establishment in 1997, Tapped In has partnered with organizations, and sponsors that value the vision of improving learning and teaching. Members consistently have a built in support mechanism to aid in maneuvering throughout the website. Tapped In has designed communication features to enhance participant’s experiences. The communication between members and support personnel can occur without the boundaries of time or space. The scaffolding of knowledge and collaborative learning occurs in various ways. As members engage in text base chats, the conversations are emailed to the participants and also to those not logged on within the group. The knowledge is built form the communication interaction, use of whiteboards, file storage, data collection, and mentoring activities.
The Tapped In virtual learning community provides educators convenient, tailored professional development to all those interested. Organizations have the ability to utilize Tapped In to virtually communicate and collaborate on projects. The design of the website is user friendly. It is very easy to maneuver throughout the site and short concise overviews or tips are found next to hyperlinks. To enhance the website, I would suggest having a homepage that would visually capture the user from the moment they connect. The size of the text and the amount of information displayed on the homepage can be intimidating to the educators who have no knowledge about online virtual learning communities. Minimize the amount of initial information and increase the font size may grab a viewer’s interest. Personally Tapped In is a great online professional development virtual community I will visit frequently.
References
Riel, M. & Polin, L. (2004). Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning. In S.A. Barab, R. Kling, & J.H. Gray (eds.), Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning (pp. 16-50). Cambridge University Press.
Welcome to tapped in. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/about.jsp
At first I was apprehensive to join the virtual community due to my inexperience with this type of communication. I initially asked for assistance from “Tom”, the main support expert for the website. Through emailing, he was able to guide me through developing my page and offer suggestions to ask for help from other users. The site itself was very user friendly to allow anyone to develop a basic MySpace.com page.
Through my observations, the purpose of MySpace.com is to bring individuals from various locations together in one virtual world and allow for social interactions among the members. MySpace.com allows individuals to express themselves verbally and artistically. The social interaction among members allows individuals to share their thoughts, photos, and interest to just name a few with all or just selected members. MySpace.com also allows members to post and view events, forum discussions, and classified ads. Members are able to view numerous videos and listen to a variety of music, all housed within the MySpace.com cite and not on personal profiles.
To join MySpace.com, an individual needs a computer and internet connection. Having a scanner or digital camera allows members to share personal photos within the community. Various websites provide html programs to alter backgrounds, to add music, videos, and pictures to enhance the appearance of a MySpace.com page. Each member can determine the amount of personal information they want to share with the community and can alter responses at any time. Generic identity questions are asked to each member when setting up personal profiles. But through the open ended questions, personal responses vary in revealing amounts. The MySpace.com page design, images, videos, music, pictures, and accessories are endless based on an individual’s imagination. Just about anything you want displayed on your page has an html code enabling you to post it.
The MySpace.com virtual social community provides members opportunities to express their individuality, to communicate with members and to learn from each other. Even presidential candidates have MySpace.com pages. As MySpace.com becomes a global communication mechanism, limitations begin to dwindle. Dependent upon the amount of time a member spends within the community will determine the amount of knowledge they gain. Individuals are not limited to making friends with those living next to them. Due to MySpace.com, physical distance is no limitation to “truly” knowing the person on the screen. Not only can members asynchronously email one another, but instant messaging and chatting are also forms of communication components to MySpace.com. Members can upload surveys to all their “friends” by posting to the bulletin board. Individuals can blog their thoughts for all to see and even post comments to a particular friend’s page. MySpace.com does have security features in place. Each member can limit who views their complete profile, post to their comments column, preview personal photos, or leave messages. As members upload photos, MySpace.com technicians review the images to determine appropriateness for pubic viewing. The technologies assist in channeling the information that an individual desires to share. Bulletins are only sent out to those on a member’s friend list. If a new comment or email is made to a member’s profile, then they can have an email notifying them of the new communication.
Comments to a MySpace.com page from two different friends:
Kalyn and Nick
Dec 20 2007 7:00 AM
Comment Back - Send Message - Block User
Just dropping by to say hi!! I haven't seen you in awhile!
The Meaning of K8
Dec 20 2007 12:14 AM
Comment Back - Send Message - Block User
I"m keeping warm, maintaining electricity and of course, getting sick now that it's back up to 60 degrees again. Hope all is well with you, looks like you had fun in DC. Have a GREAT Christmas!
Email communication in MySpace.com page between two different friends who had lost contact over the years:
Date: Jan 23, 2008 2:18 AM
yeh, yeh, I know what you mean...I'm living the dream myself. I've been in GA a couple of years now...it was just the right time, right situation, etc. It is beautiful here and I have fallen in love with the mountains. Have you kept up with anyone from school? The only person I have stayed in contact with is ?????. I can officially say I've known her half my life...now that makes me feel older.
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 16, 2008 5:21 PMoh, just about the same as everyone else. school, marriage, job, more school, divorce, more school, job...typical stuff. wow you're in georgia, what took you there?
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 16, 2008 12:13 PMRight, nothing like the mention of Mr. ????? name to bring back some traumatic memories. I was just surfing through and thought I recognized your smiling face. What have you been up to in say, the last seventeen years or so?
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 15, 2008 7:51 PMSure thing, band at ????? High in the 80s.
----------------- Original Message -----------------From: Date: Jan 15, 2008 1:22 PMDoes Mr. ????? ring any bells?
