Secure, or not secure, that is the question.

This picture borrowed from oziosi gallery


Internet security is an issue, but like Scott said, crime isn't the unique province of the web. The internet has opened up an entirely new plane of existence, so it brings with it parrallel crimes like theft, highjacking, etc. I think the main issue is when someone else is vastly more knowledgable than you are, then you are at risk. At the same time, major companies are developing a lot of stuff to keep people safe. For instance, I just got an email that claimed it was from PayPal. I've recently started using PayPal, and I guess some how some people got a list. The email was authentic, it looked just like a normal paypal receipt you would get after a purchase. It said something like, "your transfer to smileysmith38@hotmail.com of $639.99 has been sent" etc. etc. and at the bottom it said "if you have any questions or concerns click this link. The link takes you to a site that some con artists have designed to look very much like the PayPal homepage, with login fields. The URL is even masked to say "http://paypal.com", and when someone enters their username and password, BAM the criminals have access to your bank accounts and credit cards. Pretty heavy stuff. Anyway, the point of my story is that gmail caught it, put it in the spam folder and notified me that someone had just tried to "phish" me. It had a link detailing the scam, so that's how I found out how all that worked without learning it the very hard way. So through all this, I guess I personally believe that yes, con artists are out there developing really slick ways to scam you via the net, but at the same time legitimate companies are beefing up their security to negate the negatives. Following my previous metaphor a bit, I do think that in the future the internet can be just like a country. It will have its shady areas and its glossy areas, and most people will hopefully be informed enough to differentiate which is which.

The Price of Free.

Image borrowed from Sach's Report.


CHEAP AS FREE

If you're reading this, you're taking advantage of a free service. When we start creating ePortfolios for this class, that will be a free service as well (for me anyway). It used to be that there were some things in life cheap or free, and then the same type of thing that you had to pay for. What differentiated the two was that the pay-service was obviously better than the free-service. But as we progress, this has become less and less the case. Companies offering "free" services are making more money than companies that charge. Remember Napster? The free program that people used to find songs (for free) dipped into the profit margins of major record companies (charging $20 a CD) so significantly that multiple law suits insued. Even today, creators of free P2P services (like Limewire) are making more money than pay-per-song or subscription sites that offer the exact same service (like iTunes or the new Napster).
We can thank the internet for this. The internet boasts an unimaginably huge audience. Inevitably, this means a dramatic range of exposure for companies advertising physical goods. The days of free hats and frisbees with company logos on them are gone. Say hello to pop-ups, spyware, and banners. Free websites now rake in ad revenue based on their traffic. This trend wasn't born on the internet (look at TV, radio, newspapers) but the internet has given it a much larger context. How many of you have clicked on those little mini-games in the banners of websites, only to find that your "prize" was an entire website of advertisement.
My curiosity lies in Blogs and ePortfolios. This class is about blogs and ePortfolios, and their potential roles in education. If you've ever taken an economics class at foothill college, you're more than familiar with Aplia Inc. They charge you a modest fee of $30 per quarter to use a program that counts for a major portion of your grade. They sustain themselves by this subscription, and the $30 the student has to part with solidifies his place in the class. There aren't any pop-ups or banners that I know of. At the same time, the eTudes service doesn't require students to pay for its use directly. The eTudes site (I'm guessing here) is probably funded in part by the school, and in part by enrollment into the online class.
But how are blogs funded? There are some subscription blogs. There are a lot of free blogs that count on ads. In fact, there are some websites (Xanga and Myspace come to mind) that bombard you with pop-ups and advertisement until your dizzy. Blogger doesn't do this, nor does it charge a subscription, so I'm at a loss as to how they keep this up. Then again, Google isn't exactly taking huge losses, so I'm sure they know what they're doing.
My question to you is this: Do you think its better to have to pay a subscription to blogs and ePortfolios, or accept a free service with the inevitable pop-ups and email spamming? Specifically, how about in an educational context? Being a college student, I've always gone the second route, so I can't attest to any feelings of liberation or giddiness when free from aggressive advertising. I actually don't mind the ads. However, there are always discussions about how advertising has gotten out of hand. How do you guys think it affects us?

eXploring ePorfolios (That's clever. I'm clever.)

