Module 4: blog post 4!

"Remix" focuses on how online music took off and became as popular as it is today. Instead of having to be able to play a piano, you can now use the internet to be able to make the same exact music with music players, re-mixers, producer, etc.

Not only can you make your own mixes of songs online you can also download any song by any artist that you like to your device and listen to it whenever and wherever you want. I used to download every song that I loved onto my iPod but now I don't even bother it has become such a hassle because everyone is doing it, it always runs so slow.

You can even put in a CD you like, load it to your iTunes, they load it to your device. The fear of starting all of this was that people would become disconnected, and unfortunately that has been what has happened for many of us. Many people keep their head phones in while walking around school instead of making friends and talking to people. They aren't experiencing being in the moment because they're listening to something else and tuning out the world.

Module 4: blog post 3!

"Working online is a fluid experience which calls for flexible learners.", stated in the reading, Construction and/or Creation of Online Content, couldn't explain better the way I feel about this EDU 106 course. I feel that in order to find a do what you need online you have to be a flexible learner, which I am not. I like everything to be written out in hard copy with a picture and a step by step description on how to do what is expected of me. 

Technology can be a difficult thing to figure and I for one can agree. This reading focuses on the Online Content Construction (OCC). This is all about trying to make students and teacher comfortable with being alone and to understand all of the concepts accurately. They try to take head on the Creation vs. Construction debate. Creation is defined as the act of producing. Construction is defined as the building of an infrastructure. 

They both require creativity and flexibility, which brings me back up to my first paragraph.  You have to be a very flexible learner in order to be completely successful while using the internet.  

Module 4; blog post 2!

I can't be the only one that is nervous for the ignite talk. Having to stand up in front of the class and talk about a topic for 15 seconds per slide is pretty nerve-wracking. Why is it I get nervous standing up in front of the class speaking but I have no problem shouting out in the middle of class and saying whatever I have to say via twitter where I know hundreds of people can see it. (277 followers if we wanna get technical). I think that many people, including myself, feel safe behind a computer screen.

I know that bullying has become an issue via the internet and that is caused by many different reasons but I think one reason being that you don't have to see that person face to face. I know that I sometimes become more brave when talking to teachers, employers and sometimes even friends when talking via the internet or texting. It's much easier to say what you have to say when you don't have to see the person face to face and worry about the possible fear of mumbling and stumbling all over your words.


I don't tend to be a very shy person and I say what's on my mind, sometimes a little too much, but I still get nervous when I have to confront someone about something in person. Whether it be a serious conversation I might have to have with a teacher or simply talking in front of a class I become more uncomfortable than if i was emailing a teacher or, like now, typing a post that I know the whole class has the ability to read.

I think that technology has taken away a lot of people's social skills. They have become so used to being able to hide behind a screen they don't have to ability to look a person in the eyes when talking to them or how to even talk politely for that matter. Technology can be an awful and yet wonderful thing. Oh, the love-hate relationship we share.

Module 4; blog post 1!

 I was sitting in the library with my friend today at school doing homework and looking around I saw everyone on their laptops and or phones. Not a single person was looking for a book on the shelves or reading a book. It seems that all our information comes from the internet these days. As a matter of fact, today i said to my friend, "I don't even know how to check out a book anymore". It's come so rare for us to use books in a library for research now, even books that would usually be used for free read are now being accessed on the computer, iPad, kindle, phone, etc.  


Even though you can access a book in a form of the internet and technology, do any people still read books? Since Netflix has come out I know for a fact that I haven't read as many books as I used to because I know have something that I can access on the internet that takes up my free time. This is sad to me because I used to be a very avid reader which would help my brain and now instead I stare mindlessly at a computer or phone screen for hours as I binge watching Criminal Minds, Dexter or One Tree Hill.

I can't be the only one that notices they put technology over using their brain. Instead of learning how to look up a book in the library I just type my question into google. Instead of reading a book for fun in my free time, I watch a show that the internet provides. I don't even watch Television as much anymore because of the internet providing me with being able to watch shows when, where and what I want to watch.

The aspect of being able to have my questions answered so quickly when i type them into google, or putting aside a book or the tv to watch netflix instead, has made me, as well as many other people, impatient. We are so used as a society to having what we want at our dispense that very moment that we think about it, we forget there's other things to do to pass our time and other ways to find out our information that might be a better source.

I love my phone and I love my netflix, don't get my wrong, but sometimes I wish I had the power to put my technology away and do things "the old fashioned way".

module 3- blog post 4!

