Monday, October 22, 2012

Social Media and Online Education

In my four years at Sacramento State, I have avoided taking online classes like the plague.  Call me old-fashioned, but there is a certain appeal in having a physical classroom, complete with other students, a professor, etc.  I actually have fewer distractions that way, and in the long-run, I think I do better.  But last summer I had to take an online class to complete a few units and it was my only option.  I ended up enjoying the class because I could do things on my own time and at my own pace, as long as papers and exams were submitted when they were due.

Now that I'm taking a more formal 17 weeks of an online class in my Fall semester (rather than the 6 in Summer school), I am realizing the structure is very different.  I still have to accomplish things at the same pace as everyone else enrolled in the course, and I have to be online at a certain time as I would in a classroom.

So, I did a little more research on online learning.  It was part of an assignment, but I still think the websites I found should be discussed further.

The first, http://mashable.com/2011/01/07/online-education-websites/, is an article discussing 100+ websites and social tools that have changed the education system as a whole.  They include the development of fully online high schools and colleges, tutoring websites, social networks for those strictly taking online courses, and learning tools such as SAT, LSAT, BAR, and ACT exam preparation.  They also discuss tools for memorization, commuter students, funding your education, and online study groups.

The second, http://laptop.org/en/vision/mission/index.shtml, is a charitable organization looking to provide school-aged children of impoverished areas with a rugged, energy efficient, connected laptop.  Their goal is to give them a portal to the internet and education no matter where they are so they have a means to explore, create, and build skills like reading, writing, mathematics, science, etc.

The third, http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400, is YouTube's way of adding to the online educational system.  Here, anyone can post any educational video they want.  These videos can include professors discussing the structure of the English language or the specifics of World War II, or students reciting a rap about lab safety.  The videos are broken up into several categories, including university, primary and secondary education, math, science, life-long learning, language, etc.  Where I don't think it should be used as a primary source of learning, I do think it could be a great way to tutor individuals who cannot afford one through their school.

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