Fashion People June 2016

Fashion People June 2016

Blended Learning

About Blended Learning

Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media with some element of student control over time, place, path, or pace. While still attending a "brick-and-mortar" school structure, face-to-face classroom methods are combined with computer-mediated activities.

Blended learning can generally be classified into six models:

·         Face-to-face driver – where the teacher drives the instruction and augments with digital tools.

·         Rotation – students cycle through a schedule of independent online study and face-to-face classroom time.

·         Flex – Most of the curriculum is delivered via a digital platform and teachers are available for face-to-face consultation and support.

·         Labs – All of the curriculum is delivered via a digital platform but in a consistent physical location. Students usually take traditional classes in this model as well.

·         Self-blend – Students choose to augment their traditional learning with online course work.

·         Online driver – Students complete an entire course through an online platform with possible teacher check-ins. All curriculum and teaching is delivered via a digital platform and face-to-face meetings are scheduled or made available if necessary.

Advantages Using Blended Learning

Blended instruction is reportedly more effective than purely face-to-face or purely online classes. Blended learning methods can also result in high levels of student achievement more effective than face-to-face learning. By using a combination of digital instruction and one-on-one face time, students can work on their own with new concepts which frees teachers up to circulate and support individual students who may need individualized attention. "Rather than playing to the lowest common denominator – as they would in a traditional classroom – teachers can now streamline their instruction to help all students reach their full potential."

Blended learning also have the potential to reduce educational expenses, although some dispute that blended learning is inherently less expensive than traditional classroom learning. Blended learning has can lower costs by putting classrooms in the online space and it essentially replaces pricey textbooks with electronic devices that students often bring themselves to class. E-textbooks, which can be accessed digitally, may also help to drive down textbook budgets. Proponents of blended learning cite the opportunity for data collection and customization of instruction and assessment as two major benefits of this approach. Blended learning often includes software that automatically collects student data and measures academic progress, providing teachers, students and parents detailed students data. Often, tests are automatically scored, providing instantaneous feedback. Student logins and work times are also measured to ensure accountability. Schools with blended learning programs may also choose to reallocate resources to boost student achievement outcomes. Students with special talents or interests outside of the available curricula use educational technology to advance their skills or exceed grade restrictions. Blended learning allows for personalized education, replacing the model where a teacher stands in front of the classroom and everyone is expected to stay at the same pace. "Blended learning allows students to work at their own pace, making sure they fully understand new concepts before moving on. Some online institutions connect students with instructors via web conference technology to form a digital classroom.

Disadvantages Using Blended Learning

Blended learning has a strong dependence on the technical resources or tools with which the blended learning experience is delivered. These tools need to be reliable, easy to use, and up to date, for them to have a meaningful impact on the learning experience.IT literacy can serve as a significant barrier for students attempting to get access to the course materials, making the availability of high-quality technical support paramount.Other aspects of blended learning that can be challenging is group work because of difficulties with management in an online setting.[34] Reportedly the use of lecture recording technologies can result in students falling behind on the materials. In a study performed across four different universities, it was found that only half of the students watched the lecture videos on a regular basis, and nearly 40% of students watched several weeks' worth of videos in one sitting.

From an educator's perspective, most recently, it has been noted that providing effective feedback is more time-consuming (and therefore more expensive) when electronic media are used, in comparison to traditional (e.g. paper-based) assessments. Using e-learning platforms can be more time consuming that traditional methods and can also come with new costs as e-learning platforms and service providers may charge user fees to educators.

ICT Assignments 1

Article 1

GET is a global education and technology offshore company aims to provide a complete education and technology solutions provided by best selected international and local partners organizations and sister companies to obtain the optimum.

To obtain the best student achievements, Analyzing, Planning, Designing, Implementing and Developing Strategies can develop an international platform education program based on international education systems standard.

Article 2

The Challenge Of Global Education And Language Learning Technology

Today, we are increasingly connected to the rest of the world:

• Economic crisis as far away as Greece have an immediate effect on our stock market.
• An Ebola outbreak in Africa spreads fear globally and dominates the news.
• Cyber-attacks that cause disruption or compromise information are launched from any location on earth.
• Automobile exhausts in the U.S. and coal-burning power plants in China both contribute to air pollution and global climate change.

Today’s challenges can be addressed successfully only if we can develop cooperative and trusting relationships across the world. We need to make people understand about the others’ culture beside their own culture so we can have people who can tolerate with each other in many aspects such as politic, economic, and education.

New technologies provide ways to overcome the traditional barriers to global education and language learning. Technology now allows us to view live images of events taking place virtually anywhere in the world. We communicate with people in remote parts of the world and read documents without physically holding them.  Text, voice, and images are transferred with a click on a cellular phone or a computer.  Students sign up for online classes that are taught by educators who are nowhere near where the students live.

The advantages of the development in technology is students can improve their language skills through student-to-student conversations regardless of where they live. The using of Peer-to-Peer video conferencing makes students can improve their personal interaction. This also creates the opportunity for students to build an international network of friends and contacts. A contact network can help students to develop business leads, find new job opportunities, and increase their knowledge of other countries and cultures. Being bilingual is more than being able to read and write in a second language. Communication through speaking is a very important element.

