jleitner

06:33 pm: Last reading :) Week 13 :)
The article called “The young reader and the screen” talks about a child’s use of a computer. I feel that for a child reading a book is more interesting to look at then looking at a screen in order to read. I find that as an adult reading from a computer screen for long periods of times is tiring and is a difficult task to do. I feel that when it comes to reading options for children a book is the ideal reading material to stick with because a child would and can feel like they accomplished more reading just by turning a page where as things look much longer on a screen. I feel that a an educator children will feel more at ease when reading from a book that is right in front of them rather then on a screen that could end up having potential problems.

06:27 pm: Week 12 Readings
This week’s readings were interesting and showed me some different interesting things children can do on computers such as “Tux paint”. This website is an interactive, fun learning site for children that can be used at all ages. I find it interesting as an adult to be able to try this out. The small penguin makes this site fun for children while guiding them through the use of the site. The “Tux paint” program allows children to be creative and try out new ways of using their creativity. I found this to be a great idea for children and a fun part to our class readings. I think the best part about tux paint for parents, caregivers and educators is that it can be accessed and used for free by downloading it. This program is a great way to get children involved with computer usage allowing them to see that a computer can be a fun tool to use both in the classroom and in the home setting.

03:16 pm: Week 11 readings
The first reading I did was on Children as Photographers: An Analysis of Children’s Photographic Behavior and Intentions at Three Age Levels. Cameras are such a cool thing for children to use. They are able to produce there own artwork through the click of a button. I remember taking lots of pictures as a child that were meaniful to me then and completely unmeaniful to me now. It's funny to look back at all the pictures I took as a child of landscape. I don't think I ever took pictures of people just pictures of landscape, which in my opinion are pointless to look at now seeing as I don't even remember where I took the pictures. But cameras are fun and are memory keepers for any age. The second article I read was called Children as Photographers. This article reminded me of exactly how I was as a child, as stated above. I loved taking pictures of landscapes. I guess in a way it made me feel more mature and like I was a pofessional photographer. It was fun for me to take these types of pictures as it was for the eleven year olds in this article. It kind of surpirsed me that other children enjoyed taking this sort of pictures as well because I find it pretty silly that I used to do that. This article reassured me that I wasnt as crazy and messed up of a child as I thought I was....at least I hope not.LOL! :)

03:18 pm: Sunrise Picture Taken by Professor
This is a wicked cool picture of the sunrising in Toronto! Very cool!

11:23 am: Week 10 Blog (Access grid)
I found this website on Access grid's and found it very informative. http://www.accessgrid.org/ I hope this site helps others get a better understanding of the grid as well as a visual picture of it for those who did not get to see it first hand. The access grid is a cool idea for future teachings and for communicating.

02:40 pm: Week 9: Readings
I read all the articles this week, which I found to be quite interesting. Technology has come so far throughout the years providing children with so many learning opportunities. The first article I read was called Children as Photographers: An Analysis of Children's Photographic Behaviour and Intentions at Three Age Levels. The idea of children and cameras is a neat idea that we discussed doing in future in class by buying the small $15 digital cameras, we would be able to give it to children to take their own pictures. When I was a child I remember really enjoying using my parents camera to take photographs, and know that other children would be intrested in doing this as well. This idea is neat to be able to see the world through a child's perspective. Metaportal for a megatrend: New Visualization Lab is up and running is about a large screen where people can communicate with others in a life like way. I feel that communicating with people around the world through a large screen is an awesome idea for children. Teachers will be able to see how the children interact with others through the use of the monitor. This provides children with the opportunity to take field trips around the world without ever having to leave the classroom setting. This article Video Conferencing with Preschool Children: Mass Communications Media in Music Instruction promotes the use of conferencing in the classroom in an interactive way and talks about the benefits of video confrencing.

10:46 am: Week 8 readings Very informative!
The first article I read was Race in/for Cyberspace this article was all about “role playing” by pretending to be someone your not or somebody else. You are able to choose your gender, race etc. on this site. I think it’s interesting that there are sites where you can do this but I guess on any site you go on you can create an “imaginary” person. In a way it’s kind of cool for people who feel that they are unable to express themselves by just being themselves yet I also feel that it’s kind of creepy and would make it difficult to trust anyone and there word just by looking at a computer screen. I also feel that for some people being able to choose a race other then there own may make them feel like there not good enough being who they are and that there may be a “superior” race in there minds. In the end this can cause a lot of problems with themselves and society.

