I wasn’t too impressed with the other readings, the Amazon.cult article really turned me off. It seemed like a whiney rant against the company because of a bad experience. If you miss one full day of training, I would expect that you would be behind the times and a little lot. That article also bashed company policies. However, I would not go into a job expecting not to follow their rules?!?!?! In relation to the blurb index they created, this policy is just in place to save face of a large company and provide it’s customers with uniform across the board.
The internet gaming article! Wow! I was really impressed as well as shocked by the “Ogre to Slay? Outsource it to Chinese.” When I started to read about this gaming craze I thought this was a great idea. However, I didn’t know there was so much animosity about the selling and purchasing of these advanced gaming prizes. To me I think of it as a skill that you are sharing with others for the price of your skill. I played softball all my life and if someone wanted lessons in softball to become what I was, I would sell my teachings to them as these gamers are selling their skills to others.
This article was also shocking to me as I am a regular checker of CNN.com and saw last week a story of a man that died after a long gaming session. I went back to find the exact article but I couldn’t. Here is something similar that lists a few incidents. http://www.switched.com/2007/09/17/man-dies-after-days-of-non-stop-gaming/
In the article, 7th paragraph in they mention that the gaming “quotas” for each of the employees. These quotas are causing the Chinese gamers to play till their death. Curious to me, on the second page was the use of the term “virtual sweatshop”. It reminded me of the industrial revolution where the children were forced to work for low wages for long hours in poor conditions. Although these gamers are provided housing, the article attached above shows they rarely take breaks. The idea of the money exchange for these gaming abilities is a smart one, although as we see, dangerous.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Information Ecology
Information Ecologies Proposal
The Information Ecology I have selected to research is an Elementary School Classroom. I chose this environment because of all the information available in a classroom.
The diversity of this information includes books, encyclopedias, computers and internet access. The classroom is also provided with teacher assistants to help teach students with learning disabilities and students new to the country.
Classrooms today are becoming equipped with Smartboards as well. A Smartboard is the co-evolutionized product of the original chalk boards, to the over head and projection screens, whiteboards and the later. The Smartboard now gives teachers the internet capabilities as well as advanced teaching programs with interaction features for the students to try. All of these can be projected on a large screen for the whole class to view.
The keystone Species of this Ecology are the teachers and students. Without teachers, there would not be students, and without students, there would be no need for teachers. Both are a key component to how the ecology is run.
The locality of my Information Ecology makes most of the information in this environment primary. Our dictionaries and encyclopedias are going to be very basic with simple wording, as opposed to a college level dictionary with advanced definitions and extended word use. Our computers will be equipped with simple co-curriculum based learning programs, with no free roam of internet for leisure. Smartboards will be used as a glorified whiteboard to project math problems and language arts reviews. In college smart boards are normally used for internet review and article look-ups to share with the class instead of wasting paper printing 100 copies.
I’m very excited to begin digging deeper into this information ecology and I hope to find more information in this environment that I can use to further my research for this project as well as help me understand more of my resources in my classroom.
The Information Ecology I have selected to research is an Elementary School Classroom. I chose this environment because of all the information available in a classroom.
The diversity of this information includes books, encyclopedias, computers and internet access. The classroom is also provided with teacher assistants to help teach students with learning disabilities and students new to the country.
Classrooms today are becoming equipped with Smartboards as well. A Smartboard is the co-evolutionized product of the original chalk boards, to the over head and projection screens, whiteboards and the later. The Smartboard now gives teachers the internet capabilities as well as advanced teaching programs with interaction features for the students to try. All of these can be projected on a large screen for the whole class to view.
The keystone Species of this Ecology are the teachers and students. Without teachers, there would not be students, and without students, there would be no need for teachers. Both are a key component to how the ecology is run.
The locality of my Information Ecology makes most of the information in this environment primary. Our dictionaries and encyclopedias are going to be very basic with simple wording, as opposed to a college level dictionary with advanced definitions and extended word use. Our computers will be equipped with simple co-curriculum based learning programs, with no free roam of internet for leisure. Smartboards will be used as a glorified whiteboard to project math problems and language arts reviews. In college smart boards are normally used for internet review and article look-ups to share with the class instead of wasting paper printing 100 copies.
I’m very excited to begin digging deeper into this information ecology and I hope to find more information in this environment that I can use to further my research for this project as well as help me understand more of my resources in my classroom.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
After the New Economy
Sorry it's late i didn't have computer access last night, my Gram is a little behind the times. And if it makes a difference, I as a college student got up at 7:00am to write this, since we are two hours behind you :) phew!
This article was fairly hard for me to read. Therefore I am gonna focus on the part that interested me the most, but also confused the heck of out me! On page 10 Doug Henwood displays what to me, appears to be the mad scientist views of Gilder. Gilder was expressing his frustrations about who actually is at the root of the "microcosm" stating it wasn't the work of ivy league men with tons of money and women they married straight off the show "Desperate Housewives."
Gilder begins a list of all the common people of the world, in which he lost me half way at the "Adam's apple bobbing". I had to read over this passage again because I wasn't sure what his true meaning of this passage was. Was he telling us the root of technology doesn't come from people like Bill Gates? Is it supposed to come from everyday Joe's? I could understand the making process could yes, be hands-on labor, however now days, everything is done by machines. Although I'm pretty sure it was another one like Bill Gates inventing the machines.
In the beginning I also got confused as to what exactly Henwood was trying to prove. He insults Gilder's first list saying he left out the cruel treatment of women making these parts of computers and other technologies, and then re-iterates that we shouldn't forget Gilder's amazing list making skills. Henwood then displays another list of Gilder's he wrote in reference to how a "capitalist society is always saved by the last among it's citizens perpetually becoming first." (Pg. 11) This part reminded me of our theme throughout our first year NCC showing us a group could only be as good as it's weakest member.
Was Henwood trying to prove Gilder wrong by saying that Bill Gates is a great asset to our society, but if the weakest ones in the society can't use a computer, we don't prosper as a group? Or was he simply mocking Gilder all together, completely off track from his other ideas, of the stock market and his research of how many times the word "New Economy" was used in articles between 1980 and 2003. Further down page 11 he insults Gilder's home life saying his style is deeply "austere" (severe in appearance or manner; uncompromising) and that his couch was so shabby that good will wouldn't take it as a donation.
He then goes on to talk of Gilder's views on masculinity, femininity, racism and the wealth of workers. (Page 12/13) For this, I wish I were in class to discuss. Is Henwood just throwing out more examples to prove Gilder's instability in the social world or was there a point to these readings in terms of where he started with the new economy? He tried to tie this back into economics by focusing on the "Stats he [Gilder] must have gotten from The Bell Curve." Gilder goes on to state that black women earn 106 percent of wages of white women. Again is he mocking Gilder or using his work as an easy means of dispute?
This article was fairly hard for me to read. Therefore I am gonna focus on the part that interested me the most, but also confused the heck of out me! On page 10 Doug Henwood displays what to me, appears to be the mad scientist views of Gilder. Gilder was expressing his frustrations about who actually is at the root of the "microcosm" stating it wasn't the work of ivy league men with tons of money and women they married straight off the show "Desperate Housewives."
Gilder begins a list of all the common people of the world, in which he lost me half way at the "Adam's apple bobbing". I had to read over this passage again because I wasn't sure what his true meaning of this passage was. Was he telling us the root of technology doesn't come from people like Bill Gates? Is it supposed to come from everyday Joe's? I could understand the making process could yes, be hands-on labor, however now days, everything is done by machines. Although I'm pretty sure it was another one like Bill Gates inventing the machines.
