Monday 16 April 2012

iTunesU Post numero 4

So you want to know why eh.. well I believe and I'm sure many others would agree with me that.. this is just plain and simply easier.



This world as we evolve we want our own butts wiped by a freakin robot... we are turning into the laziest people there are.

Look at it this way.. 2000 years ago there were tribes going around hunting, fishing, and building all of their own stuff from mother nature.

They were and lived perfectly fine lives and evolved like the human race should... now we are in this booming technological world where its hard to keep up with the latest phone that has come out...


Im not saying I totally disagree with it.. I actually like the idea because I am quite the laze guy myself... HAHA... But that is why teachers are going with this route...


I am sure they get paid for it in one shape or form  but its easier on them and its easier on us.. that it why that happens.. the world just goes round and round...

iTunesU Post 3

After watching some snip bits of my itunesU course I learned that these are like actual filmed class lectures. Whereas when I usually watch videos its usually just a marker and whiteboard

Here is the link to my iTunesU Course:
Birmingham University - Nursing

While scanning through my course I found this one lecture on Intra Muscular Injections and it has a live demonstration on a student.


Although actually being there for the demonstartion I had the better possibility of learning more but the live demostration on video is much better for the eye than picturess and words in text books.

Trust me... I know to you this may seem pretty discussing to WANT to learn about, but hey this is our future, and all them baby boomers are hitting the final stretch... if you know what I mean...

Another iTunesU lecture that I tuned into one day and thought was sort of neat and useable for personal knowledge later in the future.. was one on retractable needles... I found out that if you have even the tiniest little bit of O2 in the needle that you are about to inject the patient with, it would kill the patient!

 Overall, I totally enjoyed the free ride to Birmingham University, one that I know I would normally never get into. The iTunesU Courses are a great new and upcoming idea that I believe will boom with our ever growing world of technology.

Misleading Wikipedia - Shakespeare #2

Growing up through the end of elementary and the beginning of high school, every single "old school" teacher has always told me... WIKIPEDIA HOLDS FALSE INFO! DO NOT USE!!!


Although this may be true in some instances, most times the information can be totally valid.. and if somebody was to change the information then it will be completeley stupid and obvious if its not the only information you use


That is why, my moral for wikipedia is to always look at another more valid site with better information just to make sure that im using correct data and info for my assignements.

For this blog post, I went on wikipedia and all that it had for Mr. Titus Andronicus was that he was a renowned Roman general.. which in this case is 100 percent valid

So there isnt really much to correct there but here are some real true characteristics about Titus Adronicus:
  • Not overbearing (1:7)
  • Not quick-tempered (1:7)
  • Love what is good (1:8)
  • Upright, just (1:8)
  • Holy (1:8)
  • Disciplined (1:8)
  • Hold firmly to the trustworthy message (1:9)

Wednesday 4 April 2012

ItunesU - Growing Technology



ItunesU is yet another part of our growing technological world!
Its pretty amazing how each and everyday, some peice of new technology comes out to make our lives easier. It's all we do, just find ways to make our lives easier.

ItunesU, while it is yet another part of our growing technology, actually does not just make class easier, but benefits the overall learning curve you achieve at the end of it. It is beneficial to everyone who uses it, whether it be a teacher or a student!

In a normal class of university, you are sitting in a lecture hall with about 300 other classmates. Not only that, but theyre not always the quietest either. 

HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY LEARN!?!
That is why ItunesU can be beneficial to students. With ItunesU you get to choose the environment in which you get to learn in which could actually help your overall learning. You also get to choose when to listen to the lecutres so youre not on a strict time schedule.

Teachers on the otherhand recieve benefit from this kind of teaching because, they too get to choose when to do the lecutres, but more importantly the environment. When teaching with ItunesU, you have no disruptions throughout the lecture. It is easier to keep a train of thought and that way the lecutre can flow more smoothly.

Cost reduction for this type of learning can be made in little but assertive ways:
    
                       1) Make sure your internet company is giving you a fair package for your usage
                       2)Turn off any peice of technology when not using it to preserve lifetime
                       3)PLN - using this can help you learn for free in numerous ways!!






Monday 2 April 2012

Khans Academy

So... learning in class, but not really in class...

I must say I have been using youtube videos my entire highschool career to study for classes.. I mean its great! You can find almost anything about anything online.

For countless tests, the night before when I am struggling to cram everything I can into my brain to come out with a semi decent mark I turn to things like Khans's Academy. For biology I learned all of mitosis, all the organelles in the cell and more through youtube videos

Math tests are the best... I feel like I dont even have to attend math because I can learn it all on youtube. There are step by step equations and methods of attacking problems all online. They are visual aswell so you can see the professor doing the equation (most commonly on a white board).

Here is one that I used to pass my first Data Management test after I dropped out of Advanced Functions and came to the class 2 days before the first test:




Google is another great place to study for tests:

All you gotta do you is have google as your home page and ask away. You can literally ask google any question about anything and you will almost certainly get an answer to your question. Its astonishing how easy it is.

I believe that online courses are the easiest mark to achieve in highschool now because of these academies and website that hold all of the information that you learn in class!

Khan, amazingly, has by far the biggest database of school education that I have personally ever seen. I do intend to start using his academy if I ever miss a lesson in day school, just to get the background knowledge.

SO... thanks mr chesser, but I got it!

Monday 26 March 2012

Tweet Tweet!

The shakespearean twitter chat, I believe wasnt too big of a success. The real omy never showed up, and not everyone put full participation into it which in turn didnt result in a good group chat. Although this was the case, there still were a few posts that I truly did believe were accurate. Sam Browns, first post about 'Why Students Hate Studying Shakespeare', - "Shakespeare is difficult do to the fact that language is evolving everyday, whether it is beneficial or not, it is always changing" I believe is very accurate. Up to this date, I learn new diction and grammar about how you write and place words in a sentence. In the Shakespearean era, they spoke very differently and the way they place the words in a sentence can easily confuse you. That is a logical reason to why students hate studying shakespeare ( Because they simply DO NOT get it!). 1 post that I slightly disagree with would be Kelly Allens post on 'what is your worst memory of studying a play of Shakespeare' - " worst memory: having to stand in front of the entire class while attempting to read Shakespeare out loud." I actually kind of appreciated having shakespeare be read aloud because it helped me understand some of the context when it was read aloud. Definately agree with the standing in front of the class part! AHH!

Personally, I dislike reading Shakespeare aswell. The one thing that has helped me get through highschool english are the Shakespeare for dummies books. On the one side of the page is the original text whereas on the other side there is normal english context. It is much easier to look at and read. It allows you to not get frustrated when you cannot understand a part of the play.


Wednesday 21 March 2012

Technology Of The Future!

After reading about the 10 Important Technology Skills Students Need for the Future, I learned that I need to acquire a number of these skills in order to help out my own future. Even as I was growing up, there was a bunch of things that I did not know how to do, and when I attempted to search them through online and software searches, I was unsuccessful in my research. 9/10 times I was unable to locate the answer to my questions. So I definately believe that knowing how to search for things online properly aswell as the help and support searches that you need to answer hardware questions would benefit my future with faster and better searches. Another area of technology that I would benefit from learning would be typing. My typing skills are quite poor and it takes me longer than the average person to type up a report or essay. I am only able to type with 1 finger on both hands, so using the full range of the keyboard with all my fingers would speed up the time it takes for me to write up a report. 1 thing that I do believe is a forte of mine would be security on the interweb. I try to keep all of my files, pictures, contact information etc.. as private as possible. I believe this is a key step in my learning in technology so that the most information possible can be kept private.... UNLIKE the creepy lollipop!!!!!