Game Lab

With the start of the semester I thought that this class was going to be like all the others. Yet with the introduction of 3D Game Lab I have found that the class feeling more rewarding.  The idea of rewarding the student as they progress is a more productive way to structure the class instead of fear of being penalized for making a mistake or lacking knowledge. This website just comes to show that education is for the encouragement of learning and as I stated earlier, not to punish students for not knowing something. I found that the layout for the program simple and easy to comprehend and easy to access.  The badge system is a great inclusion to the overall theme making you feel that the more you do and the further you get into the course you are accomplishing something. The array of badges that the teacher can give is fulfilling leaving something for everyone. I believe that structure revolving around an MMO (Massive Multi-Player Online Game) makes the class more remittable, getting to choose what assignments you can do, letting you do the sections that you enjoy and spark you interest. The process of having experience points instead of regular point makes the experience more like a game having you rise further in the ranks gaining better grades instead of losing them. Now overall the site is amazing but occasionally the site will not want to load, it might just be my computer but it will continue to load never stopping.  Other time it seems that the actions are not responding having me leave and reenter the page.  All in all the site is a sever improvement on the education system, the way this site helps education reach a new generation keeps the students intrigued in the cours helping them learn.  

The End of Solitude

The article “The End of Solitude: by William Deresiewicz speaks of a concern of many people, the fear of isolation. The article states that people have the terrible fear of being alone and with the introduction of the internet this all changes. With great distances that used to cause for dread, is now easily allowing communication with people that have the same interests. The article put it best when it stated that parents can stay in touch with far flung friend and gay teens can feel like they are not so strange. With all the portable technology we are no longer alone, and with the growing technology the problem of isolation is slowly dwindling where it is not that hard to be connected, solving the fears of many.

Second Generation is Worse Than You Think.

In the article “Web 2.0: the second generation of the internet has arrived and it’s worse than you think”  by Andrew Keen is about the rising danger of web 2.0. The article states that with this new technology there will be no filter for the garbage with no talent. Be it he put it in nicer terms. He fears that with this innovation the current media will soon crumble. I find that this entire article is bogus, web 2.0 is where you can state your opinion and your art with no one to say no. But to each is his own. He may view it to be a bad thing that invokes piracy and causes Famous artist like Bono to slowly die out. Someone like me on the other hand find it a great innovation and welcome it with open arms.

Nomadicity

In the article “Nomadicity” by Todd Gitlin, he brings up the concept that as humans we seem to lean towards the next innovation in portable entertainment, each innovation being a smaller, sleeker more accessible version than the one that proceeded it.. We long to be free being able to access our music, movies, books, and pornographic material, Yet with this push to gain this freedom we simultaneously sacrifice our sense of solitude, being surrounded by the consent communication that is happening all around you. Even with this consent access to each other we have found the means to find freedom with this new technology, now all we have to decide is where to go.

The Harmful Reality

In today’s society we are bombarded by many different forms of media. From our smart phones, to our computers, tablets, and our televisions sets, we have a constant access to a massive collection of media, and within this massive collection there is the continuous feed of propaganda and influential imagery that can affect one’s better judgment, causing one to fall prey to its messages, if you are not careful I may even effect the way you act. One media type that can be brought to the stage that has caused the younger generation to act profoundly at such a young age is a genre of a T.V show, Reality Television. A research done by the Girl Scout organization, shown that in a survey of 1100 girls, there was a remarkable difference between in the girls from those who watched Reality TV and the girls who didn’t. The difference reflected on the girls personal views of self-appearance, their reactions with their peers, and their overall view of the way the world around them works. With shows such as the Jersey Shore, that glamorize drinking, violence, and sexual activity, and the way to success is through the act of lying, puts the idea in these girls heads that this is how one need to act to be loved, and because it is reality TV, that is how reality works. According to an article on the Fox News website “MTV’s “Jersey Shore” Season 5 averaged 5.8 million viewers, including one million ages 12-17.”

That means that one million teens are getting the perception that people like Snookie and the Situation are the way people should act on top of this  they believe that the situations and events that happen in the show are one hundred percent factual, causing them to act in such a way to imitate these so called role models. Jersey Shore is just the start of a long list of reality shows that portrays the same morals, such as Real Housewives of Beverly Hill, Following the Kardashian, and Bad Girl Club, each following a group of people that embodies the acts that were listed above, each reenacting the same event over and over. Yet it has been stated that this has all happened before in previous generations

In an article on the Daily Caller, there is a quote from a professor from the University of Virginia Paul A. Cantor, stated that “Any culture is coarse when you’re living in it,” Stating that popular culture is something that is generated by what the populous consumes. So by logic if one wants to stop this influential garbage, then one just has to make sure that they try to watch quality garbage, or monitor what your children are watching. So the change that needs to be acquired is one that is as easy as changing the channel.

Everyone Googles Part 4

 

This last search prove to be most difficult to fin any information. I believe that my word choices again were to veg for the searches. At first I tried “roll call for house of representatives 1-8-1964” then “roll call for eighty eighth congress house of representatives” then “roll call for eighty eighth congress house of representatives january 8 1964” all leading no dead ends. I decided to look at the image a bit more and I noticed a 32 in the corner of the paper so I type “roll call 32 house of representatives 1964” and lo and behold the first link lead me to the National Archives with the image displayed. And from past searches had already revealed that it is a credible site. The last one was quite a brain stumper leaving me to go back and start from the beginning which lead to successes.

Everyone Googles Part 3

The third image required some thought to figure out how to search for it, thinking, scary I know.  At first i tried to search “JF Blake complaint form” which lead to no avail, so i tried “city of montgomery jf blake form”, but again at no avail. Then i tried “jf blake” then finally “jf blake 1955” before i found something. I feel the reason that the other didn’t work was because they were to veg. I did find some information with the last search but I was yet unsure on the credibility of the info so I searched “Rosa Parks arrest” and with the first link lead me to some credible info. This one was a dozzy, having me work for my ending results, weird work.

Everyone Googles Part 2

The second image turned out to be a bit more difficult they what I expected, but not enough to have me pull out my hair. At first I tried to type “Background Maps”, but it just lead me to a bunch of wallpapers for my computer, not really helpful. Yet no need to lose hope. While I was going to delete my search a suggestion for “background map 1961 freedom rides”, this lead to be most helpful. The first and third link turned to be able to reveal that it is a map was a map for the Congress of Racial Equality.  Both websites are government and one has a link to the other showing it as a source validator, leaving both sources credible.

Everyone Googles Part 1

The task at hand now leads me to Google four images that been presented to me.

The First image turns out to be a letter from. Eleanor Roosevelt to president general of the DAR.  The funny thing is that I thought it would be difficult to find information on an image but it was in no way hard to find a reliable source on the letter shown above. All I typed in Google was ” Letter to Mrs Henry M. Robert”  and the information I needed was the very first link, no searching necessary  The first link was the National Archives, which is a creditable because is a government website, but still you take it with a grain of salt. but after some cross referencing i can say that it is.

Love Online

“Love Online”, an article by Henry Jenkins, tells of the experience his son had with a relationship that he had online. His son fell in love with a woman he met in a chat room and the decided to go out. He compares his sons relationship to that of his parents where during World Wars they were separated leaving them to sending love letters. Jenkins viewed the emailing as a form of love letter letting there love grow. The two finally met and soon parted ways, but as stated not due to their meeting, but just because he was fifteen.  The internet bring wide communities together allowing for communication, and some time it leads to love, leaving the internet an important form of contacting each other.