PLN 8

                  In David Warlick’s “Power of Community” he is completely right about allowing different generations to see other generation’s thoughts and views which may give them a different perspective. Think of all the things that you think about or have a strong opinion about. You might try to put yourself in a different perspective but if you feel strongly about something you subconsciously shoot down your own arguments. But when you read somebody else’s argument or argue with them and you can’t shoot it down verbally, then you actually think about it. The only way that it doesn’t work is if somebody is dismissing everybody else’s argument or not willing to listening. Even if the person is right, other people are so pissed that their opinion is not being heard that they will not seriously consider the other's point of view. This affects education because if all the students got  to see many different opinions on a subject maybe students would more readily see different points of view when reading or hearing something. The world could advance from this because no argument would ever be looked in only one way. This affects me because I will be able to perceive things from many points of view not just one or two. I think that in David Warlick’s “Power of Community” he is completely right about communities and classes sharing their views in order to learn from each other.

PLN 7

In Michael Wesch's "The Machines are Using Us" his premise is that computers are taking advantage of humans so the machines are getting smarter while we are getting dumber, I completely disagree. After all how can a computer tack advantage of a human? The biggest point he has are that the computers didn’t have to show sources only content and that every time we type in a link that we teach the computers about ourselves. First what could they ever do with this information we teach them? They can’t use it against us because their only form of communication is when we email somebody else something and it’s not like machines have any control over email. The second point about the sources is that people are taking advantage of other people because if there is a story that is from a very unreliable source but it would make money the news teams would not like you to know about the source. I don’t know why people are so scared of computers now, the second they can move and learn and think without our commands I’ll be suspicious. But why should we be scared of something completely at our control and mercy.  A computer has no way to hurt a human. So understanding that his points are not valid, then education can go forward and use the computers and all of its abilities. This affects the world because if the world gave up this fear then we would not be scared of making computers better. This affects me because as the world goes forward I’ll go forward.  We humans take advantage of computers so his premise that computers take advantage of humans is incorrect.

PLN 6

                In Will Richardson’s “Are Our Kids Ready for This” I think that they have a good point in that you need the skills to engage people and make your own goals but I do not think these MOOCs are the way to go. A MOOC is a Massive Open Online Courses. They come with good and bad pieces. The good thing is that they demand students be more engaging and set their own goals. These are great life skills and are needed for almost any occupation. Since no goals are given and no one is told what to do, how does a student know how to succeed or when he/she has succeeded? Even if they set their own goals maybe the goals aren’t what people are looking for. And it’s nobody’s job to help them or nobody completely knows the material. So it is not only possible that they don’t only get the whole picture but if somebody thinks a wrong idea and is very convincing then everybody could get the wrong picture. I think that I could never go to a online class like this. I could not succeed.  I might be able to get my own goals but where would I start and where would I go? Now I think that this could have a very negative affect on the world. Imagine a world where people, although they were not prepared, thought they were prepared.  Potentially these people would not get any jobs or do so badly they get laid off.  So I think MOOCs are a very bad idea and and should not be used.    

PLN 5

In Will Richardson's Footprints in the Digital Age I completely agree with him, students must be taught to take care and improve their digital footprint. I had not heard of a digital footprint until this year or that people could Google me. I just entered high school where everything matters towards college and I have no idea how to access or improve my digital footprint. I do know that a good GPA makes it better but how do I improve it besides the obvious. Now some kids will know how, and they will be able to make themselves look really good while some students that are not only better students but better people may be left looking inferior. So the world will be left being led by people who are not the best people, gosh some may be misanthropes. So it is very important that teachers and parents teach kids about our digital footprint and to take care of it so nobody ever gets an unfair advantage.

PLN 4

In David Warlick's Just missed it I think teachers must own up to their mistakes. Imagine a world where nobody ever owned up to their mistakes. We would never get anything done. When anything bad happened we would be too busy trying to figure it out and who did it instead of how to solve it. And because young people, like myself, spend so much time at school, we are influenced by our teachers. Now if none of our teachers ever owned up to what they did, it wouldn't have affected us that much because parents would still teach us to be responsible for our actions. I also was astounded by was how easy it was to lie. I had heard this lie. It is that Mars would look as big as the moon but I never actually bothered to look it up to see if it was true (kind of because I totally forgot). It’s funny how a small, little lie can go so far and affect so many people. At the end of this PLN the two things that I got out of it are that a small little lie can get further than you think and that teachers must own up to their mistakes. And they might be able to use them as a learning experience. If both of these were to happen education would be much more efficient and the world would be better for it.

PLN 3

In Nicholas Carr's Is Google Making Us Stupid, I disagree because all Google is doing is giving us a faster way to do what we have done for century's and that is get the information as fast as we can. We have two ways to read. The first is when we want or have to acquire information on a topic that we are interested in and the second is when we simply want to acquire needed information as quickly as possible. We have always skimmed the text for information. It doesn't mean we are stupid or that the human race is getting any dumber. When you look for information in a textbook you try to find it in the quickest possible way. Its not like you actually remember what you skim while finding the date of a something for school. People, like our parents, have used Cliff notes in high school to get the summarized version of a book. Don't tell me that you remember everything you read or that humans ever did. Our brains summarize things. So we get the same amount information either way. If I need to get information fast, I will go to Google and look it up. On the other hand, when I read something that I am interested in or need to retain the information, like a novel, I have no trouble staying focused for more than two or three pages like this guy. I just started a new book which is called Lone Survivor and i got way past three pages and was still hooked. And it’s not like this Author is good at writing the only reason why he wrote this story is so people could remember his three Friends bravery. Maybe Nicholas Carr is just getting old. So I think we can use Google to our own advantage and use as a learning recourse and advance education into the twenty first century. And with Google’s quick gathering of information’s businesses can take advantages of it and be able to discover information or post information that is vital to the company. This will have a very positive effect for the world.  In my personal conclusion I believe that Google is not making us stupider it just gave us a faster way to do what we always have done and that is find the quickest way to get information so Google is not making us stupid.