The Forecast was sunny on Tuesday in Dissecting the Internet when we were presented with special guest Dr. Ray Russell, Computer Science Professor and creator of Ray's Weather Center. I must say, I truly enjoyed Dr. Russell's visit.
Not only did I find our guest to be a happy, joyful person to be around, but I got so much out of what he had to say to our class. I loved his stories about meeting with Chris McDougal, reading Born to Run, and his own exercise/running stories. I also enjoyed learning about how technology can be used to track the calories a person consumes during the day or how many miles someone runs. It was especially interesting to learn that these weight loss and fitness websites can be turned into a social networking system where other users can provide support for your own fitness goals.
To be honest, I am generally not very good at keeping my eyes open without physically forcing them that way when I am running on little sleep, yet I was totally engaged in Dr. Russell's presentation. The entire class laughed along with him and enjoyed every last minute of his time spent there.
I hope that our Dissecting the Internet class can host other guest speakers like Dr. Russell in the near future.
On Thursday, our class broke into groups to discuss our Analysis of RescueTime. My group members' analysis contrasted somewhat with my own, as did much of the class'. While my classmates found RescueTime to be an inaccurate calculation of their productivity, I on the other hand found it to measure my efficiency on the computer fairly well. I believe this may have to do with the large amount of homework assigned in my classes online.
Overall, it was another productive, interesting week in Dissecting the Internet. I'll see everyone Tuesday! Until then, toodles!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
HON 1515 - Week Four
The discussion in Dissecting the Internet continued this week about the use of technology in the classroom. Before coming to class on Tuesday, my classmates and I were told to read an article titled "Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age." I really enjoyed reading up on the way Duke University (although I'm not a fan of the college) used Apple technology in their classes. I thought many of the different uses were really interesting, such as using their iPods for social networking where they could conduct interviews and comment on other students' audio. I really enjoy using new technology in my classes as well, as long as this new style of learning does not completely take over the standard style. For example, I often worry that students will start learning entirely from a computer and miss out on classroom activities such as the discussion we have been having in class. Discussion and debate will be used not only in the classroom but in future jobs, meetings, and even in casual get togethers with family and friends.
However, to be honest, I would like to suggest not always using the form of discussion we did on Tuesday, which involved going around the classroom and making each person share their opinion in turn. I feel like the best form of discussion is an open format in which each individual can raise their hands and speak whenever. This allows students to share ideas whenever one happens to pop into their heads in stead of having to wait. It also allows them to build off of one another's ideas more naturally.
We also began using RescueTime on Tuesday, a program that calculates what we do on the internet and the productivity of our computer use. I have found it fascinating to realize exactly how efficient my time on the computer has been and can't wait to see how the research of everyone else in the class compares.
On Thursday, we didn't meet up at our usual time or in our usual classroom. Instead, we had met outside the convocation to hear Christopher McDougall speak and recognize professors that have done a lot for Appalachian State University. This was much shorter than I had imagined, which I thought was good because everyone was tired, and it helped to hold students' attention. I also enjoyed McDougall's falling out of a tree story/metaphor and the lesson it provided.
See everyone on Thursday!
However, to be honest, I would like to suggest not always using the form of discussion we did on Tuesday, which involved going around the classroom and making each person share their opinion in turn. I feel like the best form of discussion is an open format in which each individual can raise their hands and speak whenever. This allows students to share ideas whenever one happens to pop into their heads in stead of having to wait. It also allows them to build off of one another's ideas more naturally.
We also began using RescueTime on Tuesday, a program that calculates what we do on the internet and the productivity of our computer use. I have found it fascinating to realize exactly how efficient my time on the computer has been and can't wait to see how the research of everyone else in the class compares.
On Thursday, we didn't meet up at our usual time or in our usual classroom. Instead, we had met outside the convocation to hear Christopher McDougall speak and recognize professors that have done a lot for Appalachian State University. This was much shorter than I had imagined, which I thought was good because everyone was tired, and it helped to hold students' attention. I also enjoyed McDougall's falling out of a tree story/metaphor and the lesson it provided.
See everyone on Thursday!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
HON 1515 - Week Three
This week in Dissecting the Internet I got to do two of my favorite things: watching movies and DEBATING!
A debate was one of my original suggestions for the class, so I was extremely excited when I heard we would be watching a video called "Digital Nation" and then debating/discussing the points mentioned in the video afterward.
On Tuesday, when we spent our class period watching this video. I learned several new and interesting things about how technology can be both beneficial and hazardous to one's brain and well-being. I never before knew that people could actually die from playing video games for 50 hours straight or that there were camps for those addicted to computers called Internet Rescue Camps. I especially enjoyed hearing conflicting points of view on whether multitasking is a necessary/good thing or something that actually makes you move slower and become much more distracted.
I personally believe a little bit of both. I know that technology has an effect on my not being able to concentrate on one thing for a long amount of time. Multitasking can definitely be essential in today's hectic world; however, people of our generation (myself included) need to learn how to concentrate solely on the task at hand for a decent amount of time before switching to another task.
