Have a great summer!

The Siblings

Journal 9

A Second Life for Middle School Science
By Linda Briggs


There is a new virtual online world that is catching attention among colleges and universities; unfortunately it is not suitable for middle school use due to the age limit. The policy placed by Second Life bars anyone younger than thirteen, although most 12-year-old could probably find the site very intriguing. Middle schools typically have security requirements more strict on their networks to keep students from wandering freely about the web. But there was hope out there for this age group. Graduate students from Ohio University’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology have stepped in and changed that. The students working along side with Linden Lab, the company that owns Second Life has developed a special protected island located in a virtual world. This island is only accessible to middle school students. The graduate students have created games and are constantly working with middle school science teachers to design more interactive games. So far, the students have developed four games, each designed to address different learning elements. Middle age students can walk and even fly through the virtual island, chatting with friends along the way. The can make a place for themselves in this virtual world just as they might in the real world. The graduate students have made the island safe by allowing the middle school students access to the island only at school and they must have their teacher’s permission. Developing these educational games is beneficial to student learning. They kids are having fun but at the same time learning and retaining whatever lesson is at hand.

Would you use Second Life in your classroom?

Yes, if I were a middle school teacher I would defiantly take advantage of this type of learning tool. Let’s face it, most kids go home and play video games anyways and they are really good at them too. Why don’t we divert their attention away from these violent games and turn them into learning games. This way everyone wins! The hard part is most kids like playing violent games at home. But getting them to see there are more options out there is productive. Also, using different methods of teaching in the classroom will keep your students involved so why not make it fun? I’d defiantly use Second Life in my classroom.

Do you think students should be able to access Second Life from home?

No, I do not think they should be able to access their virtual world at home. They have enough on their plates with homework, and I think the whole point to having this world would be lost. In my classroom I could control what they are working on their virtual world and regulate their chats. We don’t want kids gossiping outside the class and doing anything inappropriate.

Journal 8

“Google Spy, Zooming in on Neighbors, Nose-Pickers, and Sunbathers with Street View”
By Michael Agger

Technology keeps getting better and better…to think that anyone can get online and log onto Google’s Street View and check out unaware bystanders in some of America’s biggest cities. The google team sends out a van that is camera equipped to film 360-degree shots around the streets including of New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Denver and San Francisco. Some new fans to this sight soon realized that they could see things in their own homes. One woman could zoom in on her cat through the window. This makes us wonder what else can you see? Some of the most popular videos on the site have since been taken down, but showed one guy peeing on a speed limit sign, another of two men entering a cannabis club, and a guy standing outside a strip joint. Although it is not shown live, privacy issues are raised. Others claim that it is the same as walking down the street and seeing something happen. Google has a page to report images that people want or should be removed. People can critique google all they want, but they also need to realize that technology once again is changing and you have to admit it is amazing. Also, we must think how historically cool it will be for people 20+ years from now who look back on the Google Street View and see what it was like to live in our world today.

Have you ever used Google Street View?

After reading this article I jumped on Google Street View and scanned the streets of New York and San Francisco. At first it was exciting to zoom in on different parts of the city, but I soon realized it was a bit boring too. You have to search a lot to find any pictures that really show anything of interest. Most are of walls, parked cars and people walking on the sidewalk. I wanted to see something exciting. I also wish they scanned San Diego because it would be fun to look up my own place. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to be worried that I’d be caught through the window changing clothes. I also had a good laugh that they filmed in Las Vegas. I guess they are finally changing the slogan “What happens in Vegas…doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas!”J


Do you think Google Street View violates people’s privacy?

This is hard. I want to say yes because I personally would not want to be on the internet without my knowledge. But, no because I am one of those people who sits bored at work (old job of course) and searches the internet for any visual stimuli to make the day more bearable. So this would be addicting especially if you were familiar with a certain area. This could be scary too if it got in the hands of internet predator or stalkers. So this is a tough one, but I think technology is only going to get more advanced, so we haven’t seen anything yet. J

Journal 7

“In Your Face, How Facebook Could Crush Myspace, Yahoo!, and Google”
By Christopher Beam

In today’s online world there are different ways to get yourself your own virtual hangout. Depending on your interests there are a variety of user options. Myspace is three times larger than Facebook, but is full of unwanted ads and spam. There are others such as iGoogle and Yahoo, so Facebook is taking a stand by giving itself a makeover to compete with the giants. They are proud that they do not have all the spam-infested messages or friend requests sent from spammers found in myspace. But some people are critical of the makeover. Facebook is adding a feature called Facebook Platform, which opened its pages to outside web developers. This allows anyone to get inside Facebook and rearrange it anyway they want. The most popular new addition so far is called “Graffiti” which lets you doodle on other peoples profiles as well as leave messages in an “Honesty Box”. So far 3.3 million people have already taken advantage of this feature. But others are still waiting for some “real” features to be added that will improve their productivity. So far just useless applications are being added. Are they doing enough to stay up with the other sites? Probably not. It’s time to add beneficial content such as an online wallet or introduce some sort of RSS feed for news-real news. Don’t give your customers and excuse to move to another site. Make sure you have everything that would be useful and not wasted space. It will take time to see how Facebook makes out in the end, but there seems to be too much competition offering a lot more features leading the way.

What online social network, if any, do you belong to?

I tried to stay away as long as I could from joining any social network. My brothers and friends pressured me for a long time to join Myspace and become their “friends.” Once I finally gave in and joined, I added to the top of my profile “Joined Against My Will”. I didn’t want anyone thinking I had all the time in the world to “play” online. But after a few minutes on myspace I was hooked. It was so addicting looking up old people I hadn’t seen in years. Then out of the blue these people were contacting me and it was like the past ten years never went by. Well, of course a lot has changed in the past ten years, but seeing all the different age groups and user pages and being in such easy contact, it felt like we were all still connected.

Would you introduce a social network to your class?

Absolutely not! I want to teach 4th grade and I think they are way too young to be having their own myspace pages. I have watched enough Dateline NBC “To Catch a Predator” to know the dangers of online predators. I would let them know these sites exist in their education of the internet but I would strongly encourage their parents to keep an eye on their child’s internet usage. Once their friend’s start joining, it is almost inventible that they will, but with responsible usage and parents watching over, there should hopefully be no dangers in socializing with friends in these social networks.