In the beginning I also got confused as to what exactly Henwood was trying to prove. He insults Gilder's first list saying he left out the cruel treatment of women making these parts of computers and other technologies, and then re-iterates that we shouldn't forget Gilder's amazing list making skills. Henwood then displays another list of Gilder's he wrote in reference to how a "capitalist society is always saved by the last among it's citizens perpetually becoming first." (Pg. 11) This part reminded me of our theme throughout our first year NCC showing us a group could only be as good as it's weakest member.
Was Henwood trying to prove Gilder wrong by saying that Bill Gates is a great asset to our society, but if the weakest ones in the society can't use a computer, we don't prosper as a group? Or was he simply mocking Gilder all together, completely off track from his other ideas, of the stock market and his research of how many times the word "New Economy" was used in articles between 1980 and 2003. Further down page 11 he insults Gilder's home life saying his style is deeply "austere" (severe in appearance or manner; uncompromising) and that his couch was so shabby that good will wouldn't take it as a donation.
He then goes on to talk of Gilder's views on masculinity, femininity, racism and the wealth of workers. (Page 12/13) For this, I wish I were in class to discuss. Is Henwood just throwing out more examples to prove Gilder's instability in the social world or was there a point to these readings in terms of where he started with the new economy? He tried to tie this back into economics by focusing on the "Stats he [Gilder] must have gotten from The Bell Curve." Gilder goes on to state that black women earn 106 percent of wages of white women. Again is he mocking Gilder or using his work as an easy means of dispute?
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Digital Sublime: When old Myths Were New: The Ever-Ending Story
This reading was a little harder for me to grasp then some of the other readings I have had throughout my time in New Century College. The thought of some of these inventions being the “end of the world” or having such an impact on daily life that inventors could just “give up” doesn’t even begin to faze me. It was very hard for me to think of electricity or the telegraph as a life changing invention. For me, my blackberry has really been a life-changing invention and has made me addicted to it. If I leave the house with out it, I would rather turn around to get it and be late to where-ever I am going.
When the reading began they spoke of inventors promising an “Electronic Utopia.” When I think of this, the first thing that comes to mind is the cartoon “The Jetson’s”. In no way shape or form have we reached what I consider an electronic utopia however, I wonder if the inventors could look on what we have at our disposal today and feel that their visions were fulfilled. Would they consider what we live in today an “Electronic Utopia?”
The talk of the telegraph was nerve striking for me because reporters of that time considered it “the nerve of international life, transmitting knowledge of events, removing causes of misunderstanding, and promoting peace and harmony throughout the world.” If any technology we could produce would allow everyone from every nation to gather around a camp fire and sing “Kumbiya, My Lord” (well without the my Lord part because that would be offensive to 40% of the population based on religion and the other 20% just because they like to argue) then there would be no war and that would be a great start to the electronic utopia. Although another interesting part of the telegraph invention was the thought that it brought about “….early versions of hacking, virtual sex, and fears of information overload.” In the mid 1800’s sex wasn’t even acceptable to talk about, and I wouldn’t even believe the thought of them trying that over the phone.
Electricity was the hardest idea for me to grasp. Sure, phones, TV, and radio had to be invented at some point in our history, but spoiled as we have been in our generation, Electricity was something God created on the 8th day and has been there since. As true as I know it is, but the thought that people once lived without electricity blows my mind. In the reading, it seemed very contradicting as “One writer was moved to compare the sight favorably with Athens at its peak of classical power: “In a moonless night Athens hid her beauties…..Not so, however with this modern Athens, for night is the time of her greatest splendor.”” When overlooking this grand fair with thousands of lights I find it hard to compare it to Athens, a city of stone and sand. When looking at something so new and grand I would have compared it to something of the future, not of the past.
Working in the telephone industry this part was one of the sections I took most interest in. When the telephone was first introduced they stated it would guard against “nervous strain, provide safety for your family, reduce household fatigue and make writing an anachronism.” They also claimed it was a “moral obligation for a considerate husband and a good citizen.” This made sense to me when talking about cell phones. Only cell phones can provide you safety in your home or on the road, as well as reduce household fatigue if you provide your entire family with phones to check-in where they are at. Radio’s were a minimal section to me as those come standard in every car made, set in every clock purchased, and now come in the software of phones.
