A2.4: Participation Memo

Ashley Pence

August 30, 2007

Aims & Objectives: In regards to week 2’s course work I set out several personal goals.  My first goal was to develop my weblog by separating my blogs into their proper categories.  This was important for me to do first because I knew that organizing my blogs that I had already posted wouldn’t take too long.  It was much easier to do those few first, then as I posted my other respones I could tag them into their correct category as I went along.  By achieving this goal I became more organized in my new world of blogging.  My next goal was to read and respond to all the articles that were assigned to me.  I did this by spreading my work out over several days and never waiting more than a few hours after I read the information to compose my blog.

Declarative Knowledge:  This week began with reading about the things I should know about blogs.  I learned when, where and why to use them and also the positive and negative effects they can have.  The only negative being that sometimes they can be inaccurate and biased therefore you have to be careful if you are using them as sources of information.  The second article I read informed me that this is a digital world and the read/write web has exploded in this day and age.  It is very important to connect to students in this way otherwise they will far surpass us if we refuse change.  In the articles that contain information about netiquette, hoaxes, e-mail privacy and acronyms I realized that the web is a whole other atmosphere that I have yet to discover.  Although I was aware of some the information, I was still surprised by the other.  In the articles about discussion lists I realized that there are other ways to communicate and receive information about topics that interest you and it’s as easy as signing up to that particular list of interest.  In the articles that contained information about the world wide web I became more aware and gained a greater respect for those who maintain websites.  

Procedural Knowledge:  This week through my CD 315 coursework I learned to manage my time, manage my blogs and functional ways to gain access to the digital world.  Each individual article uncovered bits of information that will help me in this class as well as in my future.  I learned netiquette which will help me when communicating through email in order to make me appear professional.  I also discovered that I can stop sending all those forwards, because I won’t have bad luck for 7 years if I don’t send them.  Okay, I didn’t really believe that I would, but they make you feel so guilty!  The article on acronyms is something that I didn’t necasarily learn, but will be using it as a reference in the future.  Several other articles included information that I may not remember, but I will be able to use them as references when I get stuck in a situation that I need help with.  Whereas before these problem areas or questions may have never came up, but now that I am aware of them, I can understand the problem or understand the lingo.

Conditional Knowledge:  I connect the knowledge that I obtained to myself as a student by realizing that CD 315 is not the only class that this information can be used in.  If there is a class that contains any type of internet access, then I am better prepared because of these articles.  As a pre-professional and a citizen I can use this knowledge to better my abilities to work side by side with others through the web.  If I can share knowledge with other professionals, clients and other citizens then using the web is a very effective way.              

A2.3: WWW Reflection

Ashley Pence

August 30, 2007

In this group of articles I learned several important things that I didn’t know such as the acronyms HTTP, URL and HTML.  My memory was refreshed on several things as well such as the purpose of the home, refresh, stop, back and forward buttons located at the top of my browser.  I have been accustomed to seeing HTTP, URL and HTML but I never knew the meaning.  I assumed they were acronyms that the computer people knew and I had no use for them.  I learned that HTTP is hypertext transfer protocol.  In other words it’s what allows a networked computer to realize that there has been a “hit” and respond.  A URL is a uniform resource locator or the internet address for a web document or other file.  The acronym HTML stands for hypertext markup language which is the code that forms the colors, pictures and or other digitized auido and video.  Essentially this is what we call a page.  I was very glad to figure out what this acronym was because I always thought it stood for “hotmail”.  I realize that is not what it stands for, but that doesn’t mean I have quit calling it that.

I also learned how the web actually works and why it takes so long sometimes.  I never took into consideration that there are actually people who keep up websites and that sometimes they do need to be updated.  I’m not sure who I thought updated these sites or when they did it before, but now I realize that it must be done and it may inconvienience me at times.  However this is only for the good. 

I was surprised by when I read that the best time to be on the internet is after 4 P.M. Pacific time on weekdays and all weekend long anytime.  If we consider that most internet access is used during the work hours, that would be logical.  However internet use for amusement is most likely accessed after 4 P.M. Pacific time and especially on the weekends.

It is very likely that in my future line of work I will be accessing the world wide web for nearly everything.  It is best that I gain as much knowledge as I can now to better prepare me for the future.

