I've been perusing my favorite online tech news sources and on two separate sites,
Here and Here
are articles that discuss why the Windows OS ..at least pre-Vista, are more susceptible to viruses, spyware and other malware than the Mac OS X operating system is. Finally, now I can cut 5 to 10 minutes out of my speech when I'm convincing people to purchase a Mac instead of a PC!
No, this is not where I go off on a tangent explaining why one is so much better than the other, but don't go around thinking that people purchase Macs only because of the witty advertisements on T.V. Society may be gullible when it comes to advertisements and fads, and Apple's advertising might even qualify as a popular fad ..but at least they can back up everything they say on T.V. with quality products. End Mac Rant.
On another note, I shared an article about Wikipedia and education with the staff at my school district in hopes that it will jump-start their interest in technology. I received a funny e-mail from one of the elementary school teachers that was just way too good to not share with everyone. The sender of the e-mail will remain anonymous and if you would like to read the article that she is discussing in the e-mail, you can find the article here :
http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2008/11/teaching-administrators-about-wikipedia.html
The E-Mail:
Hi,
This happened to me last year... it hasn't stopped me from having
students use Wikipedia, but it has made start explaining the concept
of Wikipedia to them.
I had the 4th graders in the computer labs looking up a specific breed
of dog I had assigned them. One students had the St. Bernard. He calls
me over to his computer and he is looking at Wikipedia. In the middle
of the article, it says "St. Bernards are gay, just like their gay
owners." Sort of funny - sort of not. Anyway, I chose to use it as a
learning experience. ;)
This is what we need to see more educators doing, going with the flow and explaining why things are the way they are when a situation like this comes up. The internet is a double-edged sword in a way. The great thing about it is that it is completely free and open to whatever anyone wants to do or say, that is also its downfall, especially when it comes to trying to use it in an educational fashion. We spend so much effort and time trying to properly censor everything that the experience that the children are often left with is one of frustration or even in some cases, an antipathy towards the internet and technology in general. I administer a web filter called BESS for our school system and I've seen kids throw their hands up in frustration many MANY times because they were trying to search for something totally innocuous but it was blocked by the filter because the website had contained something like a children's game or football scores. Alas, this is the only way we can ensure a safe enviornment for the children when they visit the World Wide Web..and the teachers are doing the best they can to circumvent the badness. In my effort to open up more avenues for my staff and make them more comfortable with the web and technology I find myself sending out e-mails to them that contain information or links to information that would make their day to days on the interwebz a little less frustrating. A couple examples would be:
This is a posting from Dave Trask's blog that points you to this app called Prism that lets you take web applications and make them "standalone" on your computer. You know, something simple..one click and they are where they need to be. Perfect for younger students who are just learning to navigate the web or even to use only as a time saver. A great example of a small change that can make a big difference for some educators.
Another example is this:
http://www.freeemailtutorials.com
A simple little site that has step by step instructions on how to perform necessary tasks on almost ALL of the popular mail clients out there today like Mac Mail, Outlook and Thunderbird. It explains steps thoroughly, with full color pictures, how to do anything from starting up the client to controlling the flow of your mail with message filters and rules. It's great for my staff especially since they have only recently been introduced to a whole new world of e-mail compared to the "legacy" Mercury Server/Pegasus client they've been using for the better part of the last decade.
I'm hoping that by sharing all these little tidbits of tech saavy that the staff will take the time to look up what they're interested in and teach themselves some of the more simple tasks so I can focus on the ones that really require some heavy duty training...like using iWeb or iMovie to create fantastical things!
Speaking of free and open, there is a free social networking app on the web called "Ning" that I have yet to take advantage of but I find myself envious of some of the things people have managed to produce with it. An excellent example of how things like this can be integrated into ones curriculum can be found at :
http://meholocausteducation.ning.com/
This site has been nominated by Edublog for an award as the "Best use of a Social Network" in education. The site was created by a colleage of mine, Ernie Easter, and his students over at the New Sweden school system. Not only are students learning about the Holocaust and genocide by participating in this project, they are also part of a huge community where they can collaborate and share ideas on the subject, allowing them to interact with the learning material and make the experience all the more memorable for them. Also, it's a great way of helping to prevent it from ever happening again. Congratulations to Ernie and his class, I put a vote in for you and I would encourage everyone who reads this to do the same.
One last thing before I venture off to pick up the little one from daycare. Retail. Why are retail employers so heartless? I know it's "just business" but come on, people need to make a living here. Why is it that the second someone tries to better themselves you have to smack them in the face and blatantly show them how little they are worth to you? HUH RETAIL?!@ Alyssa is trying to finish up her degree as fast as she can and in an effort to do this she has stepped aside as the Assistant Manager of Claire's...or as I like to call it "Junkopolis". She has worked there for almost 5 years now and as an Assistant Manager was making a decent wage, not what an Assistant Manager is really worth, but it was decent. So, she heard today that because she has given up her position as AM and she will now only be a part-time "third-key" that she has to take a paycut. This paycut that they gave her, puts her pay rate a mere 50 or so cents above what the new hires are making. That's just atrocious. What makes it even worse is the fact that the Manager had to fight to get her that wage, they had every intention of dropping her pay rate down to the hiring rate, apparently 5 years with a company has no bearing on what they pay you at Claire's. It just goes to show how much retailers really appreciate their employees, how expendable you really are when it comes to menial jobs like stocking shelves and taking money from customers. And they wonder why turn-over rates are so high and customer service ratings are so low? Maybe if you stopped treating your employees like the garbage that you sell, you might sell more of your garbage and more customers would be happy..you soul-sucking pissfaces.
Glad I got that out.
Off to pick up the child.
Have a nice night everyone!
