married to the web

Married to the Web

Prepared by: Jean-Claude Aura Date: June 2011

Not him again!

Hey! Seems like you’re all having fun. Got you at a wrong time? Can I join the discussion?

What a nice surprise! You’re most

welcome!

I don’t see why not.

What?

Married to the Web


Get out of here!

What are you doing up so late?

Yeah?

Shouldn’t you be in bed by now? Who’s this?

I’m still trying to figure out a couple of things about some of the technologies out there. I don’t always use the Internet for chatting. I know it’s fun, but there’s so much you can learn from the Internet on your own, and at your own leisure. I think you should be doing the same. You must be thinking why an old guy like me is still learning when he knows probably everything there’s to know, but I can assure you that learning knows no age or time. The more, the better.

Married to the Web


Get a life!

What exactly are you learning?

Like what? We know everything, too.

Did he say he’s still learning?

Good question, Tony. Liz, you think you know everything? What about cloud computing? Ever heard of Saas, Paas, and Iaas? You probably do some sort of cloud computing without knowing it, and so do I. I know how to use Software As A Service, but I’m not sure about Platform As A Service, nor Infrastructure As A Service. I want to be able to perform everything on the cloud without having to worry about purchasing expensive software or worry about technical issues. I’d like to see my students use all sorts of online software for creating, editing, and publishing their work, from simple documents to complex movies. I need to learn about all the available online software so I can help my students when the time comes. I’ve put together a list of cloud technologies titled Group research on technology & Technology use in Kahuna, but I don’t think it’s enough. It’s a good start, though. Don’t you think?

Is this guy for real?

https://www.msu.edu/~aurajean/Teaching by Design/Assignments.html

Married to the Web


This guy’s losing it!

I’ve heard of cloud computing before. Sounds interesting.

Hum. That’s news. What else are you trying to learn?

Can somebody please tell me what’s going on?

And I thought clouds only gave rain! What are we studying in Science??

Another thing I have in mind is gaining more experience in online teaching. I want to be able to conduct online lessons and video conferencing like with Skype and Wizig. I have an idea how these two platforms work, but I want to hone my skills and expand my knowledge of other similar platforms. Sometimes, like now, I meet my students online and may have to give them a lesson they missed. It also may be the case when I can’t make it to school but can still communicate with my students in class. I think this is really ingenious. Wouldn’t you like that?

Married to the Web


You bet!

That’d be great! Maybe we should try it some day. It wouldn’t hurt

to give it a shot.

Does this mean we ditch school? Cool!

Wouldn’t I like what?

No, Johnny! It doesn’t mean you can play truant. It’s just another commodity of the 21st century, like social networking. You guys are doing a wonderful job using networking for entertainment, but I heard that it can be a very effective educational tool. I read somewhere that educators the world over are implementing Facebook and Twitter in their lessons. I want to see what it’s all about and what other networking platforms are also popular educational tools.

Married to the Web


Learning, ugh!

I can’t wait to hear more about this! Learning through fun.

That sounds good.

I thought Facebook was for dating!

How did he know that my face was in my book?

And finally I’m going to do some research on social libraries and social bookmarks to see how they can be useful in education. I’m quite familiar with the social bookmarking site Delicious, but I need to explore others and their impact on learning. I know people get to share ideas and stuff, but I need to figure out how to implement them in my teaching.

Married to the Web


Shoot this guy!

It looks like you’re going to be busy for some time.

How long will it take to learn all that stuff?

My mom’s cake is delicious. Is this what you mean?

Zzzz…

It’ll probably take another lifetime to do all the things that I mentioned, especially if I intend to master each of them. What’s important here is to keep abreast with educational technology rather than technology alone. I’ll use online resources and tutorials to instruct myself on what I need to know about each of these services hoping that their impact on education will prove the investment worthwhile. In this way, I may have reduced the learning period to a reasonable amount.

Married to the Web


The secret to lifelong learning is humbleness. When you understand that learning is ageless and timeless, you’ll start appreciating the beauty of lifelong learning. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the best path is the one of least resistance. What I mean is that if you love what you’re doing, you’ll never want to stop learning more about it. The more you love what you’re doing, the less resistant you will be to lifelong learning. Love it or leave it! Oh, I almost forgot Dreamweaver, the perpetually enigmatic software that I’m trying to master … in my dreams.

Thanks, and best of luck!

married to the web

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