Reference

Pirani, J.A. (2003, Month Day). Suporting E-Learning at the University of Phoenix. Educauce

Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0303/cs/ecs0304.pdf

University of Phoenix. (2013). Student life at University of Phoenix. Retrieved from

http://www.phoenix.edu/students.html

University of Phoenix. (n.d.). Phoenix Connect. Retrieved from

https://portal.phoenix.edu/social/index.jspa

How does the organization address concerns such as the type and size of bandwidth and the capability of implementing Web 2.0 tools?

This is the reason why University of Phoenix to sought other tools for easy access for educators and students implementing Web 2.0 in their system.  Below is a list of the technologies used by UOPX.

·         Mobile app: mobile application that help the students using their mobile technologies (Mobile App)

·         Phoenix Connect: internal:  academic social network. The largest of its kind among all U.S. universities, Phoenix Connect features more than 800,000 University of Phoenix students, alumni, faculty members and staff. The student can create (Phoenix Connect)

o   Communities

o   Groups

o   Profile

o   People directory

·         Online University Library: student can access 24 hours to updated and expanded information of (Online University Library)

• Articles
• Audio files
• Conference proceedings
• Dissertations
• Essays
• Financial data
• Images
• Industry reports
• Video files
• White papers

·         Center for Writing Excellence: the student will be able to everything from brushing up on grammar basics to putting the finishing touches on a paper. (Center for Writing Excellence)

·         Center for Mathematics Excellence:  with this technology the student can develop his or her  skills and confidence in math (Center for Mathematics Excellence)

·         Experience and Simulation: help the student to be part of a role play o what depart in their jobs. (Experiences and Simulation)

·         Technology resources Library: 21st century resources for every student (Technology Resources)

How does the organization manage those technologies?

University of Phoenix has a web based online educational system

1.      12 persons for the university’s 50 plus servers.

2.      IT department uses Windows 2000 to operate a Web Frame on an internet backbone.

3.      Special servers handle

·         Online course material

·         Online student applications

·         Financial aid applications

·         10 to12 e-campus servers handle the student and faculty Web site

4.      IT department maintain three servers for the classroom

·         Five for undergraduate courses

·         Five for graduate courses

·         Four for general studies

5.      UOPX operates a 24x7 telephone call center with 350 persons to assist students, faculty members, staff and applicants. To communicate with the system, the information is available in the student’s portal and university website.  

What upgrades or changes are necessary to provide better technology integration for adult learning opportunities?

The University of Phoenix has a technology application that incorporates learning with the use of mobile technology. The app is available for Iphone and Android smart phone devices. The app is a wonderful tool to conduct learning any where using cellular connection. Creating an app that is similar to facebooks app for Phoenix Connect would be an excellent improvement so that students could connect via social network without having to log into the University website. For feasibility, this would allow students to us e a pin and log in to participate in community discussions. This upgrade could substantially improve the participation of Phoenix Connect. 

What technologies are currently in use?

The University of Phoenix is a technology education organization. Before their current marketing campaign of getting to work, their slogan was “Thinking Ahead.” The slog made complete sense because incorporating the use of technology is what separated the University of Phoenix from other educational settings and universities. There are several technologies that the University of Phoenix has in place for their students.

One of the most popular technology uses that the University of Phoenix has is Phoenix connect. Similar to Facebook and twitter, Phoenix Connect is an academically-focused social network that serves the University of Phoenix community that includes students and instructors (University of Phoenix, n.d.). The use of the social network with the University of Phoenix expands and incorporates the use of several social technologies to include the use of blogs, communities, and groups from other students in similar professions of learning. Some of the learning communities include Criminal Justice, Humanities, Education, Social Sciences, and more (University of Phoenix, n.d.).  Students can tell their own education story using a blog or share in the central community activity about something pertaining to education and how it affects them or others.

References

Andresen, M. A. (2009). Asynchronous discussion forums: success factors, outcomes, assessments, and limitations.  Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(1), 249-257.

Bitter, G. G., & Legacy, J. M. (2008). Using Technology in the Classroom (7th ed.).

