Are Your Gadgets Making You Sick?

I just want to show you this site I found off of the internet. It is talking about technology and the medical conditions that can affect you. Tell me what you think? Do you think technology is that hazardous to our bodies? This article includes the diagnosis, the treatment, links to other articles, and comments.

http://www.switched.com/2007/04/12/are-your-gadgets-making-you-sick/

The sections in this article include sore thumbs, acne, poor vision, addictions, seixures, blood clots, and death. Also, sadly enough they are trying to say that a male may not be fertile due to long hours on their cell phones! Can you believe that!

Also there is a section on internet addictions. There is a self-diagnosis quiz to show where you are at in yoru online experiences. Try it out it is found on page 5 of this article.

How much do we depend on technology?

I am just sitting here thinking about what to reflect on for ECMP class. I have no idea where to start because there is so many things I want to say! But, before I talk about what I want to say about this class I want to take another look into the world of doing things online. I was reading a colleagues' blog and she mentioned something about online shopping, MSN, and things that don't require human interaction. Well, that got me thinking about something my cousin said last summer. He came over to the house one day and had the hugest smile on his face. We wondered what was going on, and he was proud to say that he accomplished a lot of things today despite he was in his underwear the whole day. We were like OMG why would you go out like that? He smiles and says, "Well I was able to do everything online! My banking, bills, shopping, etc" We just rolled our eyes at him as he continued to say that he could do this all day everyday and no one would even remotely expect he was in his underwear.

What are these online things suggesting to us? That we can roll out of bed, be lazy by staying in our pajamas all day while we get all our errands done. Obesity is becoming a higher rate, if everyone thought like my cousin did would obesity be an even greater percentage if we just had to sit at a computer all day? What happens to our face to face interaction with one another? Do we not like someone that much that we can't talk to them directly anymore? What about security of our banking and ebills? Are we not worried that someday we could be hacked and lose everything? What about those of us that go into chatrooms or SecondLife? Is it healthy to to take on a different persona or as said not have that social experience?

I am sitting on borderline about the dependency of technology. Some people use it for its advantages; while some abuse it. If you are a busy person with a full time job, a family, along with other things; I would promote that these online resources would be beneficial. However, if you are just a lazy person and aren't that busy overall... why not go walk to the bank, go to the store to pick up that item you wanted, go for a coffee with a friend? Its not that hard.... is it?

Digital vs traditional

Is the new generation of online resources taking over the traditional ways of doing things? Today I am going to discuss online scrapbooking vs traditional scrapbooking. There are many pros and cons for both ways of doing a scrapbook that I would like to share. I was reading an article while in the hospital about the "better" way of scrapbooking... but in the long term is it better or more of a hassle? Here is an excerpt found at http://www.photomix.com/articles/what_is_digital_scrapbooking.php
Here is a blurb from the site:
Traditional Scrapbooking vs. Digital Scrapbooking
If you are new to scrapbooking altogether then you are in for a fun ride. Traditional scrapbooking can be a slow process in which the scrapbooker needs a lot of supplies. First you start with going through the photos to find the ones you want to use, and then you have to make sure you have the table space big enough for everything you need to work on a page. Then you need to haul out all the supplies, including paper, glue, scissors, stickers, and a whole host of other notions that are used to create these masterpiece pages.
Before pulling out all of these things, however, you should consider the newest and easiest form of scrapbooking: digital scrapbooking. Once you try it you will never go back to spending hundreds of dollars on supplies and filling your table with so much stuff to create one page. Take the headache out of scrapbooking by going digital!

Well now after that promo don't you want to try it out! Cmon, you already took the pictures on your ever so expensive digital camera. You downloaded them all to your Mac computer. Now what is the next step? Why not create memories through digital scrapbooking.

What is your opinion of taking traditional forms of things and turning to technology in today's world? Do you believe that typing should take away from the masters of penmanship? Online scrapbooking should take away from the time and quality of creating a scrapbook as a hobby? Online games taking away from the social interaction of human to human contact?

Reflection on the course!

I saw that this was not publish but rather int he draft pile.. so thought I would send my reflection now! Yet again we come to an end of another semester as we set sail for a long and relaxing summer. Some of us may dread the fact that we have to come back to university; while others are excited to say "WE FINALLY MADE IT!" There were many obstacles that had to be overcame but in the end it will be rewarding to stand up in front of hundreds of people and receive our diploma knowing that we will all make excellent teachers. CONGRATS graduates!

This class has taught me many of things. It enhanced my knowledge of the wonderful games, programs, and more that can be found out there and used effectively and FREE of cost. Alec brought passion and enthusiasm to the class as he tried to impress us and entertain us many of times. He was always available to help us with our projects and didn't seem annoyed if we didn't know something well. THANKS!

Some things I have learned throughout this semester are: The Tapped Out organization is a great way to go to PDP days without leaving the comfort of your own house. Wikis are a good way to go to help present. Tux programs are very beneficial! I feel more relaxed while doing powerpoint presentations also! There are so many features and 4 months was sucha short period of time to view all of them.

I hope to stay connected with all of you through your blogspot or otherwise! Have fun!

Rant on Politics

After two months I finally went back to my hometown. I can't believe it was that long since I actually spent a weekend there to relax. All the stress and pressures I have had seemed to get better. That is what good ole country air can do to a person. As said, I was never a city girl... thus the country is where I want to be.

My family and I went to look at the highway washout on Highway 15 on Sunday. It was pretty bad as I stood in the 5 feet deep 12 feet wide gap in which was once a highway. Only in Saskatchewan is all I could think of as I remember the huge washout near Drake/Lockwood area last year. This makes me also think about a recent phone call I received from a political campaign. The person on the other end would not let me go until I told him what party I was going to vote for. Little did I know that there was an election even being held. This guy on the line was telling me all the great things politicians will focus on such as education, health care, and highways. Hmmm... I am not much for politics or the preaching of politics thus I did not have many nice things to tell the guy. Like cmon who spends $1.5 million on this promotional advertising on Saskatchewan! (like an exclamation mark makes Saskatchewan sound so much cooler). The good ole NDP did! (For more information on this check out: http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=8b90c2fa-3602-4bbe-aac2-f92c9559df09&newsPN=Shared) Now I wonder, what are politicians really here for because look at our increasing tuition, our washed out highways, and our long waits for surgeries or lack of hospital beds. Some things just don't make much sense. Hmm... who should I vote for considering all parties seem all the same!

Sorry for the bitterness, just had to express a rant!

Tech Task #9 - Software Assessment

Vanessa and I explored the wonderful world of PBS kids (http://www.pbskids.org)! It is an amazing site that is very interactive for children ages 3-12 years old. It attracts children by using familiar characters and colorful graphics. This site has a "friendly feel" to it as it makes kids feel comfortable. It is easy to navigate with an intuitive design. For example, the PBS symbol is found on each page for easy access back to the home base. There are many other cases where symbolism is used in place of text. The site is geared both for readers and non readers. There is a table of contents on each page that readers can click on to get where they want to go. For non readers, they are able to intuitively click on pictures that will lead them to the same places. We generally found the whole site easy to navigate. The content and instructions were user friendly and age appropriate. The instructions were written for older children and explained to the younger children.

We explored seven different television shows which include: Clifford, Sesame Street, Curious George, Berenstein Bears, Arthur, Maya and Miguel, and Mister Rogers (gag). We noticed the level of difficulty of the activities for each television show corresponded with the average age of those children that watch them. For example, Sesame Street, Clifford, and Curious George were aimed towards children ages 3-6; while the other shows were geared towards older children. We explored the Clifford's Puppy Letter game and noticed that there were easy and hard options. The easy options provide scaffolding to help children learn and eventually work their way up to the harder levels. We, also, looked at Arthur and we focused on letter writing and sign language for older children. With the letter writing activity, it provided choice in what phrase we wanted to express. After we sent our letter we received a quick reply back. These letters provided models of how to write interesting and informative letters. We also looked at Arthur's sign language instruction and it gave us sentences to practice. However, even though it showed a visual example as well as a written explanation, we were a little confused on some of the actions.

The site gives you a chance to practice learning in all kinds of areas including math, art, reading, music, languages, and more! In general we found this site to be "edu-taining" and we would definitely use it in our classroom.

- Posted by Krissy Wallman and Vanessa Richter

Cyberbullying

I finally checked out Weblogg-ed after so many weeks and there was one blog that really struck me. "Stop Cyberbullying" that was posted March 30th, 2007 (http://weblogg-ed.com/2007/stop-cyberbullying/) was very interesting since we actually had a presentation last semester on this. The article he posted was Schoolgirls bullied into stripping online, and this made me so sad to show how some girls are degraded to show their bodies on webcam. Sometimes girls can be caught up with being naive as they think they are just showing their goods to their boyfriend. However, you never know who is on the other side of the screen. It could be his friend or maybe a group of people staring at your naked body.

I just think of past experiences I have had to deal with concerning cyberbullying. Whether it is some person I dont even know or someone that hates me, I have had to put up with stuff they say over the internet. Sure you can block them off your list or delete the email messages, but is that the best way of solving cyberbullying? I don't think so, because if they are doing it to me who says they won't do it to others. I just think its funny how they sound so macho through a screen, yet when you tell them to say it to your face they seize up. This just goes to show the anonymous behaviours people can get away with on the computer. I am still trying to figure out a way I can find out who this one email address belongs to considering you can't do reverse email lookup now on the internet. What do I do when I was cyberbullied? Well, this may not be the greatest way but knowing who the person was I called up their parents and told them what was going on and if it continued drastic measures would be taken.

As for showing x-rated pictures, strip webcamming, or even "cybering" I think it has gone too far. I did a project once on the responses in a chatroom and the more scandalous your name is the more "freaks" you are subjected to. Who would actually have cyber - sex or show pictures of themselves to any stranger? Its degrading and pathetic! Also, this brings me back to a blog I discussed earlier about how pedophiles creep the internet looking for innocent victims and ending their short lives in tragedy. If you think its okay to "have a little fun" on the internet, it never is. Never give your personal information (such as phone number, address, credit cards, or even your real name) out to anybody over the internet. If you are being bullied tell someone before it gets out of hand and definitely save everything such as test messages or emails someone sends or threatens you with.