Since the content of our reaction to these two chapters is left in our hands, I would like to state that I honestly learned a decent amount of things I was unaware of. For example, on pg. 208 it states that YouTube was sold/bought for $1.65 BILLION in stock! WOW! I had NO idea! Maybe because I don't watch TV or read the paper? Either way, that is SO much money! And all for just making a platform for people to post personal videos, TV shows/segments, etc., etc. I was on YouTube bored one day a few years back during a snowstorm, stuck at home. I took the liberty of turning YouTube into a google-tube, so to speak. For example, I had first typed in 'Kids Incorporated,' the name of one of my favorite shows as a child. It's there! The theme songs, episodes, segments and whatever else! That's so awesome! I found Fraggle Rock, He-Man and dozens of other shows I grew up with in the early-mid 80's. Awesome! I've also been studying the weather for 20 years (since a little kid), and was searching for weather related YouTube videos, where I found the ACTUAL TV segments/specials from Hurricane Gloria, Hurricane Bob and the massive floods we had in 2006; and scores of other weather-related events! You can watch tornadoes form, see the entire Tsunami from 2004 and basically whatever else!!It's like typing in things to google, but instead you get dozens or more of VIDEOS!!! I seriously think YouTube and Google are the TWO BEST inventions of modern time! Hands down! I can't believe the stuff I can find on YouTube! My ENTIRE PAST is on video FOR FREE, on the internet, FOREVER!! This sounds corny but I have always thought about that; like 'that would be so cool to get any videos I want,' and now I can!! I knew YouTube was huge, but I had NO idea until I sat there that day!! It's so amazing that we are now living in an era where you can watch ANYTHING on video, which is stamped on the internet for infinity!! That is really amazing!
Unfortunately, like anything else, this leaves a wide-open path for destruction; such as explicit videos, slandering, kids posting fights, etc. However, all new technology seems to go through crisis prior to being incorporated into mainstream America. Remember the ORIGINAL Nintendo games that you had to blow in, bang, blow in again and hit on the floor just to get working? Ha! Remember when the internet was a HUGGEEE NO NO to meet people from? Now, internet dating, internet chat and friendships are commonplace. The internet is officially the new wave bar/social club. My point; like everything else people are going to focus and sensationalize the negative aspects! Oh well, the positives of this technology outweigh the negatives in my opinion. I think the internet is an AMAZING tool which will forever remain! It makes life easier, more accessible and allows for education to flow through the world!
In terms of education/teaching, I think things like Twitter and Myspace are awesome! A teacher I work with bought a separate, cheap cell phone and gives the number to all of his students and tells them to text him any questions. How cool! An IMMEDIATE response is always wonderful when learning. Or Twitter would be cool, if they knew how to use it. They could send a tweet and they get an immediate response by the teacher. A page like myspace could be used to post whatever; homework, assignments, parental questions, etc. Any internet technology is a major help for education!
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