Learning Disabilities and the Internet

I once read an article on the internet about this girl who was paralyzed from the waist below. One would think that this would be another sob story about a paralyzed girl. But no. This article was about how this girl overcame adversity, of how she didn't let her physical disabilities deter her from having a life, and of how the internet helped her learn.

It's actually really inspiring.

Now, everyone can use the internet to study and get a college degree. Some Universities even offer a Master's degree online.

The disadvantages of not learning in a scholastic environment such as a classroom still remains to be seen, but hey...getting a College degree online from a reputable University without stepping outside of your house is pure convenience in its ultimate form.

links to sample website critique

Here are the links I mentioned in my earlier post on the final exam instruction. They are:

http://www.proformawebsites.com/critique.html
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kiida/critique.htm


Additional clarifications: Educational websites refer to sites about academic matters, university home pages, etc. Portals, and other non academic websites can be used as well (but liik out for educational sites first). Submit the hard copies of your full critique during the final exam.

mga makabagong kabataan

Naniniwala kaba na every children needs to experience interaction and physical activities?

When I was a kid, mahilig akong maglaro sa labas like other odinary kids. Parang walang problema, maliliit na problema akala ko malaki na. Everything is ok, pwede ako maligo sa ulan with my cousins, pwede kaming maglaro ng chinese garter(kahit mataba ako!), hide and seek, jumpin rope, paper dolls, bahay-bahayan at marami pang iba. My mom allowed us to do whatever games that we want, BUT marami parin naman rules and regulations like hindi kami pwedeng lumagpas sa tapat ng bahay namin, bawal makipag-usap sa di mo kilalang matatanda, bawal ng lumabas kapag 6 pm na at iba pa na nakalimutan ko na. I experienced maging bata, masaya, madumi at pawis ako parati, kadiri? Ofcoursenot! ahahahha... hindi pa naman ako concious sa itsura ko before at bata pa naman ako nun. Nakakatwa kapag maalala mo yung experience mo with your friends and other kids, minsan nakikipagaway kapa dahil akala mo ng-cheat sila sayo tapos hindi ka makikipaglari sakanila after few days bati nanaman kayo dalawa.

My childhood exeperience is different from my little sisters. Why?

I have two sisters one 9 yrs old and the other one is 7, well malulusog din sila like me when I was a kid but unlike what i said kanina iba yung childhood experience ko sa kanila. Sila kapag my mga assignment sila hindi na sila nagtatanong sa parents ko, straight to the internet ang ginagawa nila unlike yung time ko i-try to reach on to my parents or to my tita's and tito's or pwede rin naman ako magtanong sa mga classmates ko. MAY INTERACTION! One time, wala silang assignment, na curious ako kung ano ginagwa nila sa harapan ng computer, Nashocked ako, nagpho-photo shop ung dalawang kapatid ko! Wow! Nakakatawa, kung ako sa kanila maglalaro ako sa park with other kids, pero mas gugustuhin nilang magcomputer (photoshop), o hindi kaya magplaystation or mag-wii at napaka concious pa nila sa apperance nila my 9yr old sister ayaw na ayaw niang magskirt kasi daw may sugat siya sa knees nia at nakakahiya daw!(WOW! hindi ko naiisip un ah) while yung isa ko namang sister is para naman dalagang dalaga na, the way she dress Oh mY! aahahah napaka arte sa damit, maxiadong choosy! Well, i know kasi nung time ko wala pang mga ganun mga gadgets, I know FIne aamