Ted Talks

For our next blog post you are in control. Ted Talks are short videos made by inspiring people similar to the one we watched from Essena last week. For this post I want you to choose a video from the site below and summarize it for us in a paragraph or two.

First give us the title of the one you watched. Then describe in detail what it was about, why you chose to watch it and why you would recommend it for your classmates to watch.

http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2011/11/28/20-incredible-ted-talks-you-should-show-your-high-school-students/

Social Media and You

According to our social media survey, every student in class claims to have a current social media account...

and many of you spend a lot of time monitoring it with little parental oversight. For this assignment consider the results of the polls above and think about how you currently interact with social media and then consider the following.  What is your reaction to Essena? Did it move you? Is she onto something? Is it easy for her to say because she's experienced "fame"? If you could do a video response to her what would you say?  Excerpt from Essena's website: 

Let's bee Game Changers  "For me I just completely cut off social media and all use of youtube/tumblr/snapchat/facebook/instagram... and I found my whole life/self esteem just increased dramatically. I was using it anywhere from 4-8 hours a day! That's like over 4 months of my year! It was the centre of my career, but even then, I was just aimlessly stalking, scrolling, comparing, wishing, wanting.... I just had to cut it all off like 'nope I have a serious addiction, these perfect lives and pictures aren't doing all that much for me anymore'. I had soooo much more time after that, and I started doing things like writing, reading and drawing that I always thought I didn't have time for. I now can't wait for my lunch break or after work to go read a novel, or leisurely write, or go out into the forest for a run... There's something so mystical and beautiful in life out of screens. I'm serious! It was as if - when I completely quit - the spell of comparison, boredom, anxiety was lifted. I started seeing a lot of how I used social media as absurd - perfect edited highlights, not the raw, mystical, genuine, calm, educated substance of integrity. I now crave those things, things of substance. That now 'sucks' me in. And those things enrich my life. "NYTimes article:

Essena O'Neill causes a stir. 

Is technology distracting you?

Distraction: noun

1. 1.

   a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

   "the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight"

Growing up in America today is to be a part of a society that is rapidly and constantly changing. The fact is you are surrounded by technology and information and spend a large portion of your time interacting with it. But what is it doing to your brain?

As we saw from the video in class, our brains are not wired for multi-tasking. Some tasks require more concentration than others and when we switch between many tasks we lose focus. 

Specific Instructions:  For this post think about something you do that requires your full attention. Then think about your habits with technology while trying to concentrate. Do you listen to music while doing homework? Is that bad? Do you respond to texts while doing homework? Then go online and find evidence to support  your response. Please include the link to the site you use in your response. -5 points if you respond with no link. Do not copy other people's posts, ideas or links. You will get a 0 for plagiarizing.

If you missed the video in class please watch the first 8:40 minutes of this documentary:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/

Biggest Challenge facing young women today?

Hi ladies. For our second post, please first read this piece. http://www.eomega.org/article/the-biggest-challenges-facing-girls-and-young-women-today-4-women-leaders-respond

In it four women leaders discuss what challenges they believe young women will face in the future. Which one stands out to you and why and what do you think are the greatest challenges facing you?

Remember the guidelines for writing a post. Please refer to the first blog for a reminder on what makes a good blog post.

Your top 5

We talked in class about what your digital footprint is and how it can hurt us in ways we may not think of. Now I thought it would be good to share web resources that are helpful to you. What are your top five internet sites and what do you use them for.

Here is a sample of what your post should look like:
NY Times.com - up to the minute news
Wikipedia - education
Facebook - social media
Google - search
Reddit - crowd sourced information

Remember -5 points if post is not completed by Monday 10/12 and -5 each day after.

Welcome

Welcome ladies. We will be using Blogger to explore, well...Blogging. 

So what is a Blog? A blog  is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first). Until 2009 blogs were usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

Reasons why we're using a blog? Since we are all contributors and we all have different experiences we all benefit from each of our contributions. They allow us to collaborate on subjects, create instant engagement on subjects we might not cover in class and help us improve our understanding of tech and digital communications.

Please follow these Guidelines:

• Write your comment as you would a letter. Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. No acronyms ie: LOL 
• Never reveal personal information about yourself. No last names, addresses, screen names, email names. This is a public space so anything you say can be seen by anyone in the world.
• Never disrespect someone. "Do unto others as they would do unto you."  No matter what someone writes, respect their opinion and do not offend. 
• Don't just write your opinion. Include facts, from sources you find. Link to the sources but do not include something you have not analyzed first. 
• Be aware of copyright. Make sure what you use is copyright free. (Just because you found it online does not mean it is free for you to use without permission). 
• Stay on topic and keep it about education.