Blog #5: Violent Video Games

It's true that media has a way of influencing the minds of young kids.  If so, what exactly are violent video games teaching kids these days? According to a blog by Tom Stafford, "Do violent video games make teens 'eat and cheat' more?", "playing the violent video game Grand Theft Auto made teenagers more aggressive, more dishonest and lowered their self control".

He blogs about a research designed by using 172 Italian high school students, aging from 13 to 19 years old.  Half of the group were girls, and half of the group were boys.  They all took part in a video game that lasted 35 minutes.  Half of the group played Grand Theft Auto games, while the other half played pinball or a golf game.  They used M&M's to show self-control, opportunity to cheat during a quiz after playing their game to show dishonesty, and using unpleasant noises towards other player to show aggression.  The results showed that the students who played the violent video game had lower scores of self-control, cheated more, and were more aggressive to their fellow player.

Tom's intake in this was "you can't leap to conclusions from a single study...even a well designed one".  He says, "we should bear in mind the history of moral panics around new technology and media.  Today we're concerned with violent video games, 50 years ago it was comic books and jazz." I agree with what Tom has to say.  I do agree that video games have an influence in the minds of children, however I think it's extreme to blame them for increase in crimes.  Just like the problem with blaming guns, we can't fix "already crazy" people. As Tom says, "most people who play video games won't commit violent acts."  I know many who grow up around video games and are amazing people.  However, I'm not sure if I'd want my future kids to be playing it until they were old enough to differentiate from right and wrong.

What do you think?  Should we blame violent video games for increase in violent behavior?  What's your stance on video games?

Blog 4: Ouija Boards!

While reading a blog from mindhackers, "What makes the ouija board move" I began to feel a little more at ease about ghosts.  You may choose to continue to believe in the idea that ouija boards move due to spiritual contact, however according to the blog, "The mystery isn't a connection to the spirit world, but why we can make movements and yet not realise that we're making them."

It's crazy to think that we can unconsciously make body movements without realizing that we're doing them.  This ordinary magic of consciousness has led to cases of "facilitated communication".  This is where people believe that carers can help severely disabled children communicate with a keyboard, which the carers guide their fingers around.  In reality, they're the ones causing the movement, and were typing the messages on their own.  This phenomenon, strangely, can be traced back to how little kids can shout "It wasn't me!" when clearly they were the ones who did, but they don't feel like they did it. 

Although this is the scientific method of why ouija boards move, there are still unexplained stories about why people spell out certain things while using it.  There are many strange things in this world, in which not all science can make sense of.  This definitely made me feel a little better, but there's so many questions still left unaswered!!

What do you think? Do you agree? Scientific Explanation or Spiritual Contact???

Blog #3: Facebook and The Dead

While reading Facebook of the Dead from What If? by xkcd, I learned that Facebook will have more profiles of dead people than living ones by the year 2060 or the 2130s.  Based on a US age/usage data, by the end of this year, there should be a total of approximately 290,000 Facebook users who will have died.  Although we don't know how long Facebook will last, based on other social websites, we can assume that the popularity will decline, and in that scenario the profiles of dead users will begin to outnumber the profiles of the living users. 

It's creepy to think about such as a scenario, but death is a certainty.  Have you ever wondered what happens to the Facebook account of a person who has died? Facebook of the Dead, answered a lot of the questions I had.  Questions brought up in the blog are: "Should accounts remain accessible? What should be made private? Should next-of-kin have the right to access email? Should memorial pages have comments? How do we handle trolling and vandalism? Should people be allowed to interact with dead user accounts? What lists of friends should they show up on?"

Those are questions I've never really ever thought of, because I have never personally had anyone close to me die, who's had a Facebook.  However, I know many who use Facebook to write on walls of those who have passed.  It's a great way of expressing their emotion to their loved ones and hold on to their existence.  Deleting the deceased person's account entirely may become overwhelming to those trying to mourn, but having everyone constantly remind them that that person is dead could also come to a shock.

I think that families should be able to access their dead loved one's account.  Death is a hard topic to discuss about, because people deal with it in so many different  ways... What do you think?

Blog #2: Gossip Girl: Season Finale

Gossip Girl: Season 6 Finale

Last night I finally finished season 6 of Gossip Girl on Netflix.  I didn't notice that Netflix had put the new season out, so when I found it I was super excited.  Watching it has been my leisure time this whole week, so when I got to the end I was a little sad, but not disappointed.  The season finale was filled with many surprises.  It continued the last episode where Chuck has a feud with his father, Bart, who earlier tried to kill him.  As Bart tries to attack Chuck on the roof, he falls of the edge.  Bart asks Chuck to help him, but in the end Bart falls to his death.