Finkelstein, J. (2006). Learning in real time: Synchronous teaching and learning online. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (p. 67).

Patton, B. (2008). Synchronous meetings: A way to put personality in an online class. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (TOJDE), 9(4), 18-29.

Smith, D. (2009, November). Online Course: Asynchronous Learning or Synchronous Learning, Will You Be Where You Need to Be?. Bright Hub, ().

University of Western Australia. (2000). Alternative Modes of Teaching and Learning (Asynchronous Learning). Retrieved from University of Western Australia, Staff Development website.

Making a Blog work in a synchronous medium

In a synchronous medium:

An instructor may assign students in a live chat room to review the blog for the week and respond with their own comments 150-200 words. 

This allows for students to respond outside of the synchronous environment. Another option may be to assign reading of the blog prior to class start online. 

During the online portion, students can discuss their reading of the blog and share opinions in a live setting which would prove very valuable.  

The benefit of the second option is that students have time to prepare for discussing the blog in a live setting.

Why the choice is appropriate

For the instructor:

The choice is highly feasible in comparison to other tools. Instructors who are not technology savvy may have difficulties using sound recording devices and file upload capabilities to share for podcasting. 

With the simple use of the internet, there is no programming necessary to create blogs like html (Bitter & Legacy, 2008). The blogger would be the instructor which is the person who actually writes the blogs (Bitter & Legacy, 2008).

For students:

The single site use can prove feasible to access materials and assignments. 

Students are able to read and provide feedback to the material or blog and assignment request (Bitter & Legacy, 2008). 

Application of blogs into a teaching environment

Weblogs are commonly referred to as blogs offer a personable way to express instructor and student opinions, while also sharing additional link and communicating ideas (Bitter & Legacy,  2008).

If the weekly assignment was to review the blog at the beginning of the week, instructors could create a Week 1, Week 2, and so forth for the duration of the course.

A blog could be one centralized location that has links to materials to read or multimedia for lecture.

Students can acknowledge the blog or ask questions for the instructor to reply. This allows all students to be engaged under one website in an asynchronous environment.

Medium Selection

Blogs can be very beneficial

The reason our team chose blog is primarily for the continuing learning as a result of a Blog. 

While students can listen to a podcast or view a webpage, the Blog allows for comments by students in relation to the created blog.

By having comments available on a Blog Website, students are able to comment not only to the blog itself and their opinions in regards to the subject matter

Students can also respond to fellow student comments. This allows a continuing discussion and share learning experience.

Students are able to bring their own life experiences and share how they relate the blogged material. 

Differences between the facilitators and the learners in each type of learning

Synchronous courses take place in real time with the instructor and students in a virtual classroom at the same time

The instructor is the only person that drive and speak in the class

In Some format the instructor and the students can speak and interact

In some formats the instructor give the students individual permission to participate. (Patton, 2008). 

Instructors must be aware of voice modulation, tone, and a clear speak in the microphone

Differences in facilitation strategies

Synchronous Communication methods example

Video conferencing

Instant messaging (Skype, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ)

Blogs, Wikis

Social networking

Online classrooms

Online programs (Google docs)

Online educational resources (videos, books) (Bitter & Legacy, 2008)

The advantages and disadvantages of each type of learning

Synchronous

The advantages: students are part of a learning group, and at the same time, an individual learning. The learning environment and pace are determined by the instructor. students are a learning participant within that space and time

The Disadvantages: students are one of the invisible crowd members in cyberspace. Students need  to be in the cyberspace place at a designated time. everybody knows when every student is online, every knows what you type, when you type it and any spelling or grammar errors (Smith, 2009)

The advantages and disadvantages of each type of learning

Asynchronous 

The advantages: students are in control of their learning. They select when, where and how they will study. permit students to access material when they want it. Supplement classroom resources. Allow student and instructors to communicate with each other at any time.  

 The disadvantages: hard educational method for people that are not self-motivated learning, not usually have any interaction with other class members, basically every student are a solo learning. Possibility for overload of resource material. Possible loss of a sense of continuity and immediacy (Smith, 2009)