Photo courtesy of IGaCoS.

Now that I'm getting better at this, click the site name to get to its original source. I'll be crediting every photo like this from here on out rather than long strands of URL. I wish there was a way to link the actual photo.

Come to think of it, this is another great innovation. Maybe rather that wading through the murky waters of MLA or whatever format, online essays can just have a small notation at the end of each quote that simply links the reader to the original article/book/etc. If it's a physical book, maybe a page number and a link to the publishing information.


For our second bi-weekly assignment (I guess it being the second means its technically the first bi-weekly assignment, seeing how the first "bi-weekly" assignment couldn't really have been "bi-weekly".) we took the first steps in really exploring ePortfolios, thus probably clearing up much confusion about what an ePortfolio even was. Meanwhile, I'm getting better with blogs, learning the intricacies of profiling and italicizing the afore mentioned "was". So what have we really done? For me, I've just starting dawning the wet-suit and duck feet, and I'm figuring out how to put on my snorkel gear. I'm eager to start spelunking into the under water cave that is an ePortfolio, but hesitant to do so without a native guide. ePortfolios seem to offer a lot to someone like me: a young adult who needs a portfolio to fufill social, scholastic, and professional needs. Since an ePortfolio doesn't exist in the physical world and therefore is bereft of the inherent baggage that comes with it, ePortfolios offer a hollistic approach to the classic resume.

Let's look at an example that I found to be the easiest on those possessing simpler brains like me. HERE is an ePortfolio of a woman named Sarah Cook, who is looking to become a middle school or high school math teacher. I like this example because it's extremely basic and simple, yet she employs a lot of features (frames, pictures, video/audio) and puts a lot of creative stuff in her ePortfolio in an easy format.

PURPOSE: Personally, I wanted to look more at an all-encompassing ePortfolio (as I said above) for all aspects of life. Ms. Cook's ePorfolio is strictly professional. It's more of a very creative and versatile online resume. Since I don't know enough about ePortfolios (and I'm hoping some of you share in my ignorance) it's nice to look at a more one-dimensional type of thing for now. So anyway, we're looking at Ms. Cook's use of ePortfolios as a resume to get hired as a math teacher.

TRADITIONAL RESUME: If you look at a "traditional" resume, what do you have on it? Well what comes to mind immediately is probably contact info, education, experience in the field, past jobs, internships, skills, extra activities, and accolades. Did I miss anything? That's a pretty hefty list there, and it gives a good base to see one's credentials. Then if that all checks out, maybe the prospective employer will grant an interview. Now ask yourself this, is a sheet of paper and one interview enough to summarize you as a person? If it is, get away from me now, because you bore me. At any rate, Ms. Cook has put up her own traditional resume in her ePortfolio. Since we agree that the entire porfolio is pretty much a resume (in the sense that it's trying to get her hired), we can see how much a traditional resume is missing by itself.

FEATURES: In addition to her resume, Ms. Cook has implemented a lot of nifty stuff that gives us a better idea of what kind of math teacher she would be, and what kind of person she is. Certain elements are arguably frivolous, such as her extensive metaphors for teaching. Where on a traditional resume (your statistics, basically) would you be able to include a page long metaphor? Nonetheless, it gives us a great idea of Ms. Cook's view on teaching and education. Is this valuable to know when you're considering her as a teacher? Definately.

There's also a photo gallery that consists of Ms. Cook in action. This gives us a visual of Ms. Cook the Teacher. It provides a great aid because a potential employer can picture exactly what she would look like in the class room, how she interacts with kids, etc. The video serves a similar purpose, and recaps on that idea of her teaching philosophy, as she reads a statement. This gives us an even clearer pictures of her teaching style. From the video we can not only see what she looks like, but hear her speak, thus reviewing her speech patterns and style of talking. In addition to these philosophical and physical aids, a potential employer can also check out her sample lesson plan. They can go over the math resources that she uses, read about her current happenings, and get a small glimpse into her professional life. Obviously, this is a great application alternative. The website is online an accessible by anyone, and gives a much better picture of who she is and what she can do for the school than a simple application.

