Showing posts with label really. Show all posts
Showing posts with label really. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Can Online Games Really Work as a Learning Platform
Can Online Games Really Work as a Learning Platform
Through the years, online games have actually become more and more popular with parents, teachers and kids alike. As a matter of fact, they are now considered to be a big part of today’s educational system, penetrating into classrooms and helping students learn various digital technologies while mastering different academic subjects and gaining more knowledge and skills in the process. Some of the subjects that these games can help greatly with include languages, math, painting, management, economics and physics.
As such, it is safe to say that online games really work as a learning platform – and an efficient one at that. After all, the right games can teach, control and evaluate students, as well as boost their overall motivation to learn more and study more. Aside from that, teachers and parents will also get to monitor the students’ progress as time goes by and help them become more responsible in terms of their studies overall.
There are also various other benefits that come with using online games as a learning platform, though.
Playing online games is a pastime that will give children the chance to hone their skills while having fun at the same time. Parents and teachers will also have an easy time evaluating the knowledge and skills of the children through these games. While it wouldn’t be right to call these games proper assessment tools, especially if they aren’t labeled as actual educational games, they will still be able to evaluate the learning skills and progress of students with them in time.
Aside from that, online games are easy to access nowadays. Plus, students will be able to develop their creative skills when playing the right games. Playing online painting games, for example, can hone their creativity skills like no other.
Naturally, any top quality games can evoke a sense of learning responsibility in children and encourage them to learn new skills while developing their creativity. Online games do not just assess skills, after all; they can improve the learning process and turn it into a more interesting and efficient one, as well.
Online games can also be used to demonstrate and develop certain knowledge factors and skills, such as the use of computer skills, which is required by every online game out there; and the knowledge of math. There are actually quite a few quality math games on the Internet nowadays, where children will have to solve basic equations non-stop or within a certain limit of time.
There are also online games that can help hone creative skills and management skills, or even a mixture of both. If you are trying to use online games to teach younger children certain skills, then you might want to opt for games that feature their favorite cartoon characters. A lot of the time, children respond better when they see their favorite characters on the computer screen as they play.
There are also a lot of social media games that can help children multi-task and exercise their brain better. Believe it or not, even the most basic Facebook games out there can do wonders at exercising a child’s brain, no matter how futile they may seem.
Overall, it goes without saying that using online games for teaching and learning processes can definitely be very beneficial due to the convenience, accessibility and pleasure that come therewith. You just need ot make sure that your kids play the right ones.
Image Credit: Jeroen van Oostrom
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Sunday, January 15, 2017
Can the cloud really do it all
Can the cloud really do it all
Tech chiefs arent convinced
Can you put all you tech infrastructure into the cloud?
Moving applications into the cloud can make a lot of sense: no need to look after cranky hardware, no updates or patches to apply. As such its no surprise that for some the cloud tipping point - when using cloud becomes the default choice - has been reached.
But does that mean that all enterprise computing should move to the cloud? When asked Is software as a service (SaaS) now the default choice for all new IT projects? the TechRepublic/ZDNet CIO Jury was evenly split: while many tech chiefs are exploring the benefits of cloud options, it seems that many still see significant benefits to keeping at least some applications a little closer to home.
Cloud is taking over, especially in commodity spaces, said Delano Gordon, CIO at Roofing Supply Group: "It is the answer if you need to quickly scale up and are constrained by resources. There is still a place for on-premise applications but it is becoming more of a novelty outside of specialized or custom applications."
Matt Mielke, director of IT at Innovations Federal Credit Union said software as a service and cloud service providers are on the table when looking at new vendors. "However, we like to keep our options open and look at on-premise as well. In some instances, security requirements dictate that we look at on-premise applications for sensitive data."
Theres a definite direction of travel towards cloud in the UK public sector said Rob Neil, head of communications and technology at Ashford Borough Council. But he said in the short and medium term there will still be a place for on-premise applications, especially in the SME — or district council — space, as most business applications will be on rolling annual maintenance agreements.
"It will take time for these organisations to adapt to the new opex based funding model for XaaS as traditionally its been anathema to load support costs onto the taxpayer whereas periodic injections of capital investment havent been so problematic," he said.
Dan Gallivan, director of IT at Payate said that while CIOs will still consider non-cloud options if it makes sense, cloud options are definitely in favour: "It seems to be the trend for most application providers to move to cloud, the benefits are great; scalable, flexible and accessible."
There is still room for on-premise options, said Shawn Beighle, CIO of the International Republican Institute, but he said: "It really depends on the results of the needs assessment, but I almost always look for SaaS solutions first before considering an on-prem solution."
Dirk De Busser, IT manager at Fashion Club 70, said where possible his organisation tries to use a SaaS option. "When there isnt a SaaS alternative, or the SaaS offering doesnt provide the needed features, we continue to use on premise."
Not all tech chiefs are convinced though. Jeff Focke, director of IT Shealy Electrical Wholesalers said: "SaaS is great in certain situations, however there are still a large number of enterprise applications that are still best operated on-premise. Each project/application is evaluated based on numerous aspects to determine if still better to host on-premise or viable for the cloud with a large evaluation facet revolving around DR planning."
And John Gracyalny, VP of IT at SafeAmerica Credit Union, said that while he uses SaaS for a couple of things, by and large core processing is done in house. "I feel my network and consumer data is more secure with this approach."
Keith Golden, CIO of Econolite Group, said that while his organization sees the cloud as the first choice when deploying new enterprise applications, "it still has to make sense in comparison to the available on-prem apps — we are far from mandating cloud-only".
Cloud-based apps work great when theres uncertain or dynamic user demand for a standard service, but not everything fits that profile, he said. "Well replace our existing ERP a few years from now — if we were doing that today Im far from certain that a hybrid manufacturer/software/services company such ours could go to the cloud for that. The inherent complexity of such an installation doesnt lend itself well to cost-effective multi-tenancy. [It] will be interesting to see how that develops."
This weeks CIO Jury was:
Jeff Focke, director of IT Shealy Electrical Wholesalers
Abby Hosseini, CTO of Mercury General Corporation
Dale Huhtala, executive director for enterprise technology infrastructure services at Service Alberta
John Gracyalny, VP of IT, SafeAmerica Credit Union
Rob Neil, head of communications and technology at Ashford Borough Council
Dan Gallivan, director of Information Technology Payate
Richard Storey, head of IT at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
Dirk De Busser, IT manager, Fashion Club 70
Delano Gordon, CIO, Roofing Supply Group
Matt Mielke, director of IT, Innovations Federal Credit Union
Keith Golden, CIO of Econolite Group
Shawn Beighle, CIO, International Republican Institute
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