NetGen2011 Activity/Progress 4-4-11

Being the Project Manager I am not just in a single group. I have been looking over all the sub wikis and I feel that the groups are doing pretty good. It is just the beginning of the project and we are still waiting for everyone to be working on this at the same time. Everyone is encouraging eachother and working together and i think eventually everything will fall into place and the project will be successful!

Game Based Learning and Entertaiment Video

Mash-up My Team Is Exploring

The mash-up my team is doing is Entertainment and Game Based Learning. Basically this is the games that are made for learning whether it's for the computer or a gaming device and showing they can be entertaining. I think this will be beneficial to students because many teenagers play video games. If the games could be something intriguing and entertaining, then I'm sure students would be willing to try them out. It can be used in business as well. Just because business seems like it would be professional doesn't mean they can't have fun. The game based learning can be customized with different questions and topics that could be used for the business. It could be used in something like a meeting or just for break time to relax before going back to work.

Teachers Using Tapscott's Norms

This topic is something i feel very strongly about. After reading about Tapscott's 8 norms, i really realized teachers I come in contact with every day need to change the way they teach. We are in the 21st century in the year 2011. This is the future! So i have to wonder, why are they still teaching the way they did 20 years ago? School is about the STUDENTS. If that means changing up the way you teach to actually get the students involved and interested, then do it. There shouldn't be a question about it. We are bored in the classes that are still using worksheets from 15 to 20 years ago. Everything is evolving in the way we live, so why isn't our education, the most important thing, not doing the same? Interaction is key. Just sitting there listening to a teacher ramble about a topic we hardly understand is not helping. I feel a teacher should never make it our responsibility to learn something we don't feel like we know well enough to do so. I actually have a teacher who basically says "If you don't understand that, that's too bad. You should know it." What kind of teacher does that? We come to school to learn and that's what is being said to us? I thought they wanted us to succeed! As a student, that not only makes me scared to ask any questions, but it just makes me feel stupid. Education shouldn't be a "one size fits all", but a "one size fits one" (as said in Tapscott's Grown Up Digital).

Eight Net Gen Norms

Dan Tapscott's Grown Up Digital covers the 8 Net Gen Norms. He classifies norms as "distinctive attitudinal and behavioral characteristics that differentiate this generation from their baby-boom parents and other generations". Basically meaning that there are 8 specific things that majorly differ from the way things were during, say when our parents were younger. The 8 norms he listed are: 1.freedom 2.customization 3.scrutiny 4. integrity 5.collaboration 6. entertainment 7. speed and 8. innovation. When Tapscott was talking about freedom, he used an example of how when he graduated from college, the people his age were very grateful for their first job and were scared to lose it. Nowadays, kids may have had 2 or 3 or even 4 jobs by their senior year. They aren't afraid to leave their job if they find something bigger and better. Customization is something that our generation is always doing. We see something we like, and want to make it better so we customize it to our needs. People have music holding devices like Ipods and can "jailbreak" them and get all these special features. But it's not just that, it's everything from our cellphones to the radios in our cars. For scrutiny he used an example of an e-mail prank, and we've all gotten something like that. With the endless amount of information we get through the internet, tv, magazines, etc. we can decipher fact from fiction. Older generations have trouble with this. For them, what they saw or heard was what it was, but nowadays that is not the case. For integrity, many people think our generation has none but i beg to differ. There are many different examples, but one being children with disabilities are accepted more. As Tapscott said about someone with tourette syndrome, they would not even have been seen in a classroom. Collaboration is also really common. In online games, chatrooms, conference calls, you name it. Entertainment is one of the most important things for Net Geners. Work doesn't have to be boring, we know that, the employers know that. Therefore more effort will be put forth if work is fun. Speed. If we get on a electronical device and it doesn't start up in less than a second, something is wrong. I remember using the computer when i was very young and having to wait for the dial up to connect. That is not acceptable in this day and age and we expect everything to load quickly or else we get frustrated. As for innovation, that is common as well. As we all know, Apple came out with the Ipad not too long ago. Today while watching the news, i saw that the Ipad2 is coming out. How frustrating to the people who are trying to catch up and buy the first generation, and now a new better one is coming out. That goes for everything, cars, gaming devices, laptops, tv's, cellphones, basically anything you can think of.

Key Trends in 2011 Horizon Report

There are many key trends in the Horizon Report. The main ones it covers are as follows: Electronic Books, Mobiles, Augmented Reality, Game-Based Learning, Gesture-based computing, and Analytics. Electronic books are just electronic devices that you can download books onto so it saves the hassle of having to carry them around. Mobiles are just being able to access the internet as well as many other things through your cellphone. Augemented reality is relating the subject to something that is easy to understand so that you can grasp the concept incredibly easily. Game-based learning is incorporating education into games that children and teenagers play everyday. Gesture based computing is using your body to create the movements instead of a computer mouse, such as touch screen devices. Analytics is using what you learned to improve and revise student engagement. Out of these trends, there are a few that i use, mobiles being the main one. Nowadays, you can use a cellphone for SO many things that it's unbelievable. They are not just used for calling and texting anymore, but are some people's main internet source. They are so compact and you can take them on the go so many people choose to use it as their main source.

