Pete Seeger was a musician, songwriter, singer, folklorist, labor activist, environmentalist, and peace advocate. The website http://www.peteseeger.net/ is an appreciation page to Pete Seeger himself. Not only does the website which of course is http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/essays/FOLK111.htm  include this great folk artist it also includes many others such as Woody Guthrie, The Weavers, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Doc Watson and many many more.

In the 50’s Pete Seeger had cultivated the revival of folk music, this had then spread greatly into the late 1950’s and onto the 1960’s. During the 1960’s he spent a vast amount of time in the South during the civil rights movement, during this time he created a song called “We Shall Overcome,” that later became the anthem for the equality of America. During the 1970’s and 1980’s Pete Seeger continued to perform, he never stopped, and he performed for many diverse benefits all across America.

Pete Seeger is one of Americas best loved folk singers; in 1996 he won a Grammy for best traditional folk album and in 1997 for the song “Pete.” Throughout his career he has become a much loved singer and a great figure to the American population. To date he has recorded one hundred records and has both written and collaborated on many songbooks, articles and technical manuals on playing the banjo.

Not only was he a great folk singer he was also an environmentalist that was very passionate about creating change. He was passionate about creating change and cleaning up the polluted environment that the large corporate companies had created. Throughout his career he was blacklisted and un-allowed to play in certain places, he had many songs cut from television programs and he spent time questioning radicalism from Martin Luther King Jr.

Included below is a variety of youtube videos of Pete Seeger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc41gKw0iQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucczIg98Gw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WT6-BIav2I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhlOJm9nkwM

After listening to the podcast about the songchild assignment and folk music I had a much better understanding of the project, yet still had questions for myself in regards to how I was ever going to get my assignment to be good.

As we all know songchild has taken on the wiki approach which allows children and educators around the world the opportunity to share the content of the website with each other, thus allows them to share songs and translations. When I was listening I found it rather interesting that one of the goals was to get copyright music into the public domain, this is a rather good idea as it allows adults, educators and children the opportunity to expand on the songs as well as create and share their own without having to worry about it being illegal.

Folk Culture can be described as everyday intimate creativity that we pass on to the next, with four or five people unmediated by external institutional influences. Folk Music can be easily transferred into everyone’s lives, particularly that of children, they can clap their hands, stomp their feet, tap their fingers or wave their arms, it is a way for children to be creative and involved. Thomas Edison first recording was Mary had a Little Lamb which was the beginning of the recording of children’s music, children’s music was built up and upon by such artists as Pete Seeger who referred to himself as a professional singer of amateur songs and another artist known as Woodie Guthrie who built upon oral traditions by recasting them, recited them such as This Land is your Land. This song is his not only because he wrote it but because he recorded it and shared it with other people all over.

The podcast mentioned the Opi Collection, from what I heard and what I recorded it is a massive collection of stories and games. Did anyone catch this because I would love to be filled in some more on what this Opi Collection is all about?

The podcast was very informative as it covered a lot of things that I had never heard before and found it to be very useful in the creation of my song as well as for my search for a folk singer.

The article that I chose is called “Laptop with a Mission Widens Its Audience.” This article came from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html and is based around the laptop and its features.
The article was written by David Pogue from the New York Times and it was printed on October 4, 2007.

 The article describes the concept of the machine by describing it as being a smartly designed laptop called the XO because the logo of the laptop if turned a full ninety degrees looks like a child.. If the XO is sold in large enough quantities the price can drop to $100, the idea is to develop a very low cost, high potential, extremely rugged computer for the least amount of money possible. The idea is that the consumer or individual buys two, they keep one and the other goes to a child overseas.

 The OLPC has decided to sell the machine to the public in the industrialized world, which of course happened in November, this program is called the “Give one, Get one.” The concept is that the individual pays an amount of $400 which is tax deductible, the buyer will receive one XO laptop by Christmas for their family and the other is sent to a third world country. A poor child within the third will country will also receive one of the laptops for Christmas.

 At this point there already appears to be skeptics as the article points out that the designing group is not worried that people might compare the XO with a regular PC system. Their might be blogs in regards to disappointment around the XO which can easily be taken out of context as the laptop dos not have a CD/DVD drive, no hard drive and only a 7.5 inch screen. The Linux operating system doesn’t run any Microsoft, Mac, or standard Windows programs and the keypad is rather small compared to regular laptops. Although on the other hand the laptop has been designed to be spillproof, rainproof, dustproof, and drop- proff as well as the fact that it is fanless, silent and it only weighs 3.2 pounds. The tiny XO laptop has one battery charge and will power six hours of heavy activity or 24 hours of reading and it has a built in video camera, microphone, memory card slot, graphics tablet, game-pad controllers and a screen that rotates.

