Growing Up Online

1. Living Their Lives Essentially Online

This chapter introduces the topic, and talks to a few people of our generation, they mention that the internet can be 'addicting, a great way to speak to your friends,' but they also talk about a girl who mentions she's a 'completely different persona' on the internet.

They talk about how about 10 friends set up camp in a basement to throw what is called a LAN party, where they get together and play different video games together for excessive amounts of time, using a lot of caffeine. It then shows a bunch of children watching different videos on the popular video website YouTube. They also mention MySpace, a social network program. She explains how MySpace works, and they talk about another social networking program that usually much younger kids use, called Club Penguin.

They also talk about how the internet can be an outlet for complaining, self expression, and a means to connect with each other. They talk about how dangerous it is to let our children live a virtual life out of the reach of their parents. They are 'living their lives' online, one woman says. She talks about how the digital world and technology used to be something that was dominated by adults, and now its something thats definetely become a 'province for teenagers around the world.'

"You need to have the internet on because everybody uses it, it's like a currency. If you don't use it, you're at loss."

They talk about a teenager called Greg, who lives with his parents and they talk about how he'd have a better chance at getting his attention by emailing him rather than calling him, because then he knows for sure he will see it. They also mention how Greg is constantly texting his friends when away on holiday, and refuses to be 'out of the loop' for more than an hour.

Greg's parents once tried monitering his internet use with the AOL parental control program, but Greg could tell when his dad was tracking him so he could mak eit look like he was, in his words "researching monkeys, when I can just go off and do whatever I want and he wouldn't be able to see it."

2. A Revolution in Classrooms and Social Life

"We have to cut through that Media, and get their attention."

A school talks about how they have to use all kinds of technology, with making every single computer have an LCD projector, and use smartboards, and the teachers would even use podcasting so the students can then revisit the lectures and classes later. They mention that walking into a classroom that doesnt have all of that technology must be like walking into a desert. A teacher talks about how the technology makes her feel like "a dinosaur." and how she is a little confused about technology because her students would walk into the classroom knowing more about what she's doing than she is, so she'd just let them take over.

"There are more students who struggle with the ability to focus than there were 30 years ago. They are so over-exposed to the quickness of things, and the immediate responses. It's just all at their fingertips."

They mention Sparknotes, a quick study guide that'll get you the summary of any book, and you'll have practically read the book in a matter of pages. These kinds of websites are not allowed to be used in both our school and theirs, and I'd imagine it to be the case with a lot of schools. They talk about how alot of teachers try to avoid having their students cheat by making them write the assignments actually in the classroom, which is something even students at Qatar Academy do, it's so that they can't go online and borrow other sources. For certain assignments, students have to sumbit their assignments to turnitin.com, which is a website that checks any assignment for plagiarism.

Technology - The Cons.

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Getting Started

This unit asks you to explore the concept and practice of digital citizenship and challenges you to share your findings with other members of our community.
Digital citizenship can be described as knowing how to behave appropriately and responsibly with regard to technology use.
Nine elements have been identified that together make up digital citizenship. These are:

1. Digital Access: full electronic participation in society.
2. Digital Commerce: the buying and selling of goods online.
3. Digital Communication: the electronic exchange of information.
4. Digital Literacy: the capability to use digital technology and knowing when and how to use it.
5. Digital Etiquette: the standards of conduct expected by other digital technology users.
6. Digital Law: the legal rights and restrictions governing technology use.
7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities: the privileges and freedoms extended to all digital technology users, and the behavioural expectations that come with them.
8. Digital Health and Wellness: the elements of physical and psychological well-being related to digital technology use.
9. Digital Security: the precautions that all technology users must take to guarantee their personal safety and the security of their network.

The aim of this unit is for students to explore one of the digital citizenship concepts listed above and, with a partner, create artifacts based on their research and present these via a wiki page(s) to a chosen audience.

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After doing some research, I came across a website that talked about 5 top reasons why Video Games are bad for the average persons mental, physical and social health when used in excess. Here is the article I used:

http://www.familyresource.com/lifestyles/mental-environment/top-5-reasons-video-games-are-bad-for-you

Video games can be bad for you, but not for the reasons you might think. They're not bad for you because they'll make you violent — because they won't. However they can be bad for you for other reasons.

Here's a look at the top 5 reasons why video games can be bad for you.

1. Video Games Can Be Addictive

Addiction is defined as "The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something."† Anyone who has really been into video games has experienced this. Kids and adults alike think about getting home and playing games. They also spend a great deal of time reading gaming magazines, participating in online gaming forums, looking for future game releases, and of course, spending countless hours playing games. When they aren't doing any of these things, they're wishing they were.

