PLN 28

In “I Read (?) The News Today, Oh Boy” by Karl Fisch, the author shares a video he found online. The video shows new technology for magazines. All someone needs to do is buy one of these at a store that sells them, and then they could download their magazines from the internet by logging on to the magazine’s website with a subscription. This new tech would likely save thousands of trees by reducing paper usage in magazines, reduce ink usage, and save money on postage. This is what matters to me in “I Read (?) The News Today, Oh Boy” by Karl Fisch.

PLN 27

In “Dreaming in Digital” by David Warlick, the author says that we are becoming too obsessed with the tech and losing sight of the learning. He says that this is partially because we are losing the appeal of connecting with people from far away. I agree with the author on this point. People are forgetting that the technology(in most cases) is supposed to help connect people and ideas, not just be used for our amusement. This is what matters to me in “Dreaming in Digital” by David Warlick.

PLN 25

In “A Few Shifts I See Happening” by David Warlick, the author talks about differences he sees in some fields, like education. I believe these shifts will benefit our society. Classroom learning is being replaced by network learning. This would help because then people wouldn’t need to worry as much about getting to their class on time. Also, the classes could be more interactive or the lectures could be recorded so the lectures could be replayed if something is not understood. This is what matters to me in “A Few Shifts I See Happening” by David Warlick.

PLN 24

In “The World has become a Lot More Interesting” by David Warlick, the author talks about how the world is changing. Instead of being competitive, the world is becoming cooperative. I believe that this is true. The world is ending a phase of competition, both politically and corporately. Everyone should begin to work with others, because eventually we will need to rely on others. This is what matters to me in “The World has become a Lot More Interesting” by David Warlick.

PLN 23

In “What if?” by Karl Fisch, the author talks about how over the years teachers and educators have made statements that turned out false or was a blanket statment. For example, in 1928 a teacher’s association said “Students today depend on paper too much. They don’t know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?” Why are they worrying about trivial ideas like this when they are trying to finding the most effective method of teaching students? Sure, it may have some importance, but not much in the long run. They should worry more about the present, not the future. This is what matters to me in Karl Fisch’s “What if?”

PLN 22

In "Put Fourth Our Best Writing Selves" by Douglass Hesse, the author's point is that online social network sites like Facebook will probably be the salvation of writing.

PLN 21

In "Can Literacy be Taught?" by David Warlick, the author says that for someone to be literate in anything, they cannot just learn it. They need to become fluent in their learning. I agree with the author. Skills don't help unless they become habits. For people to become literate in anything, they need to learn to read, process, and express knowledge in it. This is what matters to me in David Warlick's "Can Literacy be Taught?"

PLN 19

In “Teachers as Learners (Part 32)” by Will Richardson, the author talks about a workshop for teachers he instructs. During the workshop, he asks the teachers “If there was one part of your personal learning practice that you wanted to focus on today, what would it be? What questions would you seek to answer?” In this article, what matters to me is the future of teaching. Teachers should also look at themselves as learners. No one is ever finished learning, even if they start teaching others. People who teach should be learning more than most people. This is what mattered to me in Will Richardson’s “Teachers as Learners (Part 32)”.

PLN 18

In "A Gardener's Approach to Learning" by David Warlick, David talks about his experiences gardening. He then continues on to talk about his learning strategy and how this stratagy may help others learn. In the article, what matters to me is the future. We should all strive to be "information gardeners". We need to be able to connect information together to find relevant uses for it. No information is completely useless; it just may need other information to make sense. This is what matters to me in "A Gardener's Approach to Learning" by David Warlick.

PLN 17

In “Check the Wind First” by David Warlick, the author talks about how he thinks that the schools should work toward giving students technology that will help them in the class room. In this article, I agree with David. The schools should work more toward helping us, the students, traverse the “digital landscape”, instead of attempting to control every single aspect of our environment. The environment we work in is important, but our learning is more important.

PLN 16

In “What Difference Might one ‘S’ Make” by David Warlick, the author describes what a class in the future might look like. He describes the class as being an independent study where students use computer applications to create a project that helps each student relate to what they are learning. After reading this article, I have decided what matters to me the most is making education more personal. We could use more classes like the one Warlick mentions in the article. These classes would teach us skills that would come in handy in looking for a job. We should have more classes that allow us to choose what we learn, so we can work towards the job we want. Why try to teach us applications that may not be used? “What Difference Might one ‘S’ Make” by David Warlick made me excited about future classes where I am in charge of my own learning.

PLN 15

In “Our Googley Advice to Students: Major in Learning” on the Google Blog, what mattered to me is the future. This article is similar to “Rigor Redefined” by Tony Wagner, because it also talks about the skills jobs look for. Why do our schools not teach these skills? Everyone would benefit from teaching these skills, yet they are not taught. Some may be a little hard to teach, but these skills are important to our future. This is what matters to me in “Our Googley Advice to Students: Major in Learning” on the Google Blog.

PLN 14

In “Rigor Redefined” by Tony Wagner, what matters to me is the future. We need more classes like the Algebra II that was talked about in the article. Why are our schools set up where we just learn and practice, instead of actually using the skills talked about in the article? The education system needs to have more critical thinking skills, adaptability, leadership, and communication. This is what mattered to me in “Rigor Redefined” by Tony Wagner.

