Digital Citizenship Project

           This project really opened my eyes in many ways. I never really thought i could work in a group and mix my ideas with other people to make something big. But, after finishing the website, i now know that i was wrong. Working with my group, was easier than i thought and we finished our task better than i thought we could. Our task was to edit,share, and upload pictures from Creative Commons and put our own license on the pictures we edited or made from scratch. The only hard part was probably figuring out how to use photoshop because i didn't use it that much before and it was frustrating at first, but i eventually got used to it. Learning how to work in a group and collaborate with team members is essential and i learned how to do that throughout the process of completing our project.
        Digital Citizenship is key in being successful in life and you have to maintain a complete and good digital profile in order to accomplish that. I never really thought about using technology to broaden my horizons, and now i know that there are countless opportunities waiting for me just one click of a close away. In order for these opportunities to come to me, and for information to find me, i have to have a strong online presence. This project really helped me learn some key things i need in order to be successful. This was an interactive way of learning which was definitely more fulfilling and interactive than lets say taking a test.

No Technology = Disaster?

“You can look back and see how sloppy your handwriting was in first grade. You can’t do that with computers ’cause all the letters are the same." This quote from the article really got me thinking. Is having no technology at all really that bad? The more students get engages in technology, the more the technology does the thinking for them. With the use of technology students have the ability to access answers from the web with the click of a button. Students no longer use their minds and they are depended on that one piece of technology. I believe that technology could be used in positive ways, but the negatives out weigh the positives. As a student using an ipad everyday in school, i get frustrated really easily with the use of out ipads and how sometimes my e-mails don't get sent, or how my notes do not get saved. I would love to go to a school in which everything is hands-on because thats the type of learning i learn the best from. I kind of agree with both sides, but to a minimum. 


Read article here

"Deleting" a comment doesn't get rid of anything

The article here talks about how a Philadelphia Eagles employee, Dan Leone, got fired due to posting a very opinionated comment on Facebook. He posted,  "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver ... Dam Eagles R [expletive]!!" Now is this simply freedom of speech or should Leone have known better? He was voicing his opinion to his fellow "friends" on Facebook, and within hours, everyone in the sports world was aware of what happened. Leone knew he did something wrong and he "deleted" the comment, but that did not get rid of anything. There were traces of what he said everywhere - screenshots, videos, and people had already seen it. Leone lost his job over one little comment, but he should have realized what he was doing with these types of stories being more popular. Next time you post anything online, make sure you understand that its going to be online for as long as you live and it may come back to haunt you. Digital citizenship is important. 

Backchannel...innovation or distraction?

Yesterday in class, we learned how to use a backchannel on out newly made twitter accounts. I had mixed feeling about it. I missed many parts of the film because I was too busy reading what people posted on the backchannel. It was pretty distracting, but at the same time, I also got to see other peoples opinions and it made me think about the video in different ways. Many people had varying point of views on how the schools should be set-up. I think that using the backchannel is just what a person feels comfortable using and if they think its distracting or not. The backchannel isn't for me because i can't concentrate on different things, but it help a lot of people. Its all about personal preferance.

"Filter Bubbles" : Shielding Us From The Rest of The World

Eli Pariser's video on online "filter bubbles" explains how each search we do on our personal computers is made personally for us. When we search the same exact thing as someone else, we might get totally different results due to the fact that they take information from you to find results that are best suited for you. While i do believe this is a great innovation, i think that the "filter bubbles" are shielding us from the rest of the world. I may search for something and not find the article i am looking for for a couple of hours because i don't usually "show interest" in that stuff, while someone else might get the exact same article i was looking for in under a minute's time. Think about it, you aren't shown what everyone else is shown- which may end up benefitting or hurting you.

Find Video Here

1:1 Schools...How Effective are they?

The article talked about how teachers have to change their entire teaching mechanism because of their transition to 1:1 schools. Students showed, on average, that their grades were lower after the transition. I do believe that 1:1 schools are great for students, but only in limits. A student can be playing a game for the entire class without the teacher knowing, and this would harm their chances of learning. But then again, it is up to the student to make their own choices and whether or not they will value this time they have to learn. The article at the end says that teachers have access to what their students are doing on the technology and i totally disagree with that. We, the students, have the ability to play a game, take notes, or watch a video during class without the teacher knowing, but it is our personal choice.

Article located here

Week in Review

This week in class, we learned how to use google reader and RSS feeds. We also set up our own blogs. I would say that it was definitely a very useful week. I learned a lot of thing i didn't know existed, and i finally found out what that orange RSS symbol actually stands for! All of my news now comes to instead of me going to the news. I love my google reader and i use it all the time now.