The impact of this class

This class has proven beneficial in numerous ways. First, it has opened my knowledge to more technologies out there for teaching purposes than simply showing a DVD using the computer. I like blogging, although I find it hard to squeeze in a post when so many papers are coming due. I have looked at wikis after Annan had said she made one for her students. I looked at it and have looked at some of the discussion posts. This has led me to think of ideas relating to my thesis, as I have not yet started thinking of a topic nor have I thoguht of committee members. So, I had a chat yesterday with a professor about wikis in L2 learning for a thesis topic. There is a lot of benefit out there for using wikis in L2 learning (I wrote a paper for ENGL 670: L2 vocabulary acquisition on the topic). However, the students are enrolled at SCSU and should thus have an SCSU pin/password to sign in so that information doesn't leave SCSU territory. So, I thought of collaborative learning in general and how it fits in with SCSU's program, D2L. There is a blogging function there, but I am wondering how it can be used, or how the layout is similar to or different from Blogger.

Response to Nancy's post, April 16, 2009

I was reading Nancy's post about feeling the need to legitimize being an English major. When discussing with my family before applying for TESL M.A., many aunts, uncles, and cousins asked me one of two questions: "So, you're teaching English," or "Where are you going to teach?" My maternal side is more open and willing to accept the cultural importance of traveling abroad and are very supportive. On my paternal side, an uncle and grandparent really are downers when it comes to telling them what I plan to do. They don't see a need to travel abroad or the need to move away from the U.S.A. I tend to ignore their comments. I have my plans for my life, and I don't have to listen to their negativity.

Also, when applying for TESL M.A., the advisor also asked me, "So, why not go for your MBA if you have a business background?" However, his attitude was much different - just curious as to why I would want to change fields of study. Not judgmental in nature. He then told me that many TESL students are from diverse backgrounds including: art, business, and geography.

Yes, I want to go abroad, I want to go to Taiwan and teach English. There is no reason why other individuals aren't asked the same question for their majors or for an MBA - "So, what are you going to do with your MBA?"

Facebook Users and GPA

There was an interesting study that talks about Facebook and GPA found from: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/facebookusersgetworsegradesincollege/31646916/SIG=120un4eks/*http:/www.livescience.com/culture/090413-facebook-grades.html. Their study showed that Facebook users have an average GPA of 3.0 to 3.5 (compared to 3.5 to 4.0). FB users also spent only 1-3 hours studying each night compared to 11 hours of non-FB users. They also say that it is not a causal relationship. Nevertheless, extracurricular requirements take time away from studying and thus lowers GPA in general.
Even some comments ask - "Wasn't FB created by Harvard students? I wonder what their GPA is." Good point.

Wiki for Vocabulary Acquisition

This class has really opened my eyes to the Wiki world - how to use it, why to use it, who to use it with, etc. For Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (ENGL 670), there are two topic review papers - one already completed. However, for the second paper, due next week, I wish to investigate the use of wikis for helping in SLA vocabulary acquisition. This is no easy task...
These papers should focus on journal articles, which I have found wikis in a couple journals. However, the difficulty lies in the vocabulary aspect... only half of what I initially found for wikis in journals relate to vocabulary. So, I am finding it harder to find journal articles (for free) that I can use for this paper.
I should state that I have requested via interlibrary loan some books on wikis (including Wikinomics and Brave New Digital Classroom: Technololgy and Foreign Language Learning) but the primary sources should be journal articles.
So, I hope to find just a few more articles (with the help of Penn State library...) by tomorrow to put together a paper for next week.

Response to The Flamingo Nest

This is in response to Effie's post: Word Map, Technology, and Gender post on Mon., April 6, 2009. The specific question I am addressing is: "So far, not only have they failed to get more females into the sciences, but males are becoming less interested in going into STEM courses. Where are our scientists and engineers of the future going to come from?"

Personally, I was always interested in the sciences - in high school, I took all of the classes with an exception of Human Biology. Just didnt' want to disect things anymore. But I was always interested in English and Math, and I remember an instructor in high school saying that people usually are at different poles with English and Math - you either like English and hate Math; or, you like Math and hate English. I was always in the middle.. Not sure why. But then again, I'm not sure where that instructor got that information either.
I guess I'm saying that I don't think it's a gender issue with STEM areas; rather, the change in individuals doing what they want to do for a career based on what they love to do. Also, perhaps our nation's persistence with teaching these subjects has also waned.
I have noticed in ECC and the HelpDesk, among other places, that most of the people doing the computer classes and engineering classes are from overseas - Korea, Japan, China, India, Nepal, etc. I know that these countries push math and science harder than we have in the U.S., and these individuals also want to study abroad. So, why not let them get their degree here and perhaps this will intrigue them into staying in the U.S.?

10 tips for social networking safety

I haven't read my RSS feeds from my Outlook Inbox for a while.... I came across this article from Microsoft's website (http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/socialnet.mspx)about how to stay safe on social networking sites, including:

• Do not trust that the author is actually who they say they are
• Do not automatically scan your address book to protect you and your friends
• Do not click on your page via email - go via bookmarked site, or directly type into the address bar (be careful of phishing in emails)
• Be careful about who you add as a friend on Facebook (We talked about this in class) and they have the term "social engineering" when fraudulent people try to access information from you

I thought this was really relevant and great that Microsoft has addressed these issues already last November 2008.

Twitter Styles

This is a fun blog in regards to Twitter.

In the April 13th edition of Us Magazine, there is a page "What's their twitter style?: Check out the different ways celebs are using the red-hot microblogging site" in which celebrities are quoted in four categories:

1. TMI Tweets (including "Getn high right now" by Snoop Dogg)
2. Trash-Talkin' Tweets (including "My daddy's a reject" by Lindsay Lohan)
3. Deep-Thought Tweets (including "Laying here getting the hair ripped off my body when did having less hair become fashionable?" by Demi Moore)
4. Trivial Tweets (including "I'm staring at the 'master remote control' for my hotel room. There are so many buttons." by Taylor Swift)

So, twitter can be categorized into four areas - these are the four major areas for celebrities? I wonder what four "typical" categories college students have...

Wikis everywhere

The last two weeks have been filled with wiki information! First, I was looking through the Chronicle of Higher Education newspaper in the B51-124 (where the mailboxes are) from September 5, 2008: Medical Wiki backed by prominent colleges will go live by Year's End. Called Medpedia (www.medpedia.com), there will be a medical wikipedia with contributors of M.D. or Ph.D. in biomedical fields; however, anyone can suggest changes. As quoted from the webpage, "Medpedia is just getting started and is a long term project. Today, you are not likely to find an Article page for the topic you are looking for. Below is a current list of all the Articles in the knowledge base, which is always evolving and never complete. Medpedia’s mission is to create a new model for how the world will assemble, maintain, critique and access medical knowledge. This repository of up-to-date, unbiased medical information will be freely available to everyone, and you can add to it." This can eliminate the problems with the mainstream Wikipedia, where anyone can edit and create pages. They said the goal of the page is to have a resource of more than 30,000 known medical conditions as well as thousands of drugs that come out each year. In each page, it will have a layman's term for the condition as well as the technical term for other medical professionals to reference.
By having a long-term approach to this medical dictionary accessible to everyone, everyday people can research and find prescriptions (such as Advil) to see the dangers of prescriptions their doctor suggest.