uh-oh!

Just checking on the Yahoo! homepage, and I saw this article. A blogger on the John Edwards campaign squad resigned over comments made that caused her to catch a lot of heat. Another example of watching what you say, because everyone is or has the ability to read what you say!

Web 2.0

I have been listening to the podcast that was on Will's website (conveniently downloaded and listened to through my iPod). Although a little dry and boring in places, the presentation was overall enlightening. What corellates between this podcast and Warlick's Great Question (What is important for us to teach our students?) is the application of this technology outside of the classroom. For example, the Houston Chronicle uses over 30 blogs in their coverage every day, presenting a "conversational model of journalism". To me, this would make reading the paper infinitely more interesting, because if people are presenting news in a more colloquial fashion, it will be easier to comprehend. John Edwards and other presidential candidates are using blogs and Youtube to announce their candidacy over the Internet. This is incredible! What is a better way to connect with people, especially younger people, than to use the technology that they are helping to perfect? If you wanted to see a speech, but missed when it aired (if it was even aired at all) a simple Youtube search can solve your problems.

What's amazing is that school has the potential to no longer be just a 7:30-3:00 application. You can learn anything 24/7 and connect to your students or classmates whenever you are able, even if school is out of session. One of the examples I see is with the Science Learning Academy that Will and Rob were discussing. The instant messenger problem really opened my eyes, that students would be interesting in attempting to further their own education by removing troublemakers by singling them out. But what really suprised me was that it happened in June. School didn't start until September. Kids are using the Internet to have discussions with classmates that they don't know and won't see for months! They were forming the learning environment that they wanted, not what their teachers had envisioned.

Blogging and podcasts lead to greater student engagement and it allows teachers to tap into a huge, secret underground resevoir of crude oil of talent and creativity from their students. For example, check out this class. I would normally not express myself in the form of a blog unless I was forced to, but yet I rather enjoy it. I like having people see what I have to say, how I write, how I choose to express my ideas. And this blog makes me want to contact my favorite authors, because if kids in Will's class can do it, why can't I? Why can't I strive to make a difference for myself and anyone else who chooses to read this? Wow. I can say that I am hooked now. Another example from the presentation was the third and fourth graders from Maine who wanted to do podcasts, even when their teacher was doubtful about it. WHAT. When I was a fourth grader all I wanted to do was read Goosebumps books and watch Eek! The Cat on FOX. I never wanted to apply myself towards school, hell, I still don't. But these kids, I daresay they are inspiring. And not only did they want to make podcasts, but they wanted to do it during recess and naptime!

This technology is important to learn because it broadens horizons and breaks barriers. The classroom is no longer a five day a week, morning to afternoon enterprise. It has become limitless. It is this idea that our students need to learn, that they are completely uninhibited. They can learn anything they want, they can take classes from MIT online for free (minus the degree, but who needs one anyway). The time is here for students to begin to educate themselves and along with guidance and additional instruction from teachers, they can take the reigns of their own educational lives.

Untitled

Reading "Don't Fear the Digital" feature by Steven Johnson, I agree with what he says (especially about not needing algebra). Although my parents may have thought I was just a lazy kid on the computer, I was actually learning helpful utilities that will truly impact my life in the future. It may look simple to some, but customizing a myspace page really does takes a lot of work to make it just how you want it. In a sense, this perfectionist traits that are being shown do appear in other parts of my life. Now in other things, I become finnicky, almost obsessive with details.

And not just customizing a profile, but Johnson touches upon multitasking. Even as we speak, I am listening to music, writing this blog, reviewing the article, text messaging on my phone and thinking of about four other things in my head, and (at least I think) this sounds somewhat coherent. If I didn't have a computer handy when I was a kid, I feel that I wouldn't be capable to do more than two or three things at a time, and even those would be at a diminished pace. Now that I think about it, when I was a kid, I used to play typing games on my old computer (Mario Teaches Typing, I believe). And although I thought it was fun as a kid, I think about how much my typing, and therefor affecting everything else I do on the computer, benefits because I was having fun and learning new technology and techniques at the same time!

Reading the second article, I see the other side of multitasking. The destruction of the nuclear family as we know it. They say in there that "Thousands of years of evolution created human physical communication...that puts broadband to shame in its ability to convey meaning and create bonds". This is definitely true, if you've ever had a comment taken the wrong way and spent the rest of the day feeling like Lindsay Lohan's PR people. But this is something that our parents and the older generations have to become accustomed to, because it is impossible to stop. Tom and Mark started this huge social networking avalance and there's nowhere for it to go but to keep on growing. But regrets to the family, this new way of accomplishing many tasks simultaneously will change the world. As I've read in the Friedman book, people in India are answering my help calls for my computer. This flattening of the world can't be stopped, and if you can't adjust to it, then move to the mountains (preferably in a nice little cave, with plenty of berries and stream water (we'll be ordering groceries online soon, so don't even think about walking into the Big M without your groceries being ordered ahead of time). 'Cause the world won't wait for you to adjust on your own schedule. It could frankly care less, because there are enough people out here that are ready to take on this challenge, while texting, recording a podcast and updating a wiki on David Wright.

