According to my grandpa, Morse Code allowed the military to send confidential messages during World War II. He knew the basics of Morse Code before enlisting in the army, but through further training became an expert at understanding messages as well as picking up hidden messages throughout normal communication. He told me that one of the many creative ways to communicate a hidden Morse Code message is through ones blinking pattern while talking to you. He said that it made sending and decoding messages a lot more complicated, but it allowed for much more intricate communication. Since attaining a job in decoding allowed my Grandpa to stay away from the front lines during the war, it made him enjoy his deployment much more.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Morse Code
My Grandpa believes that Morse Code is the most influential information technology in his life. Morse Code is the transmitting of information through the use of clicks or lights that can be understood by a skilled listener. My Grandpa was trained by the military to understand Morse Code and used it to decipher and find hidden meanings in messages.
The Computers Effect on Business
I asked my Dad what the most important technology he has used at work is and he said hands down the computer. My Dad has worked his whole life in financial markets and he said that the computer has revolutionized the industry. He talked about many old movies like Wall Street and the scenes of traders yelling on the New York Stock exchange and trading stocks in a chaotic looking atmosphere.
Now all of that is done online and my Dad said this has made life far easier and has allowed more people to become involved in investing and managing their money. Investing in stocks used to be thought of as a way for highly educated people to make extra money, but now with the ease of the computer and internet many more people are not involved in stocks and it is no longer an exclusive opportunity.
This technology has made work far easier and has increased equality by giving more people the opportunity to invest the money they make. This relates to many themes we have talked about in this course. First, is the fact that technology has made everything in life much easier and more convenient. Second, is the idea that technology can increase equality and provide more opportunities to people who did not use to be exposed to those opportunities before advances in technology.
I found this to be a very interesting conversation and allowed me to see an impact information technology has had, but that I have not yet experienced.
Now all of that is done online and my Dad said this has made life far easier and has allowed more people to become involved in investing and managing their money. Investing in stocks used to be thought of as a way for highly educated people to make extra money, but now with the ease of the computer and internet many more people are not involved in stocks and it is no longer an exclusive opportunity.
This technology has made work far easier and has increased equality by giving more people the opportunity to invest the money they make. This relates to many themes we have talked about in this course. First, is the fact that technology has made everything in life much easier and more convenient. Second, is the idea that technology can increase equality and provide more opportunities to people who did not use to be exposed to those opportunities before advances in technology.
I found this to be a very interesting conversation and allowed me to see an impact information technology has had, but that I have not yet experienced.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
My Mom's most important technology
My mom worked in the marketing field and a computer was the most important technology she used. She began to use this technology in the 1990s and became proficient in almost every computer program there is. It was a little difficult to use when she first started, simply because there was so much you could do with it. You could send emails, pull up a web page and see information quickly, and create spreadsheets. It was a much more organized way of doing the same things they had always been doing, which my mom loved.
Before email, my mom had a person in her office called a "carrier" which went around to all the employees desks, picked up and delivered the mail they needed sent to other people within the office. Obviously, this was replaced with email. The computer made her job exponentially easier. Communicating with coworkers was a very quick process and presentations became easier. After my mom started to utilize computers, her job was much less stressful and easier to manage.
It is a different experience listening to what the world was like before computers were involved in our working lives. I can't imagine writing a paper without being able to google some questions I have. It really makes you appreciate just how easy we have it with all this information and the ability to get it efficiently. We take all these easy forms of communication for granted and we need to appreciate the fact that those older than us had much more difficult jobs before the computer was implemented in the majority of jobs.
The Telephone
I remember looking forward to visiting my grandparents and playing games with my cousins on my grandpa's old pay phone. We used to think it was the coolest thing to play with such an old phone. After speaking with my grandfather, it was interesting to learn from first hand experience how the telephone has evolved since he worked at a phone company.
My grandpa worked as a supervisor for General Telephone Company. He started out repairing and installing home phone lines and ended up in marketing. During his time at General Telephone Company, he saw dial phones, landlines, and even mobile phones develop. He said he's just now getting used to relying so much on a cell phone and has just gotten into texting his kids and grandchildren.
It was funny listening to him talk about cell phones today because he used to be an expert on phones back then and now he's asking us how to navigate through his own phone. My grandpa was asking about the hashtag and joked, "back in my day, that was just the pound key!"
Back then, the telephone used to be an important technology and now he thinks the cell phone is almost too convenient for people. As we gather for Thanksgiving, all the cousins and even the aunts and uncles have their phone in an arms reach. I'm sure my Grandpa misses the times where the telephone was attached the wall and no one answered the phone during dinner.
My grandpa worked as a supervisor for General Telephone Company. He started out repairing and installing home phone lines and ended up in marketing. During his time at General Telephone Company, he saw dial phones, landlines, and even mobile phones develop. He said he's just now getting used to relying so much on a cell phone and has just gotten into texting his kids and grandchildren.
It was funny listening to him talk about cell phones today because he used to be an expert on phones back then and now he's asking us how to navigate through his own phone. My grandpa was asking about the hashtag and joked, "back in my day, that was just the pound key!"
Back then, the telephone used to be an important technology and now he thinks the cell phone is almost too convenient for people. As we gather for Thanksgiving, all the cousins and even the aunts and uncles have their phone in an arms reach. I'm sure my Grandpa misses the times where the telephone was attached the wall and no one answered the phone during dinner.
Information technology at work
For this assignment, I decided to interview my dad about his experience with information technology in his job. He is an accountant and gave an immediate response of email. He said that this has been the most important information technology for him since he was first introduced to it.
The first time he was introduced to it was at work in the late 90's and he has been using it ever since. He claimed that he did not have much trouble learning to master it, and that it has significantly increased the productivity of his work. He made the comparison of how before email, he would have to call another person, even if it was to find out the simplest information that he may not have needed immediately. For the question of if he enjoyed his job more/less, he answered that he didn't necessarily enjoy his job more, he just felt less stressed out because he didn't have to wait as long and could work at a faster pace.
I didn't find his answer very surprising; email is so widespread and important today, and it is even some peoples' preference for ways of communication. Email has been made more accessible to us now that it is on our phones, computers, tablets, etc. We use email every day; I just sent an email 5 minutes ago, and that shows how often we use it and how it has been integrated into our society. Everyone can make a free email address and is therefore interconnected with the world in that way in a way other than face-to-face. Most importantly, as a student, I could not imagine a world without it, and I could easily see how this is the same case in the workplace, as was the case for my dad.
The first time he was introduced to it was at work in the late 90's and he has been using it ever since. He claimed that he did not have much trouble learning to master it, and that it has significantly increased the productivity of his work. He made the comparison of how before email, he would have to call another person, even if it was to find out the simplest information that he may not have needed immediately. For the question of if he enjoyed his job more/less, he answered that he didn't necessarily enjoy his job more, he just felt less stressed out because he didn't have to wait as long and could work at a faster pace.
I didn't find his answer very surprising; email is so widespread and important today, and it is even some peoples' preference for ways of communication. Email has been made more accessible to us now that it is on our phones, computers, tablets, etc. We use email every day; I just sent an email 5 minutes ago, and that shows how often we use it and how it has been integrated into our society. Everyone can make a free email address and is therefore interconnected with the world in that way in a way other than face-to-face. Most importantly, as a student, I could not imagine a world without it, and I could easily see how this is the same case in the workplace, as was the case for my dad.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Technology- Sewing Machine
My grandmother lived through the time of great depression and had to learn how to make her own items. When she was 11, her mother taught her how to use a treadle machine (the sewing machine with a pedal). She learned how to make her own clothes and then go on to make her family and children's clothing. It made life much easier and cheaper when she used it and she used to have a lot of fun sewing the clothes. Now however, she is much more out of practice and doesn't know how to use the most recent machines.
I think that this was a very useful technology in the scope of the class. Although its not like the printing press or typewriter, it was useful in her time, and transformed the way the generation thought about things. Material things were not as important. Homemade clothes were the staple. They saved money on clothes so they could have access to things like a telephone. I think that this relates to the scope of the class more so than it seems. The invention of better sewing technology made the necessary clothing cheaper. It then made more room in budgeting for the information technology that we discuss in class, so in a sense it had a huge impact on the information society.
I think that this was a very useful technology in the scope of the class. Although its not like the printing press or typewriter, it was useful in her time, and transformed the way the generation thought about things. Material things were not as important. Homemade clothes were the staple. They saved money on clothes so they could have access to things like a telephone. I think that this relates to the scope of the class more so than it seems. The invention of better sewing technology made the necessary clothing cheaper. It then made more room in budgeting for the information technology that we discuss in class, so in a sense it had a huge impact on the information society.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Self Evaluation
After taking the time to proof read my blog posts from this year, I have come to the realization that blogging is very similar to face-to-face conversation. It serves as an avenue to discuss and communicate with your peers, without having to be in the same place. The way I convey my ideas through the blogs uses the same thought process as if I were having face-to-face conversation. Thus, I think my blog posts relate much more to the way I present myself in person, than formal speeches or writing.
With that being said, someones writing style can be seen through all writing samples, regardless of the formality. After peer reviewing my classmates formal papers as well as scanning over their weekly blogs, I have realized that their writing styles are consistent throughout. Though the writing styles are similar, I believe that formal papers are a better showcase of writing talent. These papers allow us to display our formal writing ability, which displays a more useful sense of writing ability.
With that being said, someones writing style can be seen through all writing samples, regardless of the formality. After peer reviewing my classmates formal papers as well as scanning over their weekly blogs, I have realized that their writing styles are consistent throughout. Though the writing styles are similar, I believe that formal papers are a better showcase of writing talent. These papers allow us to display our formal writing ability, which displays a more useful sense of writing ability.
Past Blog Posts
I think after reading my blogposts from beginning to end, I do think I've represented who I am pretty well. I don't know if this is the same way I represent myself in other aspects of the class such as formal written assignments or exams though because honestly, my blog posts are more personal and scattered. They aren't formal like some of these other aspects. Speeches and papers and tests, those are all graded grammatically and based off of organization as well as ideas, so I need to structure my ideas. My blogposts, on the other hand, are more for my enjoyment and my thoughts. I use them as kind of a journal.
My self-presentation which is most true vs. the one which showcases my talents best I think are very different. I think the most true self-presentation are my attendance during in class discussion because my responses and contributions are direct, said out loud without proofreading or taking time to edit. They are entirely my words and my thoughts. However, I think essays showcase my talent best because they are my best work, what I spend the most time on and the medium that takes all of my ideas, organizes them, and then displays them in the strongest way possible.
My self-presentation which is most true vs. the one which showcases my talents best I think are very different. I think the most true self-presentation are my attendance during in class discussion because my responses and contributions are direct, said out loud without proofreading or taking time to edit. They are entirely my words and my thoughts. However, I think essays showcase my talent best because they are my best work, what I spend the most time on and the medium that takes all of my ideas, organizes them, and then displays them in the strongest way possible.
Change in Voice
I do not think that my voice changed much on the blog throughout
the semester, but my voice is different on my blog posts than on my papers and
exams. Papers and exams need a professional and academic tone, however blogs
are unique in that sense. Blogs are meant to be less formal, and are meant to
allow people to quickly read them and take in the information that the writer
is presenting. Blogs generally have more of a conversational feel to them, and
we have little conversations, since we comment on other people’s blog posts.
Although my blog posts are more informal than my papers, I still
try to maintain good writings practices such as grammar and spelling, since
this is still a class assignment. I think my blog posts are more comparable to
the way in which I present myself in discussion.
