A discussion of Elluminate vs. Open Course Ware
I began thinking I was going to check out and report on Second Life and I did. I just watched the movie “Hot Tub Time Machine” last night and saw the “nerdy” kid playing with it (Second Life) in the basement, completely unaware of the things happening around him(in the real world). This may or may not be a true picture of the applicable use of the software, but when you hear stories of children not being fed and starved to death because their inept parents were too busy tending to their Second Life baby, it makes you wonder. I did take the tour and found everything about it labor some, time consuming and to me very sad. I think the whole concept of true humanity has made its swift exit with use and promotion of this software and condemns those who may become addicted to it. While I could banter on and on about its possibilities (or lack thereof), and to me they are only possibilities, not real world application, I would very much like to switch my focus to the software with potential to make my point.
“OpenCourseWare, or OCW, is a term applied to course materials in a virtual learning environment created by universities and shared freely with the world via the internet.” I am not certain that this is the appropriate device to deliver to an academic public school classroom, for time is very precious these days, I do believe this has merit to both the student and the teacher. I think some of the material would be wonderful for take home differentiated instruction for students and their parents for that matter. If could possibly be targeted to the more gifted students if there were an abundance in the particular grade level or school.
I believe that the information, while not for academic credit or certification purposes, makes a great use of answering the “why and how” and increases background knowledge of an area and keeps the notion of a life long learner a healthy and good thing to be among others in the community.
I have always been troubled especially in the areas involving History and Social Science. One signs up for a college level class in this particular discipline. The teacher assigns a pre-determined text or reference book that the student is told to read. The lectures are based on facts and of opinion. The point of bring up this notion is that when studying a epoch of history wouldn’t it be great to capture the viewpoint of different people (historians) from different colleges with different backgrounds and see the similarities and differences in their “opinion”? I for one would be fascinated by this. With this type of web site, it is all possible right from home. I could really see the value in that.
Elluminate is something I could really see working in a classroom, at home or used among the staff of a professional setting or teaching facility. From an educational approach, Elluminate can be used for teaching students or training staff remotely. For the classroom, I could really see its application in an exchange of cultures teachers in the U.S. collaboratively teaching with teachers from another country. From here, language could be taught and other social learning with the children from different countries. For staff, if there is a teacher that is short on time who needs to train a large number of teachers, they can use Elluminate to do so. This way the teacher can train 100 or 1000 at a time and not 10 and travel from classroom to classroom. This could be considered a much more efficient way to accomplish the trainer’s goals. As I understood the information provided, this coursework could be used (depending on what was being taught) for credentials or achievements that one could use on a resume or college application. The uses for this particular type of software are endless for when you break it all down, it is a two way communication machine that uses microphones and cameras off the computer and or utilizes the telephone if such devices are not available. I also think that the social aspects as it relates to education and communication could be deemed valuable in certain capacities as I mentioned earlier. It could be used for on line debates and discussions, assisting others with assignments, or communicating with other educational facilities to compare contrast ideas.
I know as we debated in class, these two teaching tools do not provide adequate reasons for why we need a teacher and students sitting in a school classroom, they do have possibilities to do things more efficiently. I think it will be a matter of time and research if we can make the claim that it can be done more effectively. This observer still believes the best way to educate is to show someone right there and then how to do something. I know this can be done on a computer, but believe in the end, the best results can be achieved when a human shows another human how it is done, why it works or does not work and why it is so.
July 11, 2010 7:30 pm 
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