Social Networking Evolution

The article that I will be commenting on this week is a case study involving the dangers of social networking. You can read the short article here: http://www.bamaed.ua.edu/edtechcases/Case%20Numbers/social%20networking%20ups%20and%20downs_Case%2012.pdf

At the end of the article, these questions are posed:
1.) What should the University of Education do to the girl who keyed Natalie's car and stole her
clothes?

I believe the University should do whatever the University does to students who would break into someone's personal property and steal his or her belongings. So the question is What is the University's policy?


2.) Should Juicy Campus be held responsible for what happened to Natalie’s belongings?

No. I think there should be more copyrighting protection for photos and content and the like, but in the end Juicy Campus only encouraged attitudes like this and did not cause these destructive attitudes. If it's not Juicy Campus, another website will spring up, and another one, and another one. There is no end to it, so you might as well just face the realities of social networking.

3.) When does social networking become cyber-bullying?

Good question. Social networking becomes cyber-bullying in the hands of immature people. I believe that when people rely too much on internet connections with people, they lose touch of what it actually means to physically and emotionally connect with other human beings. Cyber-bullying can seem so cheap, but really it can be so harmful.

4.) Could Natalie’s situations have been prevented?

Yes. I believe it is a very individual circumstance, and kind of exceptional. If Natalie is an awkward girl who doesn't know how to make friends in person, then she's probably going to be an awkward girl online who doesn't know how to socially interact and make friends with new people.

Ultimately, online social networking is a TOOL, and it is a tool and experience that shall continue for a very, very long time into the future. It's a process of evolution, and we must be ready to evolve with it. Along with computers came computer viruses. So deal with it - now we have anti-virus programs and an entirely new career opportunity in fixing diseased computers! Along with copyright issues on YouTube came the technology to identify music and content from major sources, and then easy avenues to report and remove copyrighted content.

Social networking is a fact of life. So deal with it, Natalie. 

The Do's and Don'ts of PowerPoint

Dear Professor Aburrido,

I heard someone snoring in last Tuesday's class. I'll be frank, I wanted to join in. 

I say this with a lot of love: I have attributed your snore-worthy teaching style to the way you use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a tool, yes, but it must be used with caution. Not only can a presentation become boring, but vital information can be chopped up into unrecognizable, useless pieces. So, being the concerned and inspired student that I am, I have decided to break down the Do's and Don'ts of PowerPoint. 

1. 

DON'T: Read out long paragraphs verbatim from a PowerPoint slide

DO: Give a dynamic speech with only some key references noted on the slide

2. 

DON'T: use Frilly fonts or colors

DO: Use standard fonts, such as Verdana or Trebuchet and keep the text a standard color

3.

DON'T: Use Phluffy clip art

DO: Use strong, relevant images to tie in with your dynamic speech (see #1)

4. 

DON'T: Oversimplify and distill charts and information down to mind-numbing simplicity

DO: Post important charts or information in some entirety, and give students some silent wait time to read and process the chart - then point out the parts you want to emphasize

5. 

DON'T: Print out your PowerPoint as a way of disseminating information at your presentation

DO: Print out a longer pamphlet to give some anchor and accountability to your audience, but allow the foundation of your presentation to be your speech

6. 

DON'T: Use more than two tiers of bullet points

DO: Stick to one main tier of a topic and then one sub-tier of that topic

7.

DON'T: Display a slide that will not be personally expounded upon for relevance

DO: Make sure every single slide and every single bit of information is relevant and ties in with your speech

Thank you for reading, Professor Aburrido. Although, if you carefully apply these Do's and Don'ts, your name shall be Professor Dinámico! 

Another Look at PowerPoint

This week we take another look at the famous (infamous?) PowerPoint format, as continued in the Tufte article from last week called "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint."

I shall bring up two other logistical issues that Tufte raises on PowerPoint. The first is how the format of PowerPoint lends a terrible logic and sense to presenting statistics. Tufte argues that tables of valuable data in their raw form is converted into meaningless and convoluted graphs. He gives the example of the famous table about life expectancy and casualties by Graunt - it is a large table with lots of data, but Tufte argues that that is the table's beauty. Trying to dress up the data into graphs or individual slides would butcher the data.

The second issue that Tufte raises is how information is chopped up into strange pieces and then scattered into a plethora of "phluffy" slides. The PowerPoint rendition of the Gettysburg Address definitely had me chuckling. Since it would be difficult to post that rendition on this blog, get an idea of it like this: try putting into a bar graph "four score and seven years ago" in relation to new nations founded; breaking down Lincoln's poetic metaphors about the future of this country into an "Agenda" slide with bullets, and my favorite was the slide entitled: "Shared Vision" and underneath was the bullet "Gov't of/by/for the people."

I had fun reading Tufte's opinions on PowerPoint, I just couldn't help but wonder: "Well, if you hate PowerPoint so much, what do you suggest??" My conclusion last week is ultimately the conclusion I draw this week: PowerPoint is a tool, a very powerful tool. And like any tool (especially powerful ones) it can be abused and wreak havoc.

So beware.

And PLEASE do not reduce JFK's inaugural address into a PowerPoint! Can you imagine?

AGENDA
- Ask not (country)
- Ask (you - country!!)