DRAWBACKS: There are some short comings. For instance, the website is not exactly the most exciting wave to surf. Limited technological experience can leave an ePortfolio looking drab. Also, one is forced to find a viable balance between thoroughness and being extensive to the point of exhaustion. In the specific example of Ms. Cook, her metaphor is an entire page with frames and multiple chapters. Maybe there are some great ideas in there, but the casual observer (or an employer who is just glossing through hundreds of applicants) isn't going to stop to read all of that. Another draw back is the lack of any standard. When a resume or application is submitted, all information is exactly in the same place on every single application. With websites, there is a lot of aesthetic freedom. If people can agree on a format, I can see future applications submitted almost exclusively via ePortfolio.

SUMMARY: I can't really summarize the legitamacy of ePortfolios at this point, because I haven't created one myself and can't attest to the ease with which a viable and attractive portfolio can be constructed. Also, when I do make my own, I hope that the professional sector will only be a branch. I plan to have a social portfolio as well, and because I consider myself to be a multi-facted individual, I hope that my own ePortfolio will have multiple focuses. At any rate, definately check out Sarah Cook's ePortfolio. It's probably the simplest example I found with the most features. There are other great examples too, like I said, I've only dipped my toes in the water at this point.



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HELPFUL LINKS: Through my exploration I've gathered some helpful (to me, anyway) links and posted them here for your perusal. Because of this, you obviously will now feel that I'm unreasonably cool to the point of offense. You'll notice the URLs aren't actually linked per se, this is because you've been spending too much time at your computer, and in my gracious wisdom I've come up with this clever device that forces you to exercise. Highlighting the URLs below and pasting them into the address bar above will not only expand your mind, but your right forearm and hand as well. Yes, yes, I am a genius for developing the "Andy's e-Xercise system". ... Or maybe I just can't figure out how to link text yet, and would be very grateful to anyone who could show me. Anyway, I'll post the links now before I start to ramble.

http://www.deskootenays.ca/wilton/eportfolios/whatitis.php
(Good information resource, Thanks Daniel)

http://www.pebblelearning.co.uk/
(Try out the Sample WebFolio, which by definition isn't exactly an ePortfolio, but lots of instructions and explainations for small-timers like me)

http://projectit.ua.edu/examples.html
(really freakin great)

http://www.angellearning.com/
(Probably the easiest on the eyes that I've found, take the tour and run amok in the demo)

http://www.recordingachievement.org/
(HUGE information resource, obviously quite boring, but hey! Who said web learning got to be fun ALL of the time?)

P.S. You know what, I actually figured it out. If you actually read the small print above, I applaud your enthusiasm but scoff at your laughably over-compulsive attention to detail.

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Welcome to the Island.

image borrowed from http://www.aboututila.com


In her GroupBlog article, Cassie posed an interesting question (Digital Native vs. Digital Immigrant). It got me thinking about a different classification system, and what I've settled on in the spirit of "Digital Natives and Immigrants" is a system of "Internet Tourists vs. Internet Locals". On many points I find these new labels more accurate of the fluidity and familiarity possible in the digital universe.

I sort of think of the internet (in terms of its personal relation) as an exotic island. At first, I didn't even know of its existence. Then, it's introduced to me and I see its benefits and short-comings, but visit more and more frequently because it's an entertaining place. The more I visit, the more I pick up the local language, the geography and how to navigate my way around, where to go to accomplish what I want to accomplish, etc. I also learn through experience and wisdom from the locals how to be secure. How to not be the victim of theft and other crime, which sources of information are credible and which aren't. As I gain more familiarity with this area, become accustomed to the culture and its protocols, I find myself visiting more often. Maybe I study abroad there, maybe I get a job there. I have some friends there and shops I frequent, perhaps I show some other friends this island. Eventually I might move there, build or buy a house, and laugh at the naiivety of the next wave of tourists.

