Tellcommunications in Education Articles

Citation:
Deal, W.F. (2003).The Technology Teacher's Tool Box: Streaming Media. Technology Teacher. 62(8), 18-21.


Summary:
In this article the author talks about the not only benefits of incorporating streaming media into the classroom but also gives the process of how to create streaming media for your own use in the classroom. He gives you realistic examples of how streaming media can be used in the classroom to meet the needs of our standards that need to be covered. Just because there so much material to cover it does not mean that we can not incorporate technology into our lessons.

As our society has changed through out the years, technology has become a major part of our everyday life. The way one use to watch a video or audio clip online would take time and patience. The full video or audio clip would have to be downloaded first before one could view it. But, now with streaming media one can click on the clip to buffer it and begin to view it immediately.

The process of creating the streamed media is quick and easy to do. The author gives the follow procedure to follow:
1.First you need to produce a video clip.
2.Next you will edit the material, add sound or transitions.
3.Choose how you will distribute it.
4.You need to encode the file clip to a media file.
5.You must create a webpage to hold the streamed media and post the clip.
6.The last step is to access the webpage and view the streaming media by the client.

There are many questions that a designer must ask themselves before they are able to complete the production process. They must not only look at the preplanning aspects, such as the needs of the project and the objectives. But, they must also look at the design process, suck as looking at budget, time considerations, scripts, and props. Then they need to be aware of the needs for the production stage itself, such as, having the equipment to make the streaming media and to edit it, converting the clip to the correct media file, and broadcasting the streamed media over the internet.

There are some advantages that the author refers to with streamed media. It is convenient for the user. They are able to access the material from at location and a time that is good for them. They are able to see and hear the piece of streamed media and are also given the option to save the file so they can have access to it at a later time.



Review:
This is a good article for someone who wants to learn how to create streamed media. It gives teachers a new technology tool to use in the classroom. Streamed media seems to engage the students in their learning process, making the learning itself more meaningful. It can beneficial because the streamed media can be accesses from any computer that has internet access. A user can save the file or review the clip at a time that is good for them.

However, there could be drawbacks with streamed media. You not only need to have the knowledge of how to use this technology but you also need to have the materials. If a creator does not have the correct materials to create the streamed media it may not be beneficial to the user. Also, streamed media can take a lot of time to create, produce, and maintain. If you have time constraints, perhaps you could use one of the streaming media websites that have done all the work for you already, and the clips are ready to be viewed.

Citation:
Santos, B.L., & Wright, A.L. (2006). Using Bulletin Boards in an Educational Setting. Communications of the ACM. 49(3), 115-118.

Summary:
Online bulletin boards are used by many different types of organizations. They can be extremely beneficial in education if they are used properly. They can involve students in an enriched topic discussion. Bulletin boards allow the student to read other thoughts from their classmates and instructor and then are able to grasp their own idea and generate their own posting on the topic. Bulletin boards all everyone to be engaged in the learning process.

Some advantages of bulletin boards that the author states are:

1.Students are able to participate if they are away from home.
2.Generally all students will create a posting to the topic.
3.The quality of discussion is higher than an in-class discussion.
4.More issues are able to be covered.
5.Students are able to work at a pace that is convenient for them.

There are a number of requirements that need to be met when using the bulletin board system. The designer needs to have certain bulletin board software that will allow the users to post messages onto the website. The designer also needs to be able to create public and private boards and maintain the bulletin boards.

When a bulletin board is being created there are certain features the software must be able to do:

1.Each user must have a log-on.
2.The bulletin board must be able to have a threaded discussion, where posts and replies can be made.
3.Users should be able to email other users.
4.Private/Public access to different threads.
5.The board administrator is able to email all users.
6.Users should be able to download files, post links, and do a search.
7.The bulletin board should also have a help system.

All users should be trained on how to use the bulletin board system so it can be an effective tool for them. Each major topic in the class should have a thread for the users to post their discussion.


Review:
This is an interesting article for an individual who wants to create a bulletin board system to use in education. It states many advantages for students. Students are free to respond to discussion posts at their own pace. They are able to clearly think about what they want to say and compose a well written response instead of an on the spot response in the classroom. Another advantage of the bulletin boards system is there is a written discussion of the topic so you can go back and review material if needed.

There are some disadvantages associated with bulletin boards too. For the instructor a great deal of time commitment is required. For the bulletin board discussion to enrich the students’ instructors must monitor the postings and guide the students if needed. Also, for the user time maybe an issue. To create a post to the discussion topic that is beneficial the student must take their time in creating the piece, which can take a greater amount of time than participating in an in-class discussion. In the article it talks about keeping the number of people on one board to a maximum of 50 students. If you have a class that is larger that that and you separate the class I feel that some of the connections of the whole class could be harmed. I don’t think that their would be a complete community in place.