Online Education Sources;
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/bitesize//
This website offers multiple ways of learning. Firstly, there are the simple fact-file type pages on each subject, divided into sections. The user would read this and take in the information. Then or instead of, there are tests for each section in order to check whether the user fully understands the key concepts and facts about that particular subject. Furthermore, within some subjects, for example languages, they have voice clips in order to aid the user in learning how native people from that language pronounce words etc. They also offer educational games in which the user must answer questions relating to a chosen subject. I think that this website is a good education source as it provides a variety of different methods in which the user can learn - if one method does not work, another method is likely. The site targets all three learning styles - visual, auditory and kinetic. Visual is the display of information in text or image form, auditary takes form in examples such as voice clips and kinetic involves the user actually doing something - for example, tests and games. Furthermore, if the user completes all three of these, it is more likely that the information learnt will stick for longer and they are more likely to achieve more from it.
2. http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=113
This website offers a video and voice clip in order to explain to users about blogs. This is effective as it is likely to interest many users and keep their attention throughout. Also, by having both video and voice over, it targets two of the three learning styles stated above, which will therefore make the information more evident and more likely to be remembered at a later date.
3. http://www.bayhouselearning.co.uk/
This site uses SCORM. This is Sharable Content Object Reference Model - a selection of principles and conditions used in e-learning. The SCORM method allows access from both home and school computers. Teachers can set homework and other tasks from this and students can complete this at home or at school and then upload them onto the VLE. This saves time and money – students do not have to use ink printing out certain documents etc and also there is no time wasted in handing documents over. Also, this method can be used as an alternative to book work.
http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=113
I used this website to use and research Flash learning. It is an online demonstration in which a voice over explains what needs to be done in order to create and manage a blog. The video is of the screen, displaying what the voice over explains. I found this very effective as it offers a way of visual and auditory learning as opposed to the conventional merely visual learning online via e-learning etc. Also, by having two of these learning techniques used within the Flash demonstration, I believe that it would be easier to pick up and understand almost instantaneously - it offers a double effect when learning. People usually re-read peices of text anyway when trying to learn and this gives them the effect of the additional read. However, by using computers to explain and teach, it means that if you do not understand, it will require you to send an email or something similar in order to recieve feedback for this - however, this does take time. Furthermore, some may argue that by just being shown the correct method and the way to get there, you don't really learn anything - many believe that humans need to make errors and correct themselves in order to learn appropiately. Overall, however, I think this is an effective way to learn - it will appeal to a wide range of users and also I believe it is a good teaching method as it uses two of the three possible learning styles.
http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/Frog2/Dissection/Incisions/muscle1_first.html
This website prepares students for a frog disection. It explains the theory step-by-step and then uses simulations of a frog so that you get it correct at each stage. By doing this, it prepares students so that they have more of a chance of getting the practical correct and therefore improving skills. Also, computers interest younger children more - they are more willing to learn via a computer. Also, schools can use this as an alternative to using actual frogs as this may cause controversy within a class - some may not feel it is right to cut up a real frog. Furthermore, if this happens and an alternative is suggested like learning from the book, this appeals more as you can still actually do the disection but with a virtual frog instead of a real one.
Advantages to using e-learning
- Lessons can be attended wherever you are - as long as there is a computer and connection to the internet, it is possible to learn.
- Learning is available at any time - there are no timetables or specific time rules to abide by. This allows people to learn around previous commitments etc, for example work.
- Courses are liable to be cheaper to sign up to - if you had to go somewhere specific to learn, a teacher would be required and therefore you would have to cover the cost of the course and the educator.
- Any course can be taken as long as it is on the online courses list.
Disadvantages of using e-learning
- Help cannot be retrieved immediately - if the user does not understand something, they will have to submit a question and wait for a reply. This would take longer than usual classroom situations.
- Completing the course could prove to be a challenge for some users - they might use excuses not to log on and learn at times and therefore get into habits and take a very long time to complete or not at all. In a classroom situation, there are times to abide by and educators to ensure you learn and complete the course.
