About Blogging

Thus far, truthfully, I have found nothing that I really like about blogging. I can see it's benefits, like recieving feedback from students on different topics or to divulge information to a broader public than just a classroom, but I personally would rather have face time. That being said, I won't keep a blog after this class. I think that this class actively uses Collective Intelligence by reading and studying information and "pooling" our knowledge to reach a collective goal. I think Diigo is actually a better example of this because we can see each other's ideas and perspectives as we cover the information.d

Learning Style

According to the Leaning Style Test, I am an Aural reader. This means that I learn well by first person interaction and by listening to someone speak. It means that graphs, charts, readings, and other visually oriented learning tools are, for the most part, ineffective forms of learning. I would basically agree with this because I have found that I do better at remembering details and facts if I listen to a lecture without taking notes. If I try to take notes and read them later, nothing really sticks.

http://www.picassohead.com/?id=9d2be7a

Twiiter Stuff: Smothering Creativity.

Personally, I think forcing people to say whatever they want to say in 140 characters or less promotes creativity. It forces  overwhelmingly narcissistic individuals who want to narrate their entire lives for others to skim through and roll their eyes in boredom to simplify "I went to the mall and I bought some food, music, and shoes... more shoes... then left the mall and met some friends and went out and got some dinner and ate some food, but I didn't like my food so I didn't leave a tip... then I brushed my teetht again because I just couldn't help but felt like there was something in my teeth..." and so on, into "I went shopping. Bought stuff." I think that sometimes revision, especially when writing things that are only going to waste other individuals' time is very important. I think twitter and texting do influence the way we write. Those of us who do twitter and text a lot, use a greater amount of simple, or incomplete sentences.

Slide Show

Here is my Presentation.

The Effects that Edmodo has on Children's Attitudes Toward Writing.

I think that what we have been doing with the kids via Edmodo is pretty great. Any time a yound student gets positive feedback from an older, yet still young enough to be cool, person, it's a positive boost to that student's moral. Students were all quick to respond to comments and criticism from us as a class which either means they were excited to be a part of the assignment, or they had a teacher who was really on the ball. Maybe it was a bit from both, but either way, it's still a positive result.

21st Century Writing.

I feel that, despite growing demand and emphasis on the use of computers in society, schools are not preparing students well enough for the future. Schools do not offer enough computer based curriculum, and are still usinng out dated text books.

Picture Reading

In the first image, the one regarding the BP oil spill, President Obama is shown wearing plain clothes, leaning slightly forward, and his head is lowered and turned at a three-quarter angle away from the viewer. The reason that he is depicted this way is to seem both common and sympathetic. He is not dressed better than the average man, he is not shown with strong straight posture, he is shown leaning forward as if he is listening to the people. His head is lowered and turned slightly away so he appears to be both humble and non-threatening.

The second image, the one of President Obama on a ship, depicts a leader. President Obama is pictured walking on the deck of a large sea faring vessel walking with a large group of men. He is in front of the group, smiling broadly, sleeves rolled up, is dressed in semi-formal attire, and shows good posture. The image reminds one of a scene in a movie when the heroes all arrive, strong, confident, and practically invincible. The President's sleeves are rolled up as if he is about to get to work with the rest of the crew, he is placed in front of the crew to show that he is in fact in charge, and, last but not least, his smile shows his confidence that his plan will be a success.