The second article that there was to read was called A Rape in Cyberspace. This article was not accessible to me I tried many times clicking on the link yet each time it would take me to an error page. Then when I got into the page I couldn’t find the article that was titles A Rape in Cyberspace. However I did read many students comments on this article that did see it and it just sounds like some people are doing some pretty creepy, dangerous stuff out there and abusing the net for inappropriate things.

The third article that I read was called Bridging the digital divide. This article allowed me to see and understand how something I take for granted everyday is not of easy access to everyone. It discussed how not everyone has easy access to the internet or to computer usage based on race. This makes me feel and want to advocate for the use of computers in the classroom or even just making computer usage more readily available anywhere so that people can receive access. I think for the first time this week I enjoyed all the articles we had to read for class. Thanks for the great insight to things I was unaware of.

04:25 pm: Week 7 Readings
This weeks article is called Seduction of Sim, Policy as a simulation game was about the Sims games. I totally remember as a child sitting at my computer for hours playing Sim city. It was the greatest game ever. I remember all the cool things about the game like once you built a city you were able to cause different types of disasters on it. For example, floods, monsters or hurricanes. That game was very addicting to me and I am extremely happy I never invested in any other Sim games because I think if I did I would become lost in them never wanting to go out. I found this Sim article to be extremely long this week as if it was just dragging on though. I think in future when I have some free time I may try out some of the other Sim games. But definitely not until I have some serious free time because I will become a hermit with those games, I’m sure. Sims is beneficial for a child’s learning because they are able to create things allowing them to be creative. To me when I used to play it I found it educational because I would have to problem solve around creating a city that would promote population and have intrest to the people in the game. It was all about problem solving. We did have a slight discussion in class on this program as well. Anyways in my opinion I am pro Sims.

06:26 pm: Week 6 Readings
I choose to do the article on Hacking human: data-archaeology and surveillance in social networks by Jason Nolan and Michelle Levesque. This article kind of freaked me out. I never realized hacking was such an easy thing to do. People can find out so much about me by just asking a few simple questions. I used to feel that hacking was a cool thing to do now I feel foolish for thinking that. Hacking in the media seems to be so glamorized from Hollywood. But now I realize that people can do it to me. This definitely is scary considering I trust the internet and have put so much of my information on it in past. The whole use of revenge hacking is also something that makes me nervous, it makes me want to stay on everyone good side because who knows if the have computer knowledge. I also can't believe just from typing someones name in you can find out where they live and so much more info about them. From this article I learned that social hacking means people watching people. A sort of surveillance in a way, they are able to track what you do, where you live, where you work and so many other things as well. This should make any on line users nervous. I know realize how someone I knew obtained my address without me giving it to him. He said he typed my info in on the internet and that my address came up. I didn't understand at first how he could see this information of mine but now I understand. I hope that I never get hacked or that any of my information gets out to the public again. I will try to limit what I put out from now on even though all the stuff in past can still be found on the net.

06:47 pm: Week 5 Readings: Pick 2 articles on the websites provided
The article that I choose to read first was called Excerpt from "Not in Front of the Children: 'Indecency,' Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth" which discusses whether or not censorship is a good thing for children. I believe that a certain amount of “hidden truth” is okay depending on the age of the child. I mean you wouldn’t want a young child knowing EVERYTHING! However I feel that such topics as discussed in this article about divorce and homosexuality should be discussed with a child. I mean you can’t protect your children from things they will most likely encounter many times in there lives. The rate of divorced parents is high and chances are the child will have a couple friends with parents going through or already gone through the process of divorce. Homosexuality also widely accepted now in our society and children will have questions regarding certain things they may see. I feel that it is important to be honest with your child regarding certain topics that are bound to come up.
For my second reading I looked at the research report called Television Goes to School: The Impact of Video on Student Learning in Formal Education. This article discusses how television use can effectively assist in children’s learning. The article discusses how children are surrounded by television everyday and that the use of media in the classroom can help there learning. I do support the use of media to expand a child’s learning using different resources. However, I do not feel that television/videos should be used everyday in the classroom. I feel that most children watch enough t.v. on there own time and need other sorts of resources to expand there knowledge and learning.