Weekly Research Finding

One thing that my research has turned up, in an article published by Princeton University, is the relationship between children’s television watching and academic achievement. I have a feeling the results may surprise some people.

The article is titled Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement, written by Marie Evans Schmidt and Elizabeth A. Vandewater. The authors have researched the findings of studies of the effects of different forms of electronic media on the scholastic ability of young learners, and of particular interest to me is what these findings say about television watching: In a nutshell, the authors observed that “viewing educational TV is linked positively with academic achievement; viewing entertainment TV is linked negatively with achievement.” Time is also a factor, the authors note, stating that “moderate TV viewing” of educational programs (e.g. Sesame Street), which they define as “one to ten hours a week” appears to be beneficial; “heavier viewing”, defined as “more than eleven hours per week”, seems to have a negative academic impact.

I must admit that, before reading the article, I would have expected the authors to come down sharply on television viewing at all; I can’t recall a time I’ve ever heard anyone in academia singing the praises of TV in any context. I’m relieved, however, because I like to let my daughter—who is sixteen months—watch an episode of Sesame Street every day, and she looks forward to it. Some of the books she owns feature the characters, and seeing her able to point them out (and even name some of them) makes me feel that I’m not doing her a disservice.

Here’s a link to the article at Project Muse:

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/foc/summary/v018/18.1.schmidt.html

Information Overload "Really"

Information overload is a term that some of us may think is new. Wrong, it has been around for a long time. First let’s define Information Overload.
“Information Overload n. exposure to or provision of too much information; a problematic situation or state of mental stress arising from this.”
Anything that causes a problematic situation or a state of mental stress is something cannot be good for people, right? What my research will show is that Information overload has always been around and is not bad for society, It is a part of the evolution of technology and how we utilize it and learn from it. The tools we use to obtain knowledge and provide us with the “information overload” have evolved over time. Understanding how we disseminate information, helps us change our way of thinking. Research will show different ways in which technology helps us learn and how the use of that technology needs to continue and change the way we think and learn.

Research Abstract: Digital Native Technical Revolution

Today’s students are significantly different from prior generations in that they are the first to grow up surrounded by digital media. This generation of tech-savvy students is known as Digital Natives. The digital native communicates through text messaging, instant messaging, emails, social networking websites, and in face to face meet ups. As this generation are enthusiastic users of technology and often are the trend setters, they may be ill-equipped with the proper skills and knowledge to take technology into the classroom. Additionally, because these young people use technology in every aspect of their life, it may alter how they approach learning. Will digital natives revolutionize technology in public schools and enhance learning outcomes? In order for the digital natives to have opportunities in the future, they need the technical skills. The challenge is for classroom and instruction to keep pace with the rapidly changing technological landscape. Research will identify if digital natives are driving educational changes to accommodate their interests and skills. Our education system requires continual review and investigation of perspectives of teachers and students and we should look to understand the situation before proclaiming the need for widespread change. Digital tools will find their place and it is imperative that educators find how to replace some traditional education with digital processes and tools.

CSI: NY

This is not my weekly post but I had to mention the show CSI: NY. It is on Friday nights and we are in class so I set my DVR and watched it yesterday. The show was about a girl who was skyping and another guy who worked for the crime lab saw her get murdered. They mentioned databases they use like Lexis-Nexis (one of my favorite). They had laptop and Ipads and were discussing all the different apps you can put on an Ipad. The girl got killed because the laptop she had was stolen and the person she stole it from had some criminal stuff on it. The characters in the show were talking about all the different ways technology has come into our lives and has got people killed. It ended up with a husband and wife who work together stating they were not going to let their daughter use Ipads and laptops when she was older. The wife came back with "too late she can already operate my Ipod better than me".

I thought it was ironic too watch the show right after this weekends class.

Not too sure how to cite a television show but here it goes. CBS. (2010) CSI: NY, Unfriendly Chat. watched October 2, 2010. Aired October 1, 2010.

Brand Marketing using technology

While taking this course, I have made considerable consideration to the technology I will need to use in my small business endeavors. This RSS Feed titled How to Introduce Your Brand touches on the use of technology when introducing your brand to the public. I always considered that the videos on You Tube were taking away from business ventures, especially dealing with exercise. However, the article suggests posting samples of your work online to gain public interest. Reviewing my use of the video website, I can say that I have purchased several items thanks to seeing them online first. Individuals blog about products and their pros and cons and that helps the consumer make decisions about a purchase. Bottom line is I need to incorporate a similar marketing strategy for my ventures. I would not have considered this type of ‘free’ marketing if it were not for this blog and my RSS feed!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/28/michigan.justice.blog/index.html?npt=NP1

