Myths about Online Learning

There are many “myths” or preconceived notions about online learning. I have found many people that equate online learning with getting a degree from a diploma mill. Many people do not realize the amount of work and studying required in online learning. I believe my biggest myth that I thought was that online learning and education was easier than in classroom learning. I have done both in class and online classes and I can say that, in my assessment, online classes tend to be more difficult. They require you to learn and practice on your own much more than classroom work. Many of the tests and papers require you to critically think and formulate your own ideas and opinions based on the information presented to you. A lot of my in-class classes required you to repeat what the instructor has said during their lectures. Another myth was that there is no interaction between students in online classes. I have found that the opposite is true. I actually interact and participate in more discussions in online classes than I do in the traditional classrooms where you normally show up, listen to a lecture, ask questions to the professor and leave. In online classes, we are normally required to interact in discussions on a public forum with our peers. This promotes learning and interaction. So, for everyone that hasn’t ever tried an online class, I suggest that you try one and see what it is all about for yourself. It may just change your mind about them.

Copyright Issues - ASMP vs Google Books

This article describes a current legal suit that is being filed against Google by visual artists. The America Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is seeking a class-action lawsuit against Google for copyright infringement with their Google Books endeavor. Google books is a database of books that have been scanned and put through an optical character recognition (OCR) to digitize the book and have it available online. The article goes on to state that in 2005 a lawsuit was filed by book authors about copyright infringement by Google when they were providing previews of book texts without consent or compensation to the authors. The ASMP was not able to join in on the same lawsuit that the book authors had established. The article claims that the book authors versus Google lawsuit “is expected to be settled soon.” (Sutter 2010) The lawsuit filed by the ASMP is very similar to the claims made by the 2005 lawsuit. The artists claim that they want financial compensation for the artwork that appears in the books that are present in Google Books. Google is sticking to its guns and claiming that they are completely compliant with all copyright laws when Gabriel Stricker, a Google spokesman, released this statement: “We are confident that Google Books is fully compliant with U.S. and international copyright law," (Sutter 2010)

I found this article particularly interesting because of how recent and relevant it is to our current times. Obviously there must be some major grey areas in copyright laws for both of these parties to believe that they are correct and justified in their business or legal actions. This matter will ultimately be settled either in court by a judge or outside of court with a settlement. I believe that the graphic artists and illustrators have as much legal right to their illustrations as the book authors do to the text written in the book. Therefore, the outcome of the book author lawsuit versus Google will be vital to the success for the ASMP’s lawsuit. Whatever the outcome of both of these lawsuits, if this goes before a judge (and most likely later appealed to higher courts), this could be changing the laws and rules regarding copyrights as we speak. It is common that previous court rulings (especially Supreme Court rulings) be used as arguments and examples in future similar cases. This modern legal battle could result in a change in the way that copyright rules are enforced the conversion of traditional copyright material and it’s conversion to digital, online information. It will be interesting to follow the outcome of these cases and how it will affect the future of copyright laws.

Sutter, John (April 7, 2010). “Visual Artists Sue Google over Copyright Issues.” Retrieved June 18, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/07/visual-artists-sue-google-over-copyright-issues/

GO USA! WORLD CUP!

I was just watching the World Cup: England Vs. USA. What an exciting match-up! It will be interesting to see who wins. It definitely looks like the United States is the major underdog and England is a much better team. 1-1 going into the half. The D really needs to step up on the USA team. Hopefully the goal was a confidence booster and we will come out aggressive in the second half!

Go USA!

STANLEY CUP!!!!

Woohooo! Go Blackhawks! Way to bring home the cup to Chicago! Now for the Bears to win the bowl!

Typical Day in an Online Class

My typical day in an online class consists of me looking at my planner to determine what is due and when it is due. The first thing I do every semester is sit down and write down all the due dates of every assignment, quiz, test and paper for each class in a planner. I use to the planner to make sure that I check off each assignment as I turn it in. I seem to forget things when I get disorganized. Then I select the class that I am going to work on for the day based upon the due dates. The class with the closest due date goes first. I, most of the time, only focus on one class at a time and try to complete all the assignments that I can for that class. I look at the assignments and then read the chapters so I can analyze the readings as they relate to the assignments while I am reading. Then I perform or write the assignment.

This is different from typical classroom style learning because you are responsible for learning the material through reading rather than lecture. It requires dedication and organization to complete the tasks accurately and on-time. You really have to stay self-motivated to keep up with the pace of online class.

Learning Styles!

I just researched several articles and completed questionnaires regarding the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) Questionnaire , Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory , and Myer-Briggs Type Indicator. It was very interesting to learn about my different learning styles, tendencies and preferences. In the index of learning styles, I scored a reflective 3, a sense 1, a visual 11 and a sequential 5. That means that I am pretty balanced between sensing and intuitive learning, but very heavily dependent on visual as opposed to auditory learning. I moderately performed reflection and sequential learning over active and global learning. I think this is a fairly accurate assessment, but I was surprised at how visually dominant I was. I will have to work on my auditory learning skills to try and become more balanced. My Kolb’s learning style inventory revealed that I am predominately watching and thinking. This is referred to as assimilating. This means I prefer logical reasoning and sequential learning to understand the whole general concept. The MBTI revealed that I am INTJ. That is introverted, intuitive, thinking and judging. However, based on my scores I am only slightly introverted and slightly thinking inclined. I am moderately intuitive and moderately judging inclined. Very interesting reading and assessments!

Expectations for LTEC3440

I am currently taking a class at the University of North Texas about instructional technology. It will cover the use of online and offline media for instructional and teaching applications. I have already learned how to create a blog and twitter account! The class is divided into several groups and we have been told that we will have group projects. I am excited to get the opportunity to work with my group and I hope that I have some very driven group members and that, through our cooperation, we are able to be successful in our projects. I expect to learn more about different online programs and mediums for use in instruction and training in the workplace. Hopefully I will be able to learn more about online meeting programs and different ways of communicating with others in the process of working on our group projects. I am looking forward to this class improving my skills in online research and screening out which sources to use and which to avoid. I can’t wait to get started!

1st blog posting

Hello everyone! I am new to blogging and a little anxious about my first posting. I started this blog as a requirement for a class that I am taking at the University of North Texas. It should be very interesting!

I figured for my first blog post, I should tell the story behind the name of my blog. It was given to me by a coworker of mine after a very unique situation. For those that are not familiar with motorcycle/sports-bike terminology, a 12 o' clock is a wheelie on a motorcycle where the motorcycle is almost completely perpendicular to the ground. It is an advanced motorcycle stunt and can result in the motorcycle flipping completely over if performed incorrectly. I and my coworker were practicing performing wheelies in my parking garage at my condo. Probably not the brightest idea looking back. I decided that I would try one last wheelie. I was determined to make this one a good one. So, I at a slow speed, pulled in the clutch, rev'd up the bike and quickly released the clutch. Almost immediately the front of the bike went straight up in the air and my feet were completely off the ground and dangling. I kept a grip of the handles and released the throttle abruptly. I could have fell over backwards, to either side, come down too hard on the front tire and blow out the front shocks or return the front wheel to the ground safely. I lucked out and the bike came back to rest on the front tire safety with no damage to the bike or myself. My coworker came by to congratulate me on the amazing wheelie when he realized that it was not intentional. Since then he called me 12 o' clock spot. The spot comes from sounding similar to my first name, Scott. It serves as a constant reminder that the even the simplest, stupid mistakes on a motorcycle can be disastrous.

Be safe out there everyone!

Scott