Trying to Find a Balance

After reading the article on Girl Power (sadly with no mention of my Spice Girls) I agree with what the author says. The quest to find a proper identity has been well documented through the annals of time, I deal with it in every college English class I have ever taken. From what we've primarily been reading, most of the leaders in web 2.0 technology are male. Which should not be suprising, because when you think of a computer nerd, you don't exactly think of hot chicks (I think of the stereotypical Star Trek fan, glasses and he likes to play Dungeons and Dragons...not to say that there is anything wrong with that, but, oh forget it). The point I am eventually getting at is that I read in the article that it says that "Girls received less attention in the classroom than boys and less encouragement for their efforts" (Brown).

But with technology today, I feel that the attention will be more centered. Because, at least from my experiences, the girls in my classes are much more creative and writing-oriented than the competitive boys I've seen. In a class room where blogging becomes a part of daily routine, I feel that girls may even receive the upper hand. The playing field, as Friedman says, is being leveled. There will certainly be competition, perhaps even more so, but it won't be as unfair as it may have been in the past.

It's Like Comparing Apples to ...PC's?

Although I am indeed a lowly PC user, I am slightly infatuated with Apple, Inc. and I don't think I am alone. As we saw in the first class, almost every person in class has an iPod. That's cool, I have one too. But I never realized the power of Apple until my iPod went kaput. I called their tech support and it was the best calling-for-help experience in my life. The ladies I spoke to (count 'em, two of them) were very friendly and not the most bit surly. They sent me a box to ship my iPod out the day after (Tuesday) and I received my new one tonight (Monday). I am nothing but absolutely impressed with the way that they do business. They have set up a dynasty.

Apple, Inc. has integrated all of their products so that each one fits into it's own place. I feel that with using Windows, if you install something, it becomes a patch on the pair of jeans of personal computing. But with Apple products, it becomes a mosaic. It all flows seamlessly together, from your iPod to iMovies to iWhateverelse. They seem to understand that people don't want to be confused about which ports to plug this into, or which program I need to open these pictures I just took. I think of my father when this comes to mind. Almost once a week he'll ask me what program to use to open this or how to organize his mp3 files. I tell him he should get an iPod to avoid these problems...he doesn't care much for my sass. But the point is this: Apple is soon going to take over the computer industry. Just wait. Sure, Windows just put out their Vista processor. But look at it. It is basically a rip-off of OSX, copping the idea of widgets and the dashboard. Windows needs to find some way to get out of the typecast that they have acquired. Just look at the commercials that Apple puts out. How stupid does Windows, (hell even Windows users) look while the smug, snarky Apple has everything and is SO MUCH COOLER.

Man, every time I look at my stupid, huge tower with all of the extraneous and twisted viper's nest of cords, I get a little bit more depressed and frankly feel a little bit stupider.

The World Isn't Exactly Flat, But It's Looking Mighty Svelte

So. After poring over the reasons why the world is flattening, I have come across a somewhat familiar topic in the Uploading section. And although I haven't read anything groundbreaking, I have encountered some new evidence into why this new movement is going to change the world. One example has to deal with the experiment that Goldcorp, Inc. used the technology seen through open-sourced programs such as Linux. The mining corporation knew that there was gold in their area, but were having difficulty obtaining the gold. So they held a contest of sorts, where different companies were given the opportunity to use all of Goldcorp's resources to see if they could find gold for a big cash prize. And as crazy as the idea may have seemed, it worked with suprising gusto. "For McEwen [CEO of Goldcorp, Inc.], the contest itself was a gold mine. 'We have drilled four of the winners' top five targets and have hit on all four,' he says. 'But what's really important is that from a remote site, the winners were able to analyze a database and generate targets without ever visiting the property. It's clear that this is part of the future.'" (Friedman 115)
So. It can be seen that open-source software has a multi-lateral potential for every industry. And regarding Warlick's question of 'what our students should be learning', this has limitless boundaries. If a mining company, perhaps the strangest (at least on paper) recipients of the benefits of computer technology, can use technology that we will be using in our class rooms successfully, then uploading is bound to be a boon in our classrooms. If we can show students examples such as these, then hopefully they will feel uninhibited in their willingness to experiment and test the waters of using sources like Wikipedia and blogging (I would say Linux, but that's a little more complicated to use and understand).

Kashmir

While reading the second chapter in the Warlick book, I did indeed encounter some websites that I had never seen before. Being the curious student that I am, I checked out the Backflip site. Although the idea of bookmarks are nothing radical or even that exciting, this is a little different. The difference occurs in the fact that you can view your Backflipped bookmarks from any computer. The world is flattening, indeed. So if I had some extremely relevant information on this computer and I needed to help a friend on a project to which the information is applicable, then a simple log in to Backflip and there is all the information that I need, with no need for tired and dinosauric conventions such as "remembering the names of websites".

In addition to Backflip, Warlick uses the PiNet Library (not just to shamelessly plug his book) but as a very useful reference guide for educators. By adding different pages and references that can be seen by other teachers, you are helping to create a community of technologically aware (if not savvy) educators. Not only can you share information that is amassed through research, but your classroom can have it's own page on the Web.

The last bit of new technology that I researched after reading the chapter was the Catalist program. Like blogging, this mailing list is very useful in obtaining extra information from people you might not otherwise become in contact with. By being able to suscribe to different mailing lists and hearing the opinions of possible experts or at least people with experience can be an invaluable tool for research and enlightenment.