Learning Entry Blog - Games for Teaching and Learning

There are games that are used for teaching and in ways can be helpful and also hurtful. Many parents think that video games are not helpful to a child's brain functions. However there are many articles that show that games actually improve a child's thinking process and critical thinking skills. According to Discover Magazine, video games are mentally enriching. It also says that there are "cognitive benefits of playing video games: pattern recognition, system thinking, even patience." In my personal experience not all games are beneficial to cognitive advancements nor are they mind enriching, but many games give a person a challenging outlet that often times becomes addictive because of the challenge.An example of one of these games that is beneficial is Tetris, the classic game of organizing falling blocks to eliminate rows. This is an example of a game that helps develop patience, organization, and the ability to think quickly. The Discover Magazine explains the results of a test of Tetris, that as a person's skills got better their cognitive thinking process during the game got easier and easier despite the fact that the thinking levels were very high when first beginning to play the game.
Despite the idea that games help develop cognitive skills, they have also been proven to help with depression and loneliness. As stated by Washington Post People who deal with depression and loneliness have said that playing games helps them get from night to day. There has been research done by one of the games manufacturers showing that mental health can be improved by playing challenging and thought provoking games.

Games for teaching and learning I don't believe would have much use in the sport management field. There are games that are used for marketing, like Dr. Pepper Speedway Rush, but it isn't teaching anything and you don't learn anything except for developing cognitive skills. Games like these are not used for teaching and there is not really an option of a game that can be used in the sport management field for learning.

The above article mentioned are published by reputable sources and have hard evidence and science to show that their information is correct and reliable. The Discover Magazine gives a story and follows a professors research to prove that video games help improve many aspects of the brain and varying aspects of a daily successful life.
The Washington Post article explains how game can improve mental health with a emotional story and research and evidence to support their findings and initial hypothesis.

To View the Discover Magazine Article Titled: Your Brain on Video Games click here
To View the Washington Post Article Titled: Rx:Xbox? click here

Learning Entry Blog - Distance Learning

Distance learning has become more and more popular through all ages and levels of learning. For instance Florida Virtual School has expanded to now include elementary thru high school. Some think that this expansion is not needed and/or is not a good idea to have children at such a young age going to school on the internet. Yet, in my opinion this does not necessarily have to be the child's only schooling method, this can be used as a supplement to keep kids on track and even ahead of schedule. As for middle school and high school having distance learning available allows the kids to get ahead so they can take other electives and make their school experience more enjoyable. I personally took a class through the Florida Virtual School in high school and was able to take an extra class that I would not have been able to take otherwise. Distance learning can also be advantageous to those students who either fall behind or even started late, it can help them to catch up and stay with students closer to their age.
However, there are drawbacks to distance learning. If that is a child's only method of schooling it can harm their social interaction and person-to-person interaction. Also many students take these online classes in college and many have admitted to not spending as much time, energy and attention to them because they are online so are not very interactive.
Florida virtual school is one of the best virtual schools in the nation and is often times used as a template for other virtual schools, sometimes we have to trust the professionals and believe that they know what they are doing. In the end, its up to the parent and/or students whether or not to take the class(es) online, they are not forcing anything, it is just an option.

Distance learning can be advantageous in almost any field of study, there are many times courses to train new employees, with distance learning readily available new employees can start sooner and don't have to travel very far to start training. Sport management can benefit from distance learning because some events are in different states and the organizers have to travel to setup and run the events. If this were the case, they wouldn't be able to attend classes during that time period, distance learning can give them the chance to keep up with their class no matter where they are. It can also be beneficial if an employee wants to pursue a masters but the company can afford to let them go, they can further their education and work at the same time with distance education.

Below is a video from YouTube of a commmercial from one of the many schools that offer distance education. Nait, Pheonix, Capella and many universities offer distance education. They know that there are other aspects of people's lives thats restrict them from furthering their schooling and are more inclined to offer other avenues.

Learning Entry Blog - Open Source Software

Open source software's definition according to Wikipedia is computer software for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that meets the Open Source Definition or that is in the public domain. Many people are joining the band wagon and using different open source software programs. These programs can range from anything from gimp, which is like photoshop, to audacity which is like garage band but for any type of computer not just Mac. A large benefit to these programs which are very similar to the commercial programs is that you don't have to spend the outrageous sums of money and you can edit the applications to your own liking. Open Source Software can be viewed both as a good thing and a bad thing. However, there are advantages to having the actual software is that they are reliable, updates are most likely guaranteed, and support for questions is readily available. Sometimes it could be better to just by the actual software because it is more likely that a person can "hack" into your files and plant viruses due to the fact that it is all online based.
The open source software movement is moving the "computer generation" in a better direction. This could help decrease the price of some of the commercial software and even make some of it free. It also may help different computer manufacturers to back some of the applications that are offered online.

