Thursday, December 10, 2009

PLN 28

In Karl Fisch’s article, "I Read (?) the News Today, Oh Boy," about the video of the online interactive sports illustrated, Sports Illustrated- Tablet Demo 1.5, how we are reading and writing is changing. “The way we interact with “text” is changing,” says Mr. Fisch. What used to be in print is now more accessible and easier online or on your phone. Mr. Fisch quotes Jason Ohler, who says that we have to stop training students to use paper and pencil because it will be irrelevant when we have grown up. I agree with this, because when I want to get a job involving computers I want to be able to know what I am doing and now be thrown into a world that I don’t know what to do with. We are going from mostly pencil and paper to majority digital information. I believe that is the easier way anyway. Why do we have to carry around ten pound textbooks that we open once a night instead of putting it online and being able to access it whenever. I think that the Sports Illustrated is only the beginning of a major switch in documents, from pencil to keyboard.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

PLN 27

In the video Google Goggles, and the article "Google Goggles: why didn’t I think of that?," by Karl Fisch what matters is that this is a huge step for technology because there is no typing or speaking involved. For this new search engine to work all you have to do is take a picture and google goggles can figure out what it is and give you information about it. This is amazing to me because I am fascinated by technology and this only improves my thoughts on it. Technology is always moving forward like Karl Fisch’s “Did You Know” video says. Google is also an impressive source and always seem to be coming out with the next technological advance. This also relates to Karl Fisch’s “2020 vision” which talks about the technology in the next 11 years. This new search engine by google is extremely impressive and crazy to think about. I can find out all about a business by a persons business card by just taking a picture of it. I can figure out the artist and title of a painting. I can find out tons of information through google goggles without saying of typing anything.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

PLN 26

In the article by Karl Fisch, “A Shift in the Digital Divide,” what I thought was interesting was that non-Hispanic whites were not at the top of each graph they were at the bottom. This graph is about how many young Latinos, Blacks, and Whites have used mobile devices. All the graphs show that Latinos are at the highest ethnic group in use of mobile IM, Texting, Emailing, Internet, directions, video, and music. This article says that they believe it is because young Latinos and Blacks are spreading their knowledge with older generations. Another reason they think is that mobile is cheaper than home connection, but you get the same thing. I have a cell phone, but I can’t access the Internet, IM, email, or get directions, but it is very convenient. I can almost always get a signal and talk to whomever I want. One thing I don’t understand is how does this show a shift in the digital divide. What did the old divide look like? I was surprised that non-Hispanic whites were not on the top of each list because almost everyone I know has a Iphone or a Touch and can do all those things on their phone.

Monday, November 23, 2009

PLN25

In the article by David Warlick, “Qualities of an Effective Teacher,” what matters is that how students do reflects the effectiveness of a teacher, but that shouldn’t effect the pay check. I have good and bad teachers, teachers that I learn a lot from, and some I don’t learn anything from, some easy and some incredibly hard. There are also students that work really hard and always have and always will. Then there are other students that don’t care. That shouldn’t mean teachers get paid more or less. I believe that teachers need to challenge their students, and if they were getting paid depending on grades, I don’t know if teachers would do that. What would happen to education? Students wouldn’t be prepared for the huge world we get thrown into. Teachers might make tests and homework too easy in order to keep the grades in their class high. How would our world react to students that aren't prepared and not as intellectually advanced because teachers want to make a couple extra bucks. I think it would be easier and more fair to give schools bonus' if they are academically ahead. Then the school can decide to distribute to the teachers. Yes students grades reflect the teacher but money shouldn’t be involved.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

PLN24

In the article by the Denver Post, “Pilot Injured In Plane Crash On Western Slope,” what matters is that technology isn’t perfect yet. Technology is dangerous and people still get hurt or killed because of it. This relates to my PLN 17 about how a man was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. Technology still has a long way to go until it is completely safe. For the most part technology is safe but everyone hears about or knows people that have been killed in car crashes. Technology is the best way to get around; airplanes, cars, and boats. None of those are perfect but they are the safest way at this time. That is not to say that we wont continue to improve and enhance those methods of transportation. Technology is incredible, but nothing is perfect.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

PLN23

In Karl Fisch’s The Heritage School of Kabala,” what matters is that kids in Sierra Leone are going to get an education because of the work that Heritage did. Heritage raised $60,000 in three years and are now building a school in Sierra Leone, the Heritage school of Kabala. Arapahoe does wish week and toys for tots but we do nothing of this size. I have been told that nothing worth having is free. Whether it is money, time or hard work that went into it. Heritage worked hard, spent time, and raised money for these children in Sierra Leone. I think this is amazing because Heritage could have used that money for themselves and enhancing there own school but instead they are building a completely new school. Heritage worked hard and raised money, and therefore kids in another country can get a good education.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

