Lori’s Blog

I just recently read from the associated press that declared there is a 40 percent increase in students taking classes online. This article intrigued me, since I’ve always chuckled to myself whenever I saw those online ads for, say, the University of Phoenix flashing around on the screen advertising online degrees. I never really gave any of those online courses much thought, most likely because, well, I thought it was a hoax. But it isn’t. In fact, around 3.2 million students took at least one online course in 2005, which estimates to be about 850,000 more people taking web courses than in 2004.

” ‘The growth was phenomenal,’ said Jeff Seaman, Sloan’s CIO and survey director, who also serves as co-director of the Babson College survey research group. “It’s higher in absolute numbers and higher in percentages than anything we’ve measured before. And it’s across the board,” at schools ranging from doctoral institutions to those offering associate’s degrees to for-profit colleges.”

Although 80 percent, according to Eduventures, a consulting and research firm, of these students are older, more family oriented, working undergraduates, only half of this group are pursuing online degrees. The other half are taking individual classes online mixed with regular in-class courses.  But 50 percent of anystudent interested in enrolling in a college or graduate school wants to have some instruction online instead of in the classroom.

I know for the University of Pittsburgh, we already are transitioning from a traditional, classroom environment to a more electronic, online class structure. Take Blackboard for example. We can access our syllabi, grades, and homework online. We can participate in online discussions in some classes through the software, and are required in particular cases to submit papers in a digital dropbox. Pitt is not alone in this matter, for almost 62 percent of chief academia instructors say that they prefer to have courses and assignments online because they feel that students are placed in a more convenient atmosphere, and ” learned as well or better from online courses as they did in face-to-face ones.”

But other universities and colleges (like my undergrad college) are not so keen on the online and technological environment for classes and learning. “38 percent of colleges found that online courses degraded the educational experience. And almost all said they aren’t certain online learning will be more widely adopted. Among the obstacles: online courses take more time and effort to prepare, students need more self-discipline, and faculty often aren’t convinced online learning is worthwhile.”

What it really comes down to however, is what the student wants. If he or she feels that online courses better suit his or her time schedule and provide more convenient opportunities to obtain a degree and/or complete a class, then so be it. However, if the person feels more comfortable in a classroom, then he or she should look for schools that provide that service only. Yet, even if the University of Phoenix may only be one of the few that strongly advertise that they provide online classes for students, the reality is that more and more universities and colleges are shifting from a traditional learning environment to a technological one. So in the years to come,  it may become more difficult for those in-class preferences to be fulfilled or offered if the trend of online courses and degrees persist. The main question is, what will this do to the communicative skills that students develop in a traditional college setting? For once, I’ll let you answer that one.

Tell me if you know this one. There was a commerical.. oh, about a year or two ago, in which depicted a shady looking guy in a long coat entering a grocery store. The commerical pans to him picking off items in the store and stuffing them down his pants and in his coat, all while this overweight cop is munching on donuts near the exit, obviously oblivious to the happenings in the store. This supposed “robber” precedes to walk out of the store, passing through a metal dectector-like looking apparatus, and when he does, the cop stops him and simply hands him a receipt. I can’t find a link to the ad, but I certainly found an article that talks about a checkout machine quite similar to the one described above. The gorcery store Giant Eagle, you know, the store that invented fuel perks and makes us use our advantage card to receive 30 cents off mac and cheese, has recently implemented in five of its stores nationwide a checkout device that customers carry around while shopping. While putting goods in your cart, you can scan the items up pick up as you shop around, and the device will total up the amount. By the time you reach the counter, all you have to do is hand over the slip of paper with your total.  

This might sound pretty cool at first, but let’s think of the downfalls to using this device, shall we? First, we all know that in this world there are dishonest people. The kind of dishonest that would intentionally not scan items but walk out of the store with them nonetheless. The article doesn’t say, so it doesn’t mean that there aren’t precautions against it, but what would be stopping people from not scanning their items, specifically the ones that are small enough to just slip by, or the ones that are bought in multiples (where you buy 4 loaves of bread instead of 1 but only scan 1). I doubt that this device monitors your basket by weight or even individual surveillance. And I would hardly think that at the counter you would have to pull out everything in your cart, since that would defeat the purpose of scanning beforehand altogether. So it makes me question how Giant Eagle will prevent being ripped off if they are gun-ho about using this service in their stores. It just seems that they are actually trusting people (HA!) to be honest enough to scan ALL the items that are placed in their basket.

Now, I know this might be asking alot, but let’s just say that the people who shop at Giant Eagle and use this device scan all of their items. I don’t know if this is in all Giant Eagle stores, but there seems to be an increase in self checkouts in the one I shop in. And I can’t count how many times I have messed up on one of those things. It seems so easy when you approach it, but if you scan something and don’t put it on the belt IMMEDIATELY after you scan it, all hell breaks loose. Lights start flashing, this electronic woman’s voice keeps telling you to wait for assistance, and the people behind you start moving to another line. So, what I’m getting at, is how easy is this device in use? What if things go wrong while scanning? Does this mean that employees will have to seek you out in the aisles? All these questions lead me to assume that Giant Eagle would probably have to hire more manpower to assist with the usage of this device, which clearly is contradictory to what it is supposed to do (which is eliminate more employees). Hopefully, Giant Eagle will keep us all updated with the checkout system, and I have little doubt that the store will be able to work something out with the help of its fleet of Blue Knot professionals that introduced to us the sweetness of an advantage card.

