On Google Earth

First and foremost, I want to say that controversy aside, I love Google Earth and Google Maps.
Once upon a time, I was a lowly MapQuest user...
I don't have a GPS, no turn by turn navigation for me. So when I have to go somewhere I've never been, I look it up on Google Maps. The unique and fantastic thing about this is the "street view" function. If there are tricky intersections, or weird turns that you might have to take on your route, just glance at the street view and note what the surrounding area looks like.
And which of you hasn't looked to see if your own house was on there yet?
Why just the other day as I was applying for transfer to JSC, I had to drive up there, and I looked at the street view for that five-way intersection in (I believe) Essex. The written instructions told me to go right on Maple Street and then turn left on Main Street. Really, I just had to go straight through. The other nice thing about this function is that you can look to see if there are turn lanes and whatnot, so you are prepared ahead of time.
Google Earth in particular is a lot of fun. When my sister first moved to Germany, I was able to look up her house on Google Earth, and see just how tiny of a little village she really did live in. According to Wikipedia, the population is 2,884. (Also according to wikipedia, Middlebury is over 35,000). So yeah, it's a tiny little town. But it was so cool for me to be able to go and actually see her house, without ever having been there.
The other thing that I did when I first got Google Earth was to go and look at all the places I really want to see.
The Kremlin, the Taj Mahal, the Golden Palace, the Great Wall, the Amazon Rainforest, the Sydney Opera House...
It was amazing to me that now I could actually see them. Right there.
Let's not forget the contribution that this technology has made in other areas. Now, rather than purchasing a GPS, there are applications for various cell phones that can, in conjunction with Google, provide turn by turn directions as you drive! I swear, some day we will be down to one portable device that will do it all. I mean, we're practically there but for the physical size of a computer and the greater comfort it provides for long typing/browsing sessions.
And there is so much more that can be done with Google Earth that I haven't even begun to explore. Ocean floor and surface data, Audio recorded tours! I mean, come on. You really can see the world without ever leaving your computer chair (or couch, or whatever).

I can just imagine how fantastic it would be to use this technology in the classroom. Besides exploring the world, it would provide a perfect segue to a discussion on privacy rights and safety with technology!

Thanks for reading,
Katie May

Thankful!!!

Well, here I am supposed to be blogging about all of the wonderful things that technology does for us, and for what about technology I have to be thankful.
Today I walked into work to discover that we had gotten a "Windows Anitvirus Pro" malware program on our main computer. Since I am no whiz, I have no idea what to do about it. I found a patch that stops the malware running, but you have to open it before the malware program opens, or the malware blocks you from opening the patch. Hooray.
I would be really thankful if we could get some new computers at work (maybe even Macs) and maybe, perhaps, perchance some professional grade antivirus software, instead of relying on the freeware.

Ok, done being sarcastic.
All said and done, technology has allowed us to make wonderful advancements in our quality of life and our quality of education. Information is so available now, it's almost scary. When you google a topic, it's hard to imagine there is anything left yet to be studied, researched, pondered, tested, examined, designed, or invented.

I am thankful for Facebook. I know that might sound trite, but really, I am. I am in contact with so many people I would never have found again. I can talk to people all over the world (including my sister in Iraq) at the push of a button. For that matter, I'm thankful for Skype.
But back to Facebook. I am thankful that at any given moment that I have a random question, I can see who is online and bug them for an answer. One friend might tell me what movie to watch, another might tell me what is the best vocabulary word for my sentence, and yet another might help me fix my computer problems. And yes, I really do bug people with such questions. They're on Facebook, which they maybe oughtn't be if they are doing anything important...

I am thankful for my TI-83 Plus calculator, without which, Statistics would be... well, really time consuming.

I am thankful for my debit card, the most pervasive piece of technology perhaps... I am thankful for the microwave oven that cooked my dinner, and
And don't even let me go into all of the medical equipment that I am sure to one day be thankful for...

I am thankful that I can attend my classes at 2:30 on a Sunday morning in my pyjamas, and that I can renew my library books online.

There really is a lot to be thankful for when it comes to technology. It really makes our lives so much more connected to one another, when we choose to use it that way. It allows me to know the answer to just about any fact based question my little brain might invent, such as, what is the average flight speed of a Monarch Butterfly?...

