Worksheet for Webquest

Social Networking for Sex-Offenders

This article talks about the law passed in Illinois that put an end to registered sex offenders from having social network pages such as Facebook and Twitter. Magid uses very good evidence to support his argument; he says that only very few cases where adults have sexual relations with a teen, and he also says that most of the kid online behavior is kid-to-kid. Magid, the writer, chose a very touchy subject to write on, and to most people it would seem absurd to even write about much less support, but he does both. I commend him for his resolve and he uses very good evidence to back up his argument. While he does present good evidence for his position, I have to disagree with his position. I think that the more access to minors you take away from a predator the better society and minors will be protected. In the past week we have seen through Penn State that sex offenders need to be stopped and limiting their social media access can aid this.

Wikipedia, Good or Bad?

When I began to read this, one thing that stuck out to me was that no one ever really praises the idea of a free encyclopedia so that people will be able to learn better. Almost all of the feedback is negative and talks about how uncredible the articles are because anyone can add things to Wikipedia. Another thing that I learned is that people actually post innacurate information just to prove that Wikipedia isn't a credible source, and they call this "Wikiality." Another thing I learned is that the one of the ways teachers might be able to use Wikipedia in the classroom is by using it as a starting point to jump into more intersting topics. A fact that really entrigued me is that Wikipedia is constantly changing and evolving and it also is a great tool to get to credible sources because of the Hyperlinks to credible sources when the Wiki article has its sources listed. Another intersting topic that I took form this is that there are some areas where a Wiki article is better than a is better than a regular encyclopedia because it is better research because of the hyperlinked footnotes and the debatable topics referenced right below it for essay access to learn about it. The one question I do have is How do you totally get rid of false information while still allowing open access to anyone?

This sight here What is Research? is a grea sight for to look at. It talks about the crediblity of Wikipedia from a guy who has wrote on Wikipedia a few times.

Citations

Crovitz, D. & Smoot, W. (2007, November 21). Wikipedia: friend, not foe. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/archival/EnglishJournalArticle2.pdf

http://whatisresearch.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/wikipedia-criticism-and-why-it-fails-to-matter/

Wikipedia Worksheet

I chose to do an American Revolution Wikipedia page and there weren't any cleanup banners on the page. The whole page seems to be well oraganized and it is written in a neutral position and no one is picking a side to try and build up' it is made up of mostly facts. It also provides all of its references and and the information seems to be there and actually in depth. Almost all of the sources are reliable sources from reliable places. One of the discussions did give light to the fact that one of the sources might be unreliable when he mentions the writer mentions about it in the Standing Army section. Overall I would to rate this article as a relaible source because a lot of the sources were from education sites.

What is Wikipedia

"Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization." If someone was to ask me how reliable could Wikipedia since anyone can edit it, I would answer it by having vey good editors and by having members and people who post things that are reliable. The creators of Wikipedia rely in the concept of having a lot of people view the pages will weed out the false information. Larry Sanger left Wikipedia because he thought more authority should be given to experts. On a Wikipedia page vandalism or abuse would be in the form of false information or something else degreading to that topic or page.Statistics listed in the 3rd paragraph reveal that at the time this written Wikipedia was making huge strides and getting a lot bigger. The reason is so successfl because it is always there when someone is doing research therefore it is a great place to start your research and therefore a lot of people use it. Because its a nonprofit organization and perhaps they don't want to change from that. The Wikiscanner helps witht he reliability of Wikipedia by identifying the IP addresses of anonymous writers who were editing for personal gain.

Assistive Technologies

     One thing I learned through the first reading was that children with disabilities in the mid 1900s were pushed to the side and negelected becasuwe they were seen as never going to be able to learn and read, and we as teachers need to be conscious of this and make every effort possible to make sure that everyone receives the same great education that they are entitled to. Also in the second article I learned that there actually was technology used to help special children learn. I always thought that the special classrooms were just the teachers trying to teach the kids one on one how to do basic stuff. I also learned that students with dissabilities can actually use computers. I knew that the just mentally slow could, but not other more severe cases like dyslexia.
     One way to help children with learning dissabilities is with Word Processors. With Word Processors students are able to express themselves easier because they know they will be able to make easy changes later and this allows them to be more creative. Tape recorders are another good tool to use to help children with learning dissablities learn. They can get audio version of books from the library to help with reading or they can use the recorders to record a lecture and play back so they can fully grasp the lesson.

In my classroom I could allow a student to use a tape recorder to tape a lesson, or I could perhaps allow the student to bring their computer to class so they use word prediction systems or other computer systems that will help them understand something better.

Citations

http://www.sc.edu/scatp/ld.htm

Schultz, P. (2011, September 3). Words failed, then saved me. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/with-dyslexia-words-failed-me-and-then-saved-me.html

        
    

Internet & Social Behavior Theory Unfounded

Despite early studies suggesting that internet use leads to anti-social behavior, later findings indicate positive aspects of engaging in online socializing.

It is hard pressed to find somebody today that doesn't have some sort of online identity or page about them. People today are so engulfed by the computer and the Internet. The Internet, in my experience, has very few negative effects on relationships. If it had any, the one might be that it aids the decline of personal interaction skills, but where it negatively affects that, it positively affects other areas. There are so many Web chats between families, spouses, and even businesses now, and the Internet is the tool that enables this. Web relationships are like an Ice-Breaker because you don't have to meet that person for the first time face to face, or if a business merger or decision goes bad, you don't have to tell them face to face. Also online dating has become huge in recent years. People are letting the computer find a compatible match for them. Now whether this is a good or bad thing can be debated, but the fact remains the same that so many people are looking for the spouse or just date for a night online and they do this because it saves time and they don't have to go out and waste time with somebody that they have nothing in common with. 




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seiZVLMdpBg     


This is a link to a video that gives proof that more and more people are turning to online relationships.


Citations


Owens, L. (2009, April 23). Internet & anti-social behavior theory unfounded [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://laura-owens.suite101.com/internet--anti-social-behavior-theory-unfounded-a111897