Gaming

        Today’s generation of children and students have access to an immense amount of technology that they are always utilizing. Many schools have incorporated technology into their academic programs as a new means of facilitating learning. Gaming, however, although not new to kids in their everyday life, is a new way for educators to stimulate interest in certain material. Many parents view video games as mindless distractions that do not teach anything beyond hand-eye coordination. This is not necessarily true, in that learning is always happening as one is engaged in a game. Many computer games promote problem-solving skills as kids are placed in a virtual world, needing to complete tasks and get to the next level of the game. I think using games in the academic environment can be very beneficial to students but I still believe that teacher to student learning is the best kind of learning and that computer games should only be used in moderation as a way of helping to fuel young minds.

      I feel like gaming, as we’ve discussed it in class, can be used in just about any area to teach someone something in a more engaging way. Games can serve as tutorials to teach a concept that will be applied in the real world. Doing it in a gaming fashion first, allows you to practice and understand what really needs to be done. In that sense, I think gaming could definitely be applied to telecommunications because in any field of study, you’re going to be teaching something to at least one person, or “newbie.”  Besides that aspect of gaming, I don’t really see any other ways in which it could be related or efficiently utilized to my major or telecommunications.

      Penn State Educational Gaming Commons promotes the idea of gaming within the teaching, learning, and research environment. This is their official website that allows you to look into exactly how they plan on implementing this at Penn State University. This site serves as a hub where PSU faculty, staff, and students can work together with educational games to communicate and collaborate. I thought this was very interesting and tied in perfectly with our discussion of gaming in the classroom. 

Second Life

             Second life is a 3-D virtual world that was created by a man named Linden Labs in 2003 and it has grown immensely since then, “inhabited” by millions of Residents from all over the world. This virtual world is centered on human interaction. People can use this virtual space for a variety of interactions, including customizing their avatars, creating and selling items, and essentially creating a second life for them to indulge in. Second life can also be used in the educational environment to do thing that would otherwise not be possible. For example, a student can use role playing as an educational tool, by immersing themselves in a Shakespearean setting to learn more about the literature of the author. Though, this virtual world may be beneficial in an academic atmosphere, it does have ramifications for adults in the real world. Some people have taken it too far as to allow their avatars to have sexual relations with prostitutes in this virtual world and it has led to divorces in their real life. It’s the idea that someone needs to escape to another world in order to engage in actions that they obviously think about in their own lives that makes this second life game all to real.

             I’m not quite sure of all the ins and outs of Second Life but I do know that it is very unlikely that I will ever use it, neither personally nor professionally. I’ve had a hard time, unfortunately, with this set of blogs as far as relating the material to my field of study because most of the stuff we have talked about recently is mainly applied to education. I did see when I was researching the virtual world of Second Life that some businesses use it to virtually advertise for products or performers and it made me think that in some form or another maybe a news company could do the same. They could simply put a “billboard” or advertisement up in the Second Life world with their logo so that people would see it there and then actually tune in to that broadcast in the real world. It’s possible. I don’t think as a reporter there’s any way I would utilize it, other than maybe doing a report on it someday and how it is becoming too real of a world for some to handle.

The video below explains the virtual world of Second Life and its uses that draw in so many people. It also gives examples of how Second Life is being used in the business world to advertise for real life things. According to the video, Second Life encourages creative talent. 

Open Source Software

Open source software is computer software that is available in source code form so that other users can study, change and improve the software. There are no restrictions on downloading, accessing or modifying them and all open source software programs are completely free. Open source enables people to expand off of one person’s great idea and continue to develop technology. It is very beneficial to developers and anyone who wants to help software to continue to evolve. Being that these programs, such as Open Office and GIMP, are free to use, makes them extremely resourceful to college students working on a budget or really anyone who needs to save money. Many people spend loads of money purchasing programs like Microsoft Office when these open source programs perform many of the exact same functions.

 I believe that open source software is a really great concept because it's perfect for the continuation of technology. I see this being very useful to developers and just anyone who wants to help software to continue to evolve. However, I am struggling to find a way to relate this idea to my major of telecommunications. In one way, considering that open source programs are free, if a news station were using a program such as Microsoft word for documents and presentations they could save a lot of money by using open source programs instead. Then the money that was saved from the programming could go towards the purchasing of new cameras and equipment.

            The video below exemplifies the idea of open source software, using examples of a few different programs that could be beneficial to many of us in our every day lives. 

Distance Education

Distance education, also referred to as distance learning, is a way to deliver education to those students who are not physically on site. It dates back to the early 1700s in London, where the University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees and it soon spread to other areas of the world. Distance education can take many forms including, mail, Internet, broadcast via TV or radio, CD-ROM or through a mobile device. The most common usage of distance education that I have seen is where the student and teacher are separated and the separation gap is bridged through the use of online technologies-like online courses. There are many advantages to distance learning like the fact that it allows you to work at your own pace, it is beneficial to adults who are trying to continue schooling but cannot physically attend a university, it also helps students who attend small schools and want to take an AP course but otherwise wouldn’t be able too. Some would argue that there are many disadvantages as well. Distance education definitely requires self-motivation, but if you’ve got that then online schooling can be very beneficial under certain circumstances.

As this concept is more for the educational environment, I don’t see it being very useful in my field of telecommunications. Obviously, as a reporter, I won’t really be teaching anyone anything, but the overall idea of the distance communication could be applied in general to my field. Communication is a huge part of my major, if not the most important part, and so if I were trying to communicate with someone who was not physically on site with me, I could use the same resources that distance education uses to get a message across to someone in a distant place.

This video that I found on distance education takes us through the history of distance education, all the way up to today. I think it clearly explains all the outlets of distance learning and how this type of learning, that provides so many more opportunities for those with challenging geographical and economical situations, is only going to continue in the future.