I really enjoyed doing the blog posts because I was able to share
my opinions more freely and express my thoughts in a more conversational and
less edited way.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Evolution of Writing
It was interesting to compile all of my past blog posts and compare them side to side. Before doing the assignment, I did not think my writing style changed much, but I was wrong. In the beginning of the semester, my blog posts were very wordy and detailed. They were more like short essay assignments. As the semester progressed, my writing style slowly shifted. I had more clear and concise sentences, and I offered more insight to my own opinions. I think the main reason for starting off so scholarly was because I had no idea what to expect in LIS 201.
My presentation of myself in this course varies among the different types of assignments. I used a different structure, even a different tone, in my essay assignments compared to my speeches. Personally, I feel as if my most recent blog posts are an accurate representation of how I usually present myself. I tend to get nervous during public speaking, so my speeches were very different than my everyday conversations. As far as the essays, I tried to incorporate more diction within my writing than I would normally present myself. With essays, there was always an emphasis on scholarly sources, which is not typically found in my presentation of myself. My most recent blog posts have a relaxed tone of voice. I had no trouble giving my opinions, and my responses were similar to how I would have answered the same question in a different setting, for example, in the classroom.
I did not find many errors in my blog posts. There were some minor spelling and grammar errors, but I did not need to change much of my formatting and details the second time through. This assignment was really interesting because it forced me to analyze how I've progressed over the semester.
My presentation of myself in this course varies among the different types of assignments. I used a different structure, even a different tone, in my essay assignments compared to my speeches. Personally, I feel as if my most recent blog posts are an accurate representation of how I usually present myself. I tend to get nervous during public speaking, so my speeches were very different than my everyday conversations. As far as the essays, I tried to incorporate more diction within my writing than I would normally present myself. With essays, there was always an emphasis on scholarly sources, which is not typically found in my presentation of myself. My most recent blog posts have a relaxed tone of voice. I had no trouble giving my opinions, and my responses were similar to how I would have answered the same question in a different setting, for example, in the classroom.
I did not find many errors in my blog posts. There were some minor spelling and grammar errors, but I did not need to change much of my formatting and details the second time through. This assignment was really interesting because it forced me to analyze how I've progressed over the semester.
Evolution of my writing
My first few posts were much longer and more textbook-esque information based than my later posts. Once I got more comfortable in the class with the TA and students, I was able to tone down the professionalism somewhat since I realized this is not a not so formal platform. I also was able to get my point across in a less wordy fashion. I think is most definitely a positive since no one wants to read a long paragraph that could've easily been stated in a sentence or two.
The professionalism I conducted early on is a good representation of who I am when looking at my school work. I never use slang words or "haha", "lol" or anything of that matter when I am doing scholarly work. However, these blog posts are not necessarily an accurate representation of who I am in real life. I am much more sarcastic and tend to joke around a lot, which you can't really perceive from analyzing the posts I have made regarding summary and analysis of articles relating to one of my college classes. I think my speech is the closest embodiment of who I actually am. Although speeches are supposed to be very professional, a hint of the person's mannerisms can be visible.
Reading through my old blog posts looking for errors, I only found a few, which is surprising. Typically, I am very good about grammar and punctuation in my written work for classes.
Extra Credit: Excel Training
I attended a Microsoft Excel training class hosted by DoIt. The class was held in the Computer Sciences building and focused on different shortcuts and functions in Excel. I am a business major and knowing Excel is very important for all areas of business, so I have been wanting to learn more about it. DoIt has 5 different classes involving Excel and I hope to do more of these because they were very helpful. There was only one other person other than myself in my class, so it was nice to have a personal feel to the training and the instructors were able to help us personally because of the small class size. I did not know DoIt offered this training until recently, but I am glad I now do and will definitely take more in the future.
My Blog Writing
I found that my blog posts have changed over the course. My first few blog posts are very structured and have longer paragraphs, similar to my style for essays. As the course progressed I found that my blog posts became more precise and less wordy. I think that this is a positive because blog writing is much like a newspaper, where people want material that is easy to read and has short paragraphs that are each about a specific point. I know that I do not like reading really long paragraphs on the internet and tried to mirror that in my writing.
I also think that my blog posts were similar to the way that I present myself in discussion. I find the discussion easier, especially for giving feedback on other peoples thoughts. Although we do leave comments on other peoples posts, it is hard to hold an actual conversation that way. In our group discussions we can comment on each others ideas and thoughts and have a conversation that would take a long time to have online over posts. This shows the value of face-to-face interaction.
Although writing in a blog is more informal than most ways I write for school, I found that I was able to keep the same writing discipline I do in writing essays. In all of my blog posts I found one missed spelling, which I thought was pretty good considering we did a lot of posts. I do think that there was potential for more because I normally do not proofread my post before posting, which does leave room for some errors. Overall it was interesting to see all of my posts together and how my style has changed as the class progressed.
I also think that my blog posts were similar to the way that I present myself in discussion. I find the discussion easier, especially for giving feedback on other peoples thoughts. Although we do leave comments on other peoples posts, it is hard to hold an actual conversation that way. In our group discussions we can comment on each others ideas and thoughts and have a conversation that would take a long time to have online over posts. This shows the value of face-to-face interaction.
Although writing in a blog is more informal than most ways I write for school, I found that I was able to keep the same writing discipline I do in writing essays. In all of my blog posts I found one missed spelling, which I thought was pretty good considering we did a lot of posts. I do think that there was potential for more because I normally do not proofread my post before posting, which does leave room for some errors. Overall it was interesting to see all of my posts together and how my style has changed as the class progressed.
Evolution of Writing
Looking back at this semesters blog posts I learned a lot about myself just from the way I wrote certain things. I noticed that my first couple of blog posts were very structured, probably because I was still getting used to the class and didn't know exactly how I should be writing these blog posts. However, as time went on, I could see myself slowly begin to just write away on my blog posts. I began to just say more of what was on my mind, letting it flow out onto my blog, instead of creating a structured paragraph. It was interesting seeing this transformation, and I actually do enjoy contributing to this blog and expressing my own ideas.
