Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Paris, here we come!
I think that this one is the most practical for the classroom. I could see myself using this type of setup for a lesson. I like that you can add your voice to tell the story. The only drawback is that I feel that this is the least creative of all of the websites. I thought that the final product was kind of boring compared to the other two.
Animoto Video
This one wasn't my favorite for several reasons. First, I felt like I didn't have much control over the way my pictures were presented. Also, I really wanted to add a video, but I couldn't figure out how. I felt like this is more of a music video type of creation. It wasn't really like a movie, which I thought it would be more like. I understand that there needs to be some sort of guidance for the pictures, but I just didn't like the organization of the photos. Even the photos that I highlighted didn't stay on the screen long. Loading the pictures also really took a long time.
ScrapBlog
http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/viewer.aspx?sbid=772619
This one was my favorite. I really enjoyed this one because it was easy to use / understand and it looks great in the end. I really liked the music choices for the show. I think that it adds a nice quality to the message. I e-mailed this to my friends who are in the scrapblog that I made and they really liked it! I think it is really convenient that you can easily adjust the speed of the video as well. I do wish that you could add more motion to the photos. I would definitely use this one again to create more scrapbooks.
This one was my favorite. I really enjoyed this one because it was easy to use / understand and it looks great in the end. I really liked the music choices for the show. I think that it adds a nice quality to the message. I e-mailed this to my friends who are in the scrapblog that I made and they really liked it! I think it is really convenient that you can easily adjust the speed of the video as well. I do wish that you could add more motion to the photos. I would definitely use this one again to create more scrapbooks.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Internet Worries
While watching the documentary about the internet, I was again reminded of the dangers which come with technology. One of the things that really stood out to me, was the pert of the documentary was Sara’s story. It makes me really distressed to see that some many kids are like Sara who feel as though they need the internet as an outlet to be their real selves. While I understand that junior high and high school is a difficult time for students to be themselves, I find it absolutely depressing that the students can more easily tell other people they don’t know their problems, but they can’t even tell their parents.
After reading Lisa’s blog (http://lisaillinois2010.blogspot.com/) I was reminded of a story that affected a good friend of my sister. This is similar to Even Skinner’s story in the documentary. My sister’s friend was a very involved Senior on her high school poms team. One night, she was at a party with some friends and there was underage drinking occurring. My sister’s friend was in a picture holding a beer can. Without her knowledge, the pictures were posted on Facebook and the faculty of her school found out about the pictures. My sister’s friend was kicked off the team for the remainder of the season. It just goes to show that you never know who is watching. While technology can be useful, it is also a hindrance. Also, as an English major, plagiarism is a major problem at the University level. I think that the internet is a major contributor to making plagiarism easier for students.
After reading Lisa’s blog (http://lisaillinois2010.blogspot.com/) I was reminded of a story that affected a good friend of my sister. This is similar to Even Skinner’s story in the documentary. My sister’s friend was a very involved Senior on her high school poms team. One night, she was at a party with some friends and there was underage drinking occurring. My sister’s friend was in a picture holding a beer can. Without her knowledge, the pictures were posted on Facebook and the faculty of her school found out about the pictures. My sister’s friend was kicked off the team for the remainder of the season. It just goes to show that you never know who is watching. While technology can be useful, it is also a hindrance. Also, as an English major, plagiarism is a major problem at the University level. I think that the internet is a major contributor to making plagiarism easier for students.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
While I understand the idea behind this program, I feel as though paying students to get good grades is not the way to go about motivating them. Often times I feel that students complain that they are so busy with school that they are stressed out and exhausted. Parents usually respond to this statement by saying that once they get to the real world life is going to be even harder. Students, in turn, may respond that at least parents get paid for what they do. This, I presume, is partially where this project is coming from. As a student, I would definitely love this program. However, I feel like there should be some sort of way to control what the students spend this money on. For example, instead of cash, how about they receive a gift card to Borders or Barnes and Noble? This idea is similar to DCteacher’s comment on the Washington Post Comments article mentioned below. This person says, “I would much rather see them pass out $100 gift cards to Giant or Safeway so that parents would come to PTA meetings and had some decent food on their tables so the kids can learn. We don't need to pay children to do what their parents don't care if they do or not. It is time to make parents accountable for their children and not throw money at them.”
While the Washington Post article (about a similar program) below mentions that students will receive “financial literacy” training about how to spend money wisely, the children are still the only ones who are able to withdraw from their accounts. As a parent, I don’t think I would like this program. I feel like children need to learn that there are some things in life that people are expected to do and these are the things that people will not be rewarded for. I want my future kids to learn the value of hard work. I want them to understand the importance of school for its long-term rewards, not for immediate monetary rewards. As Florida Jim writes on the Chicago Tribune Comments article, “Rewarding people for doing something they should be doing is silly.”
As a taxpayer I definitely don’t think I would like this program. I would want my money to go towards something that the whole community can benefit from. Who is to say that the students won’t spend the money on drugs or alcohol? As the CPS article below notes, freshmen students could possibly earn up to $2,000 in one year. What could a freshman in high school possibly do with that much money? If that were scholarship money that was to be set aside for higher education, I would definitely support the project!
Opinion Sites:
Chicago Tribune Comments article: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/chicago-tribune/TKER3LVL1Q6DRNC32
Washington Post Comments article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082803439_Comments.html
Other News Articles:
Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082803439.html
CPS article: http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releases/2008/Pages/09_11_2008_PR1.aspx
While the Washington Post article (about a similar program) below mentions that students will receive “financial literacy” training about how to spend money wisely, the children are still the only ones who are able to withdraw from their accounts. As a parent, I don’t think I would like this program. I feel like children need to learn that there are some things in life that people are expected to do and these are the things that people will not be rewarded for. I want my future kids to learn the value of hard work. I want them to understand the importance of school for its long-term rewards, not for immediate monetary rewards. As Florida Jim writes on the Chicago Tribune Comments article, “Rewarding people for doing something they should be doing is silly.”
As a taxpayer I definitely don’t think I would like this program. I would want my money to go towards something that the whole community can benefit from. Who is to say that the students won’t spend the money on drugs or alcohol? As the CPS article below notes, freshmen students could possibly earn up to $2,000 in one year. What could a freshman in high school possibly do with that much money? If that were scholarship money that was to be set aside for higher education, I would definitely support the project!
Opinion Sites:
Chicago Tribune Comments article: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/chicago-tribune/TKER3LVL1Q6DRNC32
Washington Post Comments article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082803439_Comments.html
Other News Articles:
Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082803439.html
CPS article: http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releases/2008/Pages/09_11_2008_PR1.aspx
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