 The most important part the article points out and which I agree with is the fact that the XO laptop will be used in areas where power is scarce, many children do not have power in third world countries so to have a laptop that can be powered for up to 6 hours of heavy duty use is one important factor, and besides all that the battery runs on lithium ferro-phosphate and only costs $10 to replace and can take up to 2,000 charges.

I believe in the end the most important part is the fact that the designers have created something that can be used for children in third world countries who have never experienced electronic devices. They have made something, something that can be used for a child, a child at play one that uses a toy to its fullest.

Pogue, D. (2007). Laptop With a Mission Widens Its Auidence. Retrieved March 31, 2008 from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html

    Chapter nine and the area around digital documentaries, visualizing with video, camcorders, editors, editing video, digital storytelling and video modeling and feedback was a great section of the chapter.

Digital documentaries are “a good way to get students warmed up to the process of creating documentaries is to create personal documentaries. That is they produce a documentary about themselves.” I think that children creating documentaries about themselves is a very interesting feature that could be easily implemented into the class. Many children are already required to write “all about me” pieces which only allow them to produce in writing minor facts about themselves, their life and their families.

Since many children are already required to write “all about me” pieces why not give the children the chance to use a camcorder for a week to create a documentary about themselves, their life, hobbies and families. The use of the camcorder would allow the children to be far more creative with their interests and ideas about themselves, and it would really allow them to open up and to learn many new skills in regards to technology.

Don’t get me wrong in anyway, I do understand that these are expensive devices but with proper explanation and modeling from the teacher the students have a good chance at picking up the proper techniques. Of course I do believe it is only necessary for the teacher to model the proper use and give proper instructions and expectations as it is only necessary that she do so as there are of course many students who have never been exposed to such high tech devices. Although with proper modeling and in class tasks such as storytelling pieces put together by the entire group the individual students will have a better chance of understanding the expectations and the use of the device at home. As long as the teacher stresses proper care, and she herself takes proper care of the camcorder I do believe that the students would follow in her steps.

Introducing the use of the camcorder with the creation of videos allows the students to be more active and constructive in their thinking and problem solving skills. The text states that with the use of camcorders it will:

            - improve students self confidence by planning, producing and sharing

            - produce feelings of self satisfaction

            - provide valuable feedback to students

            - foster cooperative learning

            - provide great public relations

I agree with the text as it is only the beginning to many other doors. Using camcorders is just a small start to the larger area of technology.

Overall I believe that the use of the camcorder and video creation in the classroom is essential as our classrooms become more technology based. In many ways using the camcorder can be just the beginning, as many students will soon learn that the world around them is filled with technology, and ways to create and make their work even better.

Chapter 10 covered a lot of very good material, material that was not only useful but rather interesting. The section of chapter ten that I found rather interesting was the section on e-portfolios, this section of the chapter was quite helpful as I just finished my first e-portfolio.
I really believe that e-portfolios would be a very good use for young children as well as students in university; they are a great way to learn and are a great starting point for larger projects such as the management of a Wiki. This term I had the opportunity to make up my own e-portfolio based on literacy material, as I did the assignment I found it to be very useful in more than one way. The text states that "e-portfolios offer a way to encourage meaningful learning outcomes. As previously described, e-portfolios can be used to demonstrate an endless set of learning outcomes. An additional benefit is that the task of assembling an e-portfolio can offer students a chance to reflect on their work." I really do believe this because I found that by creating my e-portfolio I was able to demonstrate my endless abilities through the assembly, the creativity, and the layout. Not very many children get to be creative with their work, nor do they often get the opportunity to construct something that can be so completely meaningful to them. When my class first started to construct their e-portfolios everyone had a varying opinion, many were skeptical about this method as they had never actually done anything like this, and even though many students take part in university classes and should be prepared for change, many were not. A lot of the students were more interested in sticking to the old conventional way of making a portfolio, not only were they more interested in the conventional but they also doubted their ability make an e-portfolio because of their fear of change. Even though many my classmates were afraid of change when it came to the e-portfolio I truly thought it to be a good learning experience as it opens up many doors, starting an e-portfolio is just the beginning as it can only be improved upon and made better.

I believe that if teachers were to start e-portfolios early on in the curriculum the students would have the chance to continue their work straight throughout their education. On the other hand, as the text states there should be clear expectations in regards to the creation, they need to be properly explained to the children so that they can begin their work creatively.

Overall I really do see e-portfolios as being a great thing within a classroom; they can be such a great start in a child’s online learning.

I must admit the very first thing I did after watching the Hacking Human video was head straight to livejournal and take away my birth date. I was absolutely blown away by what I had watched, because so much of it in a way was new to me. I just couldn’t believe that you could find information on someone so easily over the internet, don’t get me wrong I know that in no way is the internet secure but I just couldn’t believe that only took her a few searches and she was able to find everything out about one ebay seller. I actually reflected for a moment, and thought about all of the times I had ever entered my birth date somewhere and what that might mean for me.