 In 6th grade we had this thing called nature's classroom, it was when my whole 6th grade class would go to this nature camp for 4 days, 3 nights. I didn't want to go at all, I had no interest in going and camping out in nature, or so I said, however the real reason was because I didn't wanna sleep away.

However, I really wanted a phone and my parents knew I really wanted a phone so like any good parents would do, they bribed me to go away by saying they would get me a phone. Of course I told them I would go as long as I got the phone of the century, THE PINK RAZR FLIP PHONE! You basically weren't cool unless you had it.

I went to natures classroom and had an awesome time, I made alot of friends that remained my friends in high school and some on. One even became my best friend that still is today. Anyway, so when I got home I was so excited about making all new friends and staying away from my parents that when I was back I totally forgot about the promise for the pink razr.

Don't worry, I got the pink razr, but don't think my parents were too kind, they didn't give me unlimited texting. At first I had no texting at all, just calling, I had to work up for texting. Now a days could you even get a phone without unlimited texting? It's so funny to think back about how the technology has evolved so immensely that just when I was 12 years old, 7 years ago, having a phone with just being able to talk on the phone was crazy and i was so happy for it, yet now a days having anything less than a smart phone is looked down on. How shameful we are.

module 3- blog post 3

"Teachers become more important, though their role changes, within new literacy classrooms" (Ch 15, Best Practices in Teaching the New Literacies of Online Research and Comprehension). Although teachers are still extremely important in the role of children learning, however their role is changing because of the student's access to the internet. Teachers change in the sense that their students expect instant gratification now more than ever. They might have a  question on homework, so first they check the internet, if they can't get the answer right away then they'll email their teacher and expect an answer almost immediately. This changes the way a teachers role used to be because they now have to take their work home with them.

They also have to be more careful when reading student's assignments due to the easy and overwhelming access to other people's work on the internet. Teachers have to make sure their students don't resort  to spark notes instead of actually reading the text that's given in class. Although most of the internet access is used outside of the classroom, teachers also have to be aware when students are using their phone in class, especially during a test because that more than likely means they're cheating on a test.

The teacher changes alot as technology changes, they have to be able to be available at many times for help, they have to be more aware with the technology as well so they know all that their students have at their finger tips such as sparknotes and other people's papers.

Module 3- blog post 2!

Facebook is such a wonderful awful thing. Where else would I go when i want to find an embarrassing old picture of me with braces?! This picture is back from freshman year of high school. Out of all my 961 friends on Facebook, I creep on myself the most. It's a fun place to check out a collecting of pictures of yourselves from years and years. I enjoy laughing at myself and looking at how I've changed thru the years. It's also fun to look back on my years and see who I was friends with and who I still maintain a friendship with these days. Although I think I spend way too much time on facebook looking up people I haven't seen in awhile (or myself), I also think there are other things facebook can be useful for as well. For example, I have a younger cousin, Samantha, I haven't talked to her in awhile and I know she's a senior this year, which means she's thinking about what college to go too which i know is a very stressful confusing time, at least it was for me. So since I don't have her number i relayed on facebook to get back in touch with her after about 5 years. We only talked for about 2 weeks but without facebook i never would have had that opportunity. I also recently re connected with an old high school friend via facebook because she liked a post I put on facebook and I proceeded to text her. Facebook is a wonderful awful thing! Although facebook can have positives, I've also seen it be used for the worst. I've seen bullying to the lowest level and bullying to the highest. I don't think people in high school should be allowed to have facebook because that's when alot of bullying occurs and facebook is the easiest outlet to turn to so that you don't have to bully a person face to face but thru a computer screen.

Module 3- blog post 1

"Manipulate and mold information to achieve a higher goal" (Kaku). This quote reminds me about the thing we are always being told by our teachers, "do something with the readings". I think that the internet helps us do this. Whether we're reading an article on the internet or a hard cover book, we always seem to go back to the internet. We go back to the internet while reading to look up definitions of words we're not sure of, about people we don't know, times and places of things, etc. The internet allows us to "do something with the reading".

Not only can we look up things about the readings, but also can share our thoughts on the readings (like i currently am). Although I am focusing on one particular reading for a particular class, I have also tweeted about a book i have read before and thus started a conversation with a follower, we ended up talking about the book and our feelings. Many people take something that they read and translate it to something more, whether it be a discussion, a tweet or a summary this has been our most recent and standard form of molding the information.

I found this particular reading (first one under module 3) interesting because it brings up points that I've never focused on before. Points such as the positives of the internet which I believe is something that's very important that most people forget that their are positives to the technology due to the fact all the negatives we hear about bullying on social networks and cell phones take people's attention away from being in the moment and living, etc. It's always interesting to see someone  else's point of view.