After reading to page 103 of Little Brother, I was amazed at how tech-savy Marcus was. Also, I remember talking last semester about how many students feel school resembles a prison (sad but true), and in this book their school definitely resembled a prison. I understand safety, but if I knew Big Brother was watching my every move I would be freaked out. I was amazed at the harsh treatment Homeland Security had on Marcus. Homeland Security was never satisfied with Marcus's answers because they thought he had something to do with the attack. They got what they wanted through scaring Marcus. They took away everything including his freedom "They'd taken everything from me. First my privacy, then my dignity" (p. 66). I found it absurd that whenever Marcus asked a question they just took him away without any explanation, for example when he asked what would happen if he didn't sign the papers. What was also amazing to me is how they were able to treat a minor the way they did. Marcus was only in high school, but then again if you're Homeland Security you can do whatever you want. After Marcus was set "free" I say it like that because he necessarily wasn't they were watching him at all times. They even put a bug in his computer to track his movements.
There are many questions and issues that could be addressed while reading this book. Government vs. Society, is it ethical for wrongful treatment to be covered up by the government? Public vs. Privacy, is it ethical to take away someones' freedom of privacy. I would like to use this in my classroom to address the rights we as citizens have when it comes to technology. After reading just this little bit, it has me wondering: Do I have as much privacy as I think? Which could be a great discussion question in a classroom.
I looked through Cory Doctorow's blog and found that Little Brother is such a hit in schools. The book has been translated into many languages, a song, and a play. Cory must be very tech-savy to have written a book whose main character is a technology genius.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Multi-Modal Post 2
Last Sunday was the Golden Globes and I don't know if anyone watched them but I did. After watching all the nominations Social Network received (Best Motion Picture-Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, Best Director - Motion Picture, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, and Best Original Score - Motion Picture) winning 4 of 6, I knew I had to see this film. First, I read the article "History of Facebook," so I knew a little of what was going on. I really enjoyed the movie. Fiction or Nonfiction the movie itself was good. Now there is much controversy over the film and I watched several interviews with Mark Zuckerberg and the Winklevoss Twins. Zuckerberg states that much of the film is fabricated whereas the Winklevoss Twins state that much of it is factual. The truth to this debate will never be known to the public. I found Jesse Eisenberg to be a witty and serious actor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFFtpd8VNN0
After reading the article and watching the movie I believe that they were similar, while I won't know if either are factual. I will repeat what I said in my last post, I think Mark Zuckerberg built off an idea, and I don't think there is nothing wrong with that.
For instance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tqT0Z9k9XA&feature=channel
should Dustin get a portion of money because of this? Everything just comes down to money.
I found this scene in Social Network to be relevant to Chapter 3 in "The Socially Networked Classroom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKVyVw9AzNA
With the new technology available to kids, they do not realize that once something is on the web it is public domain forever. There is always ways to access information. While introducing technology is a new way for students to learn, they have to know how to do it safely and respectfully. I like the idea of blogging and the sites mentioned on pg. 55 seem like good sites. It is combining what students don't necessarily find enjoyable (writing) and combining it with something they like (computers and typing). Again, it gives students a voice when they might not have one in the classroom. Many parents worry about the safety of their child blogging; however, if it is used for educational purposes, with the teacher monitoring, there shouldn't be an issue. For example literature circles, having students read books and comment on them, there doesn't seem like any harm in that. However, parents think of blogging in a non-safe way, but if they realized that this is the new way of learning and got all the information they might look at it in a new light.
On a new note, there was another movie at the Golden Globes that sparked my attention, Temple Grandin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkN0JdXRpM which is based on an autistic woman who is now the top animal scientist. The mini-film was nominated for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Made for TV Movie (Claire Danes won), Best Mini-Series or Made for TV Movie, and Best Supporting Actor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFFtpd8VNN0
After reading the article and watching the movie I believe that they were similar, while I won't know if either are factual. I will repeat what I said in my last post, I think Mark Zuckerberg built off an idea, and I don't think there is nothing wrong with that.
For instance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tqT0Z9k9XA&feature=channel
should Dustin get a portion of money because of this? Everything just comes down to money.
I found this scene in Social Network to be relevant to Chapter 3 in "The Socially Networked Classroom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKVyVw9AzNA
With the new technology available to kids, they do not realize that once something is on the web it is public domain forever. There is always ways to access information. While introducing technology is a new way for students to learn, they have to know how to do it safely and respectfully. I like the idea of blogging and the sites mentioned on pg. 55 seem like good sites. It is combining what students don't necessarily find enjoyable (writing) and combining it with something they like (computers and typing). Again, it gives students a voice when they might not have one in the classroom. Many parents worry about the safety of their child blogging; however, if it is used for educational purposes, with the teacher monitoring, there shouldn't be an issue. For example literature circles, having students read books and comment on them, there doesn't seem like any harm in that. However, parents think of blogging in a non-safe way, but if they realized that this is the new way of learning and got all the information they might look at it in a new light.
On a new note, there was another movie at the Golden Globes that sparked my attention, Temple Grandin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkN0JdXRpM which is based on an autistic woman who is now the top animal scientist. The mini-film was nominated for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Made for TV Movie (Claire Danes won), Best Mini-Series or Made for TV Movie, and Best Supporting Actor.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Multi-Modal Post 1
"What type of student will not do well in [this] school?" This was the question presented by Kylene Beers in the Forward of The Socially Networked Classroom. To me the question may seem straight-forward, but it is more complicated than that. Is it the student or schools' fault for a student to be unsuccessful?
In the article "The Battle for Facebook," Fortune wrote, "There may be a new kind of Internet emerging — one more about connecting people to people than people to Websites." This statement if entirely true. The way people can stay connected through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Skype, etc. shows that our society today is obsessed with staying connected. With that being said, the younger the generation the more technologically advanced they are becoming. Meaning the more technology should be integrated into classrooms. It is scary to see 5th and 6th graders texting and being able to do things on the internet, but that is their generation. In classes that I am taking we are learning how to integrate (safely) technology into the classroom. In another, I'd say five years, classrooms are going to be a majority technology based. They are trying to get campuses to be 100 percent online.
In chapters 1 and 2 of The Socially Networked Classroom there are many helpful ways to integrate new media into the classroom. I liked analyzing films element by element. I liked this idea because obviously you can do it with any film. It can be helpful for students to see the major elements in a film that they have looked past before. The more we do group activities in the class the more I like the idea of working together. That is why the count to 10 game was fun. However, my concern would be doing it in an average size class of 20-25+. I feel the larger the group the longer it would take? I also really got excited about the writing collaboratively activity. I felt like there is so much a teacher can do with this activity. Not only could you use it for poems, but you can use it as a story board, character analysis, plot summary, or grammar exercise. With students working together collaborating and bouncing ideas off each other it makes the work more fun and enjoyable.
Blogging is becoming very popular with everyone. Last semester was the first time that I kept a blog, but I really enjoyed it. When I was younger I kept a journal, so I was used to writing thoughts down. I believe many parents have a misconception of blogging. They automatically assume it is unsafe because it is associated with the internet. However, what the older generations don't realize is that blogs/internet is in and paper is (almost) out. I feel with the multitudes of safe blogging websites, blogging should be incorporated into the classroom for educational purposes. My sister is in 8th grade and some of her classes are turning more towards technology. Her social studies class last year set up a class page where they used a blog and had homework assignments. However, I was upset at how many parents complained they did not want their child to use the blog because they thought people would be able to hack into the information. However, in my future classroom I want to take advantage of blogging. Last semester we did online literature circles, which worked really well. I think blogging is a way for students to voice their opinions thoroughly without feeling embarrassed in class.
In regards to the "The Battle for Facebook" I found the article very interesting. I knew a little about the controversy surrounding Facebook, but did not know it went that much into depth. I don't know what to believe with the situation, but I think that Mark was a scary, brilliant student who was able to feed off ideas to create his empire. Do I think all those people who got robbed deserve money, not necessarily. They had versions similar to Mark's but he was able to make something from them. Everyone has ideas, but technically they were not patent ideas so can he really get into trouble from here-say? To me that's what the article was, these guys all had the initial "idea" for Facebook, but how is that to be proven? Thinking about this reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Kramer has the idea for the ocean perfume and Calvin Klein steals his idea after they laughed in his face. He gets so mad and marches down to their office.