"Traveling at an average speed of 12 mph (but sometimes going up to 30 mph), the monarchs cover about 80 miles a day. They can fly at heights of up to 2 miles."

-gomexico.about.com

It truly is amazing that I can be walking down the street and learn that my sister in Iraq shot 98% accuracy on the range that day, or that my older sister just arrived at Venice Beach and it's beautiful...
I really admire the connectedness we have now with our world. Because, really, at what point, pre-technology, could a person even know the average flight speed of the Monarch Butterfly?

Thanks,
Katie May

Vlogging!!!

Ok, so I have no sort of video camera. I can do 45 second clips on my phone, and the video quality is really not great. So, I'll blog about vlogging!

First of all, let me say that I have watched a bajillion and one "Vlogs" in my day, and never really knew there was a name for them... I mean, it's essentially what you-tube is, when the content is original and of the user posting it, no?

My favorite type of vlogs are the cooking ones. I love to cook, and for the most part, I can figure out a recipe. But sometimes, recipes and certain types of things require special techniques that are better shown than told. For example, I am not so good at stovetop frying. When I was a teenager, my mom bought a countertop fryer, and I've worked in many restaurants. When you are spoiled having machines that keep your oil at the perfect temperature, getting it right atop a burner can be tricky business! Alas, one of my favorite foods ever in the world demands perfection in the stovetop frying department.
Enter Manjula's Kitchen! This woman shows you step by step. And though the frying is the tricky part, it's really helpful to get a visual on the dough as well. Those of you familiar with the multitudes of textures and consistencies dough can demonstrate will understand why.

I believe I have already mentioned the prodigiously young fashionista, Tavi, who occassionally posts vlogs to her blog at http://tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com/. Though, she blogs a lot, so it can be hard to find the video entries...

I really like any educational Vlogs I can find. Ones that show me how to do something I didn't know I could... In all honesty, if I had a camera, I would vlog cooking shows at least once a week...

It's the latest trend in the world of the internet. But I think it's a concept that will stick. I think it's probably also a great way for those who are slow at typing to get their message across without feeling so frustrated at their limitation.
It does lead me to wonder, though, whether we aren't coming up with more and more permanent trends on the internet. I mean, chat rooms were cool for a little while, but private IM's have stood the test of time, as has e-mail. But I really can't imagine things like photo and video sharing are going to dwindle the way chat rooms have...

Thanks,
Katie May

Ken Robinson: Schools Kill Creativity

First of all, I really don't even know what I can add to this. I have been of this very opinion for years now.
I had an interesting argument with my mom a while ago. We were discussing the allotment of school funding to arts programs, and what should be cut when the budget falls short. I have always argued that it's wrong to prioritize subjects in education. I know a lot of different people who think in a lot of different ways. I saw some of the most talented people I know be just miserable in the public education system because they just did not think that way. Someone who is a brilliant artist should not be told (which they are, indirectly when such programs are cut) that their area of expertise, that their talent field, is less valuable than mathematics, or language arts.
The question remains, though, how do we properly allot the budget so that all areas have the resources they need?
I had another mini-debate with a friend of mine over private versus public education. I was (in my current opinion) naive in the belief that public education is the only way to ensure that everyone has a fair shot. But then I realized that just because a child is stuck in a school building, doesn't mean that s/he has a fair shot, now does it?
Whatever the answer is, it was nice for me to see someone validate my opinion. Thanks Ken!
And, of course, I'll be spreading this video around....

Thanks,
Katie May

Not entirely sure what to blog about here.

So, the assignment was titled, "Blog about Powerpoint" but the description asked us to blog about how we are doing in the class so far. So, I'll go ahead and do both.

In class:

I think I am doing fairly well in this class so far. I have had an off day now and again that has put me behind on the discussion board, forgetting or neglecting or plain not having time when I thought I would to get to replying to people, but I am satisfied with the quality of the work that I have turned in, and I am especially satisfied with the material that I am learning. Considering that I have learned so much already, I can't imagine what more there is to learn. Therefore, there is nothing that I am so strongly hoping to achieve, because I just plain don't know what else there is!
However, I do hope that the lessons for the rest of the semester match the quality of the lessons past.

