The end

Every single person is unique in his or her own special way; with that, each person learns differently. Cyber School is a new alternative to the conventional and mainstream schooling; it is becoming more popular. If the so-called ‘old’ school system does not suit a particular person, Cyber School is a great alternative along with home schooling.

Although I see many positive elements that can be attributed with cyber school, like if a person is participating in many extra curricular activities that take a lot of time out of the day, I keep wondering whether the same person would get as much out of cyber school as they would in the conventional school system. To me, when I think of Cyber School, I think of starring at a computer screen for the majority of the day. Whether or not you can see your teacher from an Ipod or not, having the face to face communication and learning sociability skills is an essential tool that is necessary to function in society. I think that sitting in a class setting with students that are the same age allows for communication skills to develop and enables the internalization of information to occur much smoother.

I was always taught in the conventional system and am quite pleased with the experiences that I was exposed to. Especially now, I am enjoying life as a University student and appreciate lectures that include the participation of the student body. I find that remember the information easier and for longer periods of time if I am engaged in the topic and if I can relate it to my life. The topic of cyberspace for a class was an interesting one at that and I am so happy with everything that I have taken from it. Thank you Paul for another amazing class. I had a blast!

Intrusion

After listening to the identity theft presentation dealing with privacy policies and facebook I realized that I am one of the people that is concerned about my privacy, however I do not read the privacy policies before I subscribe to Facebook or other websites like it. I used to read them, but they sound so alike. It is as if I am hearing a broken record. I suppose I should read them in the event that the policy mentions something different or new.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think a personal Facebook profile could be used as a reason not to hire an individual. I think it is unethical and an invasion of privacy. I am well aware that what I place on the Internet, while it might be intended for a certain group of people, is open to whoever wants to see it. I was surprised to find out that although a person such as myself places the strictest privacy protection on my Facebook, that there are still ways of finding out who I am and other sorts of personal information.

It is scary. What kind of a world are we living in these days? It seems like anything I do or say can be used against me at any time. I really object to a potential employer basing his or her decision on the information or pictures on a Facebook profile. It is immoral and it disgusts me.

Cyberspace and this class

Before taking this class I had an idea in my head of what cyberspace was and what we would be discussing. Over the last 3 weeks, I have come to the realization that cyberspace is much more than I could have imagined. From the very beginning when the Internet came out, to what the Internet is today along with what is meant by saying you are ‘online’, has been a roller coaster ride but a fun one at that! It would be wrong not to say that the Internet and the people who use it on a daily basis have helped modify the Internet into something great. This tool, that was once just a thought process and then an idea, was implemented into society and has grown to what it is now. The Internet, like society, is always changing and I feel the need to keep up with it. Society has grown just like the Internet, taking new innovations in stride. Especially now, since taking this course, I somewhat feel overwhelmed with what is actually out there. I feel more comfortable when I am surrounded with concrete material items rather than abstract ‘things’. Although the Internet and cyberspace are thought of as real, the events that a person can participate in are endless and I would be frightened if I could no longer distinguish what is real and what is just an abstract concept that people attribute to real life.

linear and non-linear communication

Communication in a linear form can prove to be difficult.  One sentence can be interpreted differently depending on punctuation!  A Normal sentence turns into a statement just from adding an exclamation mark, capital letters and so on.  I have been a participant in feuds over what was meant by a statement and how it was interpreted.  Although I am a big fan of Msn, Facebook and ICQ, I still favour phone conversations because you can hear intonations in people’s voices.  Both phone and online communication allow time for questioning statements if you are confused about what someone said but I find that there is less confusion when talking to someone in person and over the phone.

I think people can get a lot more out of non-linear forms of communication.  I am the type of person who gets tired of starring at a computer screen or television screen for a long period of time.  I need to spend most of my time in the ‘real’ world, with actual people rather than talking to someone on the other end of the computer.  I enjoy face to face communication.  I love being outside and enjoying walks no matter what the destination might be.  I don’t know how an individual can learn life skills by looking at a computer screen.  Yes, they learn technical skills but it does not correlate and help sociability skills. 

My sister is a chemistry major and it seems that although she can communicate at a level that the rest of the family can understand and relate to, there is a communication barrier when she talks about her studies.  The same rings true for doctors.  They have had a high level of education and can talk to their co-workers in a high intellect, but when they are communicating what an operation might entail, they need to be able to describe the procedure in Laymen’s terms.  I think that computers and technology should not rule someone’s life.  Life needs to be experienced with real situations in a non-linear form.

Seaching and searching

Do you always find what you are looking for on the Internet? Generally, I am able to retrieve the information, picture or video that have searched, however, there are certain instances that make the process painful. For instance, I recently was trying to find a video on You Tube and it seemed like no matter what words I put into the search engine, I turned up short of what I was looking for. This partly has to do with the fact that You Tube allows individuals to post their personal videos online, but more so because I was trying to find an exact episode without knowing the specifics. As much as I think it is a great idea to put a person’s work in a place that others can view them, I think that there should be a designated url to lump them together in order to increase the probability of finding what a person is searching for. This could please the majority of users on websites like that of You Tube.

The search engines available now, may have always been there, however I can say that many of them, like google, have improved the capabilities of the way they function. Along with the technical improvement, I have learned how to search for items better and properly with receiving an end result that I am pleased with whenever I am seeking information of different sorts.

Although specific websites have been designed to help the average onlooker, it is in the best interest of each person to learn how to hunt for items so the frustration of leaving empty handed occurs less frequently.

Gadgets

I have to say that the past couple of days have been the most frustrating when dealing with the technology and Internet that consumes my house and life. For some reason, the Internet has not been cooperating to the extent that I have needed it to. The wireless router malfunctions within 5 minutes of me trying to access different websites. I have reset it numerous times and although it will let me on the Internet, it is not working long enough.

