10/22 homework

http://www.smartcomputing.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/l0805/16l05/16l05.asp&guid=

TechReflect

1- TechReflect: Imagine you were asleep for a thousand years and suddenly woke up in this technological age. What are some things that can help you get up-to-date with using technology?


If I we re to wake up after 1000 years of sleep into a world of technology I would be shocked at first and dumbfounded, not being used to this foriegn enviornment. Some things that would help get up to date with technology would be the help of someone to explain it to me. I would buy an intructional DVD explaining the technology concept. I would learn how to manage a telivision set and purchase DVD's explaining the function of computers and telepones. After a while of being comfortable I would buy some sort of technology and start implementing it in my daily life.

What inspired Alan Kay? What did he accomplish?

Alan Key says 'The best way to predict the future is to invent it'
Kay was inspired by the need to create a better, more technologically advanced future. He works to make learning entertaining for children, having invented the first paint program and artificial computer enviornments.

Some of Kay's accomplishments include helping to create the first personal computer by apple, having already been rejected. He created interactive computing and lead a team of researchers at Xerox, Palo Alto Research Center in California. He works tp help people better understand complex computing systems and in 2004 was awarded the Kyoto Prize by the Inamori Foundation in Japan.

Tech Reflect10/21

Do you think educational games are good ways for students to learn in schools? Give examples that support your arguments.

Educational games are effective ways to learn in school. Hard concepts can be substituted with easier more relatable things to help students better understand a hard lesson. For example, Leapfrog learning software helps kids learn how to read, write and do math. NOw technology is advancing and these games can now be played as video games that are able to be connected to your TV to enlarge a game. Students are learning but remain entertained.
"Draw Play" from stout play allows students to engage in a fun game that can help learn problem solving skills or drawing.

Study Guide Questions

1- Write the URL for your blog.
http://www.itgsmuna.blogspot.com

2- What is a domain? Where does it appear in the URL?
A domain a class of internet addresses such as .com, .gov or .edu . It appears after the websitename in the address bar as a suffix.

3- What is Boolean logic? How can you use it to find a passage of Beowulf in Old English?
Boolean Logic is a complex search query structure used for most search engines, like Astrology AND Stars - horoscopes.

4- How is using the search engine helpful in different classes? Math? Arabic?
Using search engines is useful in many different claasses. In math for example we may use it to find help on how to complete a difficult problem. For Arabic it may be used for finding a useful article in arabic .

5- What is the purpose of a network server?

This is important so tahat two or more computers may connect to communicate with one another.
6- Pros and cons of USB drives?
USB drives are very useful, they can store large files into a portable pocket device and enables files to be transported into any computer.
They hold less data than Cd roms though.

USEFUL KEYWORDS

URL: Is the address of a website insertyed in a search bar.

domain: A class of internet addresses.

network server: a computer system that links two or more servers.

USB drive:A portable storage device that stores data in flash memory and connects to a computer through USB port.

3 interesting podcasts

POTTERCAST:The HArry POtter POdcast
BEgins with welcome message by JK ROwling. Listeners and contributers engage in a discussion on HArry POtter Books.
http://www.podanza.com/podcast/pottercast-the-harry-potter-podcast/3c5efddbbe22d101e51e03f73b47b1e0/

Great Books: A Chapter a Day
The Structure of Chapter a day consists of the title and the sponser of the chapter. The reader goes on to read the chapter. A new podcast is released every day until one book is finished and a new one begins.
http://www.podanza.com/podcast/great-books-a-chapter-a-day/3f3a9bb71c4932ed8819d30131796492/

Discovery Channel Features Podcast
Reads a news report and documentary aired on the Discovery Channel.

http://www.podanza.com/podcast/discovery-channel-features/e35ded87d070f4edb6d56680aa53a1a0/

Old time radio
http://www.podanza.com/podcast/old-time-radio-mysteries/89ae535fb128f9dd6dec9a10f951c8bb/

The podcasts start with an ad then continues with the story.

10/9

1- Why is file compression important on the Internet?

