Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wrapping up the summer

We are wrapping up the summer session this week. It's shocking how quickly it has gone by!
Tonight we are giving our presentations on Web 2.0 tools. Hopefully, everything runs smoothly for all groups. But more probable is that a group or two will experience technical difficulty lol.

We are trying something pretty cool. We will be presenting using Eluminate. However, when we are presenting I will be using Solodox to view Aura's computer. So I will let the class view my desktop where I will have Solodox open. My Solodox will be viewing Aura's computer and everything she is doing. She will be showing proposal templates, etc. on her computer. The whole 6:00 class will be able to see everything she is doing. It is a very interesting concept.

Aura and I were talking about this last night. It is a little creepy that someone can view what you are doing on your computere without you really knowing. It's very "big brother". I was told at my previous elementary school that they could "see" everything at anytime. Creepy stuff...

Friday, August 14, 2009

Wikinomics

August 14, 2009

One of our assignments this past week was to read the book Wikinomics by Don Tapscott. I found this book quite interesting. I also viewed a video of Tapscott on YouTube. As a teacher, it was interesting to see how wikis and social networking can influence a company.

On story that I found intriguing was the story of Rob McEwen, the CEO of Goldcorp, Inc. from chapter one of the book Wikinomics. His company went outside the norms and rules of the gold-mining industry. They held a “contest” and gave otherwise sealed information out the public and asked for their help finding gold. This was unprecedented but it worked. They made billions.

Although this was seen as a risky move, it worked. I’m surprised there aren’t other companies in that industry that have tried something similar. I realize that it’s hard for people to accept change and new ideas but things change and sometimes change isn’t all bad. This idea potentially could have been molded to work for other companies.

There was an idea that was shared that I think could be truly world changing. The idea of governments using wikis. It is definitely an “out of the box” idea. We elect officials to make decisions for us. By using wikis they can see and hear what the public truly feels. Former President Clinton was planning on using wikis (circumstances prohibited this). Canada is now working with Tapscott to implement wikis. I am excited to see how this works out.

The Wii now has a feature where you can watch the same movie with a friend who is at a different location. You can create a character of yourself and you can talk to one another. This could be useful to families and friends that are across the county or across the world.

It is amazing what technology can do for our world. In just a few short years things have changed drastically. We feel connected online, we have friends, take classes, communicate, watch movies, post pictures, find directions, etc..

All of this makes me excited for the future. Will we continue along this path of invention and innovation? Will more good than bad happen as a result of our technology usage and ideas?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Hopping Around The Country August 7, 2009

This program is wonderful. I am able to travel to the east coast to visit my family and keep up with my classwork at the same time. Had my computer not had issues logging on, I could have done work on the plane online. However, I was able to complete all of my reading for the week during the long plane ride across the country from Orange County to D.C.! Yea!

I love the fact that we use Skype to communicate with one another once a week. It is a wonderful tool to feel "connected" to one another while doing work in various places. I understand what Margaret meant when she said that one hour was about the maximum before people start to become unfocused. I was struggling a little bit after that hour mark this week. I'm sure it had to do partly with traveling and running around visiting the family.

I'm in upstate NY now visiting more family. I'm staying with my brother now and he has wireless so access to the internet is not an issue. I'm going to be going to Maine on Wednesday and there is NO internet access at that house. Over that past couple of years when I was in Maine and taking online classes I would go down to the local coffee shop (the only place in the area with internet access for customers ;) ). I need to figure out what I am going to do for our Skype meetings on Thursday and Tuesday. I'm sure that the small shop is not open from 9-10 PM EST. I'll get it all figured out by the time I leave on Wednesday.