As you can see, I started out as a wary and ignorant tourist. But as time passed and I picked up more and more of the skills necessary for a substantial existence on this island, and thus become somewhat of a local. Likewise, a visitor the internet is not going to have many of the skills and wisdom to utilize the web and avoid its evils. Over time and through experience, that visitor becomes internet-savvy, and can then speak the language and even put up websites of his own. I like these classifications because they are very fluid. A person can be either the tourist or the local at his/her own discretion and learning. You don't necessarily have to be a wiz to enjoy the benefits of the net, but by fequenting it, you would naturally become more adept.

My skill level is not very high, but it is higher than some and I'm picking things up quickly. I've got email that I use regularly, I can now (thanks to this class) take advantage of publishing tools like blogs. I've also shopped online, as well as posted in forums, taken classes, chatted, and pretty much explored every resource available to me. I haven't, however, learned how to manipulate or create any of these things, like other students have, because I'm too overwhelmed by coding to mess with it. But hey, at least I know what it is, and maybe in the future I'll be able to spiff out my blog and ePortfolio too.

Just an Idea: Staying Organized

This image was jacked from underthecat.com, I got there by searching for a calender on google.


MY IDEA

I just had an interesting idea, it's probably not new. In fact, something might already be out there that's exactly like this, and in my technological ignorance I haven't come across it. Anyway, although I used to be a classic example of a total screw up, around the time I started piecing my life back together I also started to keep a calender. Coincidence? Maybe. But I was at work and there was some program up, don't really know what it was but it was just your average monthly calender. After screwing around for a while, I found I could manipulate the format into whatever I wanted it to be. I made it a 2x3 six square thing with each square being a day of the week (the last two in one square). Next to it I put a task pad with little check boxes in it, and under than a small space for extra notes. I figured out that you can put the dates in the header of the page, the week # at the bottom, and I just put my name, footy, and my number in case I lost it. oh and the quarter. I printed out 12 weeks (the quarter) and put it all in a little folder thing. BAM I had a cheap-as-free planner, technology free. Whenever I get an assignment I pen it in there, whenever I have an event I pen it in there.

So back to the class, I was thinking there should be something similar online. Yeah there's the application I used, but it doesn't take advantage of the only thing I like about computers: The internet. How nice to have a planner accessible from any computer, anywhere. For someone like me, who's job revolves around computers, I could access it whenever I would need to. And for studnets like all of us, the library has computers, there's a computer lab at school. If you're in this class, there's a way for you to get online steadily. I'm not talking anything fancy, that kind of stuff confuses me. I remember getting a palm pilot for free for test driving a mercedes, but it was just too complicated. I want something as simple to set up as this blog, that I can just click on a day square or task bar, type in what needs doing, and check it/cross it off when it's finished. I guess the downside is portability, but I have my physical one for that. I don't know, I just feel that an ePlanner or whatever you would call it has a place in society. If any of you know of such a thing, I probably have sounded like a total biggot for the last paragraph, but please, please let me know what it is in my comment box. Consequently, if anyone knows how to spell check, that would be appreciated too.

Oh P.S., the parking situation at footy is not ok. It's really not ok. Be thankful for online classes.

Technology and You

Today, for many, was the second "first day" of school. We can thank the block scheduling for that, because it's made things so that today was the first class for your second set of classes. I'm freakishly tired so if I'm making no sense, that's why. Two days in and I'm suffering from the grind. This is what my schedule is like:

I have classes everyday from 8-12 noon. Then I got home, eat lunch, watch family guy, and get to work by 1:00 pm. I have work until 5 pm. Right there, I'm busy almost non-stop from 8 to 5 EVERY DAY M-Th. On Friday my classes are only 10-10:50 am. Then in the evenings I've got Ju Jitsu on Tuesdays&Thursdays from 7-9, on either Monday or Friday I like to hit the gym after work until 7 unless I have something to do, in which case I make up for it Hence, the grind.

Anyway, about the classes today. My spiel today is about where I think education is taking technology, based on the short time I've spent here at Footy. Oh and at the end I'll probably tell you why I deleted my long bio blog.



TECHNOLOGY AND YOU (the student)

Now that I've seen all my classes, I've noticed (and you've probably noticed too) that more and more classes are incorporating the internet in their regular course work. I've heard from some that certain teachers even use online resources as the cornerstone of a physical class. I think that extreme defeats the purpose of being able to choose between physical and online classes, but I personally like the advancement since I'm forced to be around a computer for four hours a day.

I'm talking about the Aplia program for econ. Or the online Etudes study guide for Bio. These classes offer questions/quizzes/information all online. It's neat because you can access it from any computer, anywhere in the world. It's also nice to keep track of your scores, I know that I lose pieces of paper left and right. Some teachers seem to have this problem as well, and it might help them out there. One class that didnt use online stuff was my Honors Poetry class, maybe some of you are in it? Anyway, we're supposed to turn in Daily Journals, and at the end of the class submit a Portfolio, so of course I thought, "Dude! That's something I could totally use this ePortfolio thing for!" How great to have my poetry portfolio online. We have to share it with the class anyway, this way peopel could peruse my stuff at their leisure. We would also be able to submit the journals easily every day, and my teacher (who seems like the kind of person to lose stuff) would be able to access assignments and portfolios and journals we turn in from any computer. Hopefully in the future he'll make it an option, I might bring it up with him at some point but I dont' want to come across as a wise guy douche bag.

My projection for where technology will go in the classroom is pretty far, and seems drastic at this point. Then again, at the rate things are moving maybe not. Look at me, I'm an average dude with a less-than-brilliant grasp of how to use the computer. I dont' know what "ram" is, or what those weird symbols ending in z stand for (like Mhz and GHz). I do know how to put a CD in the computer, how to use e-mail, and how to type. And with those really simple skills, this entire world is opened up to me. I even have a blog. Uh... I forgot where I was going with this. Oh yeah. I think in the future, textbooks will be entirely online. Maybe they'll make you pay a fee or something, but they could have an application where there's an online textbook that lets you have a personal account where you can type things in your margin, highlight stuff, book mark pages, underline etc. It's not so farfetched if you think about the fact that all these abilities exist in something as common as Word. I think all assignments and portfolios will definately be submitted online. How convenient to be able to see the exact time something was submitted, and to have a permanent copy accessible from any computer.

There's probably a lot more stuff that could be done, but that's what I came up with just sitting bored in class. It seems like a really obvious step people are starting to take. With the proliferation of computers becoming a priority in a lot of places, a take over is invariable. Get with it.

Mini-Me

I'm calling this "Mini Me" because it's really just a short bio on me, what path brought me to this place, and maybe you'll get a small idea of what kind of person I am. I'm not sure how detailed I care to take this, and even less sure of how detailed you'd care for this to be... Well let's see where it takes us. Oh and I'll get a pic of me up here as soon as I comandeer someone's digital camera and figure out how to do all that. (learning something new everyday)


As members of the class already know, I'm Andrew, but most people call me to hang out. HA! Sorry that wasn't funny, no seriously most people call me Andy. ...I should probably delete that now. You know, I just spent about an hour writing a HUGE biography (thus defeating the title of Mini-Me) but thinking about my life up to now makes me kinda tired. I'm going to put it in my empty blog, entitled "The Story". If you're really curious, you can read it, but I just ask that you don't judge me on it. I've had a much different life than most people might think coming across me now, and I've decided it's not very appropriate for a class-affiliated blog. But let me take this as an opportunity to talk about how great this blog thing is. I've never written so honestly before, every time I had a biographical assignment in class I made it up. Entirely fabricated. In fact, most things I write about that have to do with me are completely made up. English papers, pysch papers, etc. But I think I'm going to go write a real biography in that other blog. Check it out if you want, I just don't want it to be part of the class.

