Week 9

In LAC I am not proud of much. I had an attitude about the class in general and didn't always put out my best work. The only thing I feel like I should be proud of is when class mates asked me for help or advise I gave it willingly. It felt good to know that people did appreciate the skills I did have and that they were needed and used. I also am proud of taking a risk and standing up for something I believed in, rather I was right or wrong, I felt there was an injustice and rather then let it pass I stood for it. That is something to proud of no matter what.

Week 8

LLA1: Identify and appropriately utilize content from the Internet, digital media, software applications, and hardware systems and tools to address academic, professional, and everyday tasks and problems. Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to respond to the benefits and risks of applied technology, including networked computing, ethics, and personal security in an ever-changing technological context.


I would remove
"Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to respond to the benefits and risks of applied technology, including networked computing, ethics, and personal security in an ever-changing technological context"

I feel like learning the basic computer functions and software should be one section and the Demonstrating an understanding of and ability to respond to the benefits and risks of applied technology, including networked computing, ethics, and personal security in an ever-changing technological context should be a second section. I feel like this particular outcome is overloaded with to much information all at once. Marylhurst caters to the adult population and at this time that generation is not as familiar with computer functions let alone the internet, security and ethics concerning technology. I think in this case Marylhurst is expecting to much of its adult clientele. Even large numbers of my generation (20-35ish year-olds) are not completely familiar with computers and some technology. So for now the computer literacy outcome should be split into two major sections allowing for people to take the section that best fits into their educational needs as well as person technological goals.

Week 7

How to use flash drives.


A link with step by step instructions
www.howtodothings.com

A video for the visual learners

WEEK 6

I LOVE this topic! It goes right along with my media and society class that I am in. I definitely believe that technology, computers and social networking specifically, have thrust us into a new culture and have brought people from around the world into our living rooms. We have access to more culture and more ways of doing things and new ideas then ever before. We can share ideas, we can share images and writings and teachings. We have an amazing gift of communicating with people who even 50 years ago we couldn't communicate with at all on a home to home basis. That's the greatest thing, world communication is no longer restricted to travelers, government, military or business people. The average Joe can talk to a person in Japan in real time from his own home!

I do however have grave concern in how this has diminished our ability to communicate face to face, person to person with those that are right in our own homes. It is great that we can communicate in seconds with anyone and even world wide but I do fear that it takes away from the personal aspect to having coffee and good conversation with someone you know and love. I think that media and technology act as a shield for us to hide behind. It acts as a mask that we can shape and alter to fit our idea of perfect so that is what the rest of the world sees us as. I think it takes away that intimate interaction with those around us and we will some day loose any and all communication skills, confrontation skills and people skills.

I personally think that moderation is the key here, we need to have both worlds and use them both equally, being careful not to abandon one or the other. We need harmony between communication with computers and communication with people.

Week 5

One course that comes to mind almost immediately is one I took last term. This course was particularly engaging for me because the teacher used a wide variety of methods in an attempt to cater to all learning styles. We had a couple lectures where we took notes, we had some power point presentations and we had in class discussions. We were given hands on projects to accompany our papers we were writing, which for me helps me visualize what im writing about.

Aside from the diverse teaching styles the teacher also engaged the class in discussions with each other. We sat in a circle, creating a sense of community and support. She took great care in making the classroom feel as though we were safe to express our ideas without consequence or ridicule.

I really enjoyed this class, typically it is hard for me to stay engaged in a class. My ADD tends to take control when I feel bored or under challenged. I appreciated that when she was catering to those who learned by just listening to lecture she was flexible with me. She allowed me to bring to class a small task that is mundane enough to not be a distraction but was enough to keep my mind focused so that i would hear the lecture and not day dream away.

Media Revolution

I rather enjoyed the video clip this week. I agree with his thoughts on our society going through a revolution with our boom in technology and media. It's interesting how this clip and this blog assignment directly corresponds with my Media and Society class. I recently turned in an essay talking specifically about media revolutions and what it means for our society. I liked how he insisted we must all adapt and be creative. His bit on how children rely on their own perception was powerful, how many things do we just "go along with" because that's what is drilled into us. We no longer allow our own perspective to be our law. I am reminded of the term child like faith, it is similar to what he is saying here. Faith that we all have ability to survive this media revolution by being creative and jumping into it head first.

Learning Experience

I have to admit that this class has been a struggle for me. Having a more experienced background in computers and technology I find myself getting board and not keeping up on classwork as I should. I am allowing myself to put things off and not worry about them because I know I can finish them (well) in about 15 minutes. I am ashamed of this because my goal this term was to stay on top of things and I've allowed myself to fall behind. Worst of all I feel like my attitude has been crappy.

It is a good thing that I have noticed it early and can correct it. I still struggle with my willingness to accept that there could be something for me to learn. My generation seems to think we know it all with computers and I know full well that is not true!

Technology through my lifetime

I was born in 1988 but I can't say that I truly remember any technology until about the early 90's. I remember always having a desktop computer in our home, it was huge and heavy. Our home computer now is a flat panel gateway, we have a HP compaq laptop and I have an old MAC G5 desktop as well as a Macbook Pro laptop. I remember my mom being the only person in our house that had a cell phone. It was black and thick and the screen glowed green! The graphics in the text was comparable to that of The Original Mario/ Duck Hunt game on the NES. Now we all have cell phones, mine is an iphone that is an MP3 player, I get my email on it and I can text people all day and night. Speaking of NES we have one from when I was a kid, we also have the next generation of NES a game cube and xbox 306. We have our old VCRs as well as several dvd players. We used to watch basic cable and now we have Comcast with several hundred channels to watch. Media and technology has taken over my world as I grew up. It used to be a luxury and now its a necessity to stay connected with friends and family, its the foundation to our work places and schools. Technology has exploded in my lifetime more so then in any other generation in my opinion. You can either embrace it or fight it but in time you will likely give as so many of us have at this point.

In Class (LAC 172)

In class, week one. Falling asleep some but excited at how much everyone is learning from this class. I love being in an environment where people are so diverse in their skills its refreshing!