When looking at the way I present myself, I believe the best representation of myself was through these blog posts. This is because I was able to freely write and not really think about all the critical details that are used for bigger assignments like papers. Though I was very proud of my 2 papers in this class, I do believe they were an edited version of me. I went through those papers over and over changing and editing my original ideas, and then had other peers go through and edit it. Therefore, I believe the papers were me, just edited and revised. These blog posts however, were just me speaking my mind and sharing my ideas. With that, I do believe the 2 papers showcased my talents the best. I worked extremely hard on those papers and put a lot of thought and detail into them. I even used the Writing Center for the first time ever!
Overall, this class has not only improved my writing skills, but it also taught me so much about the internet that I normally would never think about. After learning about privacy online and what can actually be seen when I think it is private has opened my eyes. I now caution myself when posting statuses and pictures on the internet, because you really have no idea who is out there searching your name.
When looking at the way I present myself, I believe the best representation of myself was through these blog posts. This is because I was able to freely write and not really think about all the critical details that are used for bigger assignments like papers. Though I was very proud of my 2 papers in this class, I do believe they were an edited version of me. I went through those papers over and over changing and editing my original ideas, and then had other peers go through and edit it. Therefore, I believe the papers were me, just edited and revised. These blog posts however, were just me speaking my mind and sharing my ideas. With that, I do believe the 2 papers showcased my talents the best. I worked extremely hard on those papers and put a lot of thought and detail into them. I even used the Writing Center for the first time ever!
Overall, this class has not only improved my writing skills, but it also taught me so much about the internet that I normally would never think about. After learning about privacy online and what can actually be seen when I think it is private has opened my eyes. I now caution myself when posting statuses and pictures on the internet, because you really have no idea who is out there searching your name.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Extra Credit - Wordpress.com Session
I attended a 2 hour wordpress.com workshop in the Biochemistry building. This program was put on by STS, an organization on campus that stands for Software Training for Students. Before this assignment, I did not know we had access to workshops like these, and best of all they're free to students here!
Before attending this session, I was unsure what exactly wordpress.com was. It is a website that allows you to easily create your own blog! I have always been interested in blogging, but I never knew how to go about starting one. I know there are so many websites out there to make blogs on, so this workshop was helpful to show one popular website for creating your own blog.
Since this was just an introductory course, we only focused on the basics. We started with making an account and picking a theme. Wordpress.com offers a to of free blog templates, which I found surprising because I figured there would be hidden fees to this "free" website. We learned basic tasks such as the difference between pages and posts. The most interesting thing I learned was that you can write a blog post and set it to be posted at a certain date and time. We also learned how to add widgets to our page, which ranged from calendar events to your Instagram feed. There were many widgets for many different types of blogs! I really like the privacy features on wordpress.com. As the creator of a blog, you can change the privacy anytime you want. There are many options of privacy settings, but I found it really cool that you could set it to where people could only see your blog if they had obtained a password you had set for you blog.
This session made me want to start a blog. I am planning on studying abroad this summer in Turks & Caicos, and after going through this session I definitely want to blog about my experiences.
Before attending this session, I was unsure what exactly wordpress.com was. It is a website that allows you to easily create your own blog! I have always been interested in blogging, but I never knew how to go about starting one. I know there are so many websites out there to make blogs on, so this workshop was helpful to show one popular website for creating your own blog.
Since this was just an introductory course, we only focused on the basics. We started with making an account and picking a theme. Wordpress.com offers a to of free blog templates, which I found surprising because I figured there would be hidden fees to this "free" website. We learned basic tasks such as the difference between pages and posts. The most interesting thing I learned was that you can write a blog post and set it to be posted at a certain date and time. We also learned how to add widgets to our page, which ranged from calendar events to your Instagram feed. There were many widgets for many different types of blogs! I really like the privacy features on wordpress.com. As the creator of a blog, you can change the privacy anytime you want. There are many options of privacy settings, but I found it really cool that you could set it to where people could only see your blog if they had obtained a password you had set for you blog.
This session made me want to start a blog. I am planning on studying abroad this summer in Turks & Caicos, and after going through this session I definitely want to blog about my experiences.
Evolution of Writing
Throughout the semester I believe people got to see two sides of me: one side being edited me and the other side being the real me.
First, when people read my blog posts they got to see a side of me that was based on an assignment. I formed all of my opinions to conform with the assignments we were given. Therefore, my opinions were not necessarily that real because I edited them to answer the questions we were given and to try and get me a good grade on the assignment. This is why I do not believe that people could see the real me through the blog posts.
Second, in class we were given more free range in the discussion and this is where I believe people could see the real me. In discussion our only grade is based on participation, therefore I was not trying to form my answers to get a good grade. Also we were not given pointed questions, so I could answer with what I truly emotionally felt about the readings. For these reasons I believe that people could see the true me in discussions.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Evolution of Writing
Throughout he semester I have changed my writing style
dramatically. As I became more aware of my online presence I became more
restricted on the different things I post. I would double check and check my
spelling and grammar and made sure my thoughts were better thought out. In
addition I showcased what I had learned from each week more and more.
It’s interesting to look at the information you present as
you learn more and more. It changes the tone you talk about topics and ideas. I
really think my writing also evolved into shorter yet concise and very to the
point arguments. In a blog post you tend to have less space, or you want to
keep it shorter, and get to your point in a more straight- forward matter
because online attention is much shorter.
However, this writing was also very different form the more
academic writing of the two papers. I preferred these blog posts to the papers,
because I felt I could write more freely and include more of my own opinion. It
was a lot less technical so I was more able to express my thoughts a bit more
openly.
With the final assignment I will better combine the two
thoughtful and backed up styles of writing. This final assignment will be very
interesting as it will be insightful, but much more concise than some of my
regular paper assignments.
