Chapter 8 Homework Assignment

Explain how technology has changed the learning environment. Noe says, "The internet is primarily responsible for creating our revolution in learning. Internet technology has permitted the development of electronic networks that integrate voice, video, and data connections among learners, instructors, and experts."

What are some advantages and disadvantages of multimedia training? S. V. Bainbridge listed the following as advantages and disadvantages of multimedia training: Advantages: is self-paced, is interactive, has consistancy of content, has consistancy of delivery, offers unlimited geographic accessibility, provides immediate feedback, has a built-in guidance system, appears to multiple senses, can test and certify mastery, and provides privacy. Disadvantages: is expensive to develop, is ineffective for certain training content, may lead to trainee anxiety with using technology, is difficult to quickly update, and can lead to a lack of agreement on effectiveness."

Why would a company use a combination of face-to-face instruction and Web-based training? Noe says, "Because of the limitations of online learning related to technology, because of trainee preference for face-to-face contact with instructors and other learners, and because of employees' inability to find unscheduled time during their workday to devote to learning from their desktops, many companies are moving to a hybrid, or blended, learning approach...Blended learning courses provide learners with the positive features of both face-to-face instruction and technology-based delivery and instructional methods while minimizing the negative features of each."

Using the Web, further investigate any new technology discussed in Chapter 8. Find information describing the technology, hints for developing and purchasing the technology, and examples of companies marketing and/or using the technology. Include Web addresses in your summary. Virtual Reality-technology that allows a user to interact with a computer simulated environment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality
Develop Virtual Reality:
VRML (ver'mel, V`R-M-L') noun Acronym for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. A scene description language for creating 3-D interactive Web graphics similar to those found in some video games, allowing the user to "move around" within a graphic image and interact with objects. VRML, a subset of Silicon Graphics' Inventor File Format (ASCII), was created by Mark Pesce and Tony Parisi in 1994. While VRML files can be created in a text editor, CAD packages, modeling and animation packages, and VRML authoring software are the tools preferred by most VRML authors. VRML files reside on an HTTP server; links to these files can be embedded in HTML documents, or users can access the VRML files directly. To view VRML Web pages, users need a VRML-enabled browser, such as WebSpace from Silicon Graphics, or a VRML add-in for Internet Explorer and a VRML plug-in for Netscape Navigator. When virtual reality suddenly appeared on the scene with a big whizbang, Timothy Leary appeared at a conference in New York with Jaron Lanier and a couple of other cybernauts. Leary was wearing the goggles on stage and declared, "Oooh, I have been here before." As that suggests, from the start a connection was established between virtual reality and the LSD experience - or as some of us prefer to call it, 'the entheogenic experience,' which is just a fancy way of not using the word psychedelic because it alerts the police. http://fusionanomaly.net/virtualreality.html
Purchase Virtual Reality:
http://www.amusitronix.com/index.php?pr=Purchasing+Info
http://www.polesoft.com/_Virtual_Reality_software.html
Companies Competing:
http://www.iaswww.com/ODP/Computers/Virtual_Reality/Companies/