Week4: Proof of Learning

We did it. I can't believe how fast this class is flown and everything that we accomplished in a short four weeks. This past week has been research filled.

My initial idea for this research project was to write a paper. I feel like that is something I would be more comfortable with, but as I sat there trying to figure out how I could make this creative, I got stuck. I remembered reading a post on a discussion board about weebly.com. When I checked it out, I was surprised as to how easy it was to use! When I think of creating a website, I think of it being time consuming and just difficult.


My main focus of this project is how technology can cure cancer. I orginally found the machine called the CyberKnife. The CyberKnife is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumors. This machine can be used anywhere in the body, including the prostate, lungs, brain, spine, liver, pancreas, and kidney. The CyberKnife actually involves no cutting. It is pain-free, non-surgical option for patients who have inoperable tumors. This machine is unique because other radio surgery systems can only perform in the head. I found ton of websites on this machine and patient stories to add into my website. I was very happy with how smoothly everything started to turn out. After putting things together, I decided I wanted to see if I could find another similar machine that is out there that I could add to my page and I did. It's called the RapidArc. 

It is very similar to the CyberKnife but it a quicker type of treatment. This treatment takes less than 5 minutes a day, while other treatments, even the CyberKnife take around 45 minutes. Looking into more research, I found it a little difficult to find good detail. 

This course has been fun to take. I feel like I have grown as a person. The articles we have read really opened up my mind to thinking about things, I hadn't taken the time to sit down and think about before. The class contained many genres that we used to help us document everything that we were doing. The most important that I found was the discussion boards. It really allowed me to connect with my peers without even meeting them.  The discussion boards have also helped me become a better online writer, meaning I feel I am able to post my thoughts more thoroughly. Before, I felt as though I was struggling to say what I wanted to the point were the person understood perfectly. In the beginning my thoughts were a little open ended and now I am able to get to the point. Overall, everything used in this class was beneficial. Looking back, I first thought posting on discussions, lab notes, and blogs would be a little tedious, but in the end all of them had a purpose. The discussions were used for us to connect and show that we were participating in the class. The lab notes were there for us to keep track of our thoughts and articles that we used. this was especially useful when I went to create my POL. Everything that I wanted to include was basically spelled out for me. 

Thanks for a great summer class. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer!

Week 3: Proof of Learning

This week we read articles and discussed exactly what we were doing, online discussions. Online discussions play a huge part in online classes, even in a classroom setting I still think they are important. For this class especially, I don't know how it could be done any other way. Without meeting anyone, I was able to connect with my peers and discuss our opinions about the topics of the articles we were reading.

The article, Predicting Learning from Asynchronous Online Discussions, was a good way to explain about the differences of online classes and face to face classes. Asynchronous, which means not occuring at the same time, is what our class was doing. We all have our own schedule and that's why I think an online course really works in the summer time. People were on at different times of the day posting, so we all weren't on at the same time talking. Synchronous means to occurs at the same time. This would be a face to face class. Another example of  synchronous would be a course my uncle teaches. He is currently teaching an online/offline class similar to this one at a community college. I was talking to him about it and it was interesting to hear how other teachers use the internet for their own classes. He has a actual class two days a week and then students are also suppose to post on a discussion board a couple times a day. He said he’s kind of getting sick of reading all the posts but it’s a good way to make sure they are doing what they need to. Sometimes instead of having a live class, they do a type of live conference on the computer. I am not sure how it works but it uses web cams and he teaches the class that way. I thought that was so cool. If our class was like that it would have be more time set, so we wouldn’t have the freedom to come on when we want. 

This week I have been researching to find a solid direction to go with my research project. Earlier this week I created a annotated bibliography to start me off.  The focus of my project is on how the medical field is using technology to cure cancer. Technology and medicine have come a long way over the years and it only makes sense that we put them together and do some good. Cancer affects almost 12 million people in the United States. The most common type of treatment for cancer is surgery, chemo, and radiation therapy. The Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada have introduced a $6 million tumor-fighting machine. This machine is a CyberKnife radio surgery machine. The machine is able to treat hard to reach tumors. The purpose of this study is examined how the medical field is using technology to treat cancer and if it will be successful in the future. I plan to use the documentary research approach and listen to the stories of people I know cancer, or research people experiences and stories with their type of treatment. I plan to present my research in a research report. I felt that I feel more comfortable with writing a typical print report, because that would be the best way to express what I discover. I hope to include interviews in the report, too. I want to be creative as I can with my report by adding charts or pictures to add something to it.