Given the amount of media attention that the recent suicide of the Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, is receiving, I felt compelled to share with you all the following article I received in my RSS feed for CNN. Let's just get past the fact that the story is about an Assistant Attorney General for University of Michigan who created a blog to the detriment of a gay student assembly president of the student government organization at University of Michigan. The fact that there is such a focus on the 'cyber-bullying', I felt it necessary and even compelled to highlight the radical behavior of this public official towards a student of a university based on that student's sexual orientation. The method of bullying is the internet, namely a blog named after the student "Chris Armstrong Watch" and with such blog posts that have computer altered photos of the student with superimposed gay pride flags bearing the swastika, and other such 'photo shop' reproductions attacking the student's character, calling him a "radical homosexual activist, racists, elitist, and liar"; however, I think that the use of this sort of public attack on a student using widely, and immediately circulated and available media is how the use of technology has negatively affected our society, at even the highest of levels.

Could she be Helga?

During my research, I stumbled upon this social networking membership site for those 50 and older. I like most parents, have at one time or another been guilty of sitting your kid in front a TV with his or her favorite animated movie playing.

What do you do with seniors?

So please do not judge me when I tell you that my brothers and I are seriously considering paying the $40 membership to get my mother signed up at SeniorNet.org. Here is there mission statement.

“SeniorNet's mission is to provide older adults education for and access to computer technologies to enhance their lives and enable them to share their knowledge and wisdom”.

This is going to be fantastic for my mom. I we get her the Mac Mini; I can remote into her computer to resolve any issues she might have.

-danyale

Holocaust .net site review

www.holocausthistory.net

The .net Holocaust site I found is Holocausthistory.net, part of a group called Beth Shalom that runs genocide prevention and awareness sites, as well as a museum, The Holocaust Centre, located in Nottinghamshire in the UK. I found the site to be very comprehensive in scope, presenting a very detailed timeline and including many images and background information. A lot of space is devoted to Hitler’s rise to power, serving to illustrate how quickly mob enthusiasm can overtake democracy, and admonishing against the relinquishing of political and military power to a tightly concentrated group. I assume, based upon the writing style, that the intended target audience is broad rather than academic—this is put out by a museum, but isn’t what we would call “scholarly”. That being said, I would certainly be comfortable using this site as a jumping-off point for more in-depth research. Overall, I find the site to be quite useful and informative, and if I were in the area, would absolutely visit the museum.

EXCLUSIVE Apple TV Review: Hands on With Steve Jobs' New Hobby

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/28/apple-tv-review-hands-on-steve-jobs-hobby//

This is an article and video that was on one of my RSS feeds that I thought was interesting. It was the first time that I had heard of Apple TV. I am familiar with the iPod, iPad, iTunes, and iPhone, but this technology was new to me. I learned that the original Apple TV came out in 2007 for $300. The newest edition, however, is only $99 and works with Netflix and iTunes. You can instantly rent movies from Netflix and iTunes (as well as TV shows). In addition, you can access YouTube, Flickr, and Podcasts. I also thought the new Airplay feature was interesting. If you are watching a movie on an iPod in the car, when you get home you can hit the Airplay Button and continue watching that same movie on your Apple TV. This feature also works for music. Overall, I found this article to be pretty interesting because it shows how this new technology allows users to intertwine the uses of different Apple devices on their home TV. I highly recommend reading the article or watching the video about Apple TV.

Libaries Are in Sync With Generation I-pod

To many the library primary use was for just checking out books and for some a quite place to go to get some unfinished homework done. Now that the world has entered a new era of Distance learning, and now the i-pod generation has taken over; and primarily everything is done now over the world wide net the library was almost obsolete. A library in Grandview Heights Ohio has decided to launch smart phone apps to keep up with the "i-pod generation" by doing so the library has reached out to those tech geeks and now they are able to download music and books from the libraries website. (just like the University Of Richmond's Boatwright Library has done)Just like the research in which I'm writing about,Distance education and the traditional classroom this ties in to the library keeping up with the new generation because now so much learning is taking place over the internet and like the libraries and classrooms we cannot forget if there were no such thing as the internet or an i pod there will still be a library and a classroom.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_hi_te/us_generation_ipod_libraries

Is all the tweeting, facebooking, and blogging worth it?

I was unable to find an article on my NPR or MSN RSS feed so I had to venture out in search of an appropriate article. I stumbled across the below article titled Social Marketing: Is all that tweeting, facebooking, and blogging worth it? written by Dianne Buckner with CBC News in Canada. While this is a very brief article she managed to address some very important and relevant issues related to internet social marketing.