I will admit I was one of those people who thought of internet hacking as a bad thing. I always thought of it as something that people did to exploit others or to take advantage of situations. I never realized that people suck as the hacktavists existed, and what they did was actually beneficial. I really believe that what she is doing, educating people is very important; its important to let people know what goes on out there on the internet. It is reality and it is happening all the time every day.

There were two things in the video that really stuck out at me. The first was internet censorship and the second was the issue around child pornography. I was fairly fascinated by internet censorship as this was something that I had never heard about before; I never knew that governments censored particular internet websites or the content of sites. What was even more interesting is the fact that Canada says that they will never use internet censorship to block child pornography. I was somewhat speechless on this issue considering the fact that if someone even stumbles across child pornography on the internet it is considered against the law, yet the government won’t censor websites with child porn. Kind of confused on why they wouldn’t want to censor it, I understand that censoring can lead to blocking out other sites but if it is against the law why not take a measure to block whatever they can. I also found it interesting that they are having such difficulty studying the issue because the laws are so strict, but I guess I can see why the laws are so strict.

Overall I really enjoyed watching the video. I learned a lot of valuable information that I never actually considered or knew prior to watching. I actually don’t agree with the girls comment at the end, her job is no different than anyone else’s. Many people take on different roles during the day, but when they go home they are free to be themselves, the job that she does is one that is important and useful as she is able to find out a great deal of information that can and should be shared.

Communicating with Technologies has been one of my favorite chapters so far. I found that I was able to read it with ease as I was able to relate to the chapter in many ways. As I read through the chapter I found many pros and cons. There were aspects of the chapter that I really agreed with and liked yet on the other hand there were also parts that I didn’t agree with.

The chapter almost immediately starts off with “communication in an online forum is different from and, in several important ways, better than face to face communication and other technology based forms.” I personally do not agree with this, I know that the chapter goes on to state that it isn’t always the case but face to face communication is still a very good form of communicating. Children need to experience both worlds, they need to know that the internet is important for communicating, but face to face allows you to grasp the understanding that people have expressions, emotions and feelings and they often show them through their facial expressions when speaking.

I do agree with the text when it states that there is several reasons why one might participate in computer mediated conferences. I agree that meeting online in groups for discussion can support discussion, debates, and collaborative efforts among groups of people who are of a different race or in a different location. I also agree that the internet or communicating through such sources as msn or email is great because the computer conferencing enables you to reflect on your ideas and responses. This is me. I am the type of person that writes and rewrites an email to make sure it is just right, or when I am on msn I erase a conversation several times before I might send it. This feature is great because you are given the opportunity to think before you speak, where as when you are face to face sometimes things just come out, and sometimes these are things people often regret saying later. I absolutely love and agree with this because when you use these forms of communication you are given the chance to think about what you are going to say before you say it.

As I continued to read through the chapter I got to the section on ICQ and MSN and wow was I able to reminisce. I used to love ICQ and I must admit that I had absolutely no idea that it meant “I seek you.” When I read it I actually laughed out loud to myself because it brought back so many memories of grade 7 and 8. I will admit that these forms of online communication are very great for children, although they should be monitored closely and be age specific. A lot happens in these chats and parents need to take special care when their children are using them.

I read chapter two and I needed to comment on it because it made sense to me. As I read through the chapter I actually related it to the children I have worked with, I thought about them in the computer lab and how they think and work with the computers and the technology. During my time volunteering in a class I was able to watch the children in the computer lab, they were working on a social studies project and a component of the assignment was to research information on the internet. The children were brought to the computer lab and were required to find information on such countries as Africa, India, China, and Kenya. In the text it states that “too many educators tacitly equate information searching with learning. They believe that if students are busily searching for information online, they will naturally make sense out of what they find.” This in my case was true, I actually saw the teacher paying little attention to what the children were searching, and some of the children were just laughing while some were actually focused. In the text it states that to find one answer that the teacher is looking for is better than just asking the students to find information, just searching for information does not result in learning. I saw this while working with the children, they weren’t applying their skills when they are laughing at silly pop ups and animated websites. I agree with the text that children who are first beginning to use the internet have to have a purpose in order to learn anything; they need to be pointed in the right direction when searching. Without being pointed in the right direction they get lost, and we all know how easy it is to get lost on the internet. The internet is just so easy for children to explore things, and I believe that teachers really need to make sure that they are taking part in their student’s internet learning. I think it is so important that they do this because the internet is a part of life, and having children learn properly from the beginning is essential to future learning and success on the internet.