In the article, Mark stated he wasn't in it for the money "I'm in this to build something cool," he told Fortune, "not to get bought." I'm not dumb, of course he wants the money. That is why he fired everyone involved and is now a billionaire. He pushed everyone away and has a lot of people hating him for his actions.
I never saw the movie Social Network, but I heard that it made Mark look like an ass (for lack of a better term). However, the movie was part fiction, which I feel is wrong providing fabricated information. Whatever the issue I love Facebook and kudos to the creator(s).
In the article "The Battle for Facebook," Fortune wrote, "There may be a new kind of Internet emerging — one more about connecting people to people than people to Websites." This statement if entirely true. The way people can stay connected through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Skype, etc. shows that our society today is obsessed with staying connected. With that being said, the younger the generation the more technologically advanced they are becoming. Meaning the more technology should be integrated into classrooms. It is scary to see 5th and 6th graders texting and being able to do things on the internet, but that is their generation. In classes that I am taking we are learning how to integrate (safely) technology into the classroom. In another, I'd say five years, classrooms are going to be a majority technology based. They are trying to get campuses to be 100 percent online.
In chapters 1 and 2 of The Socially Networked Classroom there are many helpful ways to integrate new media into the classroom. I liked analyzing films element by element. I liked this idea because obviously you can do it with any film. It can be helpful for students to see the major elements in a film that they have looked past before. The more we do group activities in the class the more I like the idea of working together. That is why the count to 10 game was fun. However, my concern would be doing it in an average size class of 20-25+. I feel the larger the group the longer it would take? I also really got excited about the writing collaboratively activity. I felt like there is so much a teacher can do with this activity. Not only could you use it for poems, but you can use it as a story board, character analysis, plot summary, or grammar exercise. With students working together collaborating and bouncing ideas off each other it makes the work more fun and enjoyable.
Blogging is becoming very popular with everyone. Last semester was the first time that I kept a blog, but I really enjoyed it. When I was younger I kept a journal, so I was used to writing thoughts down. I believe many parents have a misconception of blogging. They automatically assume it is unsafe because it is associated with the internet. However, what the older generations don't realize is that blogs/internet is in and paper is (almost) out. I feel with the multitudes of safe blogging websites, blogging should be incorporated into the classroom for educational purposes. My sister is in 8th grade and some of her classes are turning more towards technology. Her social studies class last year set up a class page where they used a blog and had homework assignments. However, I was upset at how many parents complained they did not want their child to use the blog because they thought people would be able to hack into the information. However, in my future classroom I want to take advantage of blogging. Last semester we did online literature circles, which worked really well. I think blogging is a way for students to voice their opinions thoroughly without feeling embarrassed in class.
In regards to the "The Battle for Facebook" I found the article very interesting. I knew a little about the controversy surrounding Facebook, but did not know it went that much into depth. I don't know what to believe with the situation, but I think that Mark was a scary, brilliant student who was able to feed off ideas to create his empire. Do I think all those people who got robbed deserve money, not necessarily. They had versions similar to Mark's but he was able to make something from them. Everyone has ideas, but technically they were not patent ideas so can he really get into trouble from here-say? To me that's what the article was, these guys all had the initial "idea" for Facebook, but how is that to be proven? Thinking about this reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Kramer has the idea for the ocean perfume and Calvin Klein steals his idea after they laughed in his face. He gets so mad and marches down to their office.
In the article, Mark stated he wasn't in it for the money "I'm in this to build something cool," he told Fortune, "not to get bought." I'm not dumb, of course he wants the money. That is why he fired everyone involved and is now a billionaire. He pushed everyone away and has a lot of people hating him for his actions.
I never saw the movie Social Network, but I heard that it made Mark look like an ass (for lack of a better term). However, the movie was part fiction, which I feel is wrong providing fabricated information. Whatever the issue I love Facebook and kudos to the creator(s).
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