2. Video Games Can Be Expensive

It cost a lot of money to stay current with the latest video games and hardware (console and/or computer). Many gamers spend all of their money on gaming. For example, it's not uncommon for a gamer to have 50-100 games that cost $40-$50 each. They also often have at least 2 different game consoles and 1 high-end PC. This can easily add up to thousands of dollars a year to maintain a typical gamer's habits.

3. Video Games Can Hurt Relationships

There's often a direct correlation with the amount of time spent playing video games, and the amount of time spent engaging in a quality relationship. In the most extreme example I could find, there was a couple that was so consumed with playing video games that they ended up neglecting their 3 children — to the point that they were malnourished, naked, and covered in their own feces. Although that's an extreme case, I still think there's something to be said about people who spend the majority of their free time playing video games. My guess is that they're probably not dating or pursuing a meaningful relationship in their free time.

Update: A reader brought to my attention an online group dedicated to loved ones who have been affected by their partner's addiction to World of WarCraft (WoW). Their description includes the following

Do you have a loved one that plays World of Warcraft so much that you feel like you are a widow? This group isn't just for wives, but for anyone, husbands, girl or boyfriends, mothers, fathers, sons or daughters, or anyone that has had a relationship effected by this addictive game.

4. Video Games Can Be Distracting

Avid gamers are similar to people who smoke a lot of marijuana — in that they don't get much done. Reading a good book, taking care of bills, writing an article, inventing something, mowing the lawn, etc... are simply not a priority when it comes to getting to the next level or finishing a game. Many gamers have things they would like to do in life, but they never get around to it, because they spend so much of their time playing games. Then, when they do have time to work on one of their projects, they're too tired to do it, because they stayed up till 3am playing a game.

5. Video Games Can Rob You Of Real Life Experiences

Instead of taking a trip, mountain biking, or hanging out with friends at a cafe, gamer's spend their time in a virtual reality. Whereas real life experiences bear long lasting friendships and memories, videos games do not. The only pictures that come from video games are screenshots, and the memories that are created from playing those games are ultimately meaningless. Living means interacting, growing, learning, teaching, and loving — none of which can be accomplished in the virtual wasteland of video games.

I believe that while this article says is somewhat true but also it does sound a little exxagerated. Having fun with a few video games here and there is not going to make a big impact on your life, however there are the few examples of people who game in extreme excess and it has even been what killed them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm



"Online gaming is treated like a sport in South Korea"

This news article is about a man who games for a straight 50 hours and had died from 'heart failure due to exhaustion.' This is what is giving many people the idea that video games are bad and should be pulled off the market, when really there's just a few people out there who should really moderate their use, especially if you're playing for a straight 50 hours; you should realize something is wrong. I do agree, there are some very obsessive and easily addicted people in the world, but if a video game company makes a certain video game, nowhere does it ask you to play for such an extended period of time, so the company should not be sued, or in any sort of trouble if there is someone who bought the game and it is now taking a toll on his mental and social health.

Area of Interaction: Community and Service

Guiding Questions: (Answer the questions in your blog - do research, investigate, include visuals)

1. How can I become a responsible citizen when using technology?
2. How can I make others in my community aware of the importance of being a conscientious digital citizen and behaving appropriately when using technology and online resources?

I believe I can be a responsible citizen by doing my part and actually paying for music, games, movies, etc. There is a lot of online piracy these days, and it can be very frustrating for the artists or the movie producers who are losing money, because it can remove the opportunity of continuing and making bigger, or better projects. A big example would be movies, if a movie director has all of his movies pirated by a lot of people, he's losing money and hes not getting the opportunity he should, if he was directing a movie that got amazing reviews, it can possibly remove his opportunity to go out and make just as good movies for everyone to see.

As for music, I believe that while the artists aren't losing much, the record company are losing a lot. These record companies are losing a lot of money because of piracy, as a 9th grade student, there's only a few people I know personally that actually go out and buy the C.D records to their songs. Many different P2P programs, which can transfer files from computer to computer are sharing this music, they're distributing what would usually cost a lot of money. Examples of these programs are Ares, Limewire, Frostwire, there are many more.

I personally always mention to my friends what they're doing by downloading the music. Some feel guilty enough to actually start going out and buying the CD's because they realise their favorite musicians are losing money because of them. Same thing goes for movies, I just speak with them and inform them what they're doing by downloading these products.

That is what I believe what I should do, as a responsible citizen using the internet.

I think that this is a great way to teach people about how online piracy can effect the producers.
http://rizwandean.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/pyramid_of_piracy.gif

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Today Mr. Jones showed us some basic ideas on what to write about, and he just gave us examples of what to do, what to look up, etc. We didn't do much today beside's this, and all the additional info I needed I got from the school wiki.