Presenting Myself in LIS 201
When thinking about all of the different assignments of LIS 201, it is interesting to see how I was portrayed through them all. With the online blog posts, one cannot get a good sense of who I am and my personality since they were mostly informational posts about a searched topic. The only blog post that was truly about me was the introduction blog post. Typing things onto a computer and having someone read it is very different than speaking out loud and having someone listen to your voice.
I think that the only true representation of myself in this class was in discussion, where we were able to speak and interact face-to-face. It is difficult to get across information about yourself when you are trying to accomplish the assignment given. With the papers, I was only focused on covering the topic of the task, rather than giving the reader personal insight about myself. But when talking in class, it is much easier to get a feel for other's opinions and thoughts about certain topics. I think I represented myself in a positive manner on the blog posts and writing assignments, though it did not give a great representation of who I am as a person, as the pieces could have belonged to anyone in the class - they were not unique to me.
I think that the only true representation of myself in this class was in discussion, where we were able to speak and interact face-to-face. It is difficult to get across information about yourself when you are trying to accomplish the assignment given. With the papers, I was only focused on covering the topic of the task, rather than giving the reader personal insight about myself. But when talking in class, it is much easier to get a feel for other's opinions and thoughts about certain topics. I think I represented myself in a positive manner on the blog posts and writing assignments, though it did not give a great representation of who I am as a person, as the pieces could have belonged to anyone in the class - they were not unique to me.
Big Read Event- Extra Credit
I attended a big read event yesterday, 11/21 from 7-9pm in 1310 sterling hall, and the name of the event was Breaking Stereotypes: Women in Islam. It was put on by a Muslim student organization on campus and had 3 speakers on a panel, all of which were very qualified and knowledgeable on the topic; they were a male Muslim religious leader, a woman Muslim activist, and a Muslim nurse and activist. The first hour was dedicated to the speakers' personal experience and knowledge about the topic. They had some very strong opinions, such as Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the world, and that even Muslims are lacking education on their own religion. The second hour, which went a little long, was dedicated to a question and answer session, in order to interact with the audience. I was very shocked about the knowledge and curiosity of those in the audience, which was very diverse, which I thought was important to note. This event was very eye opening and interesting and I'm glad that I attended because this was a topic I didn't know much about and this really taught me that the media is not always correct and that I should instead seek answers to my questions myself by research. I included a nice, extremely awkward selfie that I took at the event.
Self Reflection
I enjoyed reading back through all of my blog posts from this
semester because it really showed how much we have learned in just a few
months.
I went back and edited all
my posts and I realized how many little grammar and sentence structure mistakes
I made. I think this really shows how I am as a writer because I like to lay
out all my ideas really quick. If I don’t take a lot of time to proofread my
paragraphs then I miss a lot of common mistakes. For instance, I made the horrible
mistake of using “there” instead of “their.” Grammar 101.
I think my
writing is similar in all of the writing assignments in LIS 201 but my writing
compared to in person is completely different. It is easier for me to come up
with ideas on the spot than when I am writing for a paper. I think it is
because there is a lot more pressure to have ideas put together in the right
away on paper.
For me, I think
talking in person best represents my ability to present my ideas. It is easier
to be able to get feedback from other people right away if they do not
understand what is being said and then cater the message to the feedback. I do
not consider myself to be the best writer so I liked how LIS 201 incorporated
writing and speaking within the course content.
Presenting myself
Throughout this semester, we have been given many assignments in many different ways, whether it be creating a blog post, uploading to the wiki, writing a paper, or preparing for a speech/discussion.
I thought that it was difficult to keep a constant identity for myself and continuously portray myself in an accurate way. As I was copying and pasting all my blog post, this really came clear to me. Our first post was obviously our introduction, and there I have no doubt I presented myself accurately, because I was simply writing about myself. After that however, it was a different story because of the nature of the assignments. The next post in my blog was my article blog post and this, along with some other posts, such as the video archive post, were very straight forward, and there wasn't much space to inject my personality. On the other hand, there were some posts that allowed for some creativity and personality, such as the book choice, the disconnected assignment and the game assignment. Overall, I would defiantly say that the blog post were more personal and therefore the most true and that showcased my abilities the best, compared to other aspect of the class.
More academic assignments for the class, such as the two papers, showed a different side of ourselves. I will admit that I did struggle with this part of the class, but one of the goals that I had for those assignments was to accurately show my academic/analytical capabilities as a writer. These assignments were more serious than the blog. Also, I felt that I could present myself better in discussion because I feel that I could line up the personality in some of my blogs with my participation in discussion. I just think that our section is dominated by a few individuals that have a lot of significant things to say, which impresses me every time. I just think that the thoughts that go through my head don't sound as "smart" as those, so I tend to stay pretty quiet in discussion unless I have something meaningful to contribute to the conversation. But this has made me realize that I can do better, and now that is my goal for the rest of the semester and something I want to do in my final projects. I will use the final project to showcase my knowledge and talent!
I thought that it was difficult to keep a constant identity for myself and continuously portray myself in an accurate way. As I was copying and pasting all my blog post, this really came clear to me. Our first post was obviously our introduction, and there I have no doubt I presented myself accurately, because I was simply writing about myself. After that however, it was a different story because of the nature of the assignments. The next post in my blog was my article blog post and this, along with some other posts, such as the video archive post, were very straight forward, and there wasn't much space to inject my personality. On the other hand, there were some posts that allowed for some creativity and personality, such as the book choice, the disconnected assignment and the game assignment. Overall, I would defiantly say that the blog post were more personal and therefore the most true and that showcased my abilities the best, compared to other aspect of the class.
More academic assignments for the class, such as the two papers, showed a different side of ourselves. I will admit that I did struggle with this part of the class, but one of the goals that I had for those assignments was to accurately show my academic/analytical capabilities as a writer. These assignments were more serious than the blog. Also, I felt that I could present myself better in discussion because I feel that I could line up the personality in some of my blogs with my participation in discussion. I just think that our section is dominated by a few individuals that have a lot of significant things to say, which impresses me every time. I just think that the thoughts that go through my head don't sound as "smart" as those, so I tend to stay pretty quiet in discussion unless I have something meaningful to contribute to the conversation. But this has made me realize that I can do better, and now that is my goal for the rest of the semester and something I want to do in my final projects. I will use the final project to showcase my knowledge and talent!