The internet has many available multimedia options. Video's, songs, and images are some of the largest files on your computer. File compression reduces the size of these files so more can be uploaded. The internet requires file compression to save space the can easily be taken up by these large files.

2- What new services are available as a result of the commercialization of the Internet? What new problems are arising as a result of that commercialization?

New services available o nthe internet becuase of commercialization are online registries and classes as well as online catalougues and advertising businesses. Problems that arise becuase of commercializtion are innapropraite content that can be found on the internet.

3- Residents of the People’s Republic of China can have their Internet access blocked for a period of time if they attempt to access banned sites. Do you feel this is an effective way for the Chinese government to control people’s behavior on the Internet?

I feel this is an effective way to monitor people's behavior and is a way to discourage visiting these websites. It is not really a control but a tool to repel visiting these sites.

What is SMS? How was it used in Kenya? What do you think are some Social/Ethical Issues involved with it (at least 2)? What are some ways it can be used for Education?

 SMS is a communication device that allows short messages from devices shuch as cell phones to be read and recieved by someone else.

Malnutrition is a growing problem in Kenya, especially for their children. Specialists measure their arms to test for malnutrition, the measurements are sent by SMS by mobile phones, data is sent to a central database to speed up  response time.

Equality of Access and Globalization and Cultural diversity apply here. Instead of having access to a computer to log data, data can simply be sent by a cell phone rom all the way across the globe, even though in many places in africa there is no access  to technology and many countris face the digital divide.

This can be used for education to educate the health specialists who respond  to these SMS texts about malnutrition  if they notice significant patterns and also  can provide breakthrough in malnutrition.  

Discussion Questions

net censorship and Democracy's fall by JOhn C. Dvork- discussion question
I do not think America has a double-standard, they ban offensive websites to all groups. Everyone is allowed freedom of speech. Censor ship mechnisms are not bad for society. Limiting access for some websites is good for people.

Explain how and why the Internet was created.

The internet was originally called the ARPANET to use aas a network that would enable researchers to share computing resources and ideas. It was upgraded to a more reliable network that would allow computers to communicate with one another. Users be able to share information.

Describe the technology that’s at the heart of the Internet.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

Describe the technology that makes the Web work as a multimedia mass medium.

The Web uses a set of protocols to make a variety of Internet services and multimedia documents available to users through a simple point-and-click interface. Many multimedia options are available like sharing videos and music."The Web uses a set of protocols to make a variety of Internet services and multimedia documents available to users through a simple point-and-click interface. "

Discuss the tools people use to build Web sites.

The earliest Web pages were simple hypertext pages, and web protocols like HTTP and HTML.

Discuss the trends that are changing the Internet and the way people use it.

Peer-to-peer computing was popularized by music sharing services, but its applications go beyond music sharing. There is also social netowroking and networks of family and friends connect

Discuss some of the most important social and political issues raised by the growth of the Internet.

Privacy, security, equality of acess and auntenticity. and inappropriate Net behavior are surfacing.

Describe various ways that governments restrict access to the Internet.
In December of 2000, congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act.

Also The Saudi Arabians had no access to the internet unitl 1999 in an attempt to block offensive websites. Internet traffic in households were controlled over a centralized control center.

Boolean Logic

Search engines enable you to type search quiries using key words. Using boolean logic, constructing complex searches is easy by using quotations and other words such as "AND" and "AND NOT". This narrows down searches for you.
For example you can type in "Astrology AND space - horoscopes"

10/7 classwork

How easy/difficult is it to use RSS?

RSS is very easy to use conisdering it is named"Really Simple Syndication" It is used to subscribe to new posts that might be updated frequently and instead of automatically returing to the blog to check for new posts, by clicking the RSS button(posted below) new posts are automatically sent to you.

Find 2 online applications that display feeds. How difficult is it to use RSS (can a clue-less web browser figure out how to use it)?
Two online applications that use RSS would be new youtube videos from a specific user. New videos are sent to your email.
Blogger: Subscribers who click RSS automatically recieve new posts.