On PowerPoint: Bad Experiences.
Probably one of the most unanimous complaints about PowerPoint is that it is too oft used as digital note cards for the presenter. I have sat through presentations like this, where, not only were the slides merely text/bullet points, but the presenter added no information not on the slides. I have, sadly, seen this in both the educational and professional setting.
There is really not much worse than having an instructor show you a slide show, reciting the notes on the slides, and moving on. Nothing, of course, except for having that instructor hand you a printed copy of his presentation, and move too fast for you to even take decent notes. (For me it was in Anatomy & Physiology, which made it especially heinous, as there was so much more that could've been done in that class to make it interesting.)
While I do, in fact, appreciate this use, I would have to say that the most creative/effective use I have seen for this program so far has been to use as a photo slide show. And I speculate that there are far more inventive and enjoyable uses available for this program. I am looking forward to investigating what those might be...

Thanks

Week 7- Make-up... Bloom

Blogging about Bloom and his seemingly infamous taxonomy of higher cognitive engagement.

• Have you come across this theory before in your educational training?

I believe we touched on this in one or two of my other classes, but I'm sure it's this class that will have me remembering it forever. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised not to have been more familiar with it, considering that it's so useful and important. Though, I suppose most of my classes so far haven't really covered lesson planning...

• Does it help you understand some educational concepts you've never quite grasped?

It helps me organize my explanations for why I want to teach in certain ways. I don't know that it helps me to understand certain concepts, but it certainly helps me to organize and verbalize them.

• How will you apply it in your classroom?

Well, first and foremost, it is a great reference point for any lesson plan. I will compare my lessons to the taxonomy to see what higher levels the lesson addresses. I can then look at the missed levels and see if there is a way to tie in another activity to the lesson that can address those issues. It will also be interesting for me to see how children do at the tasks addressing the different levels. It will be useful to see if some children perform better at the higher levels, and if there is any sort of correlation between how high up the scale a lesson goes and how successful my students are at said lesson.

• Can you make connections between Bloom's and some of the other educational theories you've come across?

Well, I think it's interesting to compare Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Bloom's Taxonomy. I have to wonder if one didn't influence the other, at least on a basic level. It's almost as though Bloom took to creating a hierarchy of academic needs. First and foremost, we need information. It's the food and water of education... and so on.

Overall, I think it's a wonderful theory to keep in mind. It certainly seems useful, but I don't know that it would be feasible, or even a good idea to try and reach the highest level with all lesson plans. Some things, the multiplication tables, for example, you just have to know. And as far as I can imagine, while there are a few tricks to learning them, they are really just something that must be memorized. It's not until much later in mathematics that you actually get to do anything really creative with... well, math. And I may be wrong.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't make the lessons as fun as we can, more simply that a person, a teacher, only has so much time, and has so many lessons to plan that it would be nigh impossible to really develop every lesson in a school year to that highest level of cognition and learning. Further, students are already engaged in so much, and it seems to me that the work load of the average, at least 6-12th grade, student is increasing exponentially. So I think it would be important to really focus on applying the higher-order learning to those subjects for which it is less of a stretch.

Alright, well, that's all I really have to say about that...
Thanks,
Katie May

I Believe in Miracles...

Because that's probably what it's going to take to get someone to make the flowers grow. Unless you're a classmate, you've no idea what I'm talking about. Here, watch this...



First of all, I love his narration of all of the changes on the graph. His enthusiasm is contagious, certainly, but more than that, he actually makes the changes make sense.

I was completely amazed to see the disparities in the data on various African countries. I was especially appreciative of his use of trailing on one particular graph to show just how fast and how far the countries were moving, and to really highlight the various speeds at which those countries were making their progress.

"Improvement must be highly contextualized." If ever there was a truer phrase uttered, I'm sure I don't know. In affecting attitudes, there are three main components, the credibility of the person delivering the message, the manner in which the message is delivered, and the current attitudes of the person viewing/receiving the message.

Hans Rosling is a genius, I think... not because he has all of this data, or because he understands it. Though he argues that the data is hardly accessible, I see it as no great feat that he has the data, and I have never found data all that particularly difficult to understand. No, he's a genius because he recognizes that publicizing this information is the key to real change. He sees that we need to take the information that we already have, and turn it into something that the world can see. I mean really see. Thank goodness it's not officially impossible anymore. Now if only we can find someone who can do it.

