E-Learning

I am now at the end of my third year of Bachelor of Multi Media studies, whilst I have not done a lot of teaching perse, I have had the opportunity to teach adults and children privately. I have used many forms of technology to achieve the goals that my students have wanted to achieve, powerpoint, flash, excel, Photoshop and illustrator are just some of the tools used. Tutors will need to continually improve their knowledge of the technologies that are increasingly being introduced and used in classroom situations.
During this course, I have investigated many of these technologies and have noted that many of them have changed significantly over the last three years; this is prevalent in the messenger systems as each of the sites continues to link their users with the wider web.
As I haven’t actually been in a classroom situation it is difficult for me to state which technology would be better used in that situation, however I do know that as technology grows and expands that students and tutor will be using more technology and relying on that technology to assist the learning processes required to for educated and intelligent adults for the future

Learning Management Systems (L.M.S)
Blackboard, Webfuse and Moodle are three platforms that are used at CQUniversity. These three instances of L.M.S provide a virtual information area in which students and tutors can connect, sharing information and assessing their own information. Students and tutors can be stationed at any point around the world and at the same time be in contact with each other through the World Wide Web. The discussion boards within these interactive interfaces serve as notice boards where students and tutors can post curriculum exercises, questions and answers. E-Learning tools are being improved and invented on a regular basis and these are easily accessed within the virtual classroom environment.
I have used discussion forums many times throughout my program and have always found them to be of great value and support, especially when there are questions to answer or to be asked.

Podcasts and Video Presentations
This type of presentation is becoming more popular as a learning tool by students and tutors alike. Podcasts are an audio visual file that can be saved as mp3 or mp4 before uploading to a player. These files work the same as an mp 3 or mp4 music file would. A student or tutor can keep in touch trough a podcast and the tutor can immediately correspond, correct or answer any query from a student on the presentation. Podcasting could be beneficial within the classroom environment, as students load their homework in or if a student is away for any reason they would have access to all the necessary lessons. You Tube works on a similar system to a podcast and YouTube podcasts are easily downloadable to many of the tools and site on the World Wide Web.
Video Presentations this is an excellent way to communicate between tutors and students; however this presumes that each person has a digital camera. Once footage and audio has been shot, it is then uploaded to a computer, from there it can be edited and save to a C.D or it can be converted to mp3 or mp4 and loaded to a player for viewing.
I have used both methods of communication and have found them to be very good, especially the podcasts. These two systems of communication are being enhanced and improved and will no doubt prove to be invaluable to students and tutors as their technology grows.

AvatarThese animated forms of communication can be obtained online either free to use or for a small cost. They can be used in many ways, to commend a student on their achievements, correct behavioural issues or to assist with class room activities, such as informing students of their homework requirements or dates when assignments were due. Other than taking a ready made avatar from the web, a tutor could give a class in which students actually create their own personal avatar themselves. This is an easy to achieve task and the students that I have taught this activity to have enjoyed creating their own likeness as opposed to sharing an avatar likeness that is prefabricated.

Skype
Skype is one of many free to use online interactive messenger, others include Yahoo and MSN these two messengers can be linked to each other, and each of them are linked to many other tools on the web including, flickr, facebook, my space and twitter. These messengers including Skype can be used as a direct and real time communication tool, which enables students and tutors to communicate in a virtual classroom situation. This means that people can connect with their peers or tutors regardless of where they might be at the time of the lecture. Video conferencing with sound makes communication through these systems very comfortable and easy for the users.

Blogs and Wikis
These sites are easy and usually free to build online. Information can easily be updated and used by users. Wikis and blogs can be locked so that only invited or accepted users can view them. This method of security is paramount in the teaching of students, some of whom maybe unaware of stranger danger and other lurkers. Either a blog or a wiki could be used in the class room situation to encourage students not only to interact with technology but to enhance their writing literacy skills. These sites can be accessed anytime as long as the user has access to the internet.