Friday, November 21, 2014
Extra Credit 2-hour Software Training for Students
Wordpress
I attended a 2-hour long software training program on 11-20-14 at 6pm. It was located in the DeLuca Biochemistry Building and I actually thought it was really informational. I honestly didn't expect to enjoy it that much but I ended up finding it really interesting and the 2 hours flew by.
We started off by making an account for wordpress.com. Wordpress is pretty much a website for blogging, which is great for students that want to student abroad in the future! Our instructor taught us that when you want to publish a blog, you are able to set a date and time for when you want it to actually publish. We also learned how to create a parent page, which is just a drop down like from an existing link. For example, on Madison's homepage, in order to get to the Course Guide button you need to scroll the mouse over Student Services. The Student Services link is the parent page of Course Guide. We also learned how to add media and images to our blog. When adding an image, I learned that if you click this little gear on the Wordpress website, then advanced search, and then usage rights, you're able to change your search limit to only authorized pictures. That way we weren't stealing any images off the internet. Next we learned how to add tags to our blog. These help for when people search a word that is tagged to your blog, your blog will show up in there search! Adding widgets was probably my favorite. We were able to link our Twitters and Instagrams to our blog, which I thought was pretty cool. Next, we learned how to create a poll on our blog for people to take. I had a little fun with this one. Lastly, our instructor showed us how to invite friends to follow our blog.
Overall, I thought this training program was really helpful and interesting. Now, when I study abroad, I'll already have a blog set up to use. Though I don't have much on my blog right now, feel free to check it out! It includes everything I went through above! cassandrajacquelyn.wordpress.com
I attended a 2-hour long software training program on 11-20-14 at 6pm. It was located in the DeLuca Biochemistry Building and I actually thought it was really informational. I honestly didn't expect to enjoy it that much but I ended up finding it really interesting and the 2 hours flew by.
We started off by making an account for wordpress.com. Wordpress is pretty much a website for blogging, which is great for students that want to student abroad in the future! Our instructor taught us that when you want to publish a blog, you are able to set a date and time for when you want it to actually publish. We also learned how to create a parent page, which is just a drop down like from an existing link. For example, on Madison's homepage, in order to get to the Course Guide button you need to scroll the mouse over Student Services. The Student Services link is the parent page of Course Guide. We also learned how to add media and images to our blog. When adding an image, I learned that if you click this little gear on the Wordpress website, then advanced search, and then usage rights, you're able to change your search limit to only authorized pictures. That way we weren't stealing any images off the internet. Next we learned how to add tags to our blog. These help for when people search a word that is tagged to your blog, your blog will show up in there search! Adding widgets was probably my favorite. We were able to link our Twitters and Instagrams to our blog, which I thought was pretty cool. Next, we learned how to create a poll on our blog for people to take. I had a little fun with this one. Lastly, our instructor showed us how to invite friends to follow our blog.
Overall, I thought this training program was really helpful and interesting. Now, when I study abroad, I'll already have a blog set up to use. Though I don't have much on my blog right now, feel free to check it out! It includes everything I went through above! cassandrajacquelyn.wordpress.com
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Aris
Hoping for a little excitement I managed to convince my roommate to "play" this game in exchange for buying him coffee. We decided, like everyone else, that the campus tour would be the most interesting game available. After about five or six checkpoints we got the principle of the game and decided to head back home to warm up.
This game is a really interesting concept because the players can also be creators. While Aris games would never take place of 2048 or Flappy Bird, I think they are still entertaining to those who enjoy physical activity. I think why some people may not find this game stimulating is the lack of competition. Much like doing ungraded homework, without competition there is no reward. Overall I like the idea and think it has potential but as for me this game doesn't quite cut it.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Aris
I was really confused by Aris. I downloaded the App thinking that it was the game itself, but I was surprised to find out that it was just a compilation of games around your current location. I was unable to figure out many of the games I tried to play, but I was able to figure out the campus tour game.
I thought this game was cool in the sense that it allowed for a guided tour, in a sense, that did not require a tour guide. The destination points allowed for a little sense of gamification, but other than that I did not really see this App as a game. Overall using Aris made me realize how many Apps are out there, that serve literally any purpose.
I thought this game was cool in the sense that it allowed for a guided tour, in a sense, that did not require a tour guide. The destination points allowed for a little sense of gamification, but other than that I did not really see this App as a game. Overall using Aris made me realize how many Apps are out there, that serve literally any purpose.
Games
I decided to play the campus tour game as well. This game is a good idea as it can give someone who is unfamiliar with campus a good sense of where they are. I guess it was a game in the fact that you had to find different locations, but to me this isn't the ideal game. I can see this being played in some sort of freshman orientation group as it can make a basic tour a little more fun.
The platform itself was not that great and I struggled to use it. However, I was able to get past some glitches and it did not interfere with my use once it was figured out. One reccomendation I would make to the designers of the game would be to "gamify" it a little more and include the time it took you to find it compared to the average, who a certain number of points depending on how long it took you to reach the location.
Overall this was an interesting game and shows you just how many games there are out there and not everything is some high tech, or viral hit.
The platform itself was not that great and I struggled to use it. However, I was able to get past some glitches and it did not interfere with my use once it was figured out. One reccomendation I would make to the designers of the game would be to "gamify" it a little more and include the time it took you to find it compared to the average, who a certain number of points depending on how long it took you to reach the location.
Overall this was an interesting game and shows you just how many games there are out there and not everything is some high tech, or viral hit.