Now I'm off to check out the graphs at Gapminder.org

Thanks for reading,
Katie May

Not on the DB

Another item of interest, not entirely related to rubrics, but linked to from the Kathy Schrock website, was discussing homework as a general challenge for teachers. On that site, there were two points that stood out to me:

1. At a Colorado teachers' workshop, participants discuss how to develop homework that helps children learn and competes with Nintendo.
I think that the fun thing about WebQuests is that they almost do stand up to Nintendo! They are (or should be) innovative, fun and engrossing. I think that an interesting approach to homework would be to look at what it is that distracts students from their homework, for many nowadays, it's video games, and compete with that. WebQuests allow students the visual appeal, the interactivity and perhaps even the sense of accomplishment that they can get from a video game. And by using the internet, it is actually possible to incorporate games into the lesson. Just as an example, for you non-believers, in my Anatomy & Physiology class, we had art-labeling activities, very much like a video game, where we had to click and drag the appropriate name to the corresponding organ/tissue/cell part on the diagram. So it's not exactly Burnout Paradise or Worms Armageddon (my two favorites!) but it was fun and addictive enough that I spent probably more time than I needed to on it. And, of course, it helped my grade!

2. At a Texas teachers' meeting, participants address concerns about a lack of parent support for homework.
I suffered this problem. My mother was very critical of the education system, and had me convinced of her views on education. At the time, of course, that was a bad idea. I figured as long as I passed my classes, it didn't matter. Six years out of high school, I am kicking myself because I'll have to work that much harder to get into whatever Grad program I decide to go for, considering my less than admirable grades in high school.
It is my opinion that, had I chosen not to go back to school, and to never pursue more than HS/GED level employment, it wouldn't have hurt me to have good grades in school. I really think that parents perpetuating the idea that education is unnecessary is a huge problem, and one that I have no idea how to correct. I mean, as teachers we can encourage the children all we like, but at the end of the day, it's their parents attitudes more than ours that have the lasting effect. So, what's a teacher to do? How can we change the attitudes of those parents?

Week 6, WebQuests continued.

This week we are critiquing our classmates WebQuests and, obviously in turn, having ours critiqued. I have the good fortune of working with some really intelligent and creative students in my class here. That always makes things easier.
However, I find that critiquing other students work, and especially in an online classroom, is always tricky business. One thing that is definitely missing in the online classroom is room for error in choice of words. When you are speaking face to face with someone, you have the opportunity to use your words, your tone, your body language, and your interpretation of the other persons read on what you just said to make sure that your message is clear and respectful, and most of all, understood in the context in which you intended.
To critique someone's work is, in and of itself, tricky business. For me, at least, I can find a hundred different ways that I might reword a sentence. So the first step is to ask myself if what I would change is actually wrong, or just different than my own style. Besides that, there is the fact that we all make silly mistakes. Grammatical and punctuational errors, oversights and the like... those are the most difficult to mention tactfully.
For me, I get frustrated when the feedback that I get on my work is unhelpful in improving my work. Criticism is so necessary to our education because the knowledge and opinions of other human beings are all that we have as a measure against which to gauge our own success.
There is no book that tells us definitively what is the best way to teach a class, what is the best way to raise your family... there are only collections of information based upon what we, humans, have been able to figure out so far; our theories and ideas, supported by experimental and observational data. And even the greatest minds in history have faced criticism, usually to the improvement of their ideas.
I'll wrap up by saying that in this particular class, in this particular week, I find myself quite fortunate to have classmates who are adept at both giving and receiving feedback. I found the suggestions made by my critic quite helpful, which makes sense considering he has practical teaching experience and I do not. He was able to point out the weaker areas in my WebQuest that would lead to just the kinds of things, slacking and scapegoating, that we need to be very careful to avoid in group projects. In turn, I felt that the direction that I attempted to provide my classmate was well received, and besides which, put to fantastic use!
I had a teacher once who loved to say that "The best way to learn something is to teach it!"
I have never been offered a truer sentiment. I have found that I gain so much more from a class in which students actively challenge one another, which is, in general, why I prefer online classes. When students exercise the online forum to its fullest potential, the rewards are exponential.
Thanks,
Katie May