The finale starts off with Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf hiding from the police. Chuck's uncle, Jack, shows up and comes up with a plan where Blair doesn't have to testify against Chuck, if he were to be investigated and trialed for the murder of his father.  A blog from Gossip Girl-Tv by steve@iscribelimited.com explains it well: "With cameos galore, two weddings, a five-year flash forward and the mother of all twists, the Stephanie Savage-penned "New York, I Love You XOXO" sent the show out in style after six seasons." 

As Blair and Chuck get married in Central Park for all of their friends and family to see, police show up and take the two in to custody.  Later on they are released, because the police had no evidence that they were ever involved, and rules Bart Bass' death an accident.  This part seemed a little unrealistic to me, but I can understand how people could be upset with the outcome if it were to be an unhappy ending.

The most exciting thing for me while watching the season finale was finding out who Gossip Girl was.  I definitely had my suspicions, but it was nice to finally know who was behind all of the stories.  In an interview with Stephanie Savage, she said that, "It was unclear if knowing Gossip Girl’s identity was something fans would want. Maybe it was more fun for everyone to not know ... to speculate and come up with your own ideas." I personally liked the fact that they revealed the true Gossip Girl, because there were times where I really thought Dan Humphrey was going to be the loser jerk.  It was nice to see that he never lost his principles.  I liked how he was finally accepted into their world, and how they explained everything that occurred with Gossip Girl.  Not only was he accepted, he marries his dream girl five years later, which was a nice touch to the finish...

I thought the finale was great! I couldn't imagine any other way that they could have ended it. What do you think?

Blog #1: Vine or Instagram?

INSTAGRAM OR VINE??

While I was reading the blog What would you rather use-Instagram OR Vine? from Techacker by Anurag Bansal, my fascination with the two apps made me question which one was the best.  I certainly have spent an incredible amount of time on both apps, and know what both of them offer.  I agree with some stuff Bansal blogged about, however my opinion of the two apps is definitely different.

Instagram, was an app for uploading pictures with the option to edit them and add hashtags, but just this year, Instagram has added a new function where you can post 15 second video clips.  Not long ago even, they've added the function where you can pick any video that's saved on your phone, and upload them after you have trimmed it to 15 seconds or less.  Once you have downloaded the video you can choose from 13 different filters or upload it as normal.

Vine, however, is specially made just for videos.  You can upload 6 second videos, where it will keep playing them over and over again to the viewers.  Just like instagram, you can find different types of vidoes by using hashtags. 

Personally, I use Instagram for posting videos more than I have used Vine, however Vine has definitely filled up my wall on Facebook with funny 6 second videos. I think both of them serve good purposes, but if I had to choose between them I would pick Instagram.Vine is where I go to if I want to find funny videos or I could just log on to Facebook, and go on the Vine page, which doesn't serve the app much of a purpose, in my case.  Instagram, however, is where I can scroll through pictures/video feeds from my friends and family. I think adding the ability to upload videos instead of just pictures on Instagram has improved the app, and the only thing I would change is the short lag to play them.

What are your opinions? Which one do you prefer?

First Quarter Success

So far in the first quarter of my Writ 101 class I’ve learned that peer editing helps tremendously in writing essays.  It’s a great way to find flaws I would normally miss if I was reading my paper on my own.  Without the help of my peers, I feel like my paper would take a lot longer to meet my teacher’s expectations. I’ve never realized how helpful it is to get in a group and have a discussion about how to improve our papers. 

This quarter, I’ve found myself struggling with comma usage.   We’ve learned all types of comma splices and comma rules, however, I’m still not confident in myself to use commas correctly.  I keep wanting to put too many commas in one sentence, because I feel like there’s a pause there if I were to read it.  That’s another reason why I like the peer editing, because I can get extra feedback from my peers. Next quarter, I hope that using commas becomes more natural in my writing.

This quarter has taken me by surprise, because it wasn’t as stressful and challenging as I thought it would be.  I was ready for something scary, but it wasn’t too bad.  It’s really made me appreciate writing essays more.  Although it felt like one essay after another, I feel like I learned a lot of useful skills and I’m ready to tackle college essays.  One of my favorite parts in Writ 101 was writing and reading my classmates memoirs.  Next quarter I would like to learn about the different techniques that could be useful when writing longer essays. 

Technology for Visually Impaired Students

Technology for Visually Impaired Students

            Technology used to educate the visually impaired has not always been around.  However, with the rapid advancement in our technology world, the available technology for the blind or nearly blind students has been increasing.  The available technology for the visually impaired is different from what it was 10 years ago, and has been changed to be more efficient for the students. It has become a key factor to advancing teaching and learning for students who have no, or low, vision.  The specialized technologies to assist visually impaired or blind students vary according to different needs.  It ranges from devices such as telescopes and binoculars that allow them to see what the teacher is writing on the board to more highly adapted devices that help them function as a normal student (Ring).