Security and privacy are always an issue with individuals nowadays. Too many occurances of fraud, burglary, identity theft, and plagues of paranoia  have caused people to look over their shoulders when accessing or carrying personal information. Fear no more citizens, a Japanese mobile phone manufacturer, NTT DoCoMo, has developed a phone that becomes that extra bout of security you long for while taking a stroll in the neighborhood. The phone is called P903i, and can do everything involving security except use Kung Fu on a stranger. With a small, black microchip that comes with the phone, the cell can detect if the owner of the phone is too far away from the device, and if he or she is, can lock itself automatically with a password. The phone also identifies the user everytime the phone is used, and that is done with a facial recognition procedure. “Before accessing the handset, a user has to take a picture of himself with the camera. The phone analyzes features such as distance between the eyes and unlocks if the image matches the stored data.” If there is a chance of fraudulent entry on the phone by using a picture, the phone can identify whether or not the eyes of the snapshot are blinking.

Furthermore, the cellphone, if in any case lost, can be tracked by a Global Positioning System set up with the phone. “After entering the phone number into a Web site, the owner will see a map showing the phone’s rough location – directions via GPS can be off by several hundred feet.”

Why in the heck would anyone want to put so much darn security on a little phone you ask? The P903i black chip also acts a credit card or a prepaid cash card. It can also hold your identification numbers, such as your social security number and all your passwords to bank or medical statements.

The only thing this cell phone doesn’t do is wash your underwear. One thing at a time though, we can’t ask a phone to provide maximum security that rivals the system at Mellon Bank AND do our laundry. It would seem, so….. I don’t know… over the top I guess.

So I was talking to my undergrad roomate the other day, and after we talked about how much we don’t have a life in grad school, she said to me, “You know, ever since I’ve downloaded that 854 screensaver slideshow, my computer hasn’t acted right. I had to finally send the darn thing to India again.” I pretended that I was an IT doctor for a moment and asked her what the symptoms were on her laptop. “Oh, you know, the ususal random viruses and stupid pop-up ads that freeze my computer.”

As a side note, my roomate has had chronic problems with her computer since the first day she purhased it, hence the multiple trips it has taken to India. I still blame her and her computer for spreading that nasty virus two years ago on our hall when we reconnected to the school network after Christmas break. But that’s besides the point. After reading the Snyder chapter last week about viruses, worms, and cookies, I decided to do some investigation into why her computer was acting like a wench. Eventually, I found that :Gasp!: it is her screensaver that most likey is causing the problems.

That’s right folks, those cute and cuddily puppies and shoe boxes and kitties in wheelbarrows are wreching havoc on your computer like there’s no tomorrow. The article I found was in yahoo news, which elaborated the fact that those downloaded screensavers are putting more crap on your computer than just a picture of fluffy on the farm. According to the article, almost 15 million screensaver searches are conducted every month, and “those who end their search with a download are likely to find adware, spyware, or worse tagging along for the ride.” What’s worse is that the first 50 websites that are offered to you when you type in the word “screensaver” in a search engine are the most dangerous sites to download from, which means they tag the most adware, spyware, viruses, and pop-up software onto the screensaver than any other site you can access. And we all know that we usually click on the first page or two suggested after a search to find what we are looking for.  Take this as an example:

“A search for “Power Rangers screensaver” leads to all sorts of different web sites, including Starpulse.com (a celebrity web site that uses Screensavers.com as a part of its service). Every time a Starpulse user installs a program from Screensavers.com, Starpulse earns an “affiliate” commission. At the same time, Screensavers.com bundles an adware program called Starwave and a tracking program called Relevant Knowledge, all unbeknownst to you. Your data is now being compromised and you’re being barraged with popup ads, too.”

Scary stuff huh? The best way to avoid getting these nasty tag-ons is not downloading any screensavers at all. But if you feel you can’t live without a slideshow of fido chasing a ball, the article suggests only downloading pictures from the most reliable and reputable sources. You can also download free software called SiteAdvisor that color codes and rates sites that are risky or safe. So, next time you decide to download Mr. Jingles or the Power Ranger Team onto your computer for screensaver entertainment, be careful where you download from, you might not enjoy the baggage it brings behind the screen.

Since my presentation this week is based upon spreadsheets, I thought this week’s nugget should be a dedication to the functions and capabilities of spreadsheet programs. Hark, I have found an article by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that sheds light upon the new function that Google is offering its users; word processing and spreadsheet applications. The package is supposed to launch this Wednesday, and will be appropriately called “Google Docs and Spreadsheets.” This package used to be specifically offered to those who had a gmail account with Google, but now is available for everyone to use in order to compete with Microsoft’s universal user package.

The advantage of using Google’s new spreadsheet and word processing system is that you will be able to access the information you place in the programs from different computers instead of having to email yourself the spreadsheets or documents in order to continue to work on them or view them. It also serves as advantageous when it comes to sharing. According to Google, the package is to “encourage more sharing among users with common interests or goals.” Users of this application can swap, revise, and/or download other people’s documents and spreadsheets (if the person first makes their work public, of course). Props to Google for trying to compete against Microsoft in the bundling business.