Almost Done

So, I showed Mohammed how to use photostory and its usefulness in projects. We also went through the wiki and showed him how to make one as well as the purpose of having one. I dont think he is that far in his career to really put them to good use, but it is a starting point. I also explained that since wikis can be changed they are not a reliable source of information....i told him the most reliable sources are the ones that end with .gov. or .edu. or .net. the ones with .com...are really not that great for credible information. I showed him the website on the tree octopus...an imaginary creature that some one has a lot of fun pranking people with. He actually gets calls for donations etc...for this unreal animal....yet it also has a . net....website....so you really have to double check yourself before you can put the information in as factual. We found this ineffecient...they need to make a way to decipher the facts from fiction...anyways....I believe he will continue using these resources in the future. Since we work together we can always help each other out.


\http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Two Friends Now

So, my cousin, Yosef, needed me to edit his papers and powerpoint presentation. He has the same problem as Mohammad--English is a second language--and needs some grammar assistance. I had to work, go to practicum, and college...how am I going to help him? Yosef...send it as a google doc...i will edit it and send it back....Wow Dee! This is amazing! I didn't know we can do this....I know it is cool....and we can chat on facebook as we edit....!

He was working on Chemistry....I showed him how to save his favorite sites on Delicious...that way he can pull them up whenever he needs them. Gosh! that is really cool.

In the end, if you just incorporate people in your new findings, then you can have a collaboration of minds....

Dee

Blogs

So, Mohammad is already on the road to blogging. He has his own, http://permaral18-mohammed.blogspot.com/, but we have the same problem. We don't want to go postal. His is basically a school requirement and he makes an effort. On the up side, the teacher can easily keep tabs on his ideas and thought processes thereby making her lesson plans according to the student's needs. Without writing a journal and wasting paper, she can easily click through her student's thoughts. The fear remains that our information is floating in cyberspace. Scary, but true.

Google Docs

So, Mohammad asked me to help him edit his paper. He is at work. I am at home. We have no uninterrupted time together to work on the project. So, I emailed him a google doc. containing the essay. He is learning google docs and the benefits first hand. Now, he can type an essay and I can help him revise it on our own time. Even if we were in two different places typing at the same time all we have to do is chat to be together. He was skeptical at first, but I believe that with some encouragement we can really go places.

Also, with my wish to be a teacher the concept of google docs is a way that I can reach my students at a personal level. They can be engaged and have one-on-one help as well as it being their own work. Collaborative projects are the future.

Mentoring

I have talked to several employees at work...since I spend most of my time there...and they really want to learn more about the applications we have learned in this class. Delcious and social bookmarking is not in their vocabularies and I was shocked because these people are very educated and need this stuff for their lives. I am amazed how beneficial these applications have helped me out imagine if I can get several others to join!

Yabadabadoo

Getting carried AWAY....with the ease and excitement of building something together. I am still unsure on many of the cases, but with a little more practice I am starting to build an understanding and an appreciation. I do not know how to show my contributions and I don't think that it is really fair to say..."I did this" if everyone helped you build it. Or "I found this" if millions of other links directed you there. It is like the ownership issue. If I paid for it, is it mine? Or do I owe someone for the background? Ownership is a thing of the past as we get into the future. I believe you want us to come to that realization through the issues you present during class. It was foretold in the "Anonymous" vodcast. You want us to realize that the world is a unit, a working unit, one cannot function without the other, one cannot advance without the other. The past brings us to the future....the future brings us to the past...and we grow together, not separate.

Am I right? Is this the ultimate lesson we need to explore on our own to find out on our own to truly begin to believe and see?

Actively Searching

Enjoying my new found technology....can't seem to find enough time to do everything I want. Blog, Tweet, Email, Facebook, Chatting, Searching....it is addictive.

Hooka and Facebook

Once upon a time my sister invited me to MySpace...I am sure it is somewhere in cyberworld...but I did not take the time or have the time to really contribute to it and I thought that it was a waste of time.... then came facebook. It is my connection to my family. My family is very spread apart and I usually don't pick up the phone to call, but now they are sitting on my lap. Most of my cousins, uncles, aunts, etc....are using facebook and it is amazing. I sit at night watching their youtube finds, looking at pictures, and chatting. When we get together we usually have a hooka lit up between us....now, I am all alone in Virginia but when I light up my hooka it feels like they are there with me.

Today I went to Pearson Honda to do some maintenance on my car. I started talking to this old man who is a retired marine from New York (he was Italian). Surprisingly, another old man started talking who is from the old south and it was a lot of fun, but scary at the same time. One a democrat the other republican....one a foreigner, one who thinks that foreigners are the problem in America. The conversation went on and on. . . . they were saying that as the generations pass discipline has declined and we have lost touch with ourselves and with one another. The "family" has been torn apart. That was the problem in America. They both agreed on that aspect.

I sit here and I ponder the conversation and I am grateful that I have facebook to stay connected with my family. I wonder if they had the same resources we have now would they have the same problem....would America have the highest divorce rate and kids out of wedlock rating? Then I remember the conversation in class....many of my peers did not want family on their facebook.....what can we do to reunite and create the respect and love we once had with one another? If not technology, what else do we have left?

Dee

Relaxing

So, this is my second blog ever....I am still getting the hang of it...for e.g. I still don't know how to add anyone on it as "friends" or whatever they call them here....I do say though that it is like a mini journal to the world...it is raining outside...and I am listening to the rain, writing in my journal....a personal inner-most journal with all of my thoughts and desires out for the world to see; and it feels good. Why? Because now they are not trapped thoughts....and now I can see if there are people out there that actually think like me....and if not, why? I am no longer hiding....but framing myself...and it is kind of cool....
'til next time...

First Time for Everything

This class has been a roller coaster to say the least. I did not expect so much reliance on technology or team members. I think that it is good because it is forcing me out of my comfort zone and teaching me things I never wanted to learn, as well as communicating with others, which I generally refrain from doing.
But, it is pulling teeth. I am not enjoying it, and I find it a little disorganized, hectic, and round about. I am also not prepared to embarrass myself in front of people that want to learn from me and want me to be their mentor...! I have been humilated enough saying that I don't know how to use 99% of the technologies, in class confrontations, and not knowing what I am really doing. I feel like mentoring a teacher is a nice gesture, but we are not prepared.
For the most part, yes, I am learning about technologies....not about the world. I am learning, but I am very confused. I am sure I am not the only one because as I was sitting in class asking peers around me what we are doing, have done, etc. . . not one person could answer.

Dee