PLN 13

I disagree with the article “Keyboard vs. Pen” by C. O'Donnell. I write better and faster on a computer, not with a pen. Plus my handwriting is close to horrible, so some people can’t even read what I write out. My hands hurt after writing for even a fairly short time, but when I type only my wrists hurt only if I leave them in one position for an hour or two. This is what matters to me in “Keyboard vs. Pen” by C. O'Donnell.

PLN 12

In “Footprints in the Digital Age” by Will Richardson, what matters to me is the future. We need to use our technology to connect with other people more, not just sharing. If we connect and not just share, then we are likely to become better people. This is the first major technological that is run by the younger generation, so we need to take charge of it. This is what matters to me in Will Richardson’s “Footprints in the Digital Age”.

PLN 11

In “2020 Vision” by Karl Fisch, what mattered to me is the future. Education would be much more enjoyable and useful if this happens. If this happens, then everyone would be exited to go to school and work, as opposed to now, where only some people enjoy school, and others only enjoy certain classes. Also, almost everyone in the world could be connected by the internet. If we, the U.S., can make it so we import no energy, then we would finally be totally energy efficient, for the first time in at least 100 years. This is what matters to me in Karl Fisch’s “2020 Vision”.

PLN 10

In “We Have the Technology” by Karl Fisch, what mattered to me is the future. How would our lives be different if we had the technology to learn about any and every object around us? Right now we can only use the Bionic Eye app to find locations, but if what Fisch says can happen happens, then we may end up being able to learn about every object within our reach. It may or may not have a practical use, but we would have a fountain of knowledge at our fingertips. This is what mattered to me in Karl Fisch’s “We Have the Technology”.

PLN 9

In “Did You Know? 4.0: The Economist Media Convergence Remix” by Karl Fisch, what matters to me is the future. We should not use technology so much. People should read instead of typing so many text messages. Anyway, if someone is going to send so many text messages, call or meet up with the person. Human contact that isn’t through a cell phone is healthy, and we should so that instead of texting so much. This is what mattered to me in “Did You Know? 4.0: The Economist Media Convergence Remix” by Karl Fisch.

PLN 8

In “A Vision of Students Today” by Mike Wesch, what matters to me is my education. I want my teachers to know me by name and help me personally when they have time, not have them ask me if I am in their class when I walk up to them. We shouldn’t have to buy textbooks if we don’t end up using them, because the money spent on them could go towards savings or food. College classes should be smaller so we can all learn and not just be a sea of faces to our teacher. This is what matters to me in “A Vision of Students Today” by Mike Wesch.

PLN 7

In “Who Moved My Stalag” by Gary, we need more leaders like Hogan. If we have more leaders like Hogan, we would live in a better world. If all the world leaders proactively worked toward solving problems, then we could all just try to get along. We need to have leaders that will take risks for their country, not ones that are only interested in themselves. This is what matters to me in “Who Moved My Stalag” by Gary.

PLN 6

What matters to me in “The Obama Speech” by Will Richardson is the future. If everyone becomes like the parents worried about the speech, what would happen to the country? If no one trusted what the government, society could lean towards anarchy. If society became anarchy, there would be chaos. With no laws, there would be mass criminal activity but no one to stop them. This is what matters to me in “The Obama Speech” by Will Richardson.

PLN 5

In “The New Literacy” by Clive Thompson, I agree with Andrea Lunsford because what she says is logical. It makes sense that if you write more you get better at it. According to the article, students are getting better at writing for several reasons. One reason is they write more. Most Americans stopped writing when they got out of school, but with computers, they kept writing to keep in touch with their friends and family, or to share ideas. Students also write for audiences. Anything put on the internet can be read by almost anyone who can connect to the internet, so students would write it for their specific audience. Also, they are more likely to remember spelling and grammar because they are usually used more on the internet. Students would get better at writing out their ideas, since they wrote more. This is what I thought of “The New Literacy” by Clive Thompson.

PLN 4

In “The Machines Are Using Us” by Mike Wesch, what mattered to me is the internet. Wesch shows what the structures of web pages are and some of how they are used. Web pages are used for a variety of purposes. They can show videos, e-mail, social-networking, and ordering items. They are used because they provide easy access to features that would need to take more time or money than actually used. For example, I like to go to YouTube to watch funny videos as opposed to going to a video rental store and renting one. This is what matters to me in Mike Wesch’s “The Machines Are Using Us”.

PLN 3

In “A Low Fidelity Education” by Karl Fisch, what mattered to me is the future. If the quality of goods decreases, what will happen when it becomes so low that no one will buy them? If that happens the economy could crash before corrections were made to the goods, if able to be made at all. If education is not made online by the government, then some other group could make it online. If online education becomes widely used and that happens, it could be worse than if the government made it and “corrupt” the learners. This is what matters to me in “A Low Fidelity Education” by Karl Fisch.

PLN 2

In “Quiet gender gap hits collegiate balance” by the post, what mattered to me is my future. If this continues, what will happen to society? If the majority of men become slackers, would anything get done? It could end up where the men are treated as slaves, like in a book I read. Men could become almost completely useless to the human race. This is what matters to me in “Quiet gender gap hits collegiate balance” by the post.

PLN 1

In the video “Did You Know” by Karl Fisch what mattered to me is the future. Where would the surplus population go from countries like India and China if they continue their current reproduction rate? If India and China continue their current reproduction rate, the world would quickly over populate, and we would need to go into space to find room for the surplus populace. To do this, several billions of money would need to be raised to build the space shuttles that would take the populace in to space. This is what mattered to me in “Did You Know” by Karl Fisch.