Infinate Ways to Learn

The article, "Footprints in the Digital Age" by Will Richardson illustrates the increasingly mandatory need to be found on the internet, or "Googleable". Future employers, people you might date, and even just random people Google each other all the time. Even I have Googled people I come across that seem to have eerie pasts or that seem to have done great things; we want to find something interesting- a story to tell. Some say it is out of your control to decide what is posted about you on the internet, but is that really true? It is your decision to maybe put those risqué pictures on Facebook or use profanity in a chat room, but can things be said about you that aren’t true? Things can be altered many times and even if not intending to do so, turn into a vicious rumor. That is why we must ultimately be safe on the internet when finding information, but it is also a great learning tool.

When Richardson made the analogy of a bus with students driving and teachers standing in the back, it enraged me. It acted as though we didn’t know what we were doing and we were sure to fail, killing the passengers and the drivers. Typically the children are more accustomed to technology; it is the only thing we have ever known. It is almost like learning a foreign language. If a kid is taught a language from birth, it is not hard to remember it and translate, but for somebody who is older and has only known one for so long, it is not as easy to learn. We need teachers to guide us to make sure we don’t go off track, but with as many techniques that are out there we need to learn for ourselves what works for us individually.

Our Stereotypical World

The article, "Poll: Majority of NY voters favor moving mosque" simply summarizes what 751 New York citizens believe should happen with the Ground Zero Mosque. The majority of them, around 57%, think that the location of the mosque is "wrong". Well then, what is our definition of wrong? When I first read this I suddenly felt perturbed and uneasy. How can something be generalized as “wrong”? I can see them calling it immoral or simply just stating it to make a vast majority of the population feel uncomfortable, but wrong?

            My personal opinion is that nobody is wrong in this situation. Yes, the building of the mosque is like pouring salt on a fresh wound; nevertheless, none of those individuals caused 9/11. If an Irishman had crashed a plane into the twin towers I can guarantee that there would be many jokes in the media about Ireland, but how long would it last? They are like “us”; Christian, white, “normal” folk. We would be able to understand that these individuals were crazy, for lack of a better word; not the entire population of Ireland. Think of the KKK for instance. They did terrible things to people “not like them”, but they were our own kind. We didn’t condone it, but we also never blamed any of the people that looked like them because, well, they were us.

            The media perpetuates stereotypes and generalizations to an extreme. Admittedly, even people like me who recognize and identify stereotypes, still become a little bit uneasy when in the presence of a Muslim. I know that it is wrong and I shouldn’t, but since 2001 it has been pounded into my head that they are bad people. The article also brings up the fact that some people say the Muslims should voluntarily move it. This is an interesting point, because I think that at this point they may be just doing it to make a point. Should they be empathetic towards this race of people that has been so racist towards them? Some say yes, but what would you do? Have you ever known that you should probably change something, but you have already argued so much against it that if you change your side your dignity is at risk? We may never know, but for the moment, we need to respect the rights of others. The first amendment gives us freedom of religion, so it is not illegal, just in some eyes immoral. We cannot escape stereotypes, but instead we need to try to recognize and avoid them, no matter how hard the media tries to impose them.

It's Your World

                The article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid" by Nicholas Carr tests the minds of the reader to think, is the internet an asset or a hindrance? This is a question that seems to be coming up in a lot of people’s minds lately, but appears a bit uneasy to some. Carr explains it to be an “uncomfortable sense” that something has been “remapping” and “reprogramming” his brain. The feeling that something has that much control over you almost validates our excuses in our mind. The “It’s not our fault, it’s society’s” outlook on life is easy to fall into, but when are we going to take a stand against it? I was reading recently about a writer who rents an office space with a desk, a chair, and a computer with the internet capability permanently ruined, so that he can write without the temptations of plagiarism, and has to write, almost eliminating writers block. That works for him, but I believe that the internet does help us and can aid in our research, but only when used correctly. Carr makes some good points, but has a very pessimistic look toward this new world we are living in. We need to embrace it, and find how it works for each individual. It is not a universal teaching technique, and it works for some people to ignore it completely, like that writer. But for the rest of us, I challenge you to go against what you hear and do it for you.

Perfectionism

The article “No Verizon, Not Antenna, is iPhone 4‘s Big problem”, quite frankly states exactly what the title describes. The top reason the demand for the iPhone 4 is so low is not because of the widely known antenna problem, but the fact that you cannot have Verizon Wireless’ phone service on it. The competition in the world right now is impeccable. Something as miniscule as a slower internet connection, maybe even by a second or two, can change a companies profits by millions, or even billions of dollars. 20 more calls dropped than Verizon can be the difference of thousands of families having food on their table or not.

            Perfection is an almost unattainable trait, yet the world today thrives off the thought that someday it may be possible, and we want to be the first. To a certain extent, yes, this helps in our capitalistic economy, but how much is too much? Should people be stressed out all the time trying to do an internet search .68 seconds faster than their competition? How much farther will it get them in life?  I think we need to stop fussing over fractions of seconds, and focus on the big picture. We need to stand together and fix what really needs fixing.

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           Michael Wesch's, "A Vision of Students Today" has some valid points, but was a bit vague, raising a few questions in my head.The points that were brought up really intrigued me. If a student probably won't have a job that exists today, then how do they know how to educate us? What are they doing to prepare us for this new world  forming rapidly before our eyes?  The reason we need to listen and understand about technology, is because at the rate it is growing at, technology could be the basis of life eventually. Even right now, I have to go to my grandma's house to help her send an important E-mail for work, or explain how to work a DVD player. It is becoming less and less acceptable to not have access to the internet or be able to use simple technology. The world is more connected than ever. After watching this video, I browsed through the suggestions box, and clicked on one titled, "A Vision of K-12 Students today", another version of the original video, made by a different author. As I was about to click away, I noticed  something. One of the resources was Karl Fisch's "Did You Know 2.0". It shows how connected we really are, and that what you do on the internet could be viewed by a million different people, in two million different ways. Other people are really the way we learn most everything, and we should use that to get ourselves out there. As technology becomes increasingly more present in our lives, we need to embrace it and increase the resources we learn from, and maybe eventually, someday, everyone will have access to the minds of others and learn from them.