Final Touches!

Well, here it is! The final post! I know that four weeks is not a long period of time (especially for a class), but it really did fly by! I am so happy that I decided to take this class because it has given me so many new views on so many different things. At the same time, I have read so many interesting articles and videos that I most likely would have never experienced if I had not been assigned them. But I am thankful that I was. I feel enlightened on many subjects concerning technology now and have even shared them with some of my friends and family members.

While entering this last week and dwelling upon my research project, I have changed my mind on what I would like to research (of course). As I said in the last blog, I wanted to cover pedaphiles and how they have so much access to their "prey" due to the technology we have today. i.e. the show "To Catch A Predator". I did find many interesting websites on the issue but they primarily concerned of stories and I wanted other solid research that consisted of facts and that was a bit harder to find. This brings me to the topic I really chose, cyber bullying.

Research was plentiful on the topic of cyber bullying. Sad to say, it is way too common so there is soo much information that I was able to find on the topic. While researching this I found other stories and information the revolved around other dangers that people come across from using social networks, so my final FINAL topic is The Perils of Social Networking. While doing my reading, I became a little nervous because we are all on social networks in this class and can fall into many catagories of these perils so I chose the ones that I think would to pertain to our class the most. The writing was a bit tedious but I didn't mind doing it. I became so encompassed in my findings that it actually went by relatively quick for a research project.

This class was a great experience and I want to say thank you to each and every one of you, because it was a class effort and encouraged me to become more involved in class discussions from here on out. I think we can all agree that it was so beneficial to do them. I hope that everyone has a good rest of the summer and enjoys it.

I want to leave you with my final project in case you have not seen it posted in the discussion board:
http://socialnetworkingperils.weebly.com/index.html

Thanks again!

Odd Week

This week was different than the others. I had a family emergency so I was limited to my computer time while I was away but the discussion continue to intrigue me. One discussion that was very interesting was one people were discussing which type of classroom setting is the best and most productive. Seeing mixed responses on this issue was GREAT! I truly do love seeing all aspects of certain topics because it gives so much insight and lets everyones minds think in way they may have never thought before. It is wonderful that everyone is opening up so much with their opinions in this class.

Aside from that, I was fascinated to read about E-Zines. I had not even heard of this until doing this reading. I guess if I were to think in a realistic way I should have known they were around with the technology we have today but I have never thought to research this topic and I feel as if this reading sparked a lot of people and were just as into the topic as I was. Maybe because our age group and many others really can get into it.

Moving on to my main focus of the week is the project! I have chosen to do my final project on how the internet gives predators and pedaphiles the capability to have access to underage children and illegal subjects. I'm sure many of us have seen the show "To Catch A Predator" and that is exactly where my idea has stemmed from. Upon watching this show last Sunday, I realized how so many predators would not have access to these girls if it wasn't for the internet. It is crazy to think how many people out there are using the internet to get involved in chat rooms and find girls. Also, relating to another project we have discussed numerous times in class is the fact that people can hide their identities via the internet and this is displayed in both sides of the predator issue. Many time the predators disguise themselves under a different chat name so that family members would not find them and also, on the other end, the "children" truly are not children. They are of age and playing the role to reel in the men.

This class has just made technology stand out even more than ever. I am noticing everyday new instances in how our world functions around technology. Without it, where would we be? What would we do? Would things be different for the better? I just cannot help but constantly think these questions and I feel that if we did not have the technology we do today, the topic I am covering would be better off and the predators would not have the access they do to the underaged children. It is just mind boggling.

Here is a video clip of the show for everyone to view!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ACJ4Acddc