Monday, November 17, 2014
ARIS Game
Cassie Hall
Nate Pond
Rachel Schmidt
After downloading the ARIS app and sifting
through a few different “games”, we decided to try out the campus tour one. We
picked this game because the three of us are sophomores that lived on the
southeast side last year, we figured we could use a campus tour to see if there
is anything we haven’t seen or known about our campus yet. At first we were
really confused just because we expected it to be just like any typical game
played on an iPhone, but to our surprise it wasn’t. Eventually we figured out
that we did actually have to physically walk to locations for this “game”.
This game did not have the common features that
we commonly associate with games such as a reward system for completing tasks
and quite frankly, not being stationary while playing is a completely different
feel. The “game” didn’t feel like the type of games we are used to playing on
our smartphones. Essentially we walked around campus as we were sent to different
locations to complete a full tour. While this was a different experience than
most games, it was still interesting in the sense that we still had objectives
to complete. We actually had to walk to locations in the game, and then used
our GPS location on our phone to prove that we were actually completing the
tasks throughout the game. The downside of this game was the fact that winter
has arrived here on campus and it was very cold. While I wouldn’t normally
recommend this game to those who are looking for a typical, time-killing game,
it is a nice change of pace. It was also interesting in the sense that it
involved our campus, which normal games aren’t usually that individualized.
Aris game
I started this assignment by exploring the Aris website, and I focused on the press section that had a variety about Aris. I read articles titled "Augmented Reality Enhances Learning," and "Augmented Reality' on Smartphones Brings Teaching Down to Earth," which sparked my interest in the types of games that were on the app, also because it referred to playing the games in a physical sense.
I then proceed to download the app and went to play a game with one of my roommates. Right away I was confused, because the names of the games didn't seen very eye catching to me. Under the location specific tab were games such as: UW Campus Tour, Dow Day, Henry Mall History, and more, which were definitely uncommon game names. They all had the same red box icon for Aris, rating with stars, the creator, and the location.
The game we decided was called Secret Places, because it had 4 stars and sounded the most interesting out of the others. In this game, there is a series of character spread out on a map of Madison which would each guide us to their favorite place, which would then pop up on the map after talking to that person, and the goal of the game is to collect all the items that go to your inventory after talking to every character. Some of these "secret" places included: Indian Burial Mounds, Mark's Fountain, the genius, and there is 9 in total. This definitely wasn't what I was expecting when I heard about the assignment, but it has a purpose other than entertainment. It give a map of madison with interesting places that would be useful if you wanted to go on an exploration.
This assignment really showed me how broad the category of "games" can be. There are games designed for many different purposes that are not what first pop into our heads when we think of the word.
Aris Game
Michelle Toni
Ciara Marino
Raechel Gulledge
Jillian Burnette
Ryan Haugland
Looking at the Aris website, we decided that the app was a compilation of learning games organized by grad students of UW School of Education's Games and Learning Society group. We checked out one of the many articles about the game called "2011 ARIS Global Game Jam draws participants worldwide" which was written in 2011 in the Isthmus. The article mentions that the main goal for the app was to take advantage of mobile learning through "growing an open-source community around mobile location-based games to find out what's possible with the medium." In it, the author mentions the growth of the app: 50 new games were added to the app within the first 50 hours. The term "growth" is then a perfectly acceptable term to describe the path of the game. After this, we were eager to see what the fuss was about.
After downloading the app, we created an account and went directly to the location-specific game as directed. Not sure where to go from there, we scrolled through the games and noticed some were rated well, some rated poorly, and some not rated at all. We started with a top-rated game: the campus tour. We were sort of confused at first what the point of the game was, but eventually we realized we simply just had to go through the all checkpoints and listen to the video recording describing each checkpoint. Although it didn't seem like much of a "game" it was really cool as you could literally walk to each checkpoint using the map they give you and et a full campus tour for free. (Because we have all already been through a campus tour and because of the weather, we decided to just enjoy the tour through the comfort of our warm coffee shop meeting place.) We checked out another game that showed us some street art that was scattered throughout the UW campus and that gave us prize arts if we completed certain "quests."
Overall, while these games weren't your typical "games" they created a mobile-interactive, location-specific way to learn about the location your in and other topics such as art or botany. We enjoyed exploring the app but wouldn't turn to it as our first choice of mobile gaming.
Ciara Marino
Raechel Gulledge
Jillian Burnette
Ryan Haugland
Looking at the Aris website, we decided that the app was a compilation of learning games organized by grad students of UW School of Education's Games and Learning Society group. We checked out one of the many articles about the game called "2011 ARIS Global Game Jam draws participants worldwide" which was written in 2011 in the Isthmus. The article mentions that the main goal for the app was to take advantage of mobile learning through "growing an open-source community around mobile location-based games to find out what's possible with the medium." In it, the author mentions the growth of the app: 50 new games were added to the app within the first 50 hours. The term "growth" is then a perfectly acceptable term to describe the path of the game. After this, we were eager to see what the fuss was about.
After downloading the app, we created an account and went directly to the location-specific game as directed. Not sure where to go from there, we scrolled through the games and noticed some were rated well, some rated poorly, and some not rated at all. We started with a top-rated game: the campus tour. We were sort of confused at first what the point of the game was, but eventually we realized we simply just had to go through the all checkpoints and listen to the video recording describing each checkpoint. Although it didn't seem like much of a "game" it was really cool as you could literally walk to each checkpoint using the map they give you and et a full campus tour for free. (Because we have all already been through a campus tour and because of the weather, we decided to just enjoy the tour through the comfort of our warm coffee shop meeting place.) We checked out another game that showed us some street art that was scattered throughout the UW campus and that gave us prize arts if we completed certain "quests."
Overall, while these games weren't your typical "games" they created a mobile-interactive, location-specific way to learn about the location your in and other topics such as art or botany. We enjoyed exploring the app but wouldn't turn to it as our first choice of mobile gaming.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Extra Credit Opportunity- Go Big Read
An extra credit for "Go Big Read" that is on campus is on December 3, in Vilas Hall (room 4070).
