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i think im gonna go nutssss!so much is going on right now that i can hardly function! i think i spend the majority of my time thinking about the things i have to do rather then actually doing them! instead of me ranting and raving there should be a blog here, but i cant find the article...i dont have time to look for it...and cant even imagine sitting and reading it :*( ON THE OTHER HAND..i think this little "break" im having right now is good therapy...its kinda relaxing talking/writing to myslef. anyways.i cant believe its almost christmas already!!!...and we're halfway done university! where the heck did those 4 years go??? wherever it went, it was a good 4 years :) i had fun..all u girls in the ece program (and mr mark) made the 4 years fan-tab-u-lous!i really hope we somehow keep in touch......I KNOOOOO!!! LETS KEEP BLOGGING! (great idea with the LJ accounts jason!)...id love to here for all of you every now and then :)

Before reading Jasons article I had no idea what open source software was. Now I understand that open software gives you the freedom to change your software to make it work in whichever way that best suits you. Something like this would be great for the classroom, because you have to power to adjust and modify the software to accommodate the needs of the students in your class. I like the point that Jason brings up when he says that “technology people” are the ones that control the kinds of technology that is used in our classrooms and that as teachers, we are just expected to use what is given to us. We don’t have much say on what we’d like to use. Technology has changed so much from when I was younger. I feel so behind and out dated when an 11 year old is showing me how to do things on the computer…and I’m only 21! The younger generation is so immersed in a society that is quickly changing and becoming more technically bound (does that make any sense?? :S ), that many of them surpass the older generation in terms of tech- savvy-ness (again, another word I made up but I think it makes sense!!). As such, a lot of the times teachers in the classrooms today aren’t quite sure of how to use the technology that is around them, and as a result shy away from it completely. Jasons suggestion for us to learn about it and create our own software is a great suggestion, because that way as future educators, we can get back on the techie band wagon and show them whose boss! We would be in control to use what technology we find is appropriate or not appropriate in out classrooms. Open software is just the beginning, we can use an already existing piece of technology and change it as far as we can, but sooner or later we as teachers should be able to create the software used in the classroom, after all…..teachers know best!

When i was a little girl i loved taking pictures. my father had an old camera that didnt work that he let me play with. i took it everywhere with me pretending to take pictures of everything. on family trips my father would take a family picture of us then i would tell him to wait and pose for my picture, which he did, and id even say "click!" when i got a little bit older my dad bought me a camera for my 7th birthday with some film. i took pictures of everything! the cake the decoration the presents and cards nad even some of the people at my party! the best camera i had was one that i won in grade 2. it was a polaroid and i was so fascinated at the fact that the pictures came out instantly. thinking back, i eally thinki can realte to the article because wheni was younger allmy pictures were of random objects that now i would be like "why do i have a picture of that!?" or "why would i waste a picture of this!?" I remember when i was in grade 7 or 8 i only wanted to take pictures of my friends, especially boys that i had a crushes on ;). I think when I was younger I was mostly excited about having a piece of technology. It made me feel responsible and important because I was in control and I could do whatever I wanted with it. The decisions were mine and I did what I wanted.

In the first article I thought that the author using the dog as an example of the ability to “pass” as part of a privileged group (humans using the computer and internet), was a really good one. It made me realize that communication through an object (rather then face to face or voice to voice) can be really dangerous. In the dog example, there is no way to tell who you are talking to because that person can make up whatever persona her or she wants...you could be talking to anyone, even a dog! There is no one monitoring to check your physical profile against the one that you create. I was also a little confused about what LamdaMOO was and all that I think I achieved from it was that I would never join LamdaMOO and I’m not particularly interested in making up fantasy characters or being a dolphin. I just don’t have the time these days and LiveJournal is enough for me at this point. But it did, however, point out the fact what even when people are able to create characters in which ever way they want, stereotypes are still presenteven when people have the opportunity to steer clear from them. The second article was verrry long and a little disturbing. In fact I didn’t quite finish the second one because truthfully, I was grossed out and honestly felt like I wouldn’t benefit from reading it till the end. From what I did read, it only added to any apprehensions I already had about internet chat rooms and realms or whatever they are. That I don’t like it, I can’t trust people in it and that children are not safe from them. The final article was a little more relevant to issues that I find with having computer and internet assignments for children. Hoffman makes a good point when he says that the internet provides equal opportunity and democratic communication only to those who have access. Not every child in the classroom will have access to a computer or the internet. Teachers should be wary of using the computer and the internet for learning when it comes to assignments or homework because not every child will have the opportunity to work on it without having a computer.

I think that using computers in the classroom is a good idea, but only at appropriate ages. I don’t think it is necessary for a child at such a young age to have the skills necessary to use a computer. I didn’t really understand the whole policy thing that Starr was talking about, but I did understand his point of the danger of sims and other types of simulations, are that they all depend on models that are controlled by the persons who create them. Reading the section on the “original sim” was a little unnerving. It almost seemed as if Starr was saying that we as consumers are unknowing playing with these simulation games, unbeknownst to us, that it is a preparation for something bigger and in the plans of the creators of the games or those who govern over them. I’ll admit that it seems logical use an alternative way of learning that will grab the interest of the child when other methods do not work, but going back to my original point, I firmly believe that the appropriateness of such technologies depends on the age of the child. I say, let the children learn the old school way at young ages. Let them do the hands on, creative thinking and manipulation thing so they can develop and master these important skills. Then at a much older age, highschool or so, it may be beneficial for the young adults to learn in ways that will grab their attention and make them want to learn.
I cant really write anything on the second article because I wasn’t sure where to click or what to read. But after reading the third article it was really sad to see how dependent the family was on the open source networking and ..whatever else it is they used. It was so confusing reading about the many software things that the families use. What shocked me the most I think was reading that on child was playing chess over the internet with his friend who lives across the street! What ever happened to going to a friends house to play games, or playing outside!

Reading this article makes me not want to go on the internet anymore. It’s scary to think that the information that I put out there can be so easily taken and used without me knowing it. I think this is why I’ve stayed away from buying things on the internet and using things like ebay or signing up for the different types of accounts that are available. It’s hard to believe that every time I use the internet I leave behind some sort of trace that people can follow and that will lead back to me. I think about the fact that someone could look me up on Canada 411, find my address and then search it on yahoo maps or map quest and end up right on my front door. Reading the section about the “social hacker’s tool kit” was very unsettling. I never realized that the information you put out there, the blogs you write or conversations you have in chat rooms can be collected, analyzed and studied to aid strangers in their façade to gain your trust and interest. Chat rooms especially seem to be very dangerous, although I’ve never really joined one, I always hear about adult abductors using chat rooms in the guise of young children. They pretend to be a friend, gain the child’s trust then set up some sort of meeting. I guess there are really two sides to this hole hacking business. One, for us layman’s, hacking is scary, I do not want to be “hacked into” or have my identity stolen etc etc…On the other hand, there are situations where hackers are imperative to our safety. Governments may need hackers to hack into other systems to find information that may be harmful to society.

you guys are right...that line is from spider man!