Multimedia Technology

The ability of students to combine images, music, and video effects to a video presentation allow for a much higher quality of work with relatively easy tools. Video presentations can be an excellent way to share information since they appeal to multiple senses and can be entertaining. Additionally, these skills can be used on a variety of topics, making video production a skill that can be useful in nearly any class for any teacher. Video presentations lend themselves to almost infinite variety and can be fun for students produce. Therefore, they are a learning tool very worthy of consideration.

Webquesting

In the webquest shown in the video, students were asked to find a location in the solar system a human colony might best be established. The students were asked to rank the importance of the characteristics of the potential sites, and students had to work out disagreements. The students also simulated different roles in the founding of the colony. Such roleplaying provides the opportunity for learning in a real-world context, which allows the material to be more successfully related to the students. The webquest makes the situations more realisitic and envisionable, which allows for greater applicability to students.

Visions of the Students of Today and K-12 Students

The groups of students in both clips have much in common. Both state they live in a digital age. Because of this, much of the student's time is taken up by TV, video games, and computer activities. Both groups presented that the jobs they will have in their adult lives are likely to be jobs that don't currently exist. Both videos state the current education system is lacking in hands-on, learn-by-doing activities.
The older students, however, feel more "lost in the crowd" than the K-12 students. Their class sizes are immense and their instructors seldom know the students' names. The K-12 students also seemed to have parents who were more tech-savvy, although the older kids might be as well. This could potentially show that parents of today's young children are products of the information revolution, while older parents might still be out of the "loop"

Web 2.0

The changes to the world facilitated by the internet has raised many issues. Legal issues will arise that have never been considered, such as ramifications for copyright and privacy laws. The advent of xml has allowed much greater flexibility in transportation of information, allowing previous issues of compatibility and format trouble to be problems of the past.

The Internet for Communication

Important in using the internet as a communicative tool is to not become reliant on the tool without knowing as much as possible about how to fix potential problems. For example, a student watching a lecture or in a webcam conference must be able to respond efficiently to potential problems so as not to miss out on the information being conveyed. The availabilty of webcams and similar tools today allows for students to have access to courses they may not have otherwise had a chance to take. This can be especially useful for language teaching, if, for example a student does not have access to a traditional Arabic or Chinese language course, they may be able to enroll online.