The event is called "Using Our Stories for a Cause: UW-Madison Students Speak Out. It is from 6-7:30.
Here is the link to the event:
http://www.gobigread.wisc.edu/events/show.html?id=80279
The event is called "Using Our Stories for a Cause: UW-Madison Students Speak Out. It is from 6-7:30.
Here is the link to the event:
http://www.gobigread.wisc.edu/events/show.html?id=80279
Stephen Kline: The New Cyber-City
Stephen Kline is a professor and director of media analysis at Simon Fraser University. He also runs a research department at the media analysis lab at Simon Fraser. Kline graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science where he studied media analysis. It only seems reasonable that with all of this knowledge he has accumulated throughout schooling and his research, he would write a book about it. This particular article by Kline and two others was taken out of the book “Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing, which was released in 2003 and published by Mcgill Queen's University Press.
Stephen Kline’s article “The new cyber-city: The interactive game industry in the new millennium” discusses the virtual gaming industry; how it began, competition that arose, and how it began to integrate into society. One of Kline’s arguments that stood out to me was that the gaming industry wasn't a quiet, discrete sector like it was in the beginning. Now, the circuits, technological, cultural, and promotional have intertwined and vital networks are seen as the critical zone for profit and growth. Because of this profit and growth that formed, gaming industry began to blow up into an entirely different world.
While reading the article, I noticed that Kline mentioned “Post-Fordism” a lot, which can be seen as the digital artisanship, based on a multitude of small enterprises, organizing production as high-technology craft-work and forming vibrant community networks of efficient but human-scale businesses. In other words, it's the idea that modern industrial production has begun to moved away from mass production in huge factories and towards specialized markets based on small flexible manufacturing units. The article also went into how the gaming market is one that has larger effects on the world than just serving as an entertainment outlet. Like stated earlier, as the industry grew, the profit continued to flow in. I also thought that this article provided a well-thought narration of the production of the gaming-industry that usually isn't known to many.
Searching around a bit, I found that other books published by Kline had to deal with marketing through advertising. This didn't surprise me too much just because he has so much background on the digital aspect of the world.
Stephen Kline’s article “The new cyber-city: The interactive game industry in the new millennium” discusses the virtual gaming industry; how it began, competition that arose, and how it began to integrate into society. One of Kline’s arguments that stood out to me was that the gaming industry wasn't a quiet, discrete sector like it was in the beginning. Now, the circuits, technological, cultural, and promotional have intertwined and vital networks are seen as the critical zone for profit and growth. Because of this profit and growth that formed, gaming industry began to blow up into an entirely different world.
While reading the article, I noticed that Kline mentioned “Post-Fordism” a lot, which can be seen as the digital artisanship, based on a multitude of small enterprises, organizing production as high-technology craft-work and forming vibrant community networks of efficient but human-scale businesses. In other words, it's the idea that modern industrial production has begun to moved away from mass production in huge factories and towards specialized markets based on small flexible manufacturing units. The article also went into how the gaming market is one that has larger effects on the world than just serving as an entertainment outlet. Like stated earlier, as the industry grew, the profit continued to flow in. I also thought that this article provided a well-thought narration of the production of the gaming-industry that usually isn't known to many.
Searching around a bit, I found that other books published by Kline had to deal with marketing through advertising. This didn't surprise me too much just because he has so much background on the digital aspect of the world.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
No Child Left Untableted Review
The article I read for discussion
this week was called No Child Left Untableted by Carlo Rotella. Carlo
Rotella is the director of the American Studies Program and the Director of the
Lowell Humanities Series at Boston University. He attended Wesleyan University,
Yale, and then received his PHD from Boston College. He is a frequent writer
for the New York Times, Boston Globe, and the Washington Post as well as an
editor for the Chicago Times. He teaches at Boston University, but has also
taught in China, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. He has written four books and won
numerous awards. His most notable awards include the American Scholar’s prize
for best essay and best young writer and the Whiting Writers award. Overall, I
would say he is a very accomplished writer.
The article we read by him talks
about the use of tablets in the school system. It starts out by identifying
three major issues with introducing tablets to schools: one the
customizability of a tablet is being underutilized, two educators are not taking
full advantage of students enthusiasm for tablets, and three teachers feel
overwhelmed by technology.
First, Rotella talks about his sit
down with Joel Klein the CEO of Amplify and his take on customizability. Klein
talks about how tablets can be used to cater to each child’s needs and make
sure that they are being taught in ways that suit them. He says this might be
through instant feed back of questions, where teachers can see who understands
the materials and who does not. Then continue to work with those who do not.
Second, Klein goes on to talk about
how students’ enthusiasm for the tablets is being overlooked. He says that
tablets could help the students who understand the material right away quell
their boredom by allowing them to explore even further into their studies, or
into some other areas that excite them.
Finally, he goes on to address the
teachers concerns in two parts: one the money and two the actual technology
itself. Some teachers stated that they are worried that funding for tablets
will take priority over their salary. Rotella states a case, where an LA school
cut some of its teachers, but then raised money to get tablets for all of the
remaining teachers and the school children. He goes on to explain how this is
still a major concern for teachers. Next, he talks about how some teachers are
overwhelmed by trying to learn the new technology and are worried they will not
be able to implement it effectively.
This article was written for, in my
belief, teachers. The reason I believe this is because it starts out by explaining
the benefits of technology and how if people chose to ignore these benefits
they will fall behind. It then goes on to address the concerns of teachers and
offer brief answers to them. Finally, the conclusion states how in the future
the education system needs to work on introducing teachers to technology
earlier for the system to be implemented properly.
The comments I read about the
article seemed to be very mixed; On the one hand the people very much liked the
points Rotella addressed and the way he wrote the article. On the other hand a
lot of the comments were a rant about how the school system needs to stop
spending billions on testing products that may not work. A lot of people were
advocates for just letting the teachers teach and not worrying about the bells
and whistles of technology.
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