On Thursday came the fun part. We got to debate and share our ideas, such as those that I just shared above. I love debating and have been told that I am good at arguing my point, so debate has always been so fun for me. I tend to get nervous when I first start speaking, but once I had brought up one point on Thursday I had the confidence to comment on most of the issues we discussed. I found it really interesting to see what my classmates views were or hear their personal stories about how technology has hurt, aided, or distracted them on the past. My favorite examples were those about students' mothers either being stellar multitaskers or not being able to focus on holding a conversation with their own kids if they are busy texting or surfing the web.
I was so excited to see that we will be discussing more this week! I'm looking forward to hearing what else everyone has to share about the impacts of technology and finding out what other facts we can agree or disagree about when it comes to the internet.
A debate was one of my original suggestions for the class, so I was extremely excited when I heard we would be watching a video called "Digital Nation" and then debating/discussing the points mentioned in the video afterward.
On Tuesday, when we spent our class period watching this video. I learned several new and interesting things about how technology can be both beneficial and hazardous to one's brain and well-being. I never before knew that people could actually die from playing video games for 50 hours straight or that there were camps for those addicted to computers called Internet Rescue Camps. I especially enjoyed hearing conflicting points of view on whether multitasking is a necessary/good thing or something that actually makes you move slower and become much more distracted.
I personally believe a little bit of both. I know that technology has an effect on my not being able to concentrate on one thing for a long amount of time. Multitasking can definitely be essential in today's hectic world; however, people of our generation (myself included) need to learn how to concentrate solely on the task at hand for a decent amount of time before switching to another task.
On Thursday came the fun part. We got to debate and share our ideas, such as those that I just shared above. I love debating and have been told that I am good at arguing my point, so debate has always been so fun for me. I tend to get nervous when I first start speaking, but once I had brought up one point on Thursday I had the confidence to comment on most of the issues we discussed. I found it really interesting to see what my classmates views were or hear their personal stories about how technology has hurt, aided, or distracted them on the past. My favorite examples were those about students' mothers either being stellar multitaskers or not being able to focus on holding a conversation with their own kids if they are busy texting or surfing the web.
I was so excited to see that we will be discussing more this week! I'm looking forward to hearing what else everyone has to share about the impacts of technology and finding out what other facts we can agree or disagree about when it comes to the internet.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
HON 1515 - Week Two
Well, Week Two in Dissecting the Internet only further helped prove my theory for the fall semester: this class is one of the most interesting and relevant courses a student at Appalachian can take!
The evidence began pouring in on Tuesday, when we learned about networks and how data travels from computer to computer. Growing up, it always fascinated me how computers can share information with each other in a matter of seconds. Not only did we discuss and read about how computers can share documents, pictures, etc. through a network, as well as the different types of networks there are (ex. Local Area Network), we illustrated the concept in a group activity. In this experiment small groups had to pass multi-colored bowling pins around in a circle in order to get the two pins that matched each student's construction paper. The trick? The bowling pins could only be passed to a person with an empty hand (one student has only one bowling pin). I found this to be an extremely enjoyable way to exemplify how data is transported through networks.
In Thursday's session, the class met at a classroom in the library. And may I just say, I think the library on campus is amazing and beautiful! I love it (yeah, I'm a book worm)! I honestly was really thankful that I got the opportunity to learn about how to use the library website and the linked databases to find professional articles and books about topics for research. This will really help me when it comes to writing papers for my classes! I was also excited because I got to learn how to look up books for leisure reading and how to use the "Map It!" button to locate them!
This class is continuing to be beneficial to me in my everyday life in this modern technological world! I'm ready for the lessons to come in the following weeks!
Love,
Meghan
The evidence began pouring in on Tuesday, when we learned about networks and how data travels from computer to computer. Growing up, it always fascinated me how computers can share information with each other in a matter of seconds. Not only did we discuss and read about how computers can share documents, pictures, etc. through a network, as well as the different types of networks there are (ex. Local Area Network), we illustrated the concept in a group activity. In this experiment small groups had to pass multi-colored bowling pins around in a circle in order to get the two pins that matched each student's construction paper. The trick? The bowling pins could only be passed to a person with an empty hand (one student has only one bowling pin). I found this to be an extremely enjoyable way to exemplify how data is transported through networks.
In Thursday's session, the class met at a classroom in the library. And may I just say, I think the library on campus is amazing and beautiful! I love it (yeah, I'm a book worm)! I honestly was really thankful that I got the opportunity to learn about how to use the library website and the linked databases to find professional articles and books about topics for research. This will really help me when it comes to writing papers for my classes! I was also excited because I got to learn how to look up books for leisure reading and how to use the "Map It!" button to locate them!
This class is continuing to be beneficial to me in my everyday life in this modern technological world! I'm ready for the lessons to come in the following weeks!
Love,
Meghan
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