Nicki's+Journal

=Nicki's Journal = 10-13-08 So, today is my first attempt at writing in my journal. I was watching on the Today Show this morning how child predators are now using cell phones to gain access to children. First, I thought to myself, "How scary!"...but then I actually thought of this course and the chapters in our book that I have been reading. It seems like all of these technological advancements that are designed to "make life easier" are actually causing more harm than good. Sure it is way more convenient to have cell phones and emails, but they do allow for complete strangers to have easier access to us, our students, and our children. Just a thought... 10-19-08 I can't believe this is only my second day writing in my journal. I really need get online more often. Anyway, I was thinking more this week about the assigned readings we had last week and something else came to mind. I have been going back and forth about the impact technology has had on society...whether it has been mostly positive or mostly negative or a combination of both. Something I was thinking about last week was the use of myspace. I have kids at my school...an elementary school...that have myspace pages. Last week, we were dealing with an issue of cyber bullying via myspace. I had some 5th grade girls posting mean things about another 5th grade girl on their myspace pages and of course the big drama-filled blow out happened at school. Places like myspace allow girls to be aggressive and mean to one another without having to actually comfront the person they are choosing to target. And, the only consequences they face are the ones they face from home because the school can't do anything and all myspace will do is shut down their account...which, they can easily open another one within a matter of days under another username. It seems like such a big problem now and days and it scares me to see that it is already impacting elementary school aged children! Wow, girls can be really mean, somethimes boys take out agression physically but girls take it out mentally with words. Thanks for sharing this. Dia  10-26-08 It was nice to see that someone was reading my journal...thanks Dia! And yes...girls can be very mean. I think that boys actually have it easier. Even though physical aggression can cause physical harm, the boys eventually heal, move on, and usually are friends soon after. Girls, however, can cause lasting emotional and psychological damage with their relational agrgession and, unlike boys, girls can't just "get over it." I think if girls used physical aggression more often, the relational aggression issues we see would dimish. Just an idea...a theory...something I would like to test out eventually!

10-31-08 I was reading chapter four today. On page 98, the author writes about a moral problem being solved by technology. He states that he technological solution "would create other moral dilemmas" and he uses the example of a doctors pager being jammed by jamming devices in a large auditorium and how that would create an issue because the doctor wouldn't be able to get an important page. While reading this, I kept thinking to myself..."What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?" In the case of the jamming device, why can't the people in the auditorium be responsible enough to turn off their cell phones, etc? Why does the auditorium have take action? I see this in schools too...more and more we are enabling our children and as a result, they are becoming more dependent on us to tell them what to do and less independent. Hi Nicki: I SO agree with you. I ask also what happened to "people being responsible for their own actions". You are right! I teach high school kids and of course I see it lack of responsibility all the time. Even one of my most responsible kids this past Friday packed up her instrument and as she left her splt in the band room, she knocked over a music stand. She turned and looked at and kept on going. This is a simple thing, but I am the one that picked up the stand. Other students just kept on going. For high school students, this is not too unusual and they are just developing kids. However, I see adults doing the same and far worse and a good example is road rage seen daily. Thanks for the thought provoking entry. Jimmy, Nov.2, 2008.

11-2-08 I just wrote my response for this class about Jurassic Park and how it is a good example of the lack of humility in science/technology. I find that the character, Malcom, has a lot of great things to say that relate to ths course. Does anyone else agree with me? Hi Nicki: Yes, I agree with you big time! Malcom, played by Jeff Goldblum (sp?) is great and he had some very thought provoking lines, especially the one you quoted in your piece. I would love to see a real dinosaur and I can't imagine anyone not wishing that we could still see them. However, seeing a Rex right before he eats you isn't what I have in mind, and if we really did clone them noone could know what would happen.

