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Let's be real.

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To Write or to text? That is the question. In our world today, things have become so much easier then it was for the generations before us because of the technology we have present in our day. This is because of access to the internet. Let me explain, today whenever I come across a question in my mind I go to the internet. Just by typing a few words and clicking a few buttons I get all the information I'm looking for in a matter of minutes. Before there was the internet I could imagine that in order to get this information I would have to make a trip to a library to find the book that had the information I need or I just wouldn't find the information at all and stay ignorant to whatever it was I needed to know. The technology makes writing, communicating, promoting, research, and business much easier than it would be to write on paper because of all the extra flexibility we have on the internet and the computer itself.

I watched a video on digital text during class that explained how the internet expands and eliminates limitations on learning through a computer. This video helped me recognize the internet is a easier and more interesting way of learning. Not only can we read to get information, the internet also allows us to watch videos on anything we want to see to learn about. It's like I don't have an excuse for not learning something every time I login to a computer. The video shows how simple it is to make my own web page in the internet. The video also explained that most early websites were written in html, which was designed to define the structure of a web document. There are codes to doing almost anything to my web page and if I don't know the codes where else would I go to find them but the "internet". The content of the video is information on the benefits of owning a computer nowadays.

Examining the presentation format of the video I noticed that there are advertisements of sites like Yahoo and Google which are two sites that are great for research in my opinion. I recognized that this presentation was also designed to show me about the different ways I can use the internet to get in formation. This can go from reading to watching video's by typing keys words that gives me a list of things to look at. Form is a formatted document containing blank fields that users can fill in with data. Content is something that is contained in a document. Form and content are considered distinct aspects of a document you are working on. There are differences between form and content. Form can refer to both broad and specific types of literature like a sonnet for example. Content is simply what is actually written like. For example, a sonnet usually contains idealized romance or a deep non-romantic affection. Sometimes authors use unlikely content within a certain form to conclude with an ironic effect.

We are in total control of the machine (computer), we press the buttons, we clicks the mouse, and the machines does exactly what we want it to do. I never give to much information to the machine over the internet because the internet is a public place and there are people that can get that information and use it against me without me even knowing. In the end video, It gave me some reasons to rethink when I'm using the internet. Rethink copyright, to make sure all ideas I post is secure from being copied by another person. Rethink authorship, so that only your best ideas are posted. Rethink identity, think about the information I post about myself. Is it too personal, things the public shouldn't know, and I should be aware of identity thieves. Rethink ethics, Is my writing ethical, is it the right thing to write about, will it offend anyone, ect. Rethink aesthetics, I have to think if what I am writing will catch a readers attention enough to keep them reading till it ends. Rethink governance, I should think about the audience expectations.Rethink privacy, I have the ability as an individual to seclude myself or information about myself and thereby reveal myself selectively. Rethink commerce, I can commerce straight from the computer and get what ever it is delivered to my house. Rethink love, I can always keep in touch with the person I love through email or instant messaging. Rethink family, the internet gives you the chance to stay connected with my family. Rethink ourselves, I can connect to myself through writing. Linear text makes it easier to rethink.

I read an article named "Rethink School" that was basically about reason's why I should rethink the way the school system is designed. The article mentions that "With tight budgets and worries over the economy, policy makers face tough decisions concerning whether school design really makes a difference in education", which means that policy makers have thought about changing school designs, but since times are hard with the economy it has become a harder to make it a concrete thought. The thing is, in the real world we use all the subjects we learn in school at once, when in school we learn them separately. Why don't we have classes that teach you all the subject's in that one class rather then 50 minute periods of individual subjects? In my opinion it would make it easier to use all subjects in the real world because you have learned them all together. The article also mentions that digital learning is a better way of learning because it is more flexible in the sense that it can focus on increaseing the quality of teaching by [giving] teachers more time and opportunities to plan, collaborate, and work with advanced technology systems.

I saw a video on the level of intensiveness of our country's school's. The people on the video spoke about how students learn a lot over the internet, weather its through emails, facebook, myspace, and twiter. It's a better environment, an environment where a student is not pressured, where he can reflect, retract, research, and repeat. A better way of learning. They also speak about testing in our school's, because the jobs that student are looking forward to do not call for these right answer vending machines like the multiple question test we take.

I also saw this video. It was mainly about the way our schools are a huge expense and alot of students might not show up, might not make sufficient amount of money to pay but do not meet financial aids standards, and some people take loans from banks and fall into dept. When you can easily work from your computer at home and learn the lesson going on at that particular time that you couldn't make it to school, why not change the system to make school more related to the real world.


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© Edwin Diaz 2009