This reading was interesting for me in terms of the development of technology. It still doesn’t occur to me that where we are in terms of technology has been a long process and many along the way thought they had made a huge impact, however we still have so much to expand on.
When the reading began they spoke of inventors promising an “Electronic Utopia.” When I think of this, the first thing that comes to mind is the cartoon “The Jetson’s”. In no way shape or form have we reached what I consider an electronic utopia however, I wonder if the inventors could look on what we have at our disposal today and feel that their visions were fulfilled. Would they consider what we live in today an “Electronic Utopia?”
The talk of the telegraph was nerve striking for me because reporters of that time considered it “the nerve of international life, transmitting knowledge of events, removing causes of misunderstanding, and promoting peace and harmony throughout the world.” If any technology we could produce would allow everyone from every nation to gather around a camp fire and sing “Kumbiya, My Lord” (well without the my Lord part because that would be offensive to 40% of the population based on religion and the other 20% just because they like to argue) then there would be no war and that would be a great start to the electronic utopia. Although another interesting part of the telegraph invention was the thought that it brought about “….early versions of hacking, virtual sex, and fears of information overload.” In the mid 1800’s sex wasn’t even acceptable to talk about, and I wouldn’t even believe the thought of them trying that over the phone.
Electricity was the hardest idea for me to grasp. Sure, phones, TV, and radio had to be invented at some point in our history, but spoiled as we have been in our generation, Electricity was something God created on the 8th day and has been there since. As true as I know it is, but the thought that people once lived without electricity blows my mind. In the reading, it seemed very contradicting as “One writer was moved to compare the sight favorably with Athens at its peak of classical power: “In a moonless night Athens hid her beauties…..Not so, however with this modern Athens, for night is the time of her greatest splendor.”” When overlooking this grand fair with thousands of lights I find it hard to compare it to Athens, a city of stone and sand. When looking at something so new and grand I would have compared it to something of the future, not of the past.
Working in the telephone industry this part was one of the sections I took most interest in. When the telephone was first introduced they stated it would guard against “nervous strain, provide safety for your family, reduce household fatigue and make writing an anachronism.” They also claimed it was a “moral obligation for a considerate husband and a good citizen.” This made sense to me when talking about cell phones. Only cell phones can provide you safety in your home or on the road, as well as reduce household fatigue if you provide your entire family with phones to check-in where they are at. Radio’s were a minimal section to me as those come standard in every car made, set in every clock purchased, and now come in the software of phones.
This reading was interesting for me in terms of the development of technology. It still doesn’t occur to me that where we are in terms of technology has been a long process and many along the way thought they had made a huge impact, however we still have so much to expand on.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Ideology
i think of ideology as an idea that guides a group of people and is thier one of their major connecting basis of interaction. In terms of a political aspect people lobby together for certain political issues and have that new interaction beause of the ideology they both are working toawrds. If this ideology was never and issue or idea, people might not have ever met or interacted or in the end become friends if this overarching idea was never thought of.
Majority of the time Ideology had been based on social movements. The one that is fresh in my mind comes from my rpior class of "women and leadership" we watched the movie "Iron Jawed Angels" about the history of women's rights. These women started as two best friends and because of the ideology and thought of women's right movement they grew into a large group of women they gathered from across the nation all in support of this same political idea and gathered on a social network passing notes in prison to get their word across to eachother when one is isolated.
Majority of the time Ideology had been based on social movements. The one that is fresh in my mind comes from my rpior class of "women and leadership" we watched the movie "Iron Jawed Angels" about the history of women's rights. These women started as two best friends and because of the ideology and thought of women's right movement they grew into a large group of women they gathered from across the nation all in support of this same political idea and gathered on a social network passing notes in prison to get their word across to eachother when one is isolated.
In class writing responses
Becky Grau
September 6, 2007
Info Technologies
“Daily Show Clip”
As funny as the video was, it really brings out the true ideas behind myspace and facebook. Online you can create a whole new person, either someone you wish you were or someone you would never be in real life but have the chance to act as when know one really knows who’s behind the name. If it weren’t for myspace and facebook I probably wouldn’t drag out these awkward conversations with people I’m “sorta” friends with. If there is someone that I care to actually talk to I see them in person or take the time to talk to them on the phone.
Those that are afraid of the technology have the real true value or life experiences. Those that live on the internet social websites tend to live within the social network itself. Leaving messages for others about what someone posted on their website and usually little about actual life. For instance in the video, the boy giving us the investigation into these websites didn’t have a real picture of himself but one that he made and posted as the idea of himself, Therefore breaking the ties between reality and the internet.
Page 15 in chapter 2 stated that “Human expertise, judgment, and creativity can be supported, but not replaced, by computer-based tools.” A prime example of this situation would be the readings regarding the doctors misdiagnosing people. You can research as much as you want on the internet or using technology but you cannot learn to be a doctor based solely on the web or other computer based tools.
My influence on technology-
*I misunderstood, and thought we were writing on how we can control the use of technology....
Elementary education major-
When working with children technology has taken over several parts of the teaching aspect. Attendence, communication, grades, and some assigned projects are done through the computer. Videos and SmartBoards have taken over classrooms. Although I feel that for some instances the smart board has replaced the old fashioned hands on way of learning for children. There are no more centers but instead they take turns in small groups working with the teacher sitting on the carpet watching the smartboard. When teaching math you click and drag the math blocks over to the other column and watch them disperse into ones or tens instead of having the children count out the ones and tens and physically moving the blocks infront of you. I currently have a blackberry to use my school and work e-mails at the touch of a button. I consider it my “crack-berry” I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my blackberry and I also feel that it has controlled my life. I could use a regular phone, we have plenty around the house but I choose to be technology savy at my fingertips.
September 6, 2007
Info Technologies
“Daily Show Clip”
As funny as the video was, it really brings out the true ideas behind myspace and facebook. Online you can create a whole new person, either someone you wish you were or someone you would never be in real life but have the chance to act as when know one really knows who’s behind the name. If it weren’t for myspace and facebook I probably wouldn’t drag out these awkward conversations with people I’m “sorta” friends with. If there is someone that I care to actually talk to I see them in person or take the time to talk to them on the phone.
Those that are afraid of the technology have the real true value or life experiences. Those that live on the internet social websites tend to live within the social network itself. Leaving messages for others about what someone posted on their website and usually little about actual life. For instance in the video, the boy giving us the investigation into these websites didn’t have a real picture of himself but one that he made and posted as the idea of himself, Therefore breaking the ties between reality and the internet.
Page 15 in chapter 2 stated that “Human expertise, judgment, and creativity can be supported, but not replaced, by computer-based tools.” A prime example of this situation would be the readings regarding the doctors misdiagnosing people. You can research as much as you want on the internet or using technology but you cannot learn to be a doctor based solely on the web or other computer based tools.
My influence on technology-
*I misunderstood, and thought we were writing on how we can control the use of technology....
Elementary education major-
When working with children technology has taken over several parts of the teaching aspect. Attendence, communication, grades, and some assigned projects are done through the computer. Videos and SmartBoards have taken over classrooms. Although I feel that for some instances the smart board has replaced the old fashioned hands on way of learning for children. There are no more centers but instead they take turns in small groups working with the teacher sitting on the carpet watching the smartboard. When teaching math you click and drag the math blocks over to the other column and watch them disperse into ones or tens instead of having the children count out the ones and tens and physically moving the blocks infront of you. I currently have a blackberry to use my school and work e-mails at the touch of a button. I consider it my “crack-berry” I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my blackberry and I also feel that it has controlled my life. I could use a regular phone, we have plenty around the house but I choose to be technology savy at my fingertips.
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