Journal 2

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), 12-1. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/Leading_and_Learning_Docs/June_July_2010_Join_the_Flock.sflb.ashx

Miller, S. M. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience.Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), 14-17. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/Leading_and_Learning_Docs/June_July_2010_Join_the_Flock.sflb.ashx
 

I found both the articles "Join the Flock" and "Enhance Your Twitter Experience" to be very informative and they have helped me understand the benefits of having a twitter account. It seems to me that there are so many more social media networks popping up every day, each offering something new to the consumer. I was completely against twitter. I still am a little skeptical of it...technology is changing rapidly, and I feel that as humans, for the most part, we don't accept change very well. But we have to, because the world is changing rapidly. Twitter, from what I have learned from both of these articles, is a great learning tool and a great way to connect with people all over the world on issues of interest.

Looking at the older generations, many of them are hesitant to learn about the every increasing technology that is before us. In referencing my grandmother, she can barely operate a cell phone. She would rather not have one all together if she had a choice. She has never sent out a text message, and continues to play dumb when I have tried to teach her multiple times. 

Q1. How do these articles relate to the world we live in today?

I would imagine that much of the older generation feels the same way about the Internet and technology as my grandmother does. It's important that we as (soon to be) educators continue our quest of life-long learning so that we don't fall victim to that of the older generation's lack of interest. One of the websites that I check regularly, Reddit.com which is defined by Wikipedia as “a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text ‘self’ post. Other users then vote the submission ‘up’ or ‘down,’ which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site's pages and front page," has kept me informed about things taking place that are important. One of the main issues in America and the world today, that much of the public has no idea is even taking place, deals with the act of censoring the Internet. The American Congress has created acts such as SOPA, PIPA and ACTA which, in theory, sound good as it would eliminate Online piracy of copyrighted material. However, what would really happen is social media networks such as Facebook, Reedit, You Tube and twitter would cease to function as they already do. Google and Yahoo among other search engines would be completely transformed as well. For more information on this, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhwuXNv8fJM.

Q2. Can I see myself using Twitter in the classroom? 

A2. Yes. I believe on the first day of class when asked what our favorite shitty television show, we were asked to text our responses to this number and I feel as if it was Twitter that compiled the poll results. If I am mistaken and it was in fact not twitter, then I apologize. Regardless, I would use twitter in the same way in order to spark interest in the classroom, as a break from the normal classroom learning procedures.