Before I wrote that bio I was going to rant about something I saw... what was it? Um, let me go find out. My memory is failing at 18, how nice. OH the first day of school!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

You know what I noticed? Everytime you get a new teacher, you pretty much have to wipe your slate clean and start from scratch. For instance, even something as "objective" as math, you have to learn your new teacher's testing style, his teaching style, how to take notes for that class, etc. etc. And I got to thinking, if I'm learning the same subject, why am i spending so much effort learning how to learn from this new teacher??? It's much worse in an English class. I've never gotten anything less than an A in any English class, and I've never gotten anything less than an A on any essay I've ever turned in EXCEPT the first essay in every class. Why? Because you have to appeal to your reader/grader, the teacher. The teacher holds all the chips, and I find myself not really learning English, but learning the new teacher's English. It's an interesting challenge, I'm not saying it's good or bad. Just food for thought.

I took yoga today. First time ever doing anything remotely like it. This is my experimental quarter. I'm trying out this ePortfolio stuff, Yoga, Poetry, and Human Genetics. I'm also taking Econ, but that's nothing new. I've never taken risks like this with learning so that's exciting because I usually just take standard classes such as Math, English, history. But college is about branching out. I love being able to choose really specific courses. I love how instead of "History" we now get to take "History 7R: The Role of Wooden Chairs in Colonial America". (That's made up, for all of you looking to take that class next quarter). The requirments do get in the way though, for instance I want to take a Physics class. I'm not a science buff by any means (probably my worst subject) but how am I going to graduate college and never have taken a physics course??? But it's not required because I took chemistry, and i have to worry about what I'm required to take not what I should be taking. Plus physics would probably be a big hit to my GPA etc. etc. Kinda lame. I'll probably take it anyway if I have the time. It's weird not taking a math. I absolutely hate math, and for the first time I dont' HAVE to take it. So obviously, I didn't. It's a weird feeling. Like I think I said before, freedom can be scary.

The Few, The Motivated

This image was found on the computer I'm working at, I don't know where it's from.

Dr. Lankford brought up an interesting topic, which is motivation. Although I'm not ePortfolio/blog-savvy enough to really discuss the internet's role or anything, I thought I'd unleash a short rant about motivation.

This might be a curious topic for me to explore, after all, I'm pretty unmovitaved in a lot of aspects of life, but here I am writing a slurry of blog posts weeks before the class has begun. I haven't thought about exactly why, obviously these are addicting but WHY? I don't know, but I'm not really going to find out in this one.

On Motivation

I define motivation as someone's drive to do something. And since I'm preaching from my pedestal, I'd like to submit that there are inferior and superior species of motivation. Case in point here is the student's motivation in school. A lot of people go to school and get stellar grades, go to every class, get A's on every test, and cry when they don't. They work harder than anyone else in the class. Being an honors seminar, I'm sure this personality isn't foreign to anyone who would read this. But what's motivating these people? Since I've never been one, I couldn't say. Maybe if someone like that reads this, they can offer some insight in the comments section? But anyway...

It's pretty sad, but I've noticed that (especially in highschool) I never went to class (or school in general) thinking, "I'm going to go learn as much as I can today!" It's ironic that "education" and "learning" don't seem to have a whole lot to do with each other. My grades were pretty bad, and then they got better because I figured out you're not actually supposed to LEARN anything, you're just supposed to retain enough information in your brain until it needs to be squeezed out on that test paper. Like a sponge. You're not supposed to be a sponge. Sure, I got good at it, but was I motivated? I dont' think so.

I took my very first online class at Foothill and enjoyed it. It was history, and history has been one of my least favorite subjects. The material was fine, the classes were mind numbing. Rewind to sophomore year (is there an 'o' in that?)

