Madison LaRocque

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 9

Throughout this semester, I have learned so much in this class... more than I had anticipated. But it wasn't just learning in a classroom; there was a lot of hands on activities we did each week which I thought was very beneficial. When it came to digital culture, I was extremely interested because I realized so much about our society today and how much it really does revolve around our phones for communication, or the internet for instant information. But I also realized we are in an era where people put their whole lives on the internet...but for what? This class helped me put into perspective why people feel the need to express every thought and every action through digital culture.

Academic writing in this class has taught me how to create good writing pieces in a short amount of time. I learned how to outline an essay properly. I also learned several writing strategies that have already helped me out in other classes. The research portion of these papers have just filled me with so much knowledge all together. The amount of research I had done for these papers was much more complex compared to high school. I could answer multiple questions about the papers I wrote. I also learned how to properly cite my sources and create annotated bibliographies.

I was so fortunate to get Kim as my professor. This class was the perfect English class and made me really enjoy a college learning environment. Kim treated us like adults, gave us responsibilities and showed she could trust us. It is a really nice transition going from a high school classroom to a college atmosphere where the professors really do take us seriously and want their classes to be beneficial, not just make their curriculum so hard that barely anyone passes. I am really going to miss this class but I am so happy I got so much out of it.

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 8

My essay is pretty much coming together really smoothly. I need to add some information and some number statistics in certain areas and move some information around. I also need to cite who is speaking for example "doctor" or "journalist" or "student." I really like my essay. I know a lot of information on my topic and I really enjoy being able to write about it and express my own opinions on it. I feel the this essay reflects my knowledge on the topic and hopefully interests other people. Although it has a little work to be done, I am really happy with the way my essay is coming along.

After having the meeting last week, I got some good feedback as well. Dr. Jaxon gave me some really good tips and pointed out some things I needed to fix. I also got some REALLY good feedback from a peer response which will also help improve my essay. I may incorporate a student survey I created but I haven't decided if I need it or not yet. I can't wait to finish it!

 

Maddy LaRocque: Video Post 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5QJl-MtxBc

For my video, I chose one of good friend's video project. He directed it while his friends helped act it out. The filming was awesome as well as all the music. They took a lot of time making it and my friend did some sweet edits.

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 6

http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

Part two of my research includes technology in classrooms. I found this article which described the effects of this topic.

The article included much research and a number of quotes. It revealed the change in student and teacher roles as well as how technology increased self esteem and motivation. Technology provides technical skills,collaboration with peers, ability to accomplish more complex tasks and increase the use of outside resources. I think this website really helps distinguish the positives of technology in classrooms which is what I am aiming for.

http://classroom.synonym.com/negative-effects-using-technology-todays-classroom-4130.html

This link provided me with negatives about technology in the classroom. Although the reasons were simple and short, they gave me understanding of the other side. I don't exactly agree with the reasons but the website allows me to gain different viewpoints to the topic.

I feel as though this is an important topic because it is reality. Technology is starting to take over, including the classrooms and we need to learn to adjust. There are so many positives that can come out of technology in the classroom as well as technology in learning. Video games can even improve kids critical thinking levels, encourage kids to reach their goal, and also face obstacles. I hope that people open their eyes to technology in the classroom because I believe it is an improvement in society.

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 5

As part of my research, I am exploring social media and the way humans behave towards it.

http://http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html

I really liked the Amber Case "We Are All Cyborgs" because it portrays how people are starting to get lured into the internet and become almost addicted to social networking. The video talks about how people are starting to even create their second self; an online personality and a real life, physical personality. The speaker elaborates how we  digitally can transport ourselves through different media. You can transfer yourself to your friends page or to your inbox or anywhere you want to go. I think this will help with my research because the speaker focuses on main ideas that relate to my social media topic. She talks about having two selves, and people constantly uploading, posting, and informing. She may answer my questions like why are we so addicted and obligated to always update our lives to people who may not even care? Why are we so obsessed with the digital world?

I also found this link online that connected with my research.

http://http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_ostrow_after_your_final_status_update.html

In this video, the speaker informs viewers that by the end of that year (2011), there will be over 1 billion people on the internet. That was two years ago before many social media sites had even started. This video was so interesting because he talked about social media after death. Although it doesn't directly tie in with my research, it adds an interesting aspect to social media. Do people want their online self to live on after they pass? I think this will add a interesting topic to my research. Although I won't focus on it primarily, I do think it will add interesting viewpoints.

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 4 

http://spotlight.macfound.org/blog/entry/the-kids-are-already-there-why-legally-allowing-young-children-on-facebook-/

This link shares an article that discusses the young age of users on Facebook. There are two sides to the topic, one believing it isn't okay for such a young age to be on the site and the other side viewing it as a way of teaching kids how to be on the internet. I was trying to be bias throughout the article but I have to agree when people think anything under the age of 13 isn't okay for children to be making profiles on the internet. Although it is said to be required to be 13 or older to make a profile on Facebook, the site does the bare minimum to make sure that rule is enforced. It is scary that young kids have the ability to put any information out there with lack of knowledge when using the internet. Kids don't have that much of an education on privacy and safety when it comes to the web.

Some questions I would have are why do kids make these profiles? What do they get out of them? Who is looking at their profiles? And are their parents or guardians aware of their online activity?

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 3

This video was super interesting because it made me realize how much of an impact the internet actually has on the world. The whole time during this video, I kept thinking about how much people post on the internet whether its writing, songs, or videos. When you go on YouTube, you can search just about anything and get a result. It is almost scary that people will post crazy, personal things on the internet to get attention. I thought it was also very interesting that Wesch's video made it out as number one on the charts, beating all of the Super Bowl commercials. It's so crazy that he paid nothing to produce his video while all the other commercials paid millions of dollars and were still viewed less. I also found it fascinating that the top videos on YouTube were originally supposed to be for 100 viewers or less, but end up expanding to over thousands of hits. That brings me back to my point where it is scary what the internet can do. Someone can post something very personal on the internet expecting only a few people to see, but it could end up being viewed around the world thousands of times.

I think that viewers have total control of what goes on the web and their reactions and feedback determine what people do on the internet. I think as students we can gain a lot of statistics off this research and really understand the topic because we can relate to this subject. I thought the video and research done by Wesch was very interesting and he came up with a lot of facts and ideas that wouldn't have caught my eye if I had not viewed this video.

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 2

After watching this clip, it is hard to think of something that is not a remix. It makes me question how creative I thought society could be. When I think about some of my favorite movies I can connect them to something else. For example, Lords of Dogtown was an awesome movie but it wasn't just made up, it was a true story. Dazed and Confused was a remix of a 1970's stereotypical teenage life. Horton Hears a Who was based off a book. Whether we realize it or not, everything we view is a remix of something else. Ferguson came up with a lot of interesting and true points that never crossed my mind. Although I would love to see more creativity in the world, I think it's fascinating to see remakes of older things such as music, movies, clothing, etc in a more futuristic sense.

 

Maddy LaRocque: Post 1

Hey I'm Maddy! I'm from Danville, California which is about 45 minutes outside of SF. I love the outdoors;  soccer, surfing, snowboarding, long boarding & hiking. I also love to read and write! What I found interesting about this video was all the brutal statistics that I never realized. On average we spend 26.5 hours a day multi tasking. Our generation is forced to transform our daily lifestyle into technology whether its for school, communication, or even entertainment. I think the video did a really good job grabbing the viewers attention and laying out the facts. I really enjoyed it and think it made a positive impact.