PLN22

In the article, “Put Forth our Best Writing selves,” by Douglas Hesse, what matters is that I use Facebook and the social networking sites but I think that it helps our writing because we are always writing, whether it be one sentence or four pages.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

PLN 21

In David Warlick’s, “This would be weird,” what matters is woman are about to outnumber males in Americas work force for the first time ever. Also women are losing jobs at much lower rate then men are in these tough economic times. In September women made up 49.83% of the work force. They are now expected to make up at least 50%. This matters to me because as women’s numbers go up that means male’s numbers are going down. This relates to the article we read about how women do better in college than males. Women are beginning to become a larger and larger part in the world. From the 1900’s when women couldn’t even vote and barely worked, to being the majority of the work force.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

PLN 20

In the article by the Denver Post, “Most Denverites Stressed, Survey Indicates,” what matters is that I believe I am one of approximately 25% that say they are not stressed out. A study was done in the metro area of 202 people from July 21 till Aug 4 and it showed that 75 percent of residents were stressed. Most people said their stress had gone up because of the last year; election, economy, and health care issues. I don’t get stressed very easily, when I am a little stressed I go outside and play basketball and feel better once I am done. Mostly homework and when I hurt myself doing something stupid is what stresses me out. My mom gets stressed extremely easily on the other hand. My dad and I are both laid back so it is not a good mix when my gets stressed. She gets intensely angry at us because we aren’t as stressed as she is. I don’t get stressed but when I am I know how to cope. I know what to do in order to not be stressed anymore. Although 75% of residents that were surveyed said they were stressed, I am not part of that large number and very happy because of it.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

PLN19

I agree with the article “ Don’t, Don’t, Don’t vs. Do, Do, Do” by Will Richardson because I like looking at “dos” and not “do nots.” If we were taught earlier what not to do on the computer then we would already know those restrict when we use computers more regularly. Rules that make you do something instead of restricting you from doing something seem to work better I think. “Do your homework first,” versus “You cant hang out with friends until your homework is finished.” If I heard the second example I wouldn’t do my homework and live with not being able to hang out with friends that day. On the other hand if I heard the first example I would get my homework done as quick as possible and go play. ‘Do nots” also make it seem like you can’t do anything on the computer while “dos” make you look forward to having a computer. “Dos” are much more fun to look at then “do nots” because they show the positives of having a computer.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

PLN18

In “Anne Smith- One of 20 to Watch,” by Karl Fisch, Mrs. Smith was honored for being technologically advanced in her class. She is one of 20 teachers in the country to “watch.” Mrs. Smith as well as another teacher named Chris Moore, were both recognized from the same district. This is important because we have teachers on staff that are trying to higher the expectations of students through technology. Smith is helping our first period English class to become better writers through blogger, Google Earth, and Google Reader. Nice job Mrs. Smith!

Monday, October 26, 2009

PLN17

In the article “Centennial man killed in motorcycle accident,” by the Denver Post, what matters is technology isn’t always safe because nothing is perfect. This man was riding a motorcycle and hit the median and was found dead. This whole year we have talked about technology and how it will change our lives and the future. I have always been a fan of motorcycles and so is my brother, he wants to buy one when he gets enough money. I think they are cool, but they are also very dangerous like lots of other technology. Even computers are not completely safe with messed up and scary people on the Internet, as well as technology can cause fire and burn. Technology is a great thing but it needs some refining as to be safe and less dangerous.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

PLN16

In Karl Fisch’s thought for the day 5-30-09,” commitment needs to come first to be successful. “If organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either.” I have always had trouble committing to things I don’t like, such as school or chores, but when I do commit to them I find I am successful. Such as this year in high school I have been committed because I have something to strive for, if I don’t have good grades I can’t play basketball, and that’s just not an option for me. I make commitments to things I like very easily, such as basketball or interesting homework assignments. I had an assignment on my family tree in eighth grade and I committed to it and received a 95% on that project. I commit to basketball everyday and I am getting better everyday I play. Success doesn’t happen unless you want it to happen and you work for it, or commit to it.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

PLN15

In the article “Our Googley Advice to Students: Major in Learning,” by the writers at the google blog, what matters is that google is not the only place that looks for this type of worker. To get a good job I must have these characteristics. Google says they look for “non-routine savants” with analytical reasoning, communication skills, willingness to experiment, team player, passion, and leadership. This article says the challenge is how to acquire the characteristics and I agree. The article by David Warlick named "What is 21st Century Learning?,” says that good learners learn by questioning, engaging, proving, and teaching others. Questioning goes with analytical reasoning, engaging with communication, proving with experimentation, teaching with team player. To be a good worker you must also be a good learner. Every business has a type of worker they look for, having these characteristics will fit you in almost anywhere.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