RSS is not difficult. With the click of little orange button, a clueless internet user will recieve new posts.

10/6 homework

Compare and contrast push and pull technology. Define RSS and explain how it is used.

Pull technology is searching for information using the internet such as search engines. The information  is not automatically displayed for you but rather must be researched. 

Push technology has information readily available for you, all data is automatically sent to your computer, like news events or posts you might have subscribed to.

RSS- the little orange button you see at blogs or user accounts. Clicking this button will automatically update you on any events or blogs you subscribe to without checking on it periodically.

10/5 homework

 describe the challenges you went through to create each page and evaluate the pros and cons of each.

For the html webpage, it was more challenging because we had to comprehend the codes and know what they stood for inorder to  properly make a webpage. The publisher webpage was less complicated although they had more options. Here everything is done for you and you just have to fill in information. The only problem I encountered is selecting settings and pasting links, which I could not figure out how to do; but this was better for creating a websitte with multiple pages. Pros of the HTML was it did not have as much options as publisher and less cluttered and confusing. If I were to choose one to make a website it would definitely  be publisher. Siince it is more organized.

Technology Wishlist

Some technology that I think would be useful at our school would be internet access in classrooms as well as dish or sattelite to watch important events. Laptops in classrooms are also useful to take notes on or to research thin gs in class. LEcture podcasts are useful if you miss a class. Online teaching sessions are popular with online schools if you have any questions live chats are available. A student broadcasting club is also needed.

Solar Powered Schools

One of the world's first Solar Powered schools can be found in Ilfracombe, England. Ilfracombe's Solar school is powered by the 51 panels that lay on the roof of the school. This system is expensive but over the years saves thousands from electricity bills. This 50,000 euro solar panels are funded by funded by EDF Energy’s Green Fund and the Low Carbon Building Programme. The panels not only power the lighting but also the white boards and computers, saving 3.7tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.They reduce the amount of gas used to heat water in the kitchens. Inside the classrooms students "will have web-based access to live data showing how much electricity has been generated by the technology and how much carbon dioxide saved.The children will use the data in their lessons."
EDFhttp://www.edfenergy.com/media-centre/press-news/ilfracombe-first-solar-powered-school.shtml

What do email addresses and URLs have in common?

A URL specifies the IP address of the web server that has the page. In the email address the domain names helps track the location of it on the internet. There are different domain names for different email addresses.

10/1

Direct Connection offers full advantage of internet services without dialing. It allows you to transfer files stored on your computer. It is faster and transfers files quickly. It can transmit information, voice and video effectively.
Dial-up Connection does not offer direct access to the internet and requires a user to dial-up a connection, which is slower and less effective than direct. The computer must be connected to a modem and phone line and is temporary internet access.
Modern connection methods are called Broadband Connections and are not temporary. Users are not required to dial in.
DSL(Digital Subscriber Line) are available for small businesses and homes and is much faster than modem.
TV companies offer cabel modems. This is not available everywhere. But can be shared by homes resulting in a decreasing speed and connection.
Satellite Internet connections are available through satellite dishes which is one of the fastest.
Then there is Wireless Broadband which is available to portable computers and can be taken anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection.

Area of Impact
Education pertaining to 1.7 and 1.1(Equality of Access and Reliability.)
Equality of Access:Depending on what internet connections are available, different education options like websites or online schools are offered. Many people, including US citizens to dot have access to internet connection and people who face the digital divide as well , do not have online education opportunities because of an unavailable website or bad internet connection-access to the internet is not always available.
Reliability: Internet connections as well as the internet are always reliable. Websites that include some educational facts are not always authentic or reliable. SOme may pose false information that can misinform. One must always check if websites are reliable for information.
Internet connections can also prove unreliable when it comes to a strong or weak connection and can become weak ir disconnected very quickly.
Area of Impact
Business and Employment
Globalization and Cultural Diversity:

Business opportunities are often posted online and people from around the world can access them Globalization and Cultural Diversity contributes to Business and employment opportunities .