A2.3: Discussion Groups Reflection

Ashley Pence

August 30, 2007

After reading these articles I have discovered a whole new aspect of the internet which means i’ve found one more thing to distract me from doing other work.  However, this new thing is something that I see as being a very useful tool for my future.  The two things that I have discovered are the announcement mailing lists and discussion mailing lists.  The two are great sources of information, but after reading the article I was able to get a grasp on what the differences are.  The announcement list where I can subscribe to receive messages, but not actually post is a great resource.  I like the idea of this type of list because if there is something that i’m interested in, but don’t necessarily know a lot about, this list would be great.  I can receive tons of information to educate me on the subject and when i’m ready and if I want to, I can then subscribe to the discussion list of that same topic.  The discussion list is one that I can actively participate in by posting my thoughts or questions and everyone on the list can see them and give their thoughts or answers.  This is also a great tool for learning because having discussions typically lead to a whole wealth of knowledge that a newsletter can’t contain.  I also like the idea of these mailing lists because in order to obtain information I don’t have to go to that certain website to obtain it.  The information is sent straight to my email.  One thing that this article included was the tip of turning off your mailing list when you are on vacation or unable to control your mailing list at any point in time.  The mailing list can send hundreds of emails a day and your email can become pretty clogged.  It suprises me that there is not some sort of filter for the subscriber to be able to manage what they receive rather than receiving everything from the list.  I’m not so sure that I like the idea of getting hundreds of emails a day or the fact that you need to turn it off when you are away.  I tend to be a slacker when it comes to checking my email and I am afraid that if I were to subscribe to something of this nature that I would not take the time to read it.

This group of articles has shown me that there are numerous ways of obtaining information rather than doing plain old research.  By expanding your resources you can gain a wealth of knowledge that can benefit you far beyond what any book could do.  This is important for my future work as a Speech Language Pathologist since I will be collaborating and researching with other professionals for the rest of my career.

A2.3: Email Reflection

Ashley Pence

August 29, 2007

From this group of articles I gained a wealth of knowledge but I have condensed my list to those that I felt were most important.  The first thing I found interesting was that others, besides site administrators, are able to read or access my mail at any time.  The author Arlene Rinaldi warned me that if I don’t want this information on the evening news, then i’m better off not sending it via e-mail.  I was previosly aware that site administrators have access to my e-mail and anything else I access through the web.  For the past four summers I have worked in an office that basically operates completely through the use of computers.  The first time I had trouble with my computer I contacted our computer technician.  Rather than walking down to my desk and fixing the problem he logged on with my password and fixed the problem from his computer.  As I watched the pointer open things without me touching it I realized that from then on out I should be careful with what I send through e-mail and how much time I spend browsing the internet.  Since my workplace is very carefree and everyone takes occasional breaks to surf the internet I was not terribly concerned if he saw me surfing.  I do realize that in other work places including my future workplace, I could get fired over something such as this.  A question that I have is if companies have policies for everything else, why would they  not have one for acceptable use on for e-mail or other online activities?  I realize that most companies do have policies such as this, but for those who don’t could end up in a lot of trouble if the employee were to take action over their privacy being violated. 

Several other guidelines I learned from Rinaldi’s article were the use of asterisks to show importance, using the underscore key before and after titles of books and that sending chain letters can cause you to lose your internet access.  Another bit of information about who can see your e-mail is the fact that even though you delete something, it doesn’t just vanish.  In the article about harnessing your e-mail the author states that if the FBI were to need something that was sent through e-mail they could easily access this even though it had been deleted. 

As I read the hoaxes and pranks articles it made me realize there are some very insensitive people in this world.  The fact that people make up hoaxes and pranks just for the fun of it is beyond belief to me.  The ones that really amaze me are those that include things about people’s sicknesses, prayer in school or Christian radio stations being removed from the air, the list goes on and on.  I’ve easily been able to recognize hoax emails before especially when they say send this to so many people or you will have bad luck for 7 years.  However the ones that talk about the above mentioned things are harder to recognize.  It has made me more cautious and convinced me to check into e-mails before I forward them.  It’s really sad though because sometimes those forwards are so darn good! 

These articles have included many things that I will be referencing in the future when I am a Speech Language Pathologist.  It has prepared me with netiquette that will greatly influence the way people see me as a professional.  Knowing how to properly e-mail is just as important as knowing how to properly write a letter.  They have many differences, but being professional is just as important with both styles of communication.

