EIPT Week 3

1. What are the implications of the power of the virtual communities to education after reading the TIME's articles and CH. 1-3?
   
   We live in exciting times. Education can be enhanced, facilitated, and broadened through the use of virtual communities. Knowledge is available to anyone that has access to a computer and the internet. Students have the ability to almost limitless information and knowledge which can lead to self enlightenment. Virtual communities include groups of people with like interests to facilitate learning and educational opportunities.
   
   
2. I agree that teachers are losing authority regarding knowledge due to student's extensive exposure and access to all kinds of information and resources, but does it still make us experts in various ways?
   
   We need experts to help us decipher and assimilate the multitude of "bits and pieces" of information that we find on the WEB. Most of us are experts within our personal sphere of influence. "The fact is that most user-created content on the Web is not challenging the authority of a traditional expert. It's working in a zone where there are no experts or where the users themselves are the experts" (Johnson, 2006). We learn by doing and experiencing as well as interacting. The instructors that have influenced me most are the ones who have shared their clinical experiences with me. Granted, these experiences can be described on the WEB, but the instructors had to physically go into the hospital, clinic, etc. to get the experience that they are teaching about. These instructors are experts within the realm of their experiences. We need qualified experts to verify the data and point us in the right direction.
   
   A great deal of time and energy are required to become an "expert". Time could be described as a fixed asset. We each have a limited amount of time to learn, to spend time with our families, to love, to play, to give, etc. If we take time to learn the deep truths, then we must deduct an equal amount of time from other areas of our lives. As I read through the assigned readings each week, I realize there is a wealth of information not only on the WEB but within each chapter of each book. Unfortunately, especially in today's world, there is a limited amount of time for each of us to learn new concepts. Instructors can eliminate some of the informational "clutter" by directing students toward current, relevant, and up-to-date information.
   
   
3. How will education and the structure of schooling change in this digital age?
   Distance learning will broaden instructor's and student's world view.
   
   Students will be responsible for pursuing knowledge. Instructors will be responsible for guiding the students in their pursuit of knowledge. Instructors will need to understand virtual communities, and informatics to create an atmosphere conducive to the online learner. New and different media will be implemented to create an atmosphere for social interaction among peers due to an increase in virtual communities and a decrease in physical communities of learners.
   
   
4. What do you think this hyper-connectedness means to the future of nursing education?
   

   Healthcare information will be at the instructor's and the student's fingertips. Instructors will serve as expert guides, but students will be responsible for pursuing and assimilating information. Nursing will still need some "hands-on" experience to supplement the online classes, but simulation will grow. There will be more interactions with students from various geographical and cultural backgrounds. Instructors will be able to converse with educational experts from around the globe and access a multitude of visual aids along with applications. I used a video that I found on YouTube, within my PowerPoint presentation, to teach Acid Base Balance to OU nursing students last year. It was incorporated into my lecture and a copy of the PP with the hyperlink was attached to the Angel network for the students to review.
   

   Renninger & Shumar Ch. 5-8
   Ch. 5 discusses the evolution of an online education community of practice. CoPs are "small groups of people held together by a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows." CoPs are a great resource for teachers to access professional development opportunities and improve their instructional techniques. Tapped In (TI) is an educational CoP that includes online community wide activities. It's a virtual environment that supports education professionals and TPD organizations. Both real time and asynchronous activities occur. A list of nationally recognized education organizations was provided. These organizations serve as "tenants". The affiliated teachers are able to gain access to experts, ideas, and informational resources that no single organization could provide by itself. At least half of the membership consists of K-12 teachers.(I have not looked at Tapped In, but these readings and Jennifer's blog have increased my curiosity.) I am excited about the possibilities it creates. I look forward to viewing it.)
   
   Ch. 6 discusses creating and sustaining distributed learning communities. Sustaining distributed learning communities depends in a large part on communication. Communication between peers in distributed learning environments is important for information exchange. Since there is a lack of face-to-face interactions, distributed learning communities need a variety of media to channel communication options for students. (students need to communicate with each other, to support each other, and to learn from each other). (This can be difficult for students who are highly intelligent, but lack social networking skills.) Asynchronous communication, multiple addressing facilities, and simultaneous transmission to multiple recipients enhance communication within these communities. Wizards and webmasters manage conflict as diverse groups communicate online. Social network relationships are studied as "ties". Pairs who maintain one or more relationships are considered a "tie". Personal or ego-centric networks provide a view of the many ties that individuals maintain with others. (Reminds me of the "friends" list on Facebook).
   
   Hemeneutics, (identity and masks) were described from various philosophical viewpoints in Ch. 7 (Artistotle, Socrates, Plato, Neoplatonism, Platonism, Hume, Freud, Marcuse, Heidegger, etc. were reviewed.) The internet can "mask" our true identities. Gender, appearance, and age can all be changed within online chat groups. Is this a positive or negative event? Or, is it like a game where we play the game and then we get up and walk away from the table? – neither positive or negative – just a distraction for a short period of time. I'm not sure that it can be labeled. It's like anything else, it's not really good or bad unless it's overdone or deliberately used to manipulate others.
   
   WISE is a web-based Integrated Science Environment (WISE). Design considerations were discussed in Ch. 8. Netcourse is used to support teachers using WISE. WISE contains a partnership model wherein teachers, scientists, and pedagogy experts design projects. Although online discussions take place, a sense of community does not emerge until teachers, researchers, and scientists begin to work together on projects. (Very true of real life -Relationships are built as people work together for a common goal.) Design strategies facilitate the transformation and sharing of resources. Strategies for creating effective online learning communities included:
   
   -Support the actual practices and daily tasks of the participants.
   -Collect experiences and represent them in an accessible and
   equitable manner.
   -Provide a framework to guide the learning process.
   -Represent the identities of community members.
   
   Renninger & Shumar Ch. 9-10
   In Ch. 9, the theory of reflexive modernization was described within the framework of American's evolution into a risk society. The United States, the United Kingdom and various other parts of the world no longer trust authority figures and experts to provide accurate and true answers. "Instead of worrying about what nature does to us, we worry about what we do to nature." We are seeking our own answers. On-line self-help and social support are looked at from a sociological perspective in this chapter. We are overwhelmed by the volume of self-help sites and information that is available online. But, we continue to find answers to our questions. Examples were given of parents trying to decide whether or not to vaccinate their children, Usenet is a very popular self-help and social support site used by the citizens of the United Kingdom. Email, the WEB, mailing and discussion lists, news groups, MUDs, IRC and other forms of computer medicated communications are also being used to "support a massive range of health and social issues." I love the internet and the ability it provides me to answer any question that pops into my head. I use the web for all kinds of projects, issues, and questions - not just for social support.
   
   Ch. 10 helped us to understand the life cycles of network-based learning communities. The participant roles within network-based learning activities are better understood if life cycle patterns are understood. Patterns of change for network-based learning communities are birth, growth, mature functioning, decline, and when they cease to function. Although there is a continuum of development without discrete boundaries, the life cycle stages can be defined within the boundaries of proposal, refinement, organization, pursuit, wrap-up, and publication.
   
   The Zero-g Project was used as an example. Four schools participated in the year-long Project. Participants designed the activities that correlated with activities that existed in the space shuttle or in current space stations. The activities within the Collision Course Challenge involved students resolving problems that come up when the shuttle has a collision course. The activities within the Design Challenge and a Five Same and Different Challenge were also described. The activities were divided within the preceding stages. I like the structural framework that these stages describe. I can incorporate them within future projects.