Importance of Meeting Deadlines in Business and Education

Meeting deadlines in business and education is extremely important. Whether you are asked to complete a homework assignment, or finish a task at work, you should always meet the deadline you are asked to. Not only is it unprofessional to leave a task unfinished and not meet the deadline, but it is simply lazy. If you put forth some effort, you can easily complete anything you are asked to do. It is also really important if you are working on a collaborative project, because if you do not finish your task, then the rest of the group is immediately behind and everything is automatically messed up. No one wants that kind of guilt on them do they? The answer is no. If you do not meet a deadline in education, there are always consequences. You get behind in your school work and probably get a detention. You then in turn end up with more work because you have to complete the one you did not. It is always important to meet deadlines you are given because it shows responsibility and maturity. You just look irresponsible and lazy when something is not completed on time. Therefore you should always complete your work on time so you look like a great citizen and student!

Accepting Criticism

When commenting on others things, you should use constructive criticism. If you comment on it and the criticism is harsh and doesn't really help them, there was no point in commenting in the first place. You should use netiquette when commenting and criticizing. Netiquette is etiquette for the web and even though you can not see the person and the person can not see you, you still need to be polite and respectful. Not only do you need to know how to use criticism, but you need to know how to accept it. Many people will take criticism too personally, but you need to know that it is for your own good and will help you in the long run. Criticism is very important if you plan on making your information better. You are getting opinions from others on how they view your work and it will be very helpful when improving your things. Netiquette is also very important because if you aren't respectful, then other people will not be respectful either. They will leave rude comments and then it could just cause some unneeded situations. You should always be respectful and constructive when leaving comments and criticizing. If you remember to do this it will make the experience a lot better.

Using a Wiki To Communicate Information

There are many ways Wiki can be used to communicate information. Wiki is a collaborative website. This means that many people can leave their input in the site and edit it. This is a great way to communicate information because you are not only editing your own information, but others are putting theirs in as well. This allows you to view their input and learn something new. Therefore you can communicate with each other as you put in your information. Using a Wiki as a way to communicate information is a good tool to use. People can also be invited into Wikis, which is a good way to keep informed about updates and everything. The creator of the Wiki can control who is invited and who is not. There is a discussion section so you can discuss amongst the people in the group about the topic and about things that are edited. You have to make sure though, that when people are posting things it is only one at a time. Posts may accidently get deleted if you do not. Other than that Wiki is a reliable way to communicate information for not only education, but business use as well.

Using Communication Tools to Present

There are many ways I can use digital communication tools to present my tool, Weebly, to the class. First of all, Weebly is a site that allows you to create blogs and websites in a user friendly way. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. The drag and drop features replace confusing HTML, which in turn makes creating a website or blog much easier. If i wanted to present my tool to the class there are different ways i could go about this. Power point presentation being one of them. Using a power point presentation, i could put all the information about my tool in slides and present it to the class that way. I could also show them the actual Weebly website and walk them through all the features. Yet another tool i could use would be Youtube. Youtube has Weebly demos and tutorials that you can go through that help you navigate through the site and show you how to create things. Using blogs can also help present my tool. I could write a blog about it and have my classmates comment on the blog with questions or comments. This is how i would present my tool using digital communication tools.

Ways Diigo Can be Used

Diigo can be used in many ways by many different people. Highschool students benefit a lot by using Diigo. Using Diigo we can do many things like keep all our bookmarked pages on the site and even highlight important things in the text. This is helpful, because i know sometimes i bookmark a page and forget why i did. The highlighting tool can help because it highlights the specific points you need. College students pretty much have the same benefits as highschool students. Business personell can use the highlight tool as well and also the sticky note tool. Sticky notes are literally like little Post-It notes you can place on the page telling people to look at something you might find helpful or interesting. This could help with business' because they can show coworkers important points to look at, which they can use with the highlighter tool as well.

Communicating Digitally

Everyone communicates digitally. People of all ages are connecting and communicating via internet. Nowadays it is possible to talk to people from other parts of the world which was never this easy before. Children are even being taught how to use the internet safely at ages as young as 5. 11 years ago, i would have been learning how to read, not how to use the internet. It is crazy how times have changed because children are so ahead of their time that they are becoming more advanced digitally than their parents. In my opinion communicating digitally is a good thing because it brings everyone together and it's just part of life because it is something my generation has grown up with.