Some schools do not allow students or teachers to access sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Explain why they are correct and give reasons/examples.
Schools are correct to restrict access to sites like Facebook and Twitter because they feature user-generated content that school administrators cannot control. Much of this content can be objectionable and even run afoul of school rules, but teacher and administrators cannot be held responsible for user-generated content. For example, almost every school has specific policies barring bullying in school. But administrators are powerless to block comments regarding individual students that might be construed as bullying. In addition to the content issue, students may be distracted from relevant lessons if they have access to Facebook or Twitter. Blocking these sites altogether is the only solution to maintain a positive student environment and student focus in school.
Some schools do not allow students or teachers to access sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Explain why they are wrong and give reasons/examples.
Schools are wrong to restrict access to sites like Facebook and Twitter because they are robbing their students of the world of constructive possibilities made possible by digital collaboration. Facebook allows students to collaborate in groups, and Twitter allows them to take advantage of opinions and news in real time. Modern education philosophy places great emphasis on students’ abilities to collaborate with others; social media, by its nature, encourages such collaboration. In addition, social media has the added benefit of offering collaboration on a digital platform, so it encourages students to use and master technical components that will be a large part of their success in adult life.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Assignment 7: Predict the future!
I think that in 50 years, cordless telephones will have gone the way of the typewriter or the manual television set.
When they were developed, cordless phones were liberating. Before they were on the market, if you wanted to make a phone call, you not only had to be in one place, but you had to stay there. Remember stretching those spiral cords as far as they would go? Or how about running back and forth if you wanted to change phones – leaving the phone off the hook in one room, running to the other room and taking the phone off the receiver, then running back to the first room and hanging up? Cordless phones freed callers of their need to be tethered to the wall. You could roam your house free of such worries as, “How long will it take me to coil this cord back?” – as long as you didn’t wander so far that the receiver lost touch with the base!
Of course, the phones’ range is not their only wart. Their batteries are their lifelines, and if they are left off their hooks, they quickly drain and lose their capacity to hold a charge. Anyone who has kids will tell you that there is nothing more frustrating than picking up a phone (when you finally find it, abandoned wherever your kids left it), trying to turn it on, and finding the battery dead. You might as well not have a phone at all.
And then there is the issue of beginning a call at home, chatting for a while, then having to leave. You have to cut the call short, either to call the person back later or from your cell phone. The cell phone is truly the liberating voice communication technology that cordless phones once purported to be.
In 50 years, it is highly likely not only that cordless phones will disappear, but also that land lines themselves – telephone wires into people’s homes – will become unnecessary. The internet is already providing voice communication services that replace the telephone. They offer flat-rate fees without all the add-ons that phone companies browbeat customers with. Skype even allows you to see who you’re talking to. Once people get comfortable with the internet as their conduit to the outside world for emergency purposes – 911 and alarm services – there will be no need to pay extra for landlines, and therefore no need for cordless phones.
When they were developed, cordless phones were liberating. Before they were on the market, if you wanted to make a phone call, you not only had to be in one place, but you had to stay there. Remember stretching those spiral cords as far as they would go? Or how about running back and forth if you wanted to change phones – leaving the phone off the hook in one room, running to the other room and taking the phone off the receiver, then running back to the first room and hanging up? Cordless phones freed callers of their need to be tethered to the wall. You could roam your house free of such worries as, “How long will it take me to coil this cord back?” – as long as you didn’t wander so far that the receiver lost touch with the base!
Of course, the phones’ range is not their only wart. Their batteries are their lifelines, and if they are left off their hooks, they quickly drain and lose their capacity to hold a charge. Anyone who has kids will tell you that there is nothing more frustrating than picking up a phone (when you finally find it, abandoned wherever your kids left it), trying to turn it on, and finding the battery dead. You might as well not have a phone at all.
And then there is the issue of beginning a call at home, chatting for a while, then having to leave. You have to cut the call short, either to call the person back later or from your cell phone. The cell phone is truly the liberating voice communication technology that cordless phones once purported to be.
In 50 years, it is highly likely not only that cordless phones will disappear, but also that land lines themselves – telephone wires into people’s homes – will become unnecessary. The internet is already providing voice communication services that replace the telephone. They offer flat-rate fees without all the add-ons that phone companies browbeat customers with. Skype even allows you to see who you’re talking to. Once people get comfortable with the internet as their conduit to the outside world for emergency purposes – 911 and alarm services – there will be no need to pay extra for landlines, and therefore no need for cordless phones.
Monday, June 13, 2011
First post
This is my blog for FNDS 6213, educational technology, one of three courses I am taking online for grad school this summer.
I look forward to sharing my work with my fellow students and seeing their work and their blogs, as well.
I look forward to sharing my work with my fellow students and seeing their work and their blogs, as well.
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