Podcasting

Podcasts are a great way to communicate between students and teachers. They can be used as lectures and put on the web, then when the student has subscribed to the podcast he or she can watch it when and where they want. Podcasts can be downloaded on to computers, iPods and other devices. This is how they are able to be watched in any location. They can be watched when ever because once you have subscribed to a podcast you don't have to watch it as soon as it is put on the web, you can store it and watch it in your own time. This is why Podcasting is a very useful Learning Resource (Oliver 1999) within e-learning.

Reference List
Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for on-line teaching and learning. Distance Education, 20(2), 240-254. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

Image

Image 1. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/podcasting_globe_with_headset_id108564_size420.jpg

YouTube

YouTube is an online video service, where people can view and upload videos from all over the world. I as I am sure many others have had plenty of experience using YouTube and all it has to offer...even if it is not always factual.

YouTube as discussed my Snelson & Elison-Bowers, 'is particularly beneficial in e-learning which relies on digital content'. This is because it allows videos to be used as educational learning tools and is very easy to obtain. Since the creation of YouTube in 2005 (Snelson & Elison-Bowers, 2009) there has been a rapid growth in online video creation and viewing. As a learning tool, YouTube is beneficial because it has a immense range of different videos that can be accessed via the site. For example (see below video), you can learn how to cook a cake, make a paper aeroplane or even to more in deepth things such as the way the human body functions.

Reference List
Snelson, C. & Elison-Bowers, P. (2009). Using YouTube videos to engage the affective domain in e-learning. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.formatex.org/micte2009/book/1481-1485.pdf

Quizzes

Throughout my course I have found that online quizzes have been a very beneficial learning tool. They test what you know and ultimately what you don't know. This is where the learning takes place, you learn from your mistakes. In most online quizzes you are given a few chances to succeed in answering all questions correctly. This way you obviously know the answer you get correct when you first take the quiz, and the ones that you get incorrect are the areas that you need to work on.

According to Oliver (see image 2. below) Quizzes are both Learning Tasks and Learning Resources.

Reference List

Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for on-line teaching and learning. Distance Education, 20(2), 240-254. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

Image

Image 1. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://floriascience.com/myPictures/girl____hg_wht.gif

Image 2. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

Animations and Simulations

Animated visualisations that show both structures and processes help teachers convey important concepts (Falvo, 2008). The key word in the previous sentence is 'help', this in turn shows that animation and simulation is a Learning Resource (Oliver 1999). Animations and simulations help convey concepts to students; they cannot be left as the only means of learning. This is because according to Falvo, 'Animations can mislead learning causing misunderstandings and misperceptions'. This mainly occurs with the interpretation process, for an example Flavo has said that, 'learners assume that the colors and the shapes reflect the actual reality of the represented items, when often the shapes and colors are either symbolic or an idealisation of time and space relations'.

An example of an animation and simulation can be seen below:

Reference List
Falvo, D. (2008). Animations and simulations for teaching and learning molecular chemistry. Retrieved August 10, 2009 from http://ijttl.sicet.org/issue0801/4_1_5_Falvo.pdf

Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for on-line teaching and learning. Distance Education, 20(2), 240-254. Retrieved August 1, 2009 from http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

Image Manipulation

Photo Manipulation can be done very easily and in many different ways, from adding a speech bubble to someone’s head in paint to adding an extra eye in Photoshop. According to Lodriguss, 'with today's technology, we can literally do anything we want with images'. For example see the images on the right. Image 1 is of toothpaste begin put on a toothbrush, however when it gets on the toothbrush it ends up in a figure of a person. Image 2 has been manipulated so that the person's face has the texture and appearance that of cracked, dry soil.

Image manipulation a controversy e-learning tool as it creates Ethics and Aesthetics issues (Lodriguss, 2006). Although it allows the learner to manipulate the photo the way that they require it, it creates images that are not entirely 'real'. Therefore having to give great consideration when using the image in a assessment piece.

Reference List
Lodriguss, J. (2006). The Ethics of Digital Manipulation. Retrieved August 10, 2009 from http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/ETHICS.HTMM

Images
Image 1. Retrieved August 10, 2009 from http://english.artegami.com/picture-manipulation-with-photoshop/
Image 2. Retrieved August 10, 2009 from http://designerer.com/tutorials/cracked/IMG%201.jpg

Flickr

Flickr is an 'online photo management and sharing application' (http://www.flickr.com/tour/). It not only allows you to share your photos and videos to family and friends, but can be used as a safe place to store and organise your pictures. Making Flickr a very useful Learning Resource (Oliver, 1999).

Reference List

Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for on-line teaching and learning. Distance Education, 20(2), 240-254. Retrieved August 1, 2009 from http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

Image
Image 1. Retrieved 10, August, 2009 From http://www.flickr.com/tour/

Video

Firstly we need to clear up that video in terms of e-learning is not limited to the VHS. It includes, YouTube videos, Recorded lectures, DVDs, etc.

Snelson & Elison-Bowers explain video as, ' a powerful medium for conveying the spectrum of human emotion through the drama of the audiovisual story'. For video to be used as an e-learning tool, only parts of a video should be shown to reiterate what is being taught. For example at the start of a lecture/class a small snippet of a video relating to the topic that is begin taught is shown. This is a great way to engage the students by using another form of media, but still keeps them focused on the topic at hand.

Reference List
Snelson, C. & Elison-Bowers, P. (2009). Using YouTube videos to engage the affective domain in e-learning. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.formatex.org/micte2009/book/1481-1485.pdf

Image
Image 1. Retrieved August 10, 2009 from
http://www.milk2sugars.com.au/uploads/images/M2S%20images/stack-of-videos.jpg