MySpace.com is a great social network that allows an individual to set around in their pajamas on a Saturday morning catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, educating themselves on public figures, or use their imagination to alter the appearance of their page. The virtual community allows members to feel a sense of belonging. A safety net is always there because a member can exit the community at any time by deleting their profile. They can then reenter under a new profile name. MySpace.com is not a community that requires you to interact with on a daily basis. As time permits, members can participate at their leisure. Personally for me, MySpace.com is used to unwind and relax. It is enjoyable to look at pictures that have been posted, read through comments and blogs of my friends, and regularly change or add to my page appearance.
The virtual learning community from a pedagogical and technological perspective I chose to investigate was Tapped In, http://tappedin.org/tappedin/. Tapped In is a virtual community that connects educators worldwide from all levels of the profession. After reading an article referencing Tapped In, I wanted to explore it further. Once I accessed Tapped In, I explored as a guest and then decided to join as a member. I participated in a chat designated to familiarize new users with the website. The text chat was guided by a Tapped In support person. After the chat, I searched through the website to find various things of interest. I especially appreciate the calendar full of after school professional development opportunities.
My initial impression of this website was that it was overwhelming. Small images with lots of links throughout the page. But as I spent more time exploring, I felt the website was a wonderful virtual learning community. The entire website seemed designed to increase/enhance a user’s educational knowledge. Tapped In can be identified as a knowledge-based learning community (Reil & Polin, 2004). Members can construct, use, reconstruct, and reuse knowledge. Tapped In is designed to allow members to plan and conduct learning projects, participate in topic specific discussions, and attend online professional development session. The virtual community has built in support systems to assist in the development of a user’s knowledge in how to benefit from the website. Mentors are in place to guide knowledge construction.
The purpose of Tapped In is to transform teacher professional development. The website was established in 1997 by SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning (“Welcome to”, n.d.). Tapped In provides its members with online tools, resources, colleagues to connect to and support. Through the Tapped In experiences educators enhance their abilities to implement authentic learning activities.
Tapped In allows organizations to design and utilize collaborative online courses, workshops, seminars, and mentoring programs. To participate in Tapped In a computer and Internet connection are required and the individual must log in as a member. Members are identified by first name. It is up to the member to express additional information either through text or via profile. An individual must login to actively participate within Tapped In. During the membership sign up individuals provide minimal personal information, but they do identify their area or expertise, company and location. Members have the ability to post a picture and include personal interests within their profile. Tapped In provides members the opportunity to collaborate and network on learning projects, to enhance personal knowledge of topics and to search for members and resources. The learning possibilities are enormous. Through the peer networks Tapped In has developed, educators can engage in numerous activities, discussions, projects, online professional development and mentoring assistance. As time advances, topics and projects are reinvented to accommodate the needs of the members. Tapped In support personnel track and respond to the avenues educators advance towards.
Tapped In is designed for organizations (such as schools, professional development groups, etc.) as a virtual building with three floors. The first floor is designed with the reception room and public rooms. Members can access the help desk, news, and conference rooms from the first floor. The second floor houses group rooms that can either be open to the public or private to group owners and their selected members. The third floor is designed as personal office space for the organizations members.
Communication within Tapped In occurs via text-based chats or private messaging. Threaded discussion boards are designed for every room and conversation transcripts are emailed to the participants. Members can send messages to each other for later retrieval. Tapped In also allows members to share and store room information, post messages and agendas. Monthly newsletters are emailed to members and members have the ability to search for other members and resources. Knowledge is constructed both synchronously and asynchronously through member participation within the group rooms and public professional development rooms.
As individuals participate within Tapped In, educators can enhance their educational expertise in various fields of interest. By engaging in discussion threads or chatting, members begin to feel connected and valued within the community. Their collaborative efforts towards project development or knowledge growth enable them to contribute to the wealth of knowledge found throughout the virtual community. Below is a listing of the professional development sessions available on a particular day.
9 12:00 PM Religious Educators Forum
1:00 PM K-12 Campus Tour and Classroom Support
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Tapped In Tips & Tricks-Virtual Fieldtrip of TI
Tapped In is supported through organizational memberships and sponsorships that strive to enhance classroom-centered learning. The virtual learning community has designed help desk assistance for member support. Frequently asked questions are also readily available to view. Monthly newsletters are emailed to continue the connections with each member. Through the communication design features, members are able to connect at anytime to one another, access stored information, retrieve messages, and search for resources. Tapped In provides members a virtual community tailored to their interest because of the variety available.
Since its establishment in 1997, Tapped In has partnered with organizations, and sponsors that value the vision of improving learning and teaching. Members consistently have a built in support mechanism to aid in maneuvering throughout the website. Tapped In has designed communication features to enhance participant’s experiences. The communication between members and support personnel can occur without the boundaries of time or space. The scaffolding of knowledge and collaborative learning occurs in various ways. As members engage in text base chats, the conversations are emailed to the participants and also to those not logged on within the group. The knowledge is built form the communication interaction, use of whiteboards, file storage, data collection, and mentoring activities.
The Tapped In virtual learning community provides educators convenient, tailored professional development to all those interested. Organizations have the ability to utilize Tapped In to virtually communicate and collaborate on projects. The design of the website is user friendly. It is very easy to maneuver throughout the site and short concise overviews or tips are found next to hyperlinks. To enhance the website, I would suggest having a homepage that would visually capture the user from the moment they connect. The size of the text and the amount of information displayed on the homepage can be intimidating to the educators who have no knowledge about online virtual learning communities. Minimize the amount of initial information and increase the font size may grab a viewer’s interest. Personally Tapped In is a great online professional development virtual community I will visit frequently.
References
Riel, M. & Polin, L. (2004). Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning. In S.A. Barab, R. Kling, & J.H. Gray (eds.), Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning (pp. 16-50). Cambridge University Press.
Welcome to tapped in. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/about.jsp
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