The Future of Higher Education

This article discusses the recent advancements in technology, and how they are affecting today's education systems. It discusses the various advantages technology has brought about such as distance education, sophisticated learning-management systems, and the opportunity to collaborate with other research partners around the world. Not only does this article discuss the advantages but it plays a neutral role as it also refers to some of the disadvantages that technology changes have brought about such as faculty members without the proper budget or desire to learn the new teaching methods, as well as tenure and the fear of losing a job keeping many teachers from moving to far into the world of online education.

The research involved with this article contained a survey consisting of 289 executives 154 of which being American who answered a series of questions involving technology and its recent changes. The survey produced some very interesting numbers. 46% of respondents answered that they believed the US was lagging behind other countries in the ability to produce high-quality professionals. and only 40% believing that today's graduates are able to compete successfully in today's global market. This were both interesting stats that lead me to wonder the question is it the kids who are not willing to learn and mature, or is it the educators who are not doing their job? Overall I found this article to be very interesting yet somewhat repetitive as this is a topic I have been hearing about for a while now. I personally believe that the change towards online education is a negative one as their are numerous ways for students to cheat, and I believe their is nothing better than a face to face education. I personally believe that the most effective way to educate in today's society is through small classrooms of no more than 25 students, in which each student is able to build a bond with the teacher and must participate actively in the class in order to succeed.

Infed Communities of Practice

This article was about various ways in which people are able to learn and comprehend information and how it is possible to work in groups to amplify the learning experience. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger believed that through peripheral participation and situated learning a person is able to gain more not from books and structured information but through going out in a community and participating actively with others. They felt it was more important to go out into a larger scale community than it would be to work in a small area with just a few others. An interesting point that was made on this topic was how an alcoholic will learn much more about what he needs to do to solve his or her problem by attending Alcoholics Anonymous than he could learn through any book or source of information he may find on his own. Overall the main point of this topic was that people can learn more through activities and working in communities.
I felt this was a very interesting article as I was able to closely relate to it. I have always believed that no matter how smart you may be on a test or in an essay it really does not mean anything if you are not able to clearly communicate that information to another person through talking.

Facebook and Grades

This weeks articles were about Facebook and how if at all that it can affect the grades of a student. With the amount of time kids today are spending on facebook instead of in the lounge reading their books, you would think that grades are beginning to show a steady decline. This theory was established and tested through a number of studies performed by researchers. A study was taken in 2008 that revealed 40 percent of people between the ages of 16-22 to have a facebook account. However after extended research it showed that whether a facebook user or non-user, there is not much of a difference reflected in your GPA. I felt this was a generally pointless study as facebook is not a drug, it is simply a hobby. Just like video games and sports students are now using facebook for entertainment. This can be dangerous for a student who is not fully dedicated to his work, but for those who care about their grades they will simply use facebook when they want, and just put more time into the books at a different point of the day. I was not surprised by the results at all and feel people are making far to big of a deal out of Facebook and its affects on society.

Value of a Facebook "Friend"

This weeks articles were all about social networking websites and how they have recently affected and changed the way we look at one as a friend. They discuss the way we view friendship today and how it has changed overtime. The Ellison article takes the standpoint that having facebook is a great accessory and can strongly add to the value of friendship. Some of the bonuses that Ellison believes come from having a facebook are increased self-esteem, increased social capital, increased involvement in capital affairs. The aspect that I saw that can add the most value to a friendship is the opportunity facebook gives its users to reconnect and stay in touch with friends who have moved away. The Deresiewicz article also relates to how facebook is affecting friendships, yet it comes from a much different perspective. Deresiewicz believes that facebook is becoming such a factor in today's society that it is actually affecting the way people can communicate in face to face situations. He believes that all though it appears facebook is bringing people together yet in reality it is only making people have larger groups of friends without the same bond that would be built between one another without facebook.

I found both of these articles to be very interesting, however I felt they are both complete over analization's of Facebook. To me facebook is just something I can use to look at pictures I personally do not believe that being a friend on facebook makes me and a person any better or worse of friends. I can see the standpoints where both authors are coming from however I feel they are taking the idea of facebook a few steps to far.

Faux Friendship

This article is all about the growing interest our world has in social networking websites such as myspace, and facebook. It discusses the meaning of being "friends" online and what it truly means. It makes you think of the differences their are between being friends online and actually being friends in real life and what the true meaning of friendship has become overtime. A part of this article which I found very interesting is where they talk about how Christianity views friendships. It says that they were against intense personal bonds between friends as they believed it would take attention off of God and perhaps lead people to forget. I find this interesting as it is apparent that in today's world friendships have become more and more important and many kids and others are becoming to become less religious.
I personally feel facebook is just a distraction for me and I really don't relate what I do on it to real life. I found this article to be a bit exaggerated and extreme yet can definitely see where their points of views were coming from.

Tips for Powerpoints

I read a book in a class last semester titled "Beyond Bullet Points." This was written by Cliff Atkinson and was all about changing from the regular format of PowerPoint's and making them more efficient. The main points that the book listed was you must refrain from using bullet points and write no more than eight words on a slide. Your slides should simply give a basic outline of what you will be talking about while the slide is up. It is also very important to keep your pictures closely related to what you are talking about. It is more important for your slides to be clearly visible and easy to read than it is for them to be colorful and pretty.

Lying In online Dating Profiles

This article was all about the up and coming phenomenon of online dating. It discusses the ability of users to basically make up whatever they choose about themselves and put it out their for others to view. With the ability to make yourself appear how you wish it can be very tempting and easy for one to lie about their actual physical characteristics and likes. The article talks about a survey which was conducted in order to find out what percentage of users actually lie in their profiles. It turned out that approximately 9 out of every 10 users had lied about at least one thing in their profile. This doesn't come as to much of a surprise as another survey said that 86% of users allready believed that people lie about themselves online. The survey showed that some of the most lied about factors were an individuals height and weight, this is very believable as those are both factors that could immediately attract or turn away one after reading anothers profile.

I found this article to be very interesting as it compares the booming online dating scene, to how reliable it truly is. It makes you think twice about online dating and even about your safety. If it is that easy for someone to lie about their weight they could possibly be completely lying about who they even are. A question this brings up to me is What percentage of users are using pictures of other people and actually pretending to be someone else.