Thursday, November 25, 2010

Educational Software’s Research and Presentation

The purpose of this type of educational software is to make the learning experience more meaningful and pleasant for the students, hence an example to do so through Google Earth's Software.










References


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Educational Videos

Videos are essential when they come to modern ways to educate people, they can become a crucial part in today's classrooms linked to the vast use of technology, hence here are some of them.



Sunday, November 7, 2010

Virtual Classrooms

Claroline.net

Foreword

Today there are many virtual classrooms in the world and its usage is expanding rapidly because they are very convenient and practical. This work will concentrate on Claroline.net which is one of many that exist in the vast internet world. Claroline.net is `` an Open Source eLearning and eWorking platform allowing teachers to build effective online courses and to manage learning and collaborative activities on the web. Translated into 35 languages, Claroline has a large worldwide users’ and developers’ community.`` (Claroline.net, 2010). To understand better what this all means ``the online learning space where students and instructors interact`` (Imperial, 2010).

Characteristics/Activities you can do

  • Write a course description
  • Publish documents in any format (text, PDF, HTML, video...)
  • Administer public and private forums
  • Develop learning paths
  • Create groups of students
  • Prepare online exercises
  • Manage an agenda with tasks and deadlines
  • Publish announcements (also by e-mail)
  • Propose assignments to be handed in online
  • See the statistics of the users activity
  • Use the wiki to write collaborative documents

Advantages

· Hosting

· Credibility (The platform is used in more than 80 countries and is available in more than 30 languages.)

· Claroline is compatible with GNU/Linux, Mac OS and Microsoft Windows

· Easy to access

· Effective solution to set up an eLearning system

· Make available pedagogical contents and documents

· Carry out collaborative projects in your organization

Disatventages

- You have to download it

- It does not chat.

- You have to pay

Specific Tools

  • Write a course description
  • Publish documents in any format (text, PDF, HTML, video...)
  • Administer public and private forums
  • Develop
  • Email

Pedagogical issues

According to its own official website these are the pedagogigal reasons for its existence ``Claroline is based on pedagogical principles coming from the literature on the added value of the technologies for training. Since 2000, Claroline development teams have been focusing on the code stability and the development of features in line with the user's needs. The main concern of the developers is not to build up a large number of new features, but to concentrate upon a few elaborated tools concerning the pedagogical approach and the interface offered to the users. Besides, a large worldwide community of users and developers contributes to Claroline's development and diffusion extensive`` (Claroline, 2010).

For further complete information & Customization

http://doc.claroline.net/en/index.php/Main_Page#How_to_customize_Claroline_layout_.3F

comparisons With blackboard:

- Both of them are virtual

- Both of them have forums

- Both of them have credibility

- People who use it can get reliable information from both of them

- Lots of interaction

Recomendations

· The installation process should be easier

· More interctive help

Conclusion

Virtual classrooms are the education of today and the future. All people must learn how to use them and make the best of them. They will constitute the main tool for students and teachers around the world in the education to come.


Bibliography

Claroline. (2010). Community Worldwide. Recuperado el 2010, de Community Worldwide: http://www.claroline.net/worldwide.htm

Claroline.net. (2010). Claroline.net. Recuperado el 2010, de Claroline.net: http://www.claroline.net/index.php?lang=en

Imperial. (2010). Imperial. Recuperado el 2010, de Imperial: www3.imperial.ac.uk/ict/services/teachingandresearchservices/elearning/aboutelearning/elearningglossary