            There is wide variety of available tools for visually impaired students.  Among them, there is the Speech Assisted Learning System (SAL2) which uses audio to teach blind students Braille.  The SAL2 runs on TouchGraphic’s Talking Tactile Table (TTT) that presents a way for students to experience programs that teach reading, writing and arithmetic, while recording their performance.  The program is important because it allows blind students to learn with little or no help from an instructor, which is often needed when dealing with visually impaired students (Assistive Educational Technology).  Another more technological advanced device is Braille Lite.  Braille Lite offers blind students a way to take notes in their class.  The students can check what they have written by a Braille display on the front or choose an extra function where it reads their notes aloud.  Whenever the students are done, they can hook up the Braille Lite into a PC, and choose to print out their notes in large font or in Braille (Ring). 

            Due to the convenience of students, tools that are used at home versus in school differ in functions. Students attending Brooklyn’s Edward R. Murrow High School, a school for visually impaired and blind students, use closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) called an Aladdin Apex.  It magnifies items under a camera, and is available in different sizes that fit the need and circumstances of the students.  In the school, students are to use two software programs, Magic Screen Magnification and JAWS screen reader, to help them write papers.  It provides speech options that read texts at different speeds (Ring).

            Another tool used by visually impaired students is accessible e-learning.  Helen Armstrong and Iain Murray composed an experiment where lectures in class were recorded and put into files for a virtual classroom website that could be accessed by students any time they wanted (506).  It was designed to advance skills in information technology for adult students who were legally blind and preparing for employment.  In the conclusion of their research, it suggested that, “given accessible e-learning materials, adult students who are visually impaired can achieve results similar to sighted students” (509).  Their results also showed that in two out of the three group summaries comparing  average grades for visually impaired and sighted students, the visually impaired had a higher percentage than the sighted group (508). 

Although their research proved that given the technology needed, visually impaired students were able to learn the same as a normal student, according to small scale research done, the percentage of visually impaired students in primary and secondary public schools not being taught to use assistive technology are higher than what professionals had assumed. The research conducted showed a percentage as high as 40 percent, of elementary and middle school students that were visually impaired and blind, not using assistive technology in their school (Kelly). 

This may be due to the expense of the assistive technology.  An example of an expensive device used is The Speech Assisted Learning system discussed earlier.  The SAL2 needs an approximately $699 TTT, a $219 Power Chord Braille Keyboard, and activities that range from $49.95 to $349 per program (Assistive Educational Technology).  Research done by Armstrong and Murray also found that their solution to their report was expensive and ineffective (507). However, cost is not always the case Miriam Bazeley, a coordinator of the vision unit for Murrow’s Blind and visually impaired students states that his “kids don’t want to stand out in class” (Ring).  He talks about how they have devices that could be used by the visually impaired students so they could see the black board, but he doesn’t have them in his class, because the students will not use them in fear they will look too “geeky” (Ring). 

For many students who are visually impaired, finding the right technology that fits their needs and convenience has been a rocky ride.   Adam Linn, a junior attending Harvard University, lost his sight when he was a 4^th grader.  When he was in 7^th grade, he used a six-key brailler to take notes and write his assignments in the classroom however, it became a problem to the other students because it was very loud.  Adam then turned to an expensive 1986 microbrailler, hoping he would have a more efficient piece of technology.  It turned out that the machine would malfunction and never did live up to Adam’s expectation.  He now uses a laptop with speech feedback, and has found ways to access information he needs to write by using Braille and recordings.  Adam believes that “Human support is infinitely more important than technological support” (Corley).

In conclusion, technology has advanced learning for students who are visually impaired.  Scientists that continue to advance the accessible technology for the visually impaired and who help technology become more efficient have helped visually impaired students in their daily life, as seen by Adam’s story. They help blind or nearly blind students live as normal people do, continue with their life, and find employment with help from e-learning and assistive technology.  Even if it’s just simple as binoculars, technology helps a great deal for students who are unable to see.  Unfortunately, the new technology today may not be available for all students because of the cost.  However, if the visually impaired or blind students were given the right tools and devices, they would be able to learn just like students with sight. 

 

Works Cited

Armstrong, Helen and Iain Murray. "Adapting Advanced information Technology Network Training for Adults with Visual Impairments." Journal of Visual Impairments and Blindness 2010: 504-509. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.

Assistive Educational Technology. n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Corley, Patricia. Adam's Story. Sept. 1998. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Kelly, Stacy. "Correlates of Assistive Technology Use by Students Who Are Visually Impaired in the U.S.: Multilevel Modeling of the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study." 2008. Poster Session. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.

Ring, Sara. Out of Sight: Technology Helps Impaired Students Thrive. n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.