Dr. Grant, in the movie, also says something to the effect that they had just thrown dinosaurs into the mix of humanity 65,000,000 years later, the dinosaurs don't know that and don't care about that and who can know what will happen? It is just as you said and Schultze says, we had better watch it and be careful not to let technology get out of control. Malcom says "life finds a way". We saw Eagle Eye at the Imax in Bridgeport yesterday. It had to do with a HUGE government computer that goes out of control. Not an unusual movie theme, but quite relevant to our class. Computers and tech. can do such wonderful things, just like Dr. Frankenstein, but we had better approach it with some sense of forward vision and eye for consequence. Thanks for some very good thoughts! Jimmy 11/03/08

11-6-08 Thanks for responding Jimmy! I had another thought today. It came to mind when reading someone's post about fear and humility. I wonder if part of the reason we see a lack of humility in society is because we see a lack of fear? I mean, look at the kids in schools today. I don't see them fearing getting bad grades, fearing being sent to the principal's office, etc. They fear social exclusion, but I think that fear drives them to be less humble, don't you? Hi Nicki: Yes. The kids' friends are the only force that really gets their attention. How many times have you been talking directly to a kid and another kid comes up or walks by and it is as though you are not there. You have a real good point here. Thanks, Jimmy 11/08/08

11-7-08 I was thinking a lot about Dia's post today. She was discussing the role that having a relationship with Christ has in being humble. I then thought about my early experiences in church, where I was taught to fear God. So, is there my humility comes from...fear of my creator? That just doesn't seem right to me! I shouldn't have to fear someone, something, or Him in order to have a good heart...should I? Hmmm....

11-14-08 So, I finally have time to read this week's assigned chapters and I am confused!! On page 158, Schultze states that Cosmic Diversity is a "diversity predicated on universal human responsibilities rather than on merely tribal interests and instrumental logic." So, is he saying that we should view diversity in terms of our different responsibilities than on our heritage? If I am understanding this correctly, then teachers (because we all have the same responsibilities) would be viewed as their own group...similar to a specific ethnic group??? HELP! I don't think I quite get this...maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand the text! :)

11-19-08 I found the answer to my question above...it took several times of re-reading to get it. But, still...I got it! :) What I really liked though, was his discussion about neighborhoods and being neighborly. Schultze talks about distance education, telecommuting, etc and the entire time I was reading, I was asking myself, "What happens when the technology fails?" At my school, our phone systems are linked with our internet service, so when our server is down, so are our phone lines...and unfortunately it happens regularly. When our phone lines are down, things get so chaotic in the office! Technology is great, but happens when it has a glitch or stops working? Hi Nicki: I have often wondered this also. It worries me that terroists could do enormous danage to use just by killing our computer networks. Imagine if ALL computers and Internet went down at the same time. I have been through my bank's computers going down. That was no fun, but not really too big a problem as it didn't last long. However, it does make one wonder. I share your question. Tech. is great, but what happens when it all goes down? Exactly...what happens? Remember all the chaos surrounding Y2K? You would have thought the world was coming to an end! :)

11-22-08 While writing my post today, the thought of neighborhood and how that applies to my experiences at GFU to came up. When attend classes at GFU during the summer, I feel this great sense of community. I am interacting with my peers, having face to face conversations with them about school work and about our personal lives. Although I love these online classes because I don't have to commute to Newberg all the way from the coast, the courses do seem more impersonal. Most of my classmates to do not seem like "real" people to me until I actually get to interact with them in person. Luckily, I have had most of my classmates in at least one of my summer classes, so that helps. But, I really don't get the same sense of community from my online experiences. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way?

12-9-08 It's been a while since I've written. I took a long trip over Thanksgiving break to visit my sister in Iowa. It was nice to see her face to face instead of just communicating with her via phone and with my wiki project for this class. I was re-reading what I wrote on November 22 and I realized that part of the reason it was so nice to see my sister was because she was "real" to me again. I used to think that having my sister living half-way across the country wouldn't be that hard because she and I can email and talk on the phone. But, after spending over a week with her, I was quickly reminded how much more meaningful and gratifying those face-to-face conversations and interactions are. I think she and I did more "catching up" in one day together than we have in the past 4 months talking on the phone.

12-11-08 As I finish reading our text for this class, I am struck by something the author states at the end. On page 208, Schultze states, "Just as the Babylonians tried to make a name for themselves by constructing the Tower or Babel, today we build silicon testaments to our expertise. We love to presume that our newest contraptions will equip us to engineer a better world. We thereby display an extraordinary capacity for collective self-delusion, because the same machines that appear to give us a greater command of life are harder and harder for us to control." WOW! That basically summed up the reading for me and it put in a context that I could understand. The Tower of Babel was a connection I hadn't really made while reading this text yet is aligns with what we've been reading about!

12-12-08 Has anyone read "The World Is Flat"? It was an assigned text for a class I took with Steve Cathers last year and as I continue to think and process this book, I keep making connections with that text...just wondering if anyone has made that connection as well!