PLN14

In the article “Rigor Redefined,” by Tony Wagner, what matters is characteristics of a good student because I think of myself as a good student. This article says that good students ask good questions, engage in good discussions in teams, as well as critical thinking, collaboration and leadership, agility, initiative, effective oral and written communication, analyzing information, and curiosity and imagination. This article thinks that this is what a student in the 21st century needs to be successful. I agree with critical thinking, leadership, affective written and oral, and analyzing information are key in education. What else is important to our education? I believe that being technologically advanced will help you tremendously in school. As a student I am a critical thinker, leader, and I can ask good questions, and discuss as a team pretty well, which I believe makes me a good student.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

PLN13

I disagree with "Keyboards vs. Pens" and Virginia Berninger's study because I write better on a computer and I think it is a lot faster. I like to write with pencil and paper but I like to be able to delete my thoughts and try again on the computer. With pencil and paper you have to erase and it makes the paper look informal and messy. But it is also not good to only rely on one form of writing. Both computers and traditional pencil and paper have pros and cons but I believe the computer would be better. I believe it is faster, and easier to look at your thoughts and delete them if you don’t like them. Another thing I like is being able to proof read very easily. Word has lots of tools like word search, spell check, and it tells you when something is spelled wrong or grammar is incorrect. With pencil and paper it is much harder to proof read and little mistakes that were made are not seen and fixed. My writing is better and faster on a computer because of all the tools computers have.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

PLN12

In Will Richardson’s article “Footprints In The Digital Age,” what matters is how we are being judged by our use of the web because I do not want to look different on the Internet than I am in real life. The fact is people will see your digital footprint, and you will be judged because of that footprint. Just like in our essay, yes our digital footprint should affect your future because you will be judged based on your Facebook, YouTube, blogs, emails, and documents you publish. This article says that teens are “creating, publishing, and learning on their own, outside school.” I disagree with this, I think our teachers and parents are a major part of what we create, publish, and learn on the web. He makes it seem as though teens are doing whatever we want on the Internet and ruining the whole idea. I believe we are making the Internet more modern and new and more up to date. The Internet is a great tool and every teen knows that, every teen uses that to their advantage. Every teen uses the web for school related subjects and non-school related subjects, which does not mean I am a different person on the web than I am in real life. Whether I like it or not I will be judged by how I use the internet, but I am the same person on both fronts.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

PLN11

In Karl Fisch video “2020 Vision,” what matters is that there will be a great increase in education through technology throughout our lives and into the future because that is what is most convenient to our world. Mr. Fisch’s other video, “Did You Know” talks about how different our world will be in the near future and that is what this “2020 Vision” is saying as well. Instead of just saying the future will be different though, this video actually predicts what is going to happen.. The majority of the predictions he made were something to do with google and how it grew. Google will become a major part of education and replace the normal lectures and homework that we have now. He also predicts that Google will actually create an online university. Is google going to know everything detail about every person? How would that help our society? Technology is going to become the way of education in the future, which we already see a little bit of now. Technology is increasing every year in schools. Such as more kids are bringing their laptops to school or, more teachers are using blogs, or moodle as homework assignments. Power Point presentations and Smart Boards have already taken place of most traditional lectures. All this shows is that technology is taking over education. Throughout our lives and into the future technology will completely envelope education and make our lives much easier and faster.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

PLN10

“H1N1, Skype, and a Possible Tipping Point,” by Karl Fisch was interesting to me because I think that is a great idea and great use of technology. With using skype to be a part of the class, students don’t have to worry about make up work as much because they heard the lecture and can understand the homework. Usually when you are sick makeup work just adds stress because you don’t know how to do the homework or you don’t understand it. I wish I had known about skypeing into class when I was sick because I was way behind on my work even though I only missed two days. Skype is a great use of technology and a great way to stay in touch and not fall behind in school.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

PLN9

In "Did you know 4.0," by Karl Fisch the facts about phones were surprising to me because they are so useful in our daily lives. 93% of adults have a cell phone, which probably means around 75% of teens have a cell phone. Among those teens the average amount of texts in a month is 2,272, showing that teens use their phones a lot! Cell phones are becoming more useful because they have Facebook and Twitter and the Internet programed on them including everything else a phone can do. Everyone uses their phone and phones are becoming more common and more useful everyday.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