There comes a time when I get so dependent on my computer and the Internet that when it is unavailable for whatever reason, I feel lost and out of touch. I rely so much upon something inanimate; it is almost as if technology controls me. I say this because I don’t think an hour goes by that I don’t check my e-mail or some other type of technology. I would be devastated if I could no longer have access to the Internet, my computer or my cell phone. All of these, you could say, have become a part of my life that I couldn’t live without. I feel awkward when my cell phone is not attached or at least close by. I think back to a time before I had access to the Internet and a cell phone, and I do not know how I lived without them.

I stated above that technology controls me. This is true! I like to think that I am trying to find an appropriate balance between staying up to date with new advancements in society, but at the same time, keeping perspective of what’s really important. I love my cell phone and would never choose to be without it, yet I will not go out and buy the latest Iphone because I don’t see what is wring with the phone a currently carry around and use. When it is time to replace it, I will, but for the time being, I am content with the technology that surrounds me!

Strangers

I love the Internet and being in cyberspace. I can meet people that otherwise I probably would not have met and can access information with the click of a mouse. ICQ, msn, and facebook have enabled me and others alike to talk to ‘friends’ at a distance, but what about those chat rooms that you just enter and talk to whoever is there? How do you know that they are who they say they are? It is a scary thought; luckily my conscience is always lingering around and questioning whom I am talking to on the other end. It is frightening to think that an individual would lie about what their true identity is, just to fulfill some type of fixation that they have. I cannot comprehend how a person can have a thought process like that of a pedophile. I do believe that it is the circumstances that a person is exposed to that determines who they are and who they become – nurture over nature! The Internet provides more access and feasibility for people in this mindset to accomplish what they set forth to do, which is ultimately lurk on an unsuspecting child. Nowadays there are more computers in each household. Further, kids and teenagers have personal computers that are used in the privacy of their own rooms where supervision is not prevalent.

I choose not to participate in conversations in random chat rooms because of the reason(s) stated above. I prefer to know whom I am talking to because it keeps my mind at ease. The Internet is an excellent tool, and if people take appropriate precautions, I think that it can be a pleasant experience.

A second life?

We’ve all heard at one point or another about people living double lives, but I never thought that it would amount to something as extraordinary as an online based world that is very similar, if not exactly like what people live everyday. Although there are differences between people who live double lives and the people who choose to partake in Second Life, I have to wonder if they are really that different. Someone who has two different lives, for instance, may be someone who is a shy desk clerk during the day and an outgoing party individual at night. This reminds me of a specific Second Life participant. This individual’s reason was that second life allowed him to be the person he had always wished he could have been if it weren’t for his Cerebral Palsy. Second Life allowed him to dance and to meet people he would not have met in real life. I thought that his story was compelling. I felt sadness but also joy because he found something that he really enjoyed doing and that this was not an ‘activity’ that limited him in any way.

I think Second life is just the online version of someone who wants or is living the ‘double life’ in reality. There are endless reasons as to why someone would choose to participate or ‘live’ in second life. I believe that this is what the Internet has provided society – A way to live the way we always wanted to but never or not to the extent that was ever possible. If this is the way we spend our time today, I wonder what or how we will be ‘living’ tomorrow.

One step at a time…

Do you ever feel like you are taking technology for granted? I do, because ever since I was a little girl there was always some form of technical device surrounding me. I watched television and movies (as I still do today), and my parents provided my sister and I with a game system. It was the original Nintendo. But, as far back as I can remember, my parents, especially my mom, were never technologically savvy.

Let me put this idea into perspective for you… there are a few devices in our house that my mom claims are too complicated for her to figure out. For instance, when we upgraded from an original 1 disk CD player to a 5 disk CD player, my mom has resorted to pressing buttons in the hopes that one wil produce the music that she is so longing for. Another example is when we bought our DVD player. Now, she ‘used to know’ how to play a VHS, but since the upgrade to a DVD player, she has forgotten how to play a movie. This could be because she is focusing all her time and energy attempting to play a DVD, which unfortunately she has not mastered to this day.

I think that people who have been exposed to technology throughout their life, especially starting at a young age, that it can have a profound effect on how that individual deals with the coming changes. In some circumstances, children know their way around a computer a lot better than their parents, based on the simple fact that they were exposed to it at a young age. So, while my parents are dealing with their technical challenges, I am confident that they (especially my mom) will eventually find a way to coexist with the ever-changing technology.

Technology and our World

What we do today, affects future generations. This is evident especially in global warming, but also with technology. I am in favour of doing all I can in the present, so that my children and generations after them, have the same type of environment as I did, if not a better one.

If a person were even remotely familiar with global warming, he/she would know that there are things that everyone can do to slow the effects of our changing world and atmosphere. Changes such as Hybrid cars, recycling instead of polluting, and it as simple as using less electricity – turning off the lights after you have left the room. I do not think that everyone is convinced that global warming is here and that it is already affecting us.

In terms of where we are with technology, I think that it is great that the Internet has become part of everyday situations for most people, the people who decide to be in the network rather than outside of it. I do not know if using technology to convey information (like e-mail) is reducing the effects of global warming, however, I do believe that e-mail is the best option when it can reduce the amount of paper being used today. It is great that Paul has decided to make this class ‘paperless” because I think it is one step we can all make in reducing the amount of ‘waste’ in our world.

I think we are at a point in time where we have knowledge about the effects of global warming and the technology that is out there that something can be done to drastically reduce, if not eliminate problems each person is contributing on earth. Why not use the ‘tools’ that we have at our fingertips instead of pretending that these problems do not exist at the present time?

If you click on the image below, you can see a funny monkey video on global warming