Review for GeoHive

Review:
GeoHive is a kind of learning and referencing tool which contains several types of statistics about population or landforms of the world. This application is quite useful and handy for individuals because of its construction.The web site is divided by topics and easy to find what we want. I think nobody will get lost in the site and everyone can have data that they look for immediately, so I suppose that this tool can be used on my own. I also think that this tool can be used every age groups, even elementary school students.Definitely, the contents of the web site is statistics. Statistics are not more than statistics, so I do not think the information in the tool is too advanced for younger people. As I have said, the contents of the tool are only statistics and nothing has negative aspect. There is no need for teachers or parents to stop their children using GeoHive. Without saying, statistics are the most basic information and really easy to digest. However, it can help us to understand more about which country is growing and why. This application has several statistics, but the most interesting one for me is which shows the future population of each country.

Tomoki's S3 Session...draft

1. Review of tool(task3)

2. My Presentation
a. Introduction: TEach the Tool(5minutes), Link to your screen shot slideshow (on Picassa or Flicker)

b. Body: Teach the Tool your notes here

c. conclusion
summary questions

Community in the Digital Age

1. What is the central problem for citizens in democracies?

Participating to the society of hundreds or millions is hard to be done.

2. What skills do citizens need?

Building social capital and participating in political arguments.

3. What term does the author use to describe the process citizens use to promote their concerns about an issue?

Using Issue Lattice is the way to promote citizens' concerns about an issue.

4. What steps are the four steps in this process?

Identifying, researching, staking out the position and creating networks with others.

p. 212-214
Write two of your own questions on the ideas and issues raised in this section. Lead a class discussion next session.

1. what is issue lattice?

2. Who was the first people who understood politics?

Think:What do you currently do when a teacher asks you to collaborate with other students on a project? What do you now if you want to show someone else what you have done? What do you do if you need to work on it at the same time?


When I am working on a group project, I go to a meeting to let the other members know what I have done so far. To the meeting, I take my USB flash memory, some notes or something printed out from websites to show them. Or sometimes I send emails to the group members. However, to do both at the same time, probably chatting on the web with messengers or Skype are the best ways to do so.

Explain: Social Computing Key Questions:

1. What are the main skills needed to use social software?

Creating account. It is the only thing that we have to do to use this software.

2. What are the affordances (what the software makes possible, what it impedes)?

We do not need to attach documents with emails sent to others.

3. How can the technology be used to network professionally and connect users to learning resources

It may be really useful for business to share information of documents with someone.

4. What learned skills and understandings may promote your development as an effective learner in the digital age?

It may be useful if I want to share my photos or what I have researched about something for presentation.

Kahn & Kenller, pp.183-185, 190-198

According to the text, the authors say that the internet has been used by political activists or terrorists as a tool for constructing their syndications, gathering information, having a place to quarrel together. It means that the internet may change the democratic world's form in the future. Political activists utilize the internet to communicate with their companies or quarrel with their againsts. Terrorists use it for advertising their activity, sending messages to the society or political organizations, and they may be sometimes use the internet to gather companies in my expectation. For instance, Al Quaeda or some other terrorists groups take this method. There are also some hackers on the internet. Some of them hacks some important political information or personal information and crushes web sites through the internet. As mentioned above, the internet has such many problems so far. In conclusion, the internet has made a possibility of new form of the world. It is also said that creating relationships between humans or organizations has become much easier than before. However, it still is so controversial for the society.

Reaction

Personally I use the internet everyday and it has become an essential tool for me for a long time. I understand there are always possibilities of danger about things, so I hope that there would be no danger online someday.

Lesson 5:Really Simple Syndication (RSS) - Keeping up to date, staying organised

Think:Which sites do you visit regularly? What provisions do you currently make to keep yourself up to date on new content posted to your favourite sites?

Everyday, I visit MSN or Yahoo to check news. I also often go to mixi or some of my favourite sites relating to my hobby. I look around the sites almost everyday, so I always have the newest information of the sites.

Explore:
1. A website that displays a button similar to the ones here on the right has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to. Visit a few of the sites that you use fairly regularly. Now, can you find an RSS button?You might need to scroll down the page, and you will need to look carefully if it is a 'busy' page. Which of your favourite sites provide an RSS feed? Which ones don't? Can you think why not?

As I look around, I found RSS in some sites.

Explain:Social Computing Key Questions

1. what are the main skills needed to use social software?

Maybe a careful mind?

2. What are the affordances?

It makes me not to visit the sites.

3. How can the technology be used to network professionally and connect users to learning resources?

It makes us help not to spend too much time. However, I have not caught the meaning well.

4. What learned skills and understandings may promote your development as an effective learner in the digital age?

I have gained a new computer skill.

Lesson 2:Blog as e-Portfolio

Think:Do you need an e-portfolio?

To be honest, I am not that good at using computers. Therefore, e-portfolio makes me confused very often. In addition, I like to write something on paper and show it to my teacher. This system, e-portfolio is certainly useful in some ways, but I prefer to write down things.

Explore:What main benefits/disadvantages do you see in the design of an e-portfolio compared to a traditional resume?

The benefit is that e-portfolio is much easier to see than a traditional resume because it is well-organized. The disadvantage is that we have to scroll the web page when we want to see the top or below of the page.

Explain:Write a post reflecting on your blog as an e-Portfolio with reference to the four Key Questions.

1. What are the main skills needed to use social software?
Computer skills and organized characteristics are essential to use e-portfolio.

2. What are the affordances?
The software makes easier to record and confirm what we have done on the computers than before. However, for some people who do not know well about computers, it is a bit hard to manage e-Portfolio.

3. How can the technology be used to network professionally and connect users to learning resources?
I am really not sure how blogs are used for professionally. As a device for learning, it may be useful for teachers because blogs make checking over what the students have done easy.

4. What learned skills and understandings may promote your development as an effective learner in the digital age?
At least, I have learned how to create a blog and known that many useful extensions exist. In the future, probably they will help me on my work or life.