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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Something to Think About...



(This is a continuation from Almas' post)
A few days ago, I was reading an article in The New Paper. It is about something that happened on the popular social networking site, Facebook.  So the story goes like this.
A picture of this girl, whom we shall call Jane, was posted on Facebook. Another girl, whom we shall call Mary, saw that picture, and commented, "Don't act cute." This provoked Jane and resulted in the exchange of vulgarities between Jane and Mary. Mary then rounded up some of her friends and they went to bully Jane which ended up in her being injured and being sent to hospital.I'm not siding with either one of them, but I feel that Mary shouldn't have said such an insensitive thing. On the other hand, Jane should have kept her cool and ignore the comment. If she wanted to tell Mary off, maybe she could have used a more pleasant tone and not spew vulgarities at once. IT TOOK JUST THREE WORDS.I conclude that social networking sites may be helpful at times as mentioned but in this case, it was anything but helpful. We should keep our content in social networking sites/blogs appropriate for everyone.Or maybe we should just use technology for learning purposes. It will be safer for everyone that way.  Hmm. What do you think?Let me just thank my lucky stars that I do not have a Facebook account. :)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Cyber Bullying

Recently, there have been many reports on cyber bullying on the newspapers. One of the cases I remembered involved 17 year-old, Alexis Pilkington. She took her own life on 21 March after vicous taunts on a social networking site, FormSpringMe.com, where many of the attacks appeared.

This tragic incident underscores the growing trend of cyber bullying. Apparently, the relentless taunting pushed poor Alexis off the edge and she decided to end her life. This is not the only case of cyber bullying, in fact, there are a lot of cyber bullying taking place around the world. I am not sure what Alexis posted that invited such vicous and mean comments but one thing I am sure of is how evil and heartless those people who bullied her are. These people are the cause of Alexis' death. In my opinion, Alexis should have kept her cool and not feel bothered by the insensitive and mean comments. If she was feeling really upset, she should have talked to her parents about it, instead of bottling all her feelings up. The people who bullied her just want to make themselves better by bullying others so they won't feel so pathetic.

If YOU are one of those insensitive, mean and vicious people who go around bullying others, I suggest you stop it because, you never know what the person being bullied might do, like commit suicide or something.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO OVERCOME CYBERBULLYING:
1)Ignore--Do not feel bothered by what those people say of you. They can't judge you based on whatever you post on your social networking site. Don't give them the satisfaction of bullying you. These people bully you so they won't feel so pathetic

2)Tell Somone You Trust--Tell your close friends or parents. Don't keep things to yourselves. You will only get more depressed and more upset if you bottle everything to yourself. If that bottle is full someday,you may get pushed over the edge. Another option is to seek professional help from counselling

3)Do Not Delete the Negative Comments Sent To You--Yes, do not delete information sent to you by the bully. Cyber bullies are cowards, they do not dare to reveal their identities online but not to worry, these pieces of information CAN be traced back to the bully so, with that, you can find out who the bully is and report him to the school or police or whatever.

So these are the basics on cyber bullying. Please feel free to comment! :)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Work Should Not Be Assigned On Computers

Some have requested that tasks should not be assigned on computers as :
1. Students may wonder to other websites and forget all about the task
2. Students may not be able to focus whilst doing their task
3. Students are able to come up with many excuses why they were not able to finish the task (e.g.A student was not able to do her work as her laptop was crashed)

However, there are rebutts .. Any solutions ? Opinions ?

Do comment !

Thank You.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

What Happened To Our Laptops?!?!

Yesterday, while we were doing our Maths quiz on our laptops, almost all the HP computers crashed! What happened?! This brings us to a question. Although technology may be very useful in our learning, is it all that dependable? Well I guess not, sometimes. Technology may still have some flaws, but hey, nobody's perfect right (or in this case, nothing's perfect)?

