We are all enjoying the fringe benefits of online learning. As a student of BHSU, my experience has been with the program WEBCT. I was not aware there are other programs out there that serve the same purposes as WEBCT. I found the articles interesting but I believe first hand experience with each program is the best method for evaluating the differences. Since I don’t have that option, the articles will have to do.
As described by Wikipedia, Moodle is a Course Management system. This system is a free, open source platform. Moodle boasts a user base of over 18,000 registered sites with 7.27 million users in over 712,000 courses. The actual number of current active installations is unknown, but what is known is that Moodle is downloaded over 500 times a day. Because there are no license fees, an education facility can add as many Moodle servers as needed to conduct business.
Wikipedia states that Moodle was designed to assist educators design online courses offering opportunities for full interaction. Moodle boasts its open source license allows many people to develop additional features and added functionality.
Moodle was the brainchild of Martin Dougiamas, a former WEBCT administrator at Curtin University. Moodle’s philosophy utilizes the constructivist theory of education. This theory emphasizes the learners role in their own education. Moodle's features reflect this in it‘s various design aspects, making it possible for students to contribute entries and work collaboratively on projects.
Moodle’s features include forums, quizzes, blogs, wikis, database activities, surveys, chats, glossaries and Peer Assessment. Moodle also has multi-language support.
WebCT (Web Course Tools) is another course management system. One of the biggest differences from Moodle is that WEBT is sold to colleges and other institutions. WebCT was originally developed at the University of British Columbia by a faculty member in computer science, Murray W. Goldberg. WebCT is remarkable as being the first commercially successful virtual learning environment. During the five years after its inception it was the gold standard for e-learning.
According to Wikipedia, WebCT has been criticized for being the most difficult of the course management systems to use. Part of this criticism is due to the flexibility and power of the system. WebCT offers several options with more of the structure left to the individual instructor. Instructors may add tools to their WebCT courses such as discussion boards, mail systems and live chat, as well as content such as documents and web pages.
As I stated before my only experience is with WEBCT. I enjoy using this program and especially enjoy the opportunity to take many of my classes online
Works Cited:
Wikipedia, Retrieved 10 March 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle
Wikipedia, Retrieved 10 March 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebCT
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray
Blu-ray and HD-DVD are two competing high-capacity disc technologies backed by various consumer electronics and computer manufacturers.
Both formats use blue laser technology, which uses a shorter wavelength than red, enabling it to read the smaller digital data spots packed more densely onto a standard-size disc. HD-DVD is capable of holding 30GB (a full-length high-definition movie, plus extras) on a double-layer disc. Comparatively, Blu-ray will hold up to 50GB at launch, and Sony is said to be working on a quad-layer 100GB disc.
Below I have listed some of the statistics for each technology:
Blu-ray
Backed by: Sony, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Philips Electronics, Pioneer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, TDK, and Thomson Multimedia.
Advantages: Technologically, the biggest advantage Blu-ray has over HD-DVD is it’s offering of 30 percent more capacity and its potential for recording high-def video. Rewritable Blu-ray discs can play back content while simultaneously recording to the disc. In addition, Sony owns both Columbia Pictures and MGM, which gives them an advantage for releasing content. They also have the PlayStation 3 which will demand a large portion of the market.
Disadvantages: The most obvious disadvantage is that Blu-ray discs initially will be more expensive to produce than HD-DVD.
HD-DVD
Backed by: Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, and Memory-Tech. Microsoft is also supporting HD-DVD in Windows Vista.
Advantages: Believe it or not, the name, HD-DVD is more consumer-friendly than Blu-ray. HD and DVD are both names consumers recognize and are more familiar with. Research has proven consumers are more likely to purchase technology they are familiar with. Another advantage is that HD-DVDs use the same basic structure as current DVDs, so converting DVD manufacturing to HD-DVD will be simple and more cost effective.
Disadvantages: HD-DVD simply cannot compete with the storage capacity of the Blu-ray discs. Current information indicates the rewritable HD-DVD will hold up 32GB, while the recordable HD DVD-R discs will only be single layer (15GB). The other disadvantage is that with Sony having so much media at their fingertips to release, there could be a gap in HD-DVD's content offering. They just don’t have the media assets that Sony does.
If you happen to be one of those people who just recently bought a DVD player, have no fear. You will not have to re-purchase all of your favorite movies. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD will be compatible with your current DVDs.
Works Cited
Blue-Ray (2006). What is Blue-Ray?. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://www.blu-ray.com/info/
Carnoy, D. (2004). HD-DVD vs. Blue-Ray DVD: Who Cares?. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://technicalassitance.com/FormatWar.aspx
CNN (2004). DVD Developers set for Format War. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/11/11/spark.dvd/
Both formats use blue laser technology, which uses a shorter wavelength than red, enabling it to read the smaller digital data spots packed more densely onto a standard-size disc. HD-DVD is capable of holding 30GB (a full-length high-definition movie, plus extras) on a double-layer disc. Comparatively, Blu-ray will hold up to 50GB at launch, and Sony is said to be working on a quad-layer 100GB disc.
Below I have listed some of the statistics for each technology:
Blu-ray
Backed by: Sony, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Philips Electronics, Pioneer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, TDK, and Thomson Multimedia.
Advantages: Technologically, the biggest advantage Blu-ray has over HD-DVD is it’s offering of 30 percent more capacity and its potential for recording high-def video. Rewritable Blu-ray discs can play back content while simultaneously recording to the disc. In addition, Sony owns both Columbia Pictures and MGM, which gives them an advantage for releasing content. They also have the PlayStation 3 which will demand a large portion of the market.
Disadvantages: The most obvious disadvantage is that Blu-ray discs initially will be more expensive to produce than HD-DVD.
HD-DVD
Backed by: Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, and Memory-Tech. Microsoft is also supporting HD-DVD in Windows Vista.
Advantages: Believe it or not, the name, HD-DVD is more consumer-friendly than Blu-ray. HD and DVD are both names consumers recognize and are more familiar with. Research has proven consumers are more likely to purchase technology they are familiar with. Another advantage is that HD-DVDs use the same basic structure as current DVDs, so converting DVD manufacturing to HD-DVD will be simple and more cost effective.
Disadvantages: HD-DVD simply cannot compete with the storage capacity of the Blu-ray discs. Current information indicates the rewritable HD-DVD will hold up 32GB, while the recordable HD DVD-R discs will only be single layer (15GB). The other disadvantage is that with Sony having so much media at their fingertips to release, there could be a gap in HD-DVD's content offering. They just don’t have the media assets that Sony does.
If you happen to be one of those people who just recently bought a DVD player, have no fear. You will not have to re-purchase all of your favorite movies. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD will be compatible with your current DVDs.
Works Cited
Blue-Ray (2006). What is Blue-Ray?. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://www.blu-ray.com/info/
Carnoy, D. (2004). HD-DVD vs. Blue-Ray DVD: Who Cares?. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://technicalassitance.com/FormatWar.aspx
CNN (2004). DVD Developers set for Format War. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/11/11/spark.dvd/
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