For the article Dianne interviewed Jonathan Huth, a partner of the marketing firm named Conversion. Huth stated that the purpose of his business is to “convert clicks into customers” for his clients. While he understands that many businesses are not in the financial situation to hire a company like his, he warns against the many free marketing resources available on the internet. In his opinion, they tend to be extremely time consuming and if you are just going through the motions it is pretty much a waste of time and ineffective. Naturally, Huth is in the business of promoting his own skills and assets that he can bring to the table for clients.

Dianne interviewed several owners of small businesses who were doing their own social marketing and were very successful at it. Of those interviewed was Martin Perelmuter, director of a marketing and communications firm. He stated that his company was “experimenting” with online social marketing. He told a funny story about a client of his in the mid 1990’s that when instructed to go online to obtain more information on a subject he refused stating “he wasn’t comfortable using the web to get important information”. How funny is that? Now the first place we turn to find important information is the internet. Like anything new, it takes time for people to jump on the band wagon but social marketing is here to stay.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/smallbusiness/story/2010/09/29/f-vp-buckner-social-marketing.html?ref=rss

Shopping Addiction caused by the Internet...Really????

I am doing my research paper on Internet Addiction and one of the items of research that I am doing is the comparisons of different addictions. I am comparing what is claimed to be internet addiction in comparison to some of those listed in the DSM such as alcohol and drug. The one addiction that I didn't think of was an addiction to "shopping". I'm sure this may catch the attention of many of you. Isn't it funny how we all stop sometimes and think, "do I have that addiction". I know I truly think about it when it comes to the internet and shopping. I ask myself am I dependent on Web 2.0 or am I shopping in excess. One of my RSS news feeds is the news station that I tune into while flying on Jetblue. We carry the news station of New York. While looking through my RSS feeds I came across this article:

Internet May Be Fueling Shopping Addiction.

I believe there is a correlation between the two. The article states that the shopping addiction is provoked in part by the internet, referring to it as an online trend. I think that the internet is an enabler feeding the addiction but the fact would remain there must be a consistency with the constant posting of items on the internet via YouTube. At first reading the title I thought it was going to lead to people shopping on the internet but instead the shopping is done outside of the home and the internet comes in play when the shoppers post what they bought. It is like a competition between the girls. It's considered shop and tell instead of show and tell quoted from an expert in shopping addiction. Again, obviously there is a common theme here and they go hand in hand. They seem to consistently use a tool to benefit and highlight a habit. The opinion of one who specializes in the treatment of compulsive buying was made available too. Benson stated, "It's in that message that happiness is only as far away as the next purchase." I wish this article could have included someone who recognizes or treats Internet Addiction. I am sure if someone who relates to Internet addiction would have had their take on this new trend they may have quoted a correlation too. Who's to say that happiness is only as far away as hitting a keystroke to access the internet. It gives us something to pause for and think about...

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/24/seen-at-11-internet-may-be-fueling-shopping-addiction/

Schools embracing e-Books.

I found an interesting article on NPR's site today. What attracted me the most was that it didn't appear in my feed lately - it's from early 2009, which makes me wonder - how much have things changed in regards to e-Reading in education since then (with how quickly technology seems to be moving)?
The article focuses on one university, Northwest Missouri State, that is making the switch from physical textbooks to digital textbooks.
Last year they had 500 students test electronic versions of textbooks to answer the question: 'How will it affect the way they study?', which is precisely the question I am asking in my research paper.
The article is not conclusive, more speculative - but there are a few things I didn't previously know/hadn't given much thought.
For example, I didn't realize an electronic textbook cost 'about half' of what a regular one does. I'm so comfortable with physical textbooks, as I read (in this article) many college students are, but for half the price (or even less in 2010) I may be willing to consider making the switch.
It's a short piece, but worth reading. You can check it out here - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99961163

Games in Education

I found this interesting article about a workshop held August 16 and 17 this year in New York promoting the use of video games in education. There were numerous sessions that provided informative data encouraging the use of games in education. When I was reading the schedule, I saw the term "cognitive dissonance" it reminded me of Randy Paucsh. I have included a slide show that compares the methodology of education to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There are other videos on the site as well. I would have loved to attend this workshop especially since video games in education is what I am researching.

http://www.gamesineducation.org/schedule.php
http://www.slideshare.net/brock.dubbels/the-jekyll-and-hyde-effect

"RIM makes bold play for the tablet market"

While searching through my RSS feeds, I learned that RIM (the makers of Blackberry) unveiled a touch screen tablet, “The Playbook”, which will be available for purchase early next year. It’s expected to compete with the iPad and other tablets which are likely to be released late this year and next year.

