Recovery activity for Module 4 - Comments on colleagues work

Internet and collaborative work


Several important aspects pointed out the presentation of my colleagues, collaborative learning (defined as an interactive learning based on dialogue, confrontation of ideas and colleagues feedback), the role of the tutor in the new learning contexts and how can Internet improve and enrich the learning experience.


One of the most important aspect presented is interactivity. Internet provides the opportunity to create diferente interactions among the participants in the learning process, as well as between the tutor (who’s one of the most important roles is to generate and to encourage the interactivity
among participants). The major gain is the feedback and the exchange of oppinions among participants, as well as real time access to all these as well as to other importante resources.

Communities of Practice (CoP) represente groups/communities working together in order to reach a common learning goal. These are great spaces of work for research groups, providing access to more information on the topics of interes as well as the possibility to exchabge best practices in research.

One of the risks of using joining a CoP is related to quality: this could be influenced by the
presence in the community of a person less experienced. It is indeed the tutor the one who has to ensure a quality control (more or less to filter the information or to establish a baseline with quality criteria for the information).

Nowadays Internet provides the space and the tools necessary in order to ensure that a learning
process will occur. Thus, we are given the possibility to use Internet in trainigs and other teaching related activities. Not only it provides a platform for different teaching materials (that could be accessed at any time, provided one has a laptop or a desktop and an Internet connection), but also for online classes that are taken by more and more persons looking to gain as much as possible in the little time they have at their disposal (especially working people, or people interested in learning new things and developing new competences in the hours available after a working day). It also provides the correct tools to direct and real time evaluation that is usually highly appreciated by participants in this process

Module 4 - Final Recovery work

From Internet 1.0 to 3.0


Internet is a very important platform for learning these days, and it is not only my opinion. Whoever had the curiosity to search through the infinite learning objects available on internet (courses, modules, presentations, movies, documents etc) discovered that he or she may need more than a life to read them all. But how it comes to this and why is so simple now to do quality education via internet?

Let's take a short glimpse on the evolution of the internet and its tools.

Web 1.0 means an unidirectional way of presenting information. Sites were displayed for users to browse and read, and feedback or users' opinion were recorded via e-mail. If you were unsatisfied with the information of a site, you could leave and search for another one. Web 2.0 moved the communication via internet to a new level, making it bi-directional. Now was easy to communicate via web forms, social sites and networks and express your desires and needs. Information become more available throuth wikis and everybody could post now and share their knowledge, opinion and thoughts. Communication was also greatly improved with the new technologies and softwares, adding immages, video and sounds to your message.

What could bring then Web 3.0, when it seems that we already have it all? Well, one thing I would say: In order to access your Facebook account or to communicate to your friends, both of you should be sitting in front of a "wired" computer. Web 3.0 and its applications "free" you and offer the same connectivity while being mobile: Smart phones, application for smart phones, all ready to serve the people always on the move and with a great apetite of "just in time" or "now".

How could these reflect on the e-learning and how can help it?

• Easy accessible applications and platforms
• Students now can influence the learning programs or process to adjust their needs or learning preferences
• Students can benefit joining learning communities
• Adjusting timming for studing and location to students' conveninence
• Greater access to materials, learning resources then before

If there is one thing I am sure of it, that is that my training and teaching activities will change and improve significantly to student's satisfaction. All I can hope now is that will be also for mine :)

Module 4 – final recovery assignment

Internet Safety: Dangers of using the Internet

Internet connects more and more people each day. Volume of
information we exchange reached unimaginable values and grows at an exponential
rates. What we decide to share via internet about us or about our work should
consider that not every user of internet may be a sensible person or may have
good intention.

As my colleagues pointed out in their presentation and in
the forum interventions, some internet dangers are specifically to using
internet for educational purposes. These may include – but not limit to –
several dangers that may harm your computer, work or even to disclose
information about yourself you may want to keep it private:

- Spam – abundance of useless, unsolicited information

- Viruses – malicious software that could harm your computer

- Too much information and sometime, of poor quality on wikipedias or other free information sources

- Children and teenagers may be in danger by having access to inappropriate materials or to stalkers

- Too much time spent in front of the computer may harm the health and professional and scholar aptitudes

- Easy to be distracted from your goal by the abundance of materials, especially multimedia ones

Also, using exclusively internet as a platform for e-learning may hinder the educational process by limiting student access to role plays, proximity of others which can share more openly their experience and opinions, etc.

I included below a link to a movie depicting the privacy issues that may arise using smartphones photo published on internet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vARzvWxwY