The article that I chose to read about was entitled “Best practices in teaching K-12 online: Lessons learned from Michigan Virtual School teachers” and I chose to write about this article because it had direct affiliation with me.  While going through articles that could be discusses it was interesting to find one that relates to me because my high school offered online classes and I participated in one of them.  I am from Detroit so not only was I a student at my high school but I was also a Michigan Virtual Schools enrollee.  Once I saw an article that I had direct connection with I wanted to read about it and get a greater understanding for practices that the article disgust virtual teachers take and compare it to the learning technique that my online instructor offered me.  The article was about the rise in the abundance and popularity of Michigan Virtual Schools.  The article discuss how there is a lack of research done in relation to both teaching and learning in virtual schools.  There is a lot of accessible information in regards to addressing how to teach online and strategies for taking online class but in regards to successful online teaching, there hasn’t been studies done or implemented to explain techniques that are best to use.   Generally when studies are conducted in regards to online class it is focused on teaching online using mechanism that stems from face-to-face content.  The article goes in depth in discussing how the studies that has been done fails to use data from virtual teachers themselves.   The authors writes about a study that was done on sixteen Michigan Virtual School teachers  and it goes into detail to better explain the best-practices that they personally feel can be used and the article end by stating inferences for research methods, policies, and practices.

Article Information (include a correct bibliographic entry).

Wigert, Benjamin, and Gert-Jan De Vreede. “The Role of the Facilitator in Virtual World Collaboration: An Exploratory Study.” Journal of Virtual Worlds Research 5.2 (2012): n. pag. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/6225>.

Why did you select this article (approx. 50-75 words)?

I decided to select this article because I wanted to get a better understanding of facilitators’ roles when conducting an online class.  I have taken a couple online classes and I wanted to see if there is a common method or technique that is recommended and used across the board.  To my dismay, however, this article was more so about collaborating real world experiences with that of the online teaching world.

Provide a one paragraph summary of the article. Do not copy the abstract.

The purpose of the article was to study the role of facilitators when collaboration is conducted in a virtual environment. What the authors did was conduct a study that consisted of five questions on a questionnaire about major issues in real world collaboration.  They interviewed eighteen people and what the participants ultimately did was: identify key differences facilitators perceive between virtual and real world collaboration, provide new interpersonal insights, spoke of the challenges associated with the introduction of more technology to the collaboration process, as they also came up with  suggestions for avoiding drawbacks and enhancing collaboration. The results that were gathered from the study were experts’ ability to identify three main challenges associated with collaborative problem solving in virtual worlds; challenges being: Interpersonal management is more difficult because non-verbal cues cannot be monitored, more technology can create more problems, and facilitator’s avatar may be a source of discrimination and credibility loss.  The results also identified four important steps that can maximize virtual world collaboration; them being: the importance of providing clear rules about behavior and communication, ensure comprehension of computer skills, provide encouragement throughout the modules, as well as utilizing technology gracefully and troubleshooting technical problems.

Give an example of how you may use the ideas in this presentation in the business education classroom. Be specific with the content area, etc.

I can use the presentation ideas when instructing my students on utilizing discussion boards.  Students need to know how to work around a computer and proper web etiquette and by incorporating this presentation idea I will better know how to incorporate the web analysis part with the face-to-face person aspect.

Give an example of how the ideas in this presentation may transfer to the business/industry/health care environment.

Given that the interface of web learning and real world learning interact with each other this article debunk things that facilitators should do.  So in a business meeting conference call, video chat, podcast, or online presentation, one can better relay the message to employees and potential clients in a more thorough and detailed oriented way to help with transition from the virtual world into the real world.

What is your opinion of this research (approx. 25-50 words)?

I felt the paper was lengthy in regards to the point that it was trying to get across.  The article initiated great ideas on how to enhance the virtual collaboration into the real world but I think it could have conducted a better study.  A questionnaire given to eighteen people doesn’t seem adequate enough to me to suffice as evidence for means to better collaborate virtual learning with face to face learning.

Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization that spends its time expanding the range of creative works available for others to build on and share. What they do is release different copyright liscenses to allow for the creator of the product to say how they want thier rights for the product to be reserved and which aspects of thier rights they are willing to waive.  Creative Commons licenses do not replace copyright, but are based upon it, and they are tools to help  create balance inside the all rights reserved setting that copyright law creates.  The six common licenses are as followed:

I feel that these licenses sets guidelines to what people can and cannot be able to do under the creator’s vision.  I think it is a good idea because if the creator doesn’t want any changes to be made or shared by anyone else than they should have that right to say that or not to say that.  Without guidelines alot of things get misconstrued in the gray area . 

In a teaching environment it gives students the sense that thier words and opinions are protected.  These are important because students should know that everything that is available to them isn’t editable or reusable for commercial so if they are to put anything in thier blog that isn’t thier own they should ensure that the CC the creator have for that particular image, sound, or file is one that is compatible with thier usage.  I think CC are important and they should be studied more by even the average joe that uses the web because alot of people are breaking copyright laws and do not know it. 

The podcast that I listened to was entitled Misconceptions: Breaking down the barriers.  This podcast showcased teachers techniques used to break down students misconceptions about evolutionary biology.  When teaching a subject, depending on the topic, a lot of students already have preconceived ideas about the subject and those ideas corrupt the material that is being taught to them.  Prior to beginning an education lesson this podcast introduced ways to acknowledge students’ preconceived ideas and create opportunity to inform them if their notions are right or wrong.  This is important because people have preconceived ideas and if not acknowledged than bad information would be continuously passed along.

The blog that I listened to was entitled The best of business.  The podcast primarily dealt with sorority and fraternity life and how to incorporate and separate the social aspect that the organizations consist of while at the same time maintaining their professional demeanor.  The blog is applicable to business careers because in the midst of dealing with a lot of people and companies one have to know when to separate business from pleasure.  It is a thin line that can make a business environment become a social one and when that line is crossed it could hinder possible business connections that could have been formed.

Should new methods outplay old methods in the classroom, i.e getting reid of the chalkboard and chalk and incorporate social media sites and blogging sites?

http://xtremerealness.blogspot.com/2010/10/when-did-style-become-ignorance-pt-2.html 

I read a blog about the way women present themselves in thier clothing and how such clothing can cause guys to interpret them a certain way.  The blog is called When did style become ignorance part 2 and it depicts women wearing revealing clothing, midriffs, and exposure of thier thong underwear and how wearing such clothing attracts unwanted male attention.  Woman has always been sexualized that they soon turn themselves into a sexualized persona and put that persona onto themselves. The blog depicts that women do these things to attract a males attention but although they may be attracting a guy’s attention, they’re attracting the wrong attention.  Alot of women are looking for a husband with a stable job, loving, caring, good morales, that treat her with respect.  The blogger notes that a guy who approaches a woman dressed in revealing outfits is either not the definition of “the right” guy or he is a guy who isn’t looking for a relationship but just a good time.  The blogger however does put all the fault on a girl if she was to get disrespected as he states, “So dont get mad at the guys for treating you bad when your not even respecting your own body. You sent the message they just received it.” This comment sets up the atmosphere that it is ok for a guy to disrespect a girl if given probable cause.  Although some things and ways of dressing could be deemed as attracting sexual attention; at the end of the day an invitation for him to disrespect or harrass her was not given.  It is like saying it is ok for a man to enter a room and have sex with a sleeping girl laying naked in the bed even after she told him No, she don’t want to.  An innuendo or assumption is a viable enough reason to allow assualt, harrasment, or abuse to occur.  No one deserves to be treated like a piece of meat because some people are not looking for sexual relations as they are flaunting thier confident assets. 