Blogging it up- Avoiding WebQuest Mistakes

In case you aren't one of my classmates, and just happened upon this blog, this entry is a response to the following:

Clearly there are some common errors to be avoided in WebQuest design!
The first thing that had me concerned watching this video is the "Choosing a Topic" forum. I was immediately worried that my topic wouldn't hold up against the criteria. Fortunately, after listening for a little while, I decided that the WebQuest format is right for the topic of recycling. It is not so well covered in the textbooks (at least not back in my day). It leads to a very open ended project that will yield very different results from the student groups who work on this project.
Bernie also talks about real world application, which is, I think, a big important part of making learning something that engages students. He mentions that age-old question "When am I ever going to use this stuff?"
Well, by demonstrating lessons in ways that have real world applications, you are showing students skills that they will use. Really. That was the whole idea for me in this WebQuest culminating in a PSA. You see them all the time on television, hear them on the radio and (outside of Vermont) you see them on billboards. Students can have fun with the assignment and feel proud of what they have created. My goal is that it will be so much fun, they'll forget that they are actually learning!
He also mentioned that the best topics for WebQuests are those that are current type issues, about which the information is evolving all the time. Well, I certainly think that my topic fits the bill on that point. Environmental issues are a hot topic right now, what with global warming and all. Any student who has heard one way or another in that debate ought to be interested in finding more information on the subject!
Well, overall, I was relieved to mentally check off things in my WebQuest as Bernie brought them up. Of course, I would never claim that it was a perfect job, but I am comfortable saying that I think, at least according to this video, that I am off to a good start.
Thanks,
Katie May

http://recyclingwebquest.weebly.com/

WebQuest Ahoy!!

First and foremost, I am so jealous that we didn't have WebQuests when I was in school. While I can't hope to create one at this point that would ever be considered for an award or anything, some of the examples out there that I have seen are simply amazing.
I chose to do mine on Recycling this week. Well, Reducing, Reusing and Recycling, to be more precise. I am reminded when I think of recycling, of a character named Ray Cycle. You've probably never heard of Ray Cycle unless you grew up in Connecticut, an were in elementary school there some time between 1988 and 2003. Ray Cycle was a superhero who used to come to CT elementary schools and give an hour long presentation chock full of skits and songs, to get kids pumped about recycling. (Obviously he had an impact on me!)
I think that when lessons like that are fun, they are more effective. Not all kids can enjoy every lesson. Each student and each subject has its own challenges. In creating my webquest this week, my goal is to keep it as fun as possible. The students will eventually be charged with creating their own PSAs about managing solid waste in our school through reducing, reusing and recycling.
Creating this lesson plan has certainly presented me with many challenges so far. There is so much information out there on recycling, but the target audience is stretched so thin. What I mean is that there are a ton of informational sites out there directed toward adults and teenagers, and there are a lot of interactive and fun sites out there directed toward very much younger children. So for me, the biggest challenge so far has been to find substantial material covering all the interests I am trying to present (fun, information and creative ideas) that all line up with the age range to which I am trying to present this project.
The other issue that has me concerned is focus and creativity. While Recycling is quite a broad topic, there really is only so much to be said about it. I want to give my students enough information about recycling that they feel really comfortable knowing what it is and why it's important, while at the same time leaving room for them to explore creative possibilities for improving our school's current system.
I hope that I manage to create something that would at least be a fun and productive lesson plan, if not a ridiculously talented, award-winning type webquest. But whatever the final product, I'm having fun.
Thanks,
Katie May

Creative Commons

Maybe I have been living under a rock... I had never heard of Magnatune. I have to say, I'm impressed. It's one of those things that I feel was bound to happen. I have had a lot of great ideas in my day. And, seriously, who doesn't want to get paid for their ideas? If I could make a living just inventing things, or writing, or in any way just putting my creative juices to work, well, that would be great.

Pre-internet, though, it was pretty much inevitable that you would have to get someone to invest in whatever it was you were trying to produce in order to have it made, whether it was an album, a book, a magazine or some great new product, someone with money had to decide that they thought it was good enough to be made.