Its the first day of my "History of the World" or some such thing class. I get into the classroom, it's flourescent lights are flickering on and off, people are coughing and lounging around. I sit next to a few girls I think are good looking and wait to see what happens. So the teacher is already there, but I wouldn't have noticed because he was sitting so still in his chair behind a massive desk, like some sort of lizard that freezes when it thinks its about to be eaten. The bell rings for class to start, he takes attendance. My name was probably the last words he spoke at me. He gets up and goes to the board, writes "Mr. BadTeacher", the name is changed because I'm not that much of an $#@%#. "Please take out an atlas and a large paper, draw a colored map of Africa labeling all major cities and land marks." The next day we did Europe. The next day we did South America. You get the idea. Occaisionally between large maps we would be given big charts and a stack of index cards with information on them, to be copied into our charts. Our test was to label every country in the world.

Obviously, this class seems laughably easy. But you might be suprised to find out that this honors student got a D in the class. Needless to say, I remember nothing. Now back to Dr. Feig's online class, I'm a little more mature about my learning, but the format initially seemed the same. A website of information and here's a bunch of topics, write me 9 essays or so. But when I got the site it was different. The teacher had made the effort of finding about a million resources online, and linked them under different categories in different sections that corresponded with units in the book. The links were expansive. I spent hours going from link to link, there were pictures, sound clips, video clips. I even found myself going to sites not listed, searching in the databases of Wikipedia.org and dictionary.com, and other such resources. I actually learned a lot because I was allowed to pick what I wished to learn about in depth, and things I didn't really care about I could at least gloss over in an entertaining and comprehensive package.

The same freedom was offered in my online music class. We had a ton of units, but a student only had to accumulate a certain number of points to get the grade they wanted. I found myself learning in depth about things I previously only had a mild interest in. I wasn't forced to learn things I had no connection to or didn't care about, like Salsa (sorry salsa fans).

I guess the lesson I've learned from these, is that students really appreciate freedom. I understand when a kid is young, he might not care about anything and perhaps the scheduled and forced class list is what he or she needs. But a motivated student, and I mean really motivated to learn, benefits so much more from the flexible structure and wealth of information that can be presented online.

WWW: What, Why, and Who cares?

Image jacked from interwebdesigns.com, I'm sure being the wonderful and merciful organization they are, they won't come after a community college student for stealing a pic or two...

On the Internet

I have a very conflicted view of the internet, and the direction technology has taken in general. There is always the good and the bad, so is the world wide web basically a good creation with some bad qualities or an evil creation with a few redeeming features? I'm not here to tell youm I can't even decide for myself. The negative side is that the internet makes the world smaller. We are able to communicate instantly with people across the globe. Then again, this is also the positive side. We're able to insantly communicate with people across the globe. I feel like the web robs many people of their youth. I'm not old by any standard, but it seems like my generation has been forced across a gap. I remember when I was a little kid, playing with toy guns and running around with physical objects. For birthdays, whoever got that cool new action figure or, good forces willing, a bicycle or something, they were the envy of the block for a while. Now, I look at my younger sibling, who I'm only 5 years apart from, but the paths our childhoods took are lightyears away from each other. He was brought up on video games, computer games, and the internet. It is crazy how different we are. He speaks in languages foreign to anyone I know, he's passed watersheds of vulgarity and violence that in the past have been reserved for wartime soldiers.

The internet isn't evil, though. I can't tell you how many times I've needed or wanted to know what something is/means, and BAM. There it was in a second. The internet provides new communities to belong to, just look at the networks forged in sites like MySpace, webrings, various online groups, etc, etc... The internet provides an invaluable resource, and although not all information is accurate, most of it is at least entertaining. What is scary is how dependant people are becoming on the web. If my email provider suddenly up rooted and left, I'd be pretty screwed. I have personal documents, business correspondence, evidence of transactions... Having full access to the internet is like living in two worlds at once. The computer has become an alternate universe. A person can now sit at their computer and shop for anything, meet people, date, read, watch movies/news/whatever, play games, learn, and in almost every sense of the word, live. That's scary because it's new, because it's almost too much freedom for any sentient being to handle at once. Behind the shelter of the screen you can be almost anyone you want to be, do anything you want to do, and that's scary.