The blog emphasises more on the wrong that a girl have for dressing a certain way to allow a guy to treat her a certain way instead of emphasising a guys misperception on inappropriateness.  Although missed signals could be crossed and in some cases females are looking for unfriendly attention when they dress a certain way, but just because they are dressed a certain way doesn’t automatically mean they should get treated with disrespect.  I agree that women can send the wrong message to a guy by the way they dress.  Peception is reality and people do judge others based off thier first glance and if you present yourself in a promiscuous way people will think promiscuous things about you.  What I do not agree with however is the message of being treated promiscuously is solely the woman’s fault.  To perceive someone as promiscuous is different than treating them as promiscuous. 

Everything in America is based on confidence.  When a girl get confident enough to realize that she do not need to dress promiscuous to get a guys attention than this battle of the sexes will not exist.  When a guy get confident enough to present themselves with class or only speak to ladies who are presented in a classy manner than this problem can again be fixed.  Each sex is pointed the finger at the other when at the end of the day both sexes need to tke some fault in either over sexualizing themselves or treating people to sexually.

I read a book called the outsiders and it was a really great read.  It was about two gangs, The Socs and Greasers, and how they are rivals seperated by socioeconomic standings.  Both groups were white americans, however, the Greasers where lower class white males while the Socs were that of middle to upperclass.  The book surrounds itself on the character Ponyboy and his trials and tribulations as a greaser and growing up in a low income neighborhood while attending a Soc school.  The book goes into details on how there are barriers within a person’s own race in which they are seperated in minority and majority groups, superiority and inferiority.  While reading the novel it is easy for a person to gain awareness that socioeconomic status seperates groups and it depicts on how teens treat other teens because one group has more than the other.  It was a book that surrounds itself on males while most of the trouble that occured throughout the story stemmed from girls. 

Although it may seam as if the obvious problem between the two groups were money, the real problem that the group had with each other was jealousy that “thier” girls will flirt or like the other group’s girl.  Since each member live on polarized side of the tracks it is unacceptable for the girls to date on the other side of the track so when a Soc girl, Cherry, starts to like a Greaser, Dallas, alot of problems start  to occur.  The book is based alot on socioeconomic status and loyalty to your own status.  For a Soc girl to like a Greaser guy was unacceptable but it is acceptable for the Soc guys to hook up with greaser girls.  The book didn’t focus to much on race as it does socioeconomic status and staying in the right group.

Beauty is a social constructed idea that high powered capitalist have implanted in the minds of their admirers (low-middle income people) to gain more capital power.  The perfect business technique is one in which a franchise, company, or individual markets something as unacceptable and gain social acceptance from its community;  who in return buys the product from the corresponding recipient to ensure that they aren’t a part of that unaccepted group.  This idea is displayed a lot in beauty with older techniques consisting of thin physiques being acceptable which results in people buying dieting pills and exercise equipment; as it is also shown in modern production with people being able to purchase computer applications such as Photoshop to alter their appearance. 

Photoshop is a computer program that does nothing more than allow a person who is self conscience to manipulate and correct their “unattractive” bodily features to something more attractive.  It encourages people to have the belief that their appearance isn’t good enough and through computer application you can fix your “flaws.”   The options that Adobe Photoshop has available are also demeaning because it consists of a thinnify option, beauty enhancer option, and a whiter smile option.  Photoshop allows a person to create a false reality of how they want to appear versus how they really appear which ultimately allows a person’s self confidence to lower when they see the reality of their appearance. 

As people we should feel comfortable in our skin and should not have to worry about dictation of beauty implanted on us by rich capitalist who don’t fit their own definition of beauty.  I am not a fan of any product that capitalize off of people’s insecurities and reinforces low self esteem issues .  Photoshop stigmatizes going against the norm and gives people the option to “better” themselves.  Since the government and capitalist can capitalize off people insecurities their definition of beauty is infinitely variable, meaning that it will always change allowing no one to ever reach the word’s full capacity.