Nowadays, I'm finding my writing all over the internet. I found a paper the other day on a website called Scribd. It was probably me who put it there, but I don't remember putting it up and the site didn't recognize any of my e-mail addresses. A bit of a cause for concern maybe, though I was credited as the author... But that paper had had over 70 reads! I mean, even though I am concerned about who it was that published it (still it may have been me and I just forgot, or someone found a collection of my work at one of my ePortfolios and just decided to post it there) I can hardly be mad to know that so many people are reading my work.

That, I think, is what is great about creative commons. I never expected to make any money off of that paper. In fact, the only thing I ever expected to come of it was a good grade, maybe it would catch the attention of a prospective employer. But it is being read, and who knows, maybe even used as a source for ideas for similar papers by other college students. And that, as far as I can tell, is exactly what CC is all about. It's about sharing your work, for the sheer joy of sharing your work.

As far as the music industry is concerned, it was only a matter of time. The concept of "you decide if an how much to pay me for my music" is as old as bards and troubadours. So, really, the business model was already there. The internet allowed street and would-be musicians to actually share their music, their music, without sycophantically abasing themselves to the big label executives. One has only to look at the stories of American Idol contestants to see how a very handsome opportunity can be the devil in disguise.

" Archuleta... was forced to cancel a 'Thank You' concert [in Salt Lake City]. It was to be this Friday night and the proceeds were to go to charity. But American Idol nixed the whole thing because of Archuleta's "contractual obligations" to the show."-Johns, 2008

"Mario Vazquez... quit the show reportedly because of the contract that, among other things, wouldn't let him sign any deals until at least three months after the winner was crowned."-Johns, 2008

The music industry is, of course, not the only culprit of such ridiculous rules and obligations. They are only perhaps the most notorious, due to law suits with those who would try to bypass their rules, from big time companies like Napster to 12-year-old girls.

Perhaps I've run on a bit, maybe even gotten a bit off topic... But when it comes down to it, artists, writers and creative persons of any medium need to be able to have control of their own ideas. I think, in my limited knowledge of the subject, that Creative Commons is a fantastic idea. It allows people to share the things they create, and, if you ask me, it signifies a new age when money is not the ultimate goal anymore. It tells artists that it is ok to create and share their work. Furthermore, instead of being shut down by a handful of people at a label or a publishing house, it is a way for people to see, and feel good about the fact, that 70+ people have read/downloaded/been inspired by their creation.

Now that's what I call freedom.

Thanks,
Katie May

Building a Website

Once upon a time, I had a MySpace. Like most people I know, though, I eventually dumped MySpace in favor of Facebook. The reasons for me were numerous. First and foremost, I joined Facebook because it was where my little sister was sharing photos of her family. I began receiving friend requests from random strangers, and quickly discovered the plethora of 30-50 year old men who were only friends with 20-something beautiful women. It creeped me out that people were looking for booty calls on MySpace. I was there to keep in touch with my friends and family.

But the real clincher was the simplified format. I never knew what to expect visiting someone's profile on MySpace. Some people's pages were so loaded with graphics and fancy formats that my poor little computer could barely load them. Some of the formats even made certain buttons invisible, or stretched the width of the page so far you had to scroll back and forth to read each line. What was a good concept to start off with (both the social networking utility and the ability to really personalize your page) just turned out bad.

When I had an account with Verizon, they offered a free website with their service. It had limited design options, and though I set it up, I almost never used it. I have played around with a few different websites such as Box.Net and Posterous, andI finally settled on PBWorks to create my ePortfolios.

What really draws me to one host or another is the ease of use. PBWorks, I felt, had the best format of the pages I tried. Where Posterous and Box.Net were more about just file-sharing, I like that with PBWorks I could actually put together a professional looking site, with a front page and a site-map. And then, of course, there are my blogspots.

Of the various sites suggested this week, I am choosing Google, Yola and Wordpress. Google I like because it is attached to my Gmail account. Wordpress is a host with which I am familiar, as it has it's own StumbleUpon channel. I have found so many great and interesting blogs on that site, including some sound academic work. Yola is completely new to me, but so far so good. I haven't really gotten too far with any of these pages yet, but so far they seem pretty accessible. I'll let you know when I have more to say on them.