Using Online access tools provides many advantages to students including:

• Choice
  Large choice of tutors and others with varying ages, backgrounds, and geography.
• Flexible and convenient scheduling
  Wide calendar availability, on demand, cancellation policy
• Pricing
  Variable pricing, no contracts, trusted payment methods
• User experience
  User interfaces tailored for language learning & cultural exchange
• Social attraction
  Personal interactions that reach across cultures and borders for friendly fun while learning
• Safety
  Proper consent policy, policies to prohibit inappropriate conversations
• Privacy
  1-to-1 classes using secure video
• Rating
  Options for students to rate their experiences with tutors

 Article 3

Technology and Global Education:

The Present and the Promise

James Veitch and Pi-Kuei Tu

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Development in technology and communication has some advantages in human beings such as in knowledge, agriculture, medicine and many things. This paper focuses on examining the opportunities in developing countries. This development has impact on not only in education areas but also political and economic. These are sometimes in the form of government policies that restrict access for political reasons, as in China, for example. Those political, cultural and economic institutions that do seek access to information generally do so in pursuit of economic development. Individuals who seek access may do so for personal, professional or educational growth.

The Milken Foundation identifies five criteria that characterize a scenario for technology acquisition, informed use, productive output, and contributions to development. Those considering acquiring new or additional technology should consider these questions as a framework.

- First, what is it that technology will do for students and educators that is compelling enough to make all the effort worthwhile? (The Incentives)

- Second, what is it that communities need in order to make informed decisions and wise use of technology and telecommunications for improvements in learning? (Capacity building)

- Third, what is getting in the way of educators and students effectively using technology and how can we fix the system to get rid of these barriers? (System Changing)

- Fourth, what is it that we need in order to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn in a technology-enriched learning environment? (Mandates)

- Fifth, how will we know it when we see it? What does success look like in terms of student performance? What indicators will we be using? How will the data be collected? What evidence will be analyzed and evaluated against which benchmarks? (Benchmarking) (Milken Foundation, 1998.)

This development also creates some opportunities for students because it will be easy for them to search a good institution and the important of education. World Links for Development program links students and teachers in secondary schools in developing countries with students and teachers in industrialized countries for collaborative research, teaching and learning programs via the Internet.

Over a four-year period (1997-2000), the WorLD Program will link 1200 secondary schools in 40 developing countries in South American, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East with partner schools in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan and the United States. Currently, there are 150 pilot schools connected in 14 developing countries, partnered with schools in 22 other countries. 780 Teachers have been trained to date. The program is active in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mozambique, Paraguay, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey, Uganda, and Zimbabwe (World Bank, 1999). As a result, WorLD has linked with two organizations, Schools Online and I*Learn to form the Alliance for Global Learning (AGL), which creates sustainable school networking models in developing countries by providing technology, training and support for collaborative educational projects with peers around the world. AGL enhances teaching and learning, promotes equity of access to communication and information technologies, and fosters global citizenship and understanding. So demanding has been the response to the program that capacity of the World Bank has been exceeded (McGinnis, 1999). As a result, WorLD has linked with two organizations, Schools Online and I*Learn to form the Alliance for Global Learning (AGL), which creates sustainable school networking models in developing countries by providing technology, training and support for collaborative educational projects with peers around the world.

The Associated Educational Institutions for Distance Education is located in Sofia, Bulgaria. Members include the University of Twente in Holland; The University of Exeter in the United Kingdom; Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania; and Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics in the Ukraine (AIDE, 1999.)

American public institutions of higher education are also beginning to address means by which to accommodate increasing domestic and worldwide demand for distance education. For high school students, several "cyber-schools" provide educational opportunities for students that transcend American soil. CyberSchools.NET is a global network that exists to fulfill the two-fold mission of strengthening school and global communities while developing real life experiences that teach children vital technological skills (CyberSchools NET, 1998).

There are unquestionably endless possibilities associated with technology. Many initiatives, as noted above, exist and will ultimately provide educational opportunities to tens of millions of people. The resulting information, knowledge and economic development are positive benefits. These initiatives reflect a political, cultural and economic will on the part of participating institutions and individuals.

Where individual students and local populations desire an education, but where governmental or educational institutions are unable or unwilling to provide that service, individual success nonetheless remains possible. There is little that prevents an individual from online access to the resources noted here. For a practicing school administrator in an established foreign school in a developed or developing country--there is little that prevents the development of online courses offered by that school. In this way, local students who wish to experience an American or international curriculum, or elements thereof, may well constitute a population of learners for these schools that is as yet untapped.

Article 4

Tech For a Global Early Childhood Education

Why is global important?

Our world is connected to each other. It makes children should have more knowledge to communication and share with other. For example, in one class there are many students come from different culture and background. It is difficult for us, as a teacher, to make them have same culture. So, this is our job to make our students learn same experiences with more concepts of diversity, multiculturalism and multilingualism at an early age.

Why Technology?

Technology can create global learning experiences because technology has the power to breakdown geographical, economical, language, and time-zone barriers. With technology, we can gather with somebody from outside the class or abroad. Technology also allows for a two-way street. We can do take and give information with other people.