Annotated Bibliographies

Citation:
LaPorte, J. (2009). Integrity and Conscience among the Saber-tooth Tigers. Journal of Technology Education, 20(2), 1-6.

Summary:
In this article from the editor, the economic recession and its relation to the dishonesty in today’s society is compared to the dishonesty of educators within the school systems. The author values the unique practicality of education in technology. He mentions that as an educatory in the field of technology, you gain a better sense or “ability to now when you are about to be duped in the marketplace”.

With society becoming more and more complex, it opens doors for deceptive practice. Educators of technology should feel a certain sense of responsibility to protect the community from this deceptiveness. A comparison is then made between the deceitful practices in society and those in schools. Educators’ motives are questioned as well as the lasting impact that they’ve had on their students.

An analogy is made between the ever-growing complexity of society and the evolution of curriculum. Those courses that once held the most practical value are looked down upon and are now disappearing from schools. This is just an indication that we are heading to a “postindustrial economy”.

Review:
This article is a reflection on where we as educators came from and provides insight as to where we are heading. It is not so much informational as it is a personal revelation. It provides cleverly arranged analogies to show how the integrity of educators and society as a whole has transgressed over time. The author references many outside sources of literature as well as personal experiences to illustrate his perspective. Overall, this article is very insightful and thought-provoking.


Citation:
Kok, A. (2009). Understanding the Wiki Technology from the Systems Perspective. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 6(10), 1-9.

Summary:
In this article, the interactions between the social and cognitive systems (externalization and internalization) are broken down as they apply to Wikis. The nature of the wiki is to facilitate knowledge through collaboration. The learning process is described through several theories, which substantiate the wiki’s effectiveness.

There are several explanations on how knowledge is shared and cultivated by way of wiki. Four different forms of knowledge acquisition are mentioned including: internal assimilation (quantitative individual learning), internal accommodation (qualitative individual learning), external assimilation (quantitative knowledge building), and external accommodation (qualitative knowledge building).

The key focus of the article is the interaction between different systems which result in the building of knowledge. As knowledge is documented and revised in a collaborative effort, new knowledge is introduced. Thus, a wiki is not just the sum of a group’s prior knowledge, but a “true creation and circulation of new knowledge”.

Review:
This article really goes into elaborate detail on the learning process and interaction between both external and internal thought processes. Several theories are explained and illustrated to show how they are applied through a wiki site. Though there were different theories from different time periods, they were all tied together nicely to reinforce the argument that a wiki is “not just a technology, but a true philosophical way of intending work”.


Citation:
McAndrew, P., & Brasher, A. (2009). Automatic Generation of Audio Content for Open Learning Sources. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 5, 1-19.

Summary:
Digital Talking Books (DTBs) with embedded functionality can be utilized within the eLearning arena, not only to improve accessibility, but the overall learning experience. Detailed descriptions document how values can be assigned to content and coded so that it can be referenced quickly and easily in an open learning environment. An open source software framework system known as DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) can transport content into an accessible form.

Through manipulation of program code, the functionality of the software can be modified to meet the needs of different educational domains. For instance, charts and graphs can be made accessible (converted to audio) for math and science. These modifications would be made possible by way of a feedback component form the learner to the teacher.

Many different scenarios and schemas are presented to show how this software could be implemented as a tool for a more efficient learning process. One example is that sections of podcasts could be tagged and archived in a way that they could be recalled based on their content (without having to play the file from the beginning). Cost efficiency, development, and possible issues are also discussed.

Review:
It is almost scary to know that these complex tasks that were once only capable of being completed by a capable human are now being handled by computers processing sophisticated program code and algorithms. If a computer can change it’s state of response based on a user’s actions, it is essentially learning and adapting to its user. Many of the proposals listed in this journal article seem to be a bit ambitious for now, but are definitely feasible in the near future. As mentioned in the article, these systems have their flaws, but are steadily improving as research continues.


Citation:
Stroud, S., (2010). The Classroom in 3D. THE Journal.

Summary:
This article discusses addresses the introduction of 3D technology into the classroom. With the recent release of 3D ready projectors, more and more educational establishments are equipping themselves for the next wave of instructional technology. With the introduction of the 3rd dimension into the classroom, educators hope to enhance their students’ learning experience.

Teachers are excited about these projectors’ capacity to project multidimensional presentations that they hope will help illustrate things such as “complex spatial concepts” in geometry, images of cells in dissections, and virtual fieldtrips. They also foresee it enriching subjects such as astronomy, history, geography, art history, and earth sciences.

Review:
The users hopes and reasoning behind purchasing the equipment is discussed in more detail than the capabilities of the actual equipment within this article. The author does mention that there is limited content available for this technology at this time and that several companies are currently developing 3D media specifically for education. The article is not so much informative from a technological standpoint as it is exciting to know that this technology is becoming more accessible.


Citation:
Cook, J., Pachler, N., Bradley, C., (2008) Bridging the Gap? Mobile Phones and the Interface Between Informal and Formal Learning. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 4(1), 3-18.

Summary:
Studies were conducted in this article to research the formal and informal relationships when it comes to using mobile phones for learning. High-end mobile phones were issues to a small group of university students to use in a week-long project for a masters level course. Students were all given the same model phone and all data transmitted (text,photos,videos etc.) was captured within an application on the phone.

Following the completion of the assignment, data was retrieved and categorized to formulate a set of research questions. Variables that were taken into account during this process included: User biographies, technical skills, functionality of devices used, attitudes towards learning, and attitudes towards social networks. Qualitative data was then taken from the interviews and analyzed using a narrative case study technique. From here, two themes were explored: Affective issues (attitudes towards functionality of the device) and phone usage in a learner’s formal and informal practice.

Review:
This was an interesting article, which has a lot of relevance to the current issues that educators face on a daily basis. Though the nature of the study is very pertinent, the matter in which it was conducted was very loose. There were no clear-cut criteria or forms of structured analysis developed. Each step just kind of transitioned to a new phase of the experiment without any real guidelines established. As a result, the conclusion was for the most part inconclusive. It was simply stated that there are needs for conceptual work to bridge the gaps between formal and informal learning and that there was a lack of ability to conceptualize effective use of phones for learning. This is an assumption that I believe most people would make without the need of research and analysis. After all, phones are primarily a social device and have just recently been introduced into the education arena.