Google Earth, Second Life and Prezi

Today in our last class of the semester we discussed some innovative technological sites online that can be helpful and entertaining.

The first site we discussed was Google Earth. On Google Earth, you can type in any location or address on the Earth and you will be able to see exactly what it looks like. It is a good way to show people what your house or neighborhood looks like, as well as showing people where you have traveled. You can show them what it looks like and the exact location for it. I have used it before and think it is a great way to show someone who has never been to New York City what it looks like.

The next site we talked about was Second Life, which is a virtual world where people can create avatars for themselves. They can start businesses and buy things. However, you do have to pay money to do this. I am not a huge fan of Second Life just because I think it is very unsafe. You never know who the other person really is. They have sites like this just for kids, but how do you know if your child is really interacting with another child on it? You don't, and therefore I think it is scary that complete adult strangers can be talking and interacting with children. If using these sites, I would be extremely cautious especially with children who may be using it.

The last site we talked about is Prezi, which I cannot wait to use. Typical power points tend to become very boring, especially when you have to use them a great deal for work. Prezi can make power points more entertaining by the graphics and tools it uses. I would highly recommend using this site for presentations. It is going to be a great tool in my line of work, Public Relations, whenever I need to make power points.

Here is a video on how Prezi works:

The Gator Nation and Online Degrees

This week in our class we talked about what defines a gator student and when do people become a part of the gator nation. Some students said they became part when they received their acceptance letters, others said they became a part when they stepped on to the campus and some said the moment they were born they had been raised by their parents to be gator fans. Our teacher asked us whether interactive on-campus students were more apart of the gator nation than online students. Some believe being on the campus and interacting with other people at the school helps them get a better feel for the gator nation. While others believe even though they are online students they still become just as apart of the gator nation as any other student.

Online degrees can be tricky and deceiving which is why when pursing an online degree it is very important to be aware of the school's prestige. The University of Florida has a great online program that is well recognized. However, other web sites and online schools may be diploma mills, which are sites that send you a diploma in return for money. This would hurt your integrity and be a waste of money because you would not be really earning the degree.

This video shows how a dog received his college degree by his owner sending in a fake resume and paying $499.



It is really just up to you to caution yourself as to which school you choose when pursuing an online degree. In my major, Public Relations, having a diploma from a fake school without really earning a degree would greatly hurt your chances of succeeding in the business.

Virtual Learning

This week in class we discussed a 7th grade girl's PLE (personal learning environment). On this site, she was able to link different websites to her PLE. It was very helpful in the fact that she was able to do an entire school project on there with the tool of bookmarking different sites on her PLE. She had separated rows of school sites and personal sites. She discussed how this type of learning environment was very useful and a fun way of learning for her. She also said this was one of the ways she learned how to navigate the Web.

What she did not tell her audience that i noticed was that she had some sites on her page that in my opinion are inappropriate for a seventh grader. She had the site FML and Facebook. FML has some explicit information that seventh graders should not be exposed to. Facebook is not a dangerous or explicit site, but if used in the wrong way can be. She is very young to be interacting with people over the web that she may or may not know, and probably should be monitored as to who is contacting her.

Therefore, this type of learning system, the PLE, can be very useful if closely monitored by a responsible adult and not abused by the child.
Here is the video in which the student explains her PLE. You can decide for yourself whether you think her bookmarked sites are appropriate or not and whether or not this is a safe and effective learning environment.



Here is another video that explains PLE's:



PLE could help teachers in the way they teach, but I do not think it would greatly help me in my major, Public Relations, unless I used it for my own personal use or to help a client.