PLN7

Web 2.0... The Machine is Us/ing Us by Michael Wesch was about how Michael thinks that the internet is controlled only by what people tell it to think.  In other words, "code" is written by people, and the internet only understands what you decide.  This matters to me because I use the internet almost every day. When I use the internet I have to be careful because what I see is what just a bunch of random people in the world put out there and the information might not always be correct. Which is also what is important to education. If it isn't correct then how can you research on the web or look up information for a class? It matters to the world because since it is the World Wide Web it connects through to the entire world, and most stuff out there is just opinion and not really important unless you know you have to agree or disagree with what they're saying. The internet doesn't really use us, it is controlled by what we tell it to think.

PLN6

In Oprah gives $1 million to Denver School of Science & Technology by Jeremy P. Meyer, Oprah gave one million bucks to DSST (the charter school, Denver School of Science and Technology) because she thinks it is an important charter school since it has a waiting list of 500 students. This is important to me because charter schools have the ability to change the face of education by exploring new ways of reaching kids with lots of different ways of learning. I have a different way of learning, since I am more inclined to learn through visual stimulation and through things that interest me, rather than the standard "do this, and get a grade according to the amount of time you've spent on it" instead of thinking outside the box, as a charter school would promote. It matters to education, because our schools need to try to teach to everyone, not just the ones that are easy to teach because they do everything a teacher says is important. It matters to the world because we keep having wars, and we don't try to understand different opinions and lifestyles and ways of thinking, and this type of education will maybe be  a way for people to be interested in new things. SO, it is important that charter schools get the money they need so we can get closer and closer to world peace.

PLN 2

Lots of things matter to me, like guitar, lacrosse, music, friends. These things matter to me because they make me who I am today. I got into guitar about a year and a half ago, and I have been really into it since. I play it for hours after school, or when there isn't school, usually in the afternoon. I take lessons and I often times go to other friends houses and play with them. Sometimes I play songs for large crowds.

Lacrosse has been an interest of mine for two years, not very long, but I still like doing it. I don't play it very often, but when I need to get out of the house, I go with friends to the park and play lacrosse with them. I played at my old school, I did several fall programs and summer programs. I plan on playing for Arapahoe.

Also, music matters to me. Wether I listen to it while doing homework, or if I am in the car, music gets me through the day. Bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Iron Maiden, and others are bands that matter to me. I listen to music whenever I am bored, when I do homework, and I always have on ear bud in my ear when I am talking to friends. Friends also matter to me. Friends matter to me because if I need help or am just bored, I can hang out with them. These are the things that matter to me.

PLN5

The point of Footprints in the Digital Age, by Will Richardson (perhaps a misanthrope, who dislikes mankind), is that he says people need to be extra careful and worried about what we put on the internet about ourselves.  He also points out that Google search is more intelligent, if it has lots and lots of information with your name on it, so we should start sticking stuff on the internet from the age of 7, no matter what. I agree but at the same time I disagree. We cannot always control what goes on the internet about us, other people can post things about us and we can't control that, that is how this matters to me. It matters to education because what we put on the internet shows the world who we are, and makes our schools look either good or bad. It matters to the world because the internet is worldwide so anyone can search us on the web and get information, which is why it is smart to be careful, but again you can't control what other people say. The bottom line, is that we need to only post things in safe places we know and also only post high quality information.

PLN4

Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom, by Sara Corbet, was about a classroom in New York that learned in an unusual way. Doyle,  the teacher of the class that was studied, taught in a more "understanding the kids viewpoint" kind of  way. He taught the kids using video games which all the kids are used to at home. This matters to me because I think it would be kind of cool to learn with that kind of teaching style. Learning because of video games would be cool because it is a more outside of the box way of teaching. It matters to education because it appeals more to the kids, instead of being boring.  The teacher is trying to connect more to his students to get them to be interested. It matters to the world because, if other classes and teachers did this, then more people would be interested in what they are doing, and more people would be succeeding in life. This class may open up a new way of teaching in the future, and prepare students for new technologies, and new ways of thinking.

PLN3

In Nicholas Carr's Is Google Making Us Stupid? I don't think technology makes us stupid, it just makes us think differently. It makes everything easier for people trying to do stuff. The internet matters to me because it makes doing school work ten times easier. Since I have poor handwriting, I can send files to teachers if I want or through to myself so I can print it at school. Before we could use the internet, we had to spend way more time researching information.  We had to get up and get a book or a dictionary instead of just looking it up really quick on their computer; that is why it matters to education. And it matters to the world because technology will become greater over the years, maybe even smarter than any human. The only way it could be smarter than any human, is if it could learn on its own. People use the internet a lot so they wouldn't have to use their own brain, but that doesn't necessarily make us stupid, it gives us the ability to get more involved in our research, and understand more completely, and spend less time in the process.  Google doesn't make us stupid, it opens our minds for information.