PLN8

In the Michael Wesch video, “A Vision of a Student Today,” technology is becoming the main source of learning because that is how our world is moving forward. One example I thought was interesting was the girl will read 8 books, 2300 web pages, and 1281 Facebook profiles in that year. Another example is that the guy will buy hundred dollar textbooks that he will never open. Where is he going to get the information he needs other than from the teacher’s mouth? On his computer, the Internet. Our world is moving forward by using primarily technology for our source of information. Other than what teachers tell us, the Internet is where us students get the majority of our information. Technology is becoming a main source of learning and soon will be the main source.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

PLN7

In the article, “What is 21st Century Learning?” by David Warlick I agree with him that the main points in learning are questioning, engaging, proving, constructing, and teaching others because they are all needed to learn in the best and fastest way. These all go in chronological order as well; first you question and begin to understand. Then you engage by doing homework or taking notes. After that you prove what you learned by checking your notes or other resources. Construction by adding on your own knowledge to what you have already learned. Finally you help others and they can help you figure how you came to conclusion or what you learned. Questioning, engaging, proving, construction, and teaching others are the most efficient ways to learn in this century.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

PLN6

In the article by David Warlick, “The Answer for Textbook Publishers,” I disagree with him because if we make textbooks smaller and put them on smaller devises it will make it very easy to get distracted.. It is hard enough to focus with a textbook and then a phone or ipod, mix them together and homework will never get done. Whenever I try to access an online textbook I am always distracted by facebook, or youtube, and my phone. How would this change if I could get a textbook on my phone? Textbooks aren’t that bad to carry around, and I usually only have to carry one home a night. Yes, making textbooks smaller would be more convenient but I don’t think that it would help students in any way, it would only make it easier to get distracted while doing homework.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

PLN5

In Clive Thompson’s article, “The New Literacy,” I agree with what Andrea Lunsford says. She believes that technology has helped our writing not hurt it. One of her main points was that students do so much more writing outside of school now than they did before Internet. People are always writing to an audience, whether it is one person or many, professor or friends. Students were more excited to write about anything other than their schoolwork because their homework was only being done to get a grade. “ … knowing who you’re writing for and why you’re writing might be the most crucial factor of all.” Technology causes us to practice our writing making it better and better every time we write.

Monday, September 7, 2009

PLN4

In the video, "The Machines are Us/ing Us," by Dr. Wesch was confusing to me. I was not sure what Dr. Wesch was trying to get across in this video. One subject that was a little over my head was when he was talking about how structeral elements describe the content not the form of a document. i don't know what that means or why that is important. Also, I was confused when the video talked about how we are teaching the machines, and teaching them ideas. That doesn't make any sense to me. I don't understand how "the machines are using us," and "the machines are us." I thought the video was interesting but i didn't understand the point of the video and why the video was made.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

PLN3

In the video, “More than a passing trend part II,” by Karl Fisch, what mattered to me was the size of the social media. One example is that if Facebook became a country on its own, it would have the fourth largest population, behind the US. It took Facebook only nine months to gather 100 million users, and it took nine months for the Ipod application store to reach 1 billion users. Ashton Kutcher has more twitter followers that the population of Ireland, Norway, and Panama. YouTube is the second largest search engine with 100,000,000 videos. These facts go on and on about social media, which blows me away, I knew it was large but I didn’t realize it was that massive.

Monday, August 31, 2009

PLN2

In the two articles “Women Raise Bar In Colleges” by an unknown writer and “Quiet Gender Gap Hits Collegiate Balance” by the Post Editorials what mattered to me was the stereotype put on high school males. Male high school students are often thought of as slackers or underachievers as well as being more focused on other things. I believe this stereotype is only true for a fraction of the male student body. Yes many males don’t care about grades, but most are very mindful of their schoolwork. They share their time wisely between sports and other activities as well as homework. In one of the articles it said that some colleges are accepting males just to increase the male population in that school. I think that there are plenty of males that want to go to college and qualify for that college that they don’t have to just accept males but can actually look at applications. Yes I believe that the stereotype put on high school males is true for some people but I disagree with it overall.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

PLN1

In Karl Fisch's video "Did you Know?" was the future of our world. Students are being prepared for jobs that don't exist yet, to use technology that hasn't yet been invented, being taught to solve problems that we don't know are problems. This matters because some things we are being taught we don't need or will be irrelevant in years to come. On the other hand some information we are being taught is irrelevant in these times but will be relevant in years ahead. Technology is really interesting to me so when it says everything about computers i think that is really cool and weird at the same time. The world is changing rapidly and our future will be incredibly different than our times now.