Open source software can be beneficial to any organization with many computers and workers. There is most likely a discount for corporations and organizations that buy the commercial software but to save money is advantageous. The use the open source software applications allows the employees to use the software whenever and wherever they need to, not just with their work computers. Sport management is one of the fields of studies that can benefit from these "free" softwares. Gimp, the photoshop equivalent, is just one example of the applications that can be used in the field. This tool can be used to manipulate images and promote events.

Tux Paint is an open source software that is specially made for children. It allows them to express themselves with making their own drawings. This application is a drawing program for young children with sound effects, cartoon characters, and fun rubber stamp and stickerbook pictures.

Learning Entry Blog- Concept Maps

Concept maps are a great way to show ideas in a structural view. Concepts maps give a visual and an easy way to view different ideas and how they are all connected and related. They are presented typically in boxes or circles with arrows attaching them directly and indirectly to the main topic. Concept maps are often times used in education and teaching because they help see the overall picture in an easier more understandable way.

Concept maps can be used in many fields of study and workplaces. They would be great in the sports business or management field in meeting and events. Showing a concept map in a collaborative meeting to show the goals and ideas that are related to the hierarchical idea. They can be used for events because they can show the goals of the events and how the staff is working to achieve them so the participants and spectators can give feedback to the company and management staff.

There are many websites to create concept maps like; bubbl.us, gliffy and inspriation. There are also websites that describe what concept maps are and give you ideas to starting a concept map. Graphic.org is a website that gives ideas for making a concept map and also how to make one. Below is a picture of a concept map from graphic.org of an abstract concept map.

Concept Map

I decided to use Webspiration. I also found some new folksonomies that I might use in the future and even now! Really cool things in here that a lot of people could use! Enjoy!

Concept Map

Learning Entry Blog- Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is a great tool that allows many people to collaborate on bookmarking important websites. These bookmarks can be organized with tags and given descriptions so anyone can see what will be found at a certain site. The tags help in the organization process by linking all the same tags together so it can be seen how many sites have the same tags. Social bookmarking allows the users to access the bookmarks from any computer, unlike traditional bookmarking it can only be seen on the computer that bookmarked it.

Social bookmarking can be advantages to the sport business/ management fields because you can share your web finds with people on the same event project as you to find ideas a resources. This tool eliminates the need to email the sites found to each person, you can just add them to the account and share with your colleagues. The tagging can also help people who may not be working on the same project to possibly find sites that may relate to their specific project or event by looking and finding tags that may relate.

Very similar to a popular social bookmarking tool Delicious, Diigo is a tool that has bookmarking capabilities but many other advantageous tools too. You can research, share, and collaborate. It allows you to bookmark and leave sticky notes about a website, highlight certain things as well as organize finds.

Learning Entry Blog- Blogging

Blogs are becoming more and more popular by many people everyday. I remember not even three years ago, I didn't know what a blog was; and now I have one! Blogs are defined by Wikipedia as "a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video." Blogs are used by all typed of people, from celebrities to pro football players and even to the everyday working class citizen. They are often times used to display videos that can often time entertain its viewers and even to explain and show a persons beliefs and values. There are many commercials with blogs mentioned in them about politics and even gaming. Viewers are many times able to comment on the different entries in the blogs, much like a picture on Facebook or an update on Twitter. Blogs are interactive and direct way to connect with people that you may not otherwise. It is a way to show your opinion, its a website that you maintain, its a website according to how you want it. Blogs are all about you, the creator and blogger.

Blogging can be very beneficial to a person in the sport management field. They can be used to depict what an event will consist of and get feedback from the participants and those who visit the blog! It can also be used to get different ideas about different event. If a different blog was created for each event those who visit the blog could comment with what they would like to see and/or have happen at the event. Many different aspects of all internet use can be applied to sport management considering it contributes about $240 million to the industry.

Below is a YouTube video by Common Craft: Blogs in Plain English. This shows what a blog is, how it works and what its good for. Its a very simplistic video that is in common language so it is easily understandable. Enjoy!




Below is a picture with works describing what a blog it used for. It has many words that are usually used when describing a blog. The picture is from a website called blogs.worldbank.org. Click here to check out this blog first hand.

Garage Band Podcast/Song

Just a little creation on Garage Band! I just messed around and learned new things on it. I figure out how and what loops are and how to add more than one instrument at a time! It a very interesting and fun program. I never understood it until now. Podcasts and songs can be used in my field of sport management because if an event is advertised online it might be a way to draw future participate attention. Advertising is the largest aspect of sport management, because without it you can't get participant's attention and therefore won't have events. Overall sound can draw many in and can be a big contributer to advertisement.


Enjoy!

EME2040 - Taylor Leffler

Learning Entry Blog- Wikis

Wikis are a great way to organize trip and stay in touch with people. Essentially they allow any and all users to create and edit Web page content at their own leisure. Wikis are easily used by many people and are frequently used to post crosslinks between pages. According to wiki.org the concept of " 'open editing' has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users." There have been many advances to help users understand wikis including many YouTube videos that explain how to use them to people who are not technologically advanced. One of the most popular wikis is Wikipedia. This website is often times used for research, it can be edited by its users to deepen the amount of information.

This aspect of the world wide web can be greatly used in my field of study to link spectators and participants to important information and other sites. With the knowledge of wikis and the "Plain English" videos presented by Common Craft events can be run smoothly and everyone can receive great knowledge about the event(s). Sport Management is a field with many events and particants and spectators; making everything run smoothly is a "prized possession." Even if not used by participants and spectators wikis could help within organizations. Having a wikis within an organization would help the organization of the event so everyone knows what is going on at all times instead of just one person at a time, and also allows each user to edit and change the ideas.

The following is a video from YouTube, about a commonly used website to create wikis and what they are all about! The video is by common craft and is the same format as that of the "Plain English" videos. It shows you how to create your own wiki. ENJOY!!!!

Digital Storytelling

I am very involved in the UF Women's club lacrosse team. This is a quick video of our trip to Atlanta to play in the SWLL ( Southeastern Women's Lacrosse League), we won the SWLL title; and our trip to Arizona for the WDIA National Championship, which we came in 4th place.

Learning Entry Blog- Photoshop

I personally have never used Photoshop, prior to in class, but learning how to use it not only shows me what I can do with it, but I have a new-found respect for those who have mastered the art. It is interesting to see what all you can do with one computer program. I'm sure there are many different versions of it, but for the most part its just a computer program. There are many different aspect to photoshop and many different applications as well. It not only lets you alter one picture but you can take segments of many different pictures and add them together. It can completely change a picture or incorporate many pictures into one project that can either be very simple or quite intricate to catch the viewer eye.

This program can and probably is used in many different fields. Photoshop would be a very useful tool in my field of study, Sport Management, to advertise and generate attention for different venues and events. Plus as we learned in class for advertising different items together so the consumer can see it all in one picture/ glance. Sport Management involves many different aspects of the sports industry and having Photoshop as a tool would be very helpful and resourceful.

The following picture is from a website dphotojournal.com showing one of the many ways photoshop can be used. It shows that you can take a normal photo and convert it to a charcoal drawing.

Learning Entry Blog- Web 2.0

There are tools for the internet that are called Web 2.0 tools. These tools are all connected to the internet and are a great way to stay connected to people, share information, and get ideas for just about anything. These tools range in anything from creating a website to keep in touch with family members called Family Connections, giving you items and ingredients to cook dishes and such called CookThing, and even Story Something which is an application for authors to share new stories and get feedback and parents to keep a wide range of stories for their children. Many say that this phase of the internet has transformed it from a presentation form to a presentation and participation form.

These new tools are able to help many people to connect to a large proportion of the population and get feedback! This could help the sport management field in many ways. Any organization could create a Facebook, one of the most popular Web 2.0 tools to get feedback from their consumers. This could be a better way to contact the people who use their service on an everyday basis without face-to-face confrontation.

This video, from YouTube, a Web 2.0 tool, explains Web 1.0 and the new and improved Wed 2.0. It doesn't use words, but its cool how it gets the basic idea across of how Web 2.0 is different and a better way to use the internet.

Creative Commons

This video helped me personally get Creative Commons licensing better! Hopefully it will help you too! Have Fun!

Or to go straight to YouTube and watch it there Click Here

Learning Entry Blog- Learning a Mac

I personally own a Mac computer for my everyday use, but for as long as I can remember, before coming to college, my family had always had PCs. When I first switched over to a Mac it would have been helpful to have a tutorial to learn the ins and outs of using a Mac. I still to this day am learning little tricks friends teach me. Most of the times those tricks make things so much easier. The tutorials are all the major information most people need to know about using a Mac to get you going and a little more comfortable with the differences. They help you to use the basic, and even some of the more complicated applications that are on many Mac computers.

These tutorials can help anyone in any field if they use Mac computers. Many firms are switching to using Mac because they are more friendly and reliable, however, PCs are known for business Mac is stepping up their game. In the Sport Mangement field there may be different companies that use these computers and with new employees there may not be time for some one to teach them how to use a Mac, this is where these tutorials would come into handy in a BIG way. Knowing how to use both "types" of computers might also give someone a better chance to get a job.

Apple even gives you a beginner or refresher course on how to use their computers. Click here to visit Apple and see their tutorial. There are many different tutorials on all of their applications and even different ones to get started.