Final Reflection

I always love blogs, because it is able to keep every detail what we experienced everyday. I have my own blog. It likes a friend of mine that I can always share anything with it.

My first half semester's topic is Webconferencing. I chose this topic because I think webconferencing plays a vital role in the current business world, as well as in Education. As a method of asynchronous communication, it provided a convenient way to learners to learn wherever and whenever they want. With the internet, webconferencing is able to offer online video meeting to all the participators. Also, learners can share their useful files and materials, and do presentation in webconferencing. Webconferencing helps us save a lot of time and money to learn.

My second topic is Geocaching. I love this so much. When I first chose this topic, I had no idea that this activity is able to contribute on education. But after reading and researching, I found that this activity is not only a great outdoor sports, but also a great way that teachers can incorporate with their lessons. Science teacher can make their Geology class more instersting, while PE teacher can make their students participate more on the phyical training. I'd love to try Geocaching someday in Syracuse, because I think Syracuse is a great place for Geocaching.

I learnt a fortune from others blog as well. This assignment makes realize how technology can indeed help improving instruction. Reading from others blog enlarge my knowledge. Now, I know abundant of technologies that I never knew before, such as Noodle tools, whiteboard, social bookmarking, Hybrid learning, etc.

Although this is the last post of IDE611 blog assignment, I think I will restart my personal blog again to keep every detail of my life in Syracuse.

Wish everyone everything goes well!

The Origin of GEOCACHING

Geocaching, first coined by Matt Stum on the "GPS Stash Hunt" mailing list on May 30, 2000, was the joining of two familiar words. The prefix geo, for Earth, was used to describe the global nature of the activity, but also for its use in familiar topics in gps such as geography.
Caching, from the word cache, has two different meanings, which makes it very appropriate for the activity. A french word invented in 1797, the original definition referred to a hiding place someone would use to temporarily store items. The word cache stirs up visions of pioneers, gold miners, and even pirates. Today the word is still even used in the news to describe hidden weapons locations.
The second use of cache has more recently been used in technology. Memory cache is computer storage that is used to quickly retrieve frequently used information. Your web browser, for example, stores images on disk so you don't have to retrieve the same image every time you visit similar pages.
The combination of Earth, hiding, and technology made geocaching an excellent term for the activity. However the "GPS Stash Hunt" was the original and most widely used term until Mike Teague passed the torch to Jeremy Irish in September 2000.