Per this article, “The Playbook is aimed at people who do more work than play --- RIM’s calling it ‘the first professional tablet’.” However, they are also targeting iPad customers by adding a new operating system that will have “mindless app (in addition to productivity apps).” Some of the features that really caught my attention are; it will display both HTML5 and Adobe Flash-based video on the web (the iPad only displays HTML5); an HDMI video out -- so you can show a presentation in high definition at a meeting; it also has a front and rear facing video camera for video-conferencing. These are all features that the iPad does not currently have. RIM has yet to release some of the details of this tablet including the price, battery life and whether it will offer a 3-4G subscription plan.

It amazes me how technology is constantly changing how we access information, and I have to wonder what impact touch screen tablets, in general, will have on the way we obtain information. I don’t expect this to occur in the short-term, but will they eventually replace laptops? Will they be allowed in public schools at some point? I bought my first cell phone when I was 15. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. When I look back at it now, it was huge, as thick as a brick! It looked more like a satellite remote control than the slim-sleek cell phones we carry today. At that time, I wouldn’t have imagined owning a touch screen cell phone that had access to the web and thousands of apps. My kids will probably look back at these tablets and make fun of their limitations, but at least for now they are the new ‘hot’ tech-toy.

More Government Security

The RSS feed I found relating to my topic (well, part of my topic...it’s rather huge at the moment.) is an article from nytimes.com. United States federal law enforcement and national security officials want to make it easier to wire tap the internet. More people are communicating online instead of using telephones, especially long distance communications. Officials now want the ability to change regulations and tap into “peer to peer” messaging, even those with encrypted email. That includes your Blackberry, Facebook and Skype. Where is the line between security “needs” and invading privacy? Officials feel given this authority would enable them to wiretap crime and terrorist suspects. I wonder if the security, monitored by wire tapping the internet, will be equivalent to the $3 billion failure of the Mexico-United States border wall?

Interesting article. ~Kim

Managing Information Overload

Often I chuckle as I write the title to these blogs when they relate to my subject of Information Overload, as I am doing the same thing to all of you. Today I hope that this RSS feed will show us what we as consumers of information may be able to do in the future. The article describes how to limit the amount of sender information to us by use of the filtering. The senders of information are concerned with losing any current prospects of income and subscribers, so they barrage everyone. The article shows that the filtering would help senders determine who wants there information and not scare people into subscribing due to fear of attack of more information. It essentially puts the power of the internet back on the receiver and not the sender. That in turn creates the ability for individuals to control the amount of information as to not create an overload. This is a great RSS check it out, it is quite interesting. As we all know, we tend to look at certain sites, feeds... This will streamline for everyone and give us more time for in depth focus and concentration, and allow us to utilized the internet to use and learn from information instead of sort and react to it.

New site for Research

I found this interesting website in my RSS feed reader that gave me some great information concerning my topic on Adult Computer Literacy. To me this is a new piece of knowledge that I didn’t know about because it’s another portal into finding good information for my continued learning. Once you enter the site, you are then able to enter your search term into the search field and many different articles pop up. From there, I am able to choose which one that will be helpful for me. As I look at this site it reminds of the Academic Search Complete database that we have here at the University. I have now subscribed to this feed so that whenever I need any relevant information pertaining to any topic that I might be researching, I can find it. Informaworld has eBooks, journals, reference works, and abstract databases. I am very glad that I stumbled upon this website. I believe that it will be very beneficial to me in the future.
http://www.informaworld.com/ampp/rss~content=t792303956

Malware Hits Siemen's Computers

Technology industry computers have been infected by a virus (“a quiet and sophisticated malicious software program”). The malware is known as Stuxnet. Though a computer virus seems to be a common occurrence, what I thought was interesting about this RSS feed article was that Stuxnet attacked the software in the specialized equipment made by Siemens (the same company John Rabe worked for).

The malware has the ability to steal design documents and sabotage the factory equipment. It appears to have been created to attack an Iranian industrial facility. Initially, it was thought that spying was the primary purpose of Stuxnet, but it has been found that the malware can also make changes to the systems it has infiltrated. Siemens said it had received over a dozen reports from affected customers, including 5 located in Germany. The malware was successfully removed from each affected system by commercial anti-virus programs.

The creators of this malware had detailed knowledge of Siemens’ software and its security weaknesses. Virus purposes and their identification and ultimate destruction are fascinating. With our digital age, are we at risk of losing all our knowledge to a virus?

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/malware-hits-computerized-industrial-equipment/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Holocaust "happy" ending story.

Since we have been learning about the Holocaust, every story catches my eye. I saw this one on Yahoo and thought I would share it.

After 62 years, Holocaust survivor reunites with lost friend whose passport led her to America