I'd like to take a moment again to say how simply amazing it is that the internet has become so much a part of our lives. There are so many sites out there that let you just build your own blog or web page, for free, with almost no strings attached (save the ever present "Terms of Service" basically saying they own your content and you won't post anything raunchy. Oh, and the good old limited liability clause). While there is so much concern now about our complete relinquishment of privacy, the fact is that anyone now, anyone with internet access can have their 15 minutes of fame. Of course, since the internet is theoretically forever, it's probably a lot more than fifteen minutes...

Thanks for reading,
Katie May

The Next 5000 Days of the Web

Here is what I imagine... what I want from technology if it insists on pervading our lives and delving so deeply into our personal business...
I imagine a life where all of my financial information is connected. I have ordered my preference for the payment of my bills, and the web takes care of the rest. It sees when bills are due, it assesses how much money is in my account. It knows my credit rating, which is much improved since I no longer have to remember to pay my bills.
I go to work and my hours are clocked. Everything in my life is clocked, in fact, on a small implanted chip. I go to drive my car, I scan my chip and the car starts. The car has mechanical trouble and it knows my preferred mechanic. It gets me a price quote, checks with my budget to see if it's affordable and it makes itself an appointment. It tells my calendar and my alarm clock so that I can be awake to take it in. It first checked with my calendar to make sure there was no scheduling conflict. Moments later, a car arrives, my car, in it's poor health, called a driver for me for today, so that it wouldn't have to. I go to use the computer and I scan my thumb chip. This turns on the computer to my personal settings. There is a list of things wanting my attention. I have prioritized this list. First on the agenda, view new photos uploaded by my family members. Second, discrepancy in the finance department of my life, review and decide. Third, jobs matching recent search queries have opened up in my area. Credentials have been sent, interviews set up. Note times.
As you can see, what I am picturing is not all that far off from what Kevin Kelly described. The web is everywhere.
I was thinking to myself today, as my laptop is undergoing repair, that I live more than half my life online. Most of my communications, my education, my socialization, my finance, and (some of) my leisure activities are dependent upon my having internet access. Short of breathing, eating and sleeping, I could conduct most of my life without ever leaving the computer screen. Of course, that thought scares me to death, and I hate it. I don't think we're quite headed for a life of complete stagnancy. We as creatures of nature recognize the value of unplugging once in a while.
But wouldn't it just be easier if instead of worrying about Credit Card fraud and identity theft if I had my own personal chip in my thumb. Go to the store, scan your thumb... go to the movies, scan your thumb... gas station, thumb. Greenhouse, thumb. Farmer's Market, thumb. McDonald's or Chez Paris, thumb. You'd never have to worry about it. So long as you weren't overspending, which you'd be alerted to well ahead of time, you'd never need to worry about tracking your finances, paying your bills or your taxes. Paper money could be a thing of the past. All trade will be in goods and services. Like one giant web monitored barter system. Now if only that thumb chip had a speaker for my music files...
Katie May

Instructional Technologies for Teaching- Week 1

Goals for the class:
I have grown up in the age of technology. I have been using computers for about as long as I can remember, and I have been using the internet since it became available to the average person. I have learned a lot in my school years about how to find information, and how to validate that information, on the internet. I've written dozens of papers and essays, and have enjoyed my education immensely.
There is a big difference, however, between using technology and teaching technology. If I am to be a teacher in today's classrooms, I have to be able to keep up with today's world, both material and virtual. I hope to learn in this class are methods for teaching others how to use technology properly. I hope to learn in this class better ways of understanding how to implement technology specifically for use in the classroom, i.e. lesson planning, idea sharing amongst professionals, presentation preparation, etc.
So far, I have already learned a few things that will save me a lot of time in the future. Much of what was reviewed in the Internet Detective tutorial was old news to me, but I certainly picked up a few gems of knowledge that I had clearly been missing out on. Intute, for example, seems like a great resource, and one that I had never conceived of before taking this course. Also, while I knew to look for things in the URL of website, and to check for sources and peer-reviews on articles, I never thought to check the mailing address or registry of a website to verify it's contents. Furthermore, the examples they provided (www.gatt.org vs. www.wto.org) were startling!
Lastly, at risk of sounding a bit brash, I really have no hesitations about this course. I am comfortable with technology, and I am comfortable with online learning.

Thank you for reading, come again soon!
Katie May