- Some people learn in different ways - often e-learning will be displayed as text - some people find it easier to learn by listening or doing, instead of reading etc.
This webpage informs users about a numerous amount of different subjects. It is aimed at A-level and vocational students who wish to further their knowledge online. The site uses numerous pictures in order to engage the reader - these relate to the subject(s) in which the user chooses to look at. The site has been well designed for its target audience as it has a reasonable amount of text and a of a medium sized font - this is particularly well suited to A-level students etc as they will not get bored reading it and find it easier to read smaller sized fonts than older users. The site uses navigation techniques such as buttons and hyperlinks and simple layout in order to aid the user in finding the area they wish to visit. There is also an additional search box function in which the user can type in the particular subject they are searching for. This produces a list of hyperlinks in which they may find what they were looking for, meaning minimal effort and time wasted in searching for a particular subject.
The site is very effective as a teaching tool - the user can easily find what they are looking for and study it carefully. However, there are some disadvantages. Firstly, the user must be connected to the internet to learn - this could prove costly. Also, some students may not be computer literate - this means that if they wish to learn from the site, it could become significantly more difficult (finding subjects etc). Furthermore, understanding the key concepts and language of the information on the site can be an issue. There are no tools in which aid users to understand better - e.g. there is no help, unlike a real classroom situation. Overall, however, the site appears to be a very useful object to aid further education.
- On the Virginia Library version of the ebook, the contents page has a list of hyperlinks to take the user to different sections of the book. This is useful as it helps navigate around the book. However, the link takes the user to that specific act/scene and from there, you can seemingly only read that act/scene. You then have to return to the contents page to select another act or scene. The Ebooks Cube version is fairly similar in respect to the use of a contents page for initial navigation, however, once one is clicked from there, there is a helpful navigation tool at the bottom of the page that allows the user to read on a page, go back a page, go back to the contents, etc.
- The text on the Virginia Library copy of the book is displayed via blocks of text on one page for one certain scene or act. The user must then return in order to view other pages. For the Ebooks Cube version, the structure is much more like a traditional book with pages that hold a set amount of text and the user can "turn" the page to read more.
The Ebooks Cube version of Hamlet is considerably better than the Virginia Library one as it is easier to use through navigation and much easier to read.
The weather forecast predicted by BBC on Wednesday the 23rd of September, proved to be incorrect. It was predicted to be sunny throughout the day, however, there were grey clouds all day and began to lightly rain at times.
Ebay is an online auction site in which people can buy and sell a wide variety of goods. Some items have to be bidded for and the bidder with the highest bid at the end of the auction, wins the bid and pays the price they last placed. However, some items have a "buy it now" feature, where the buyer can purchase the item for a set price. The transcation takes place through "paypal", which is a fast, safe way to pay money online. The site offers a wide range of goods and hence attracts a lot of custom and popularity. As well as attracting a wide variety of customers, it also attracts a range of ages of these customers, however only lets people over the age of 18 purchase or sell items. Their target market are continuing to grow as more people are using computers - older adults are more likely to use the internet and such sites as ebay etc. Popularity is also gained by ebay as many customers believe that they are getting goods at a very cheap price.
There are many benefits of using ebay over other auction sites. For example, a major advantage is that it is an absolutely hugely successful business and website and therefore has a good reputation. Furthermore, it is easier to track down products etc through ebay as they have been up and running successfully longer than many others. Also, support and help can be much more easily gained for the website because it is more well known than others. In addition, smaller businesses can find it easy to set up and run their businesses because of ebay as it allows them to have hosting for their products for a lot less than it would cost to set up an actual store or website of their own. Furthermore, they will recieve more attention from starting out on ebay as the site is trusted more than independant sites. A drawback of ebay is that there are costs to post images (which attract more customers etc) and other fees on top of this. This can end up being quite costly, however, if set at the right price the profit from selling the item should cover these fees. Also, buyers might not understand the product description or something similar and therefore would have to message the seller. However, this can take a number of days to recieve a reply and by this time, the product could have been sold or the customer could have lost interest.