Xbox kinect technology

 The new xbox kinect rocks! It is a technology that tracks your body. Instead of using a controller, you are the controller. This technology helps us with many things. It can make you lose weight, learn new experiences and it is fun. One of their games is Dance Central. It uses the Kinect technology to read the player's body as he or she follows a series of on-screen prompts that depict a dance routine. These "flash cards" each represent one move, and that move can range from a simple shuffle step to an advanced series of upper body motions. There are more than 30 songs in the game (ranging from new hits like "Evacuate the Dance Floor" by Cascada to classics like "Jungle Boogie" by Kool) and each track has three different difficulties to play on, which must be unlocked in order. It teaches you how do dance stylishly. In no time, you would be a perfect dancer. :D

Social Networking Helps The Environment???

 Do you know that technology actually plays a role in preserving the environment the way we all wish to do? Technological advancements like social networking may cause more of a smile than a frown once you understand their implications on our environment.


 Social networking is a subcategory of the Internet technology, and it actually saves the environment from millions of photographs printed every year and sent to loved ones or documented in albums. Indeed, even memories have gone digital, and although it may be considered unreliable by many of the older generation (as files can be so easily lost), it serves its purpose. For example, photos from one’s recent trip abroad can be quickly uploaded to a website for everyone to see, without needing to print a single photograph. Not only does it conserve paper, it also eliminates much of the chemical waste that comes from the photo-printing process.

Technology Post

ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more See what are the many things we can do with technology ? Amazing!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Note

Dear Loyal Readers of Techstars,
If you have yet to notice the colourful fishes at the right side of our blog page, please visit them soon! Those hungry fishes add a touch of nature to our blog. Watch them as they follow your mouse hoping you will feed them by clicking the surface of the water. Do remember to feed them when you visit them the next time as they get hungry very easily.

Pro & Cons Of Blogging

If you are familiar with the internet, chances are that you have heard the term "blogging". Have you wondered whether or not blogging might be right for you? Before you decide, here are some key considerations to think about:
There are many advantages to blogging. Blogging helps you to convey messages easily. Instead of sending e-mails, SMS or calling your friends and colleagues personally, you can just post whatever you would like to tell them on your blog! For instance, my CCA, Girl Guides, has our own blog. The CCA leader would post announcements and the timeline for the next Guides session on the Guides blog. This is a very good way to announce things to a large group of people. Another advantage of blogging is that a lot of blogs are free and easy to set up. You can also make your blog personal. Your blog can include pictures of yourself and you can use it as a "online diary" and invite your family and friends to read your blog. The only difference of a blog and a diary is that unlike your diary, your blog would not be entirely personal even if you limit the people who have access to your blog.
Some of the disadvantages can be that maintaining a blog can be a lot of work and very time consuming. You have to constantly update and add new material in order to keep the flow of traffic to your blog and your current readers interested.
Another important thing to take note of, is to limit private details to avoid loss of privacy and security issues.
Only you know if blogging is right for you. You might not know until you try it out yourself. With all the free sites to sign up for a blog, getting started is easy. Once you start, you can better decide if you have the time and ability to keep it up and running. Good luck and happy blogging!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Whether Technology is Beneficial in Learning

Technology can be helpful at times in learning. 


With many teenagers being highly digitally-literate, they are no strangers to the world of modern technology.


They are familiar with the many different functions of technology. So, how do we use all this skills and channel it in the RIGHT direction -- by effectively implementing it into learning? 


Starting off with the English Language, for instance, there are numerous dictionary/thesaurus sites which can be easily accessed by simply switching on the modem and typing the word into Google search. From there, many MANY sites can be easily accessed. All with a simple click of the mouse! 



But of course, technology can be a major distractions at times. The computer, which can access Internet, can be a hindrance or a big help at times. The Internet can be a dangerous place, it has  social networking sites, such as facebook, which can be very distracting. When the use of computers is required in class, some students may seize this opportunity to surf the web for matters not related to studies, for example, as mentioned above, social networking sites. 
Especially when we are in a school where there is wireless WiFi, students may take advantage of it and even download their movies, causing the whole network to slow down. 
But what can we do? This IS the 21st century, modern technology exist. We must be tech-savvy in order to be able to survive in an age like this.

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