A2.2: Chapter 1 – Richardson

Ashley Pence

August 28, 2007

Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

TAP:  The topic of chapter 1 is the realization that the web has changed even in the last 12 years of its existence.  When the web began it was a read only resource.  Over the years it has progressed into a read and write tool where we can all contribute our ideas and products. (2006)  This chapter seems directed towards educators and future educators for the most part.   The purpose of this chapter is to emphasize the importance of the web in the classroom and as an everyday part of learning for todays students.

Claim:  The central claim of this chapter is the that the read/write web, from an educational standpoint, promises to transform much of how we teach and learn. (2006)

Evidence:  The evidence this chapter includes to support their claim is abundant in this chapter.  One bit of evidence that I found interesting is from an author, Dan Gillmor who says “the people who’ll understand this best are probably just being born” (2006) referring to the understanding of the read/write web.  We can also see that those who are currently in school are the ones who grew up in this ”web age” and have a much better understanding of the read/write web than any adult has, including their teachers. (2006)  Computer literacy is an indispensible tool in the education of today’s students.  It has become a part of everyday life and if we want to survive and thrive we must have an understanding and access to the ever changing read/write web.  Since the current teachers were not brought up in this era of computer literacy we can see a disconnect between the educational system and the way students learn. (2006) 

Connections:  This text connects to me by making me realize that even I, who grew up in this computer literacy age, am behind on the current read/write web.  A statement about “digital immigrants” who still print emails, write checks for bills and use the phonebook to look up numbers hit close to home.  However I am slightly beyond those digital immigrants because I don’t print emails and I rarely use the phonebook, however I do still have some bills that I write checks for. (I’m working on it okay.)  This text relates to  things that were listed in our syllabus for CD 315 that concern how we present ourselves online when this chapter talks about keeping students safe.  We discussed the importance of keeping our profiles appropriate because anyone has access to this blog and if we aren’t careful it can end up negatively effecting us as future professionals.  As a future Speech Language Pathologist I will be spending time bringing effective technology to my clients and their parents to enhance their learning of information deemed nessacary for the client and parents at that time.

A2.2: 7 Things You Should Know About Blogs

Ashley Pence

August 28th, 2007

7 things you should know about blogs (2005, August).  Retrieved August 28, 2007, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EL17006.pdf

TAP:  The topic of this article deals with a teacher who has began blogging in her International Politics course to gain a more effective way of communication among herself and her students.  The example that is given with the success of blogging with Dr. Thomas’ class leads into the 7 things that you should know about blogs.  This article is geared toward anyone with an interest in blogging as a means of communication.  The articles purpose is to inform the reader of effective ways of blogging, who is using blogs and the warnings against blogging.

Claim:  I found several claims in this article that were the most intriguing to me.  The first claim is that by using a blog related to class assignments allows us as students to create knowledge that others will be reading.  Once this knowledge is published on our blog we can then be critiqued by fellow students, teachers and thousands of other people who choose to read our blog. (2005) Another interesting claim is that students can learn as much from eachother as they can from their instructor or textbooks. (2005)  The other claim that I found helpful was that blogs can contain biased and inaccurate knowledge (2005) which can lead to the viewers of the blogs believing this.  It is hard not to believe everything you read.  We have to become aware of this fact and realize that as we are reading blogs that we cannot take everything we read to the bank.  The fact that the information we are reading is posted on a blog and can easily be removed from the site makes it difficult for us to archive or index for further information as well. (2005)

Evidence:  The evidence that supports this article is found in the section of the classroom scenario.  The teacher expressed that by the end of her class her students had formed a greater connection to one another and to the information that was shared in class through blogging. (2005)  She also stated that several of her students have continued using blogs as a means of communication outside of her class.  With the positive results from her first class she decided to continue the blogs with her future classes, but now she plans on making them more media involved to gain an even greater interest by her students. (2005)

Connections:  The connection that I have made to myself with this text is that I have recently began blogging.  I have not seen the positive results of it yet, however I have found it much more exciting to post my thoughts on the readings in a blog rather than in a blue folder.  I am excited to see what other positive aspects come from using a blogging.  This text connects with other information I have received on blogs that deal with the accuracy of the information contained within the blogs.  The fact that blogs along with other personal websites and now wikis do not always contain true information reminds me to put forth more effort about being careful when researching.  This text connects to me as a future Speech Language Pathologist in the sense that sharing information with other professionals can be difficult at times.  However with the use of a blog information is easily accessed and can create a community that deals solely on information that is understood among those in my like profession.  This means I can obtain knowledge on certain topics and can be critiqued on information that I have shared.