BBC's weather forecast for Monday the 21st September was correct - it predicted the weather to be sunny all day with a chance of cloudy intervals.
BBC's weather forecast for Saturday the 19th of September was sunny intervals all day. This was correct - there were several sunny spells throughout the day.
BBC's weather forecast predicted Friday the 18th of September to be cloudy with sunny intervals throughout the day. I found the result to be incorrect - there was no sunshine - it was cloudy all day and at about 3.30 it rained lightly.
I am using the BBC website in order to check the weather forecasts for the next 5 days. I will evaluate the accuracy of the prediction each day and consider the factor of money - would paying for a service make it more reliable? etc.
If I took the car up to Tottenham Court Road, it would take me 2 hours 9 minutes to travel there (not including traffic and other stops.) The only cost I would require is to buy the petrol I need to travel up there. I received this information from AA route planner. I found the directions very easy to read and also there is an option to view the map in a normal map view or satellite view. This was a useful feature to me. Also, the route was planned very quickly so is therefore useful for busy people. Another advantage of this method is that I can just type in the address I wish to visit and I don’t have to find the nearest bus top/station etc to this.
http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp
I also looked at planning my journey by train via National Rail. I found this considerably more challenging to use as in I had to find the nearest station to Tottenham Court Road. Furthermore, the cost of the journey is considerably higher and I would have to find a number of different means to travel to and from the train stations to other destinations and this would add extra time and effort into planning my journey and also extra money.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Poverty stops love.
Snow wakes but spring leaves wonder.
A poison loiters.
Povrty stops luv.
Snow wakes but spring leaves wondr.
A poison loiters.
Using SMS to send this Haiku is an effective way to send (compared to email and instant messaging) as the words can be shortened using 'SMS language'. In instant messaging, you can get inturrupted whilst recieting the poem and emails are a more formal form of communication.
2. The message will be composed in an editing window or frame within the email client. This will be either text based or HTML based.
3. Then it will be sent via a SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol-port 25) server. It will be recieved by either a POP3 (Post Office Protocol-port 110) or an IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol-port 143). (See diagram)
When creating an ebook, there are many important accessibility issues. Some ebooks have several advtanges for accessibility;
→ Users are able to customise the size and font of the text.
→ Colours of the background and the text are adjustable.
→ The use of text-to-speech software.
→ 'Pages' can be 'turned' with the click of a button, switch or by using the keyboard.
However, some ebooks don't have these key points and are therefore going against the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The issues stated must be carefully considered when creating an ebook to avoid such situations.
Project Gutenburg is referred to as a 'digital library' and offers a range of free ebooks in order to encourage the production and use of ebooks. It allows users to read ebooks from the site through several formats - all of which can be used on the majority of platforms so that the site and ebooks can be accessed and used widely (such formats as Plain text, HTML, pdf etc).
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vmv7q4-HHRcC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=twopage&q=&f=false
"Unleashing the killer app" is an ebook in which business people are given advice and information about business and IT merge and how businesses can lauch products successfully. The structure of the ebook is that of an actual book - it is set with paragraphs on pages, divided by chapters. An advantage of using it this way is that the users are already familiar with this format and find it easy to read and also to move to different parts of the book through the chapters. The ebook is very well navigated, having arrow buttons at the top of the page in order to allow the user to 'turn' the page. It also has hyperlinks on the contents page to ensure ease of access to certain areas of the book. For example, taking the user to "Part One", "Part Two" or "Part Three". There are further sub-divisions in this that take the user to certain chapters. There is an additional drop down list at the top of the page, in which the contents page hyperlinks are displayed again for ease of access when actually looking through the book (you don't have to scroll all the way back up to the top.) The ebook has several advantages and disadvantages. A major advantage of this ebook is the format - it is a HTML document using CSS - this allows a wide variety of users to read it as it can be displayed on any web browser and many different platforms (Windows, Macintoch, Linux, Palm and Pocket PC) as no specialised software is needed to upload or view the ebook. However, it is very important for a great amount of care to be taken when using HTML documents with CSS as often messy and poorly designed ebooks are created because of the flexibility of it.