Week 14: Using Games for Teaching & Learning

In this week’s class, we discussed using games on the computer to facilitate teaching and learning. Computer games are incredibly important to the modern classroom as they have changed the format for learning. Current students have been raised in an era of technology unlike previous generations, and therefore are more likely to use computers and understand them better. Games facilitate learning in youth by making learning so much fun, they may not even realize that they are doing schoolwork. Computer games for learning combine the modern technology and fun factors to create a world in which learning is both accessible to any schedule and interactive through the media outlets and computer world.



This game, The Oregon Trial, is a poplar elementary school game which teaches a variety of subjects while students try to travel across the virtual Oregon Trail. History, mathematics and grammar are learned in the game through the time period reference, and purchases made by each family. Critical thinking skills are developed through the challenges the students face when travelling the Oregon Trail, and the choices they make to continue.



This is a basic educational computer game helps students learn shapes and colors while enjoying cartoon characters. They are learning basic thinking skills.



This is an example of a math game using a frog character to keep the younger students interested. The benefits of using a character would be that it distracts the students from thinking they are working by making the math fun.



This is an example of music lessons through a computer game. This could be very beneficial as not everyone has the time or money for piano lessons and with this program, the learner could fit the lessons into their schedule for a one-time fee for the software.

As a public relations major, any sort of multimedia use to help facilitate learning is useful. Public Relations practitioners are in the business of generating interest I a client’s product or organization. Therefore, an online game could be an interesting product to release in a media kit for, for example, an amusement park. The game could be educational in some way, while also informing the players of the amusement park or organization.

Week 13: Distance Education and Online Learning

In this week’s class we discussed distance education, online learning, the details of how both are accomplished, and what benefits these methods bring to students that a traditional classroom would not. Distance Education is providing a learning environment to students in different places, not in a traditional classroom setting. Educators may use mail, television, or even online communication to reach distance learners. With technological advances in today’s society, online education is becoming more prevalent and easily accessible to many who are unable to be in a traditional classroom setting, such as people with full-time jobs, people who want to take a class which is unavailable to them elsewhere, or people who are unable to travel to get to school. It provides an environment in which student may have the opportunity to study a subject which in the traditional setting they may not have had the chance.



This video demonstrates the place and time values of distance education compared to that of traditional classroom education. The classroom student had problems because he had to be in the classroom at a certain time for his class. He missed the train, and had to walk, which caused him problems. When he finally gets to class, there is no one there. The distance education student had no problems. He was able to break in the middle of his class to answer a phone call. Also, he was on the beach taking his class. This video demonstrates some of the benefits of taking distance education courses compared to taking traditional classes.

As a Public Relations major, distance education provides the tools necessary to communicate with others using a variety of techniques. In Public Relations, communication of ideas to a broad audience is sometimes vital to a campaign or a press release, as the stakeholders and publics may need to be reached immediately. An example would be the online communication used for distance education, such as podcasts, webcasting, and generating Web sites. Also, training new team members is made easy through the online learning system which commonly allows multimedia presentations to further the learners’ understanding of a concept. A good example of this in Public Relations would be learning how to complete a media kit, using examples of online multimedia software.

Week 12: The Importance of Creating a Professional Web Presence

This week in class we discussed the importance of building a strong resume and how to monitor your online personality, both of which can be accomplished through creating a Professional Web Presence. Since employers now may search for potential employees’ personal information online, making sure that your information and online personality are appropriate is vital in today’s job market. Profiles on social media sites, pictures online, and personal information should be carefully monitored to make sure that you are projecting only the best version of yourself, so as not to threaten your job. Also, Professional Web Presences may include posting information about your resume on a Web site for potential employers for online job networking, by using a site such as LinkedIn to promote yourself as a potential employee.

This is an example of a Professional Web Presence.

This Web site is from a tutorial on Google sites about creating your own Web site. This is an example of a Professional Web Presence as it depicts a personal Web site with a resume and other personal information which is essentially advertising this person to the online world.

This concept essentially applies to every field of work. As a public relations major, communications through using a Professional Web Presence as well as the online multimedia technologies used to create on may help further enhance job experiences. Public Relations is a field in which these skills are essential, and just by completing a Professional Web Presence one is demonstrating the usage of such tools required in the field such as Web site organization and maintenance, advertising (you are the product), and displaying videos or images in an online portfolio. In a sense, a Professional Web Presence details all of the skills you have for a profession in the Public Relations field as it includes an online resume.