17 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2016
    1. Everyone’s so different, except they’re not.

      "Everyone's so different, except they're not" This really made me stop and think about this for a moment. It really makes sense because everyone takes the SAME type of profile pictures to the point where we expect them to look a certain way. In our efforts to be different, we've become exactly the same.

    1. How do we create our selves

      I really like how this starts off with this question. It makes the reader seriously think about how we choose to present ourselves to others and the world. We don't realize exactly how much information we give out when we create selfies, and how much people can find out as a result.

  2. Jan 2016
    1. I’ve always told students that they will continue to develop as writers throughout their entire lives, which means their growth as writers shouldn’t be centered around me as the instructor, but writing as a practice and a discipline.

      Writing is honestly one of the hardest things for me because it always seems like I have more to learn when I discover something new, and it seems never ending. I asked writers about how to improve in terms of writing, and they said that the only way is to constantly practice and learn from your mistakes. Writing styles take a long time to find, so in order to find it you have to discover it yourself through your experiences.

    2. In preparing for this experiment, I wrote about how this change was forcing me to confront my ego

      Confronting your ego is tough because you think you're right, and in doing that you are preventing yourself from looking at things in different perspectives, which blocks yourself from learning further. In a way, it's like having tunnel vision for the rest of your life, and seeing the world in only one way.

    3. I’m forcing students to make choices about what matters to them and why. For their entire lives they’ve been told that grades “matter.”

      I really like how he explains this because students are taught to only care about the grades, but if you don't retain the information, or forget everything you've learned, then what's the point in wasting all that time at school? I mean, you aren't going to keep the grades as you grow older. The only thing that matters in the real world is the knowledge and experiences you gain, and how you apply it to real situations because classroom grades can only help you so much.

    4. This seemed particularly true for students who considered themselves marginal writers and expected low grades on the assignments themselves. While they often still rated “Below Proficient,” (at least early in the semester), the grading contract provided a path to achievement – by doing additional writing – that many were willing to follow. This also had the not inconsequential effect of having students write more, and with more enthusiasm[2] throughout the semester.[3]

      This is true because I have anxiety, so it's crucial that I can be told how to do better, instead of just being told I was wrong. I also think going to the writing center is similar because they explain what you are doing wrong, and how to fix the problems, so that you don't keep learning the wrong way to do things.

    5. much more of my commentary can go to diagnosing the problem in the student’s writing process and focusing the commentary where it might be most helpful.

      I wish all teachers would grade assignments like this because it doesn't burst my confidence when they tell me " You're wrong, but here's how you can improve." This helps me significantly because it helps improve my abilities, and also look forward to future grades for signs of my effort and improvements.

    6. I like to fiddle with my teaching, particularly when I’m limited to a single course. Without experimenting, I’d get bored, and a bored instructor is a sure-fire recipe for unengaged students, which results in an unhappy instructor, and then we watch the vicious circle turn.

      It's true that when the teacher sounds unenthusiastic about their subject, then the students read off that atmosphere and, therefore, feel that they shouldn't be interested in it either. It gives that feel that it's not worth the time to be there, especially if it's morning class where the students are already tired and uninterested.

    1. These debates do not recognize the ways in which students have already developed rich social lives online and could use help, not punishment or paternalism, in understanding how to think through the data trails they’re leaving behind.

      A more efficient way to learning is to not tell them they are wrong, but to tell them how they can improve.

    1. What’s magic: the ability to connect to other people — and connect in deeply meaningful ways — even though separated by physical space.

      A very emotional and strong comment because we connect with more people online than we do in everyday life, and this allows us to meet people who have similar interests without the awkwardness of physical interaction.

    2. even though neither of us are doing now what we thought we’d be doing in academia a decade ago.

      This is interesting because a lot of other people struggle to obtain a degree, only to do something completely different than what they thought they would be doing. The internet really opens up more options for those who struggle with revelation, and who are still trying to figure out who they are as a person.

    3. Most of us think little about this. We shrug. We agree to the Terms of Service without reading them, often meaning we’ve agreed to hand over our data, to give up control over what’s done with it.

      I try to actually read the Terms of Services, but it's so extensive that it takes me literally an hour to fully read and process the more shorter content ones. If only they made it more easier to read, but also still understand what we are basically signing away when hit the "I accept" button.

    4. Google knows a lot about us. What we search for. Who we email. And when. Where we live. Where we’re going. What we watch. What we write. What we read. What we buy.

      I know I've heard this method of describing Google very often, it makes you evaluate how much Google actually knows about, and the pros and cons of that fact. On one hand: it's more efficient and less time consuming, but on the other: it's very invasive towards our privacy. Makes you wonder if Google would still be as efficient if privacy rights were more restrictive with costumer privacy.

    5. By that I mean that “scale" and this business-technological lens is increasingly framing the way we view the world, so much so that we must ask

      Does this mean its function is to tell us how the company does in our technology-ruled world?

    6. "to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

      I completely agree because knowledge should not be priced, but as a right to every human being.

    7. how the tech industry and the ed-tech industry today define and market “innovation” — and how in turn we teachers and students, we consumers, we "users" — are meant to view and admire such developments.

      Way for people to learn about different varieties of lifestyles in the the world.

    8. It highlights the importance of learner agency, learning in public, control over one’s digital identity, and the increasing importance of Web literacies.

      So basically, it is about making a name for yourself and to establish individuality in the form of posts. Maybe this is a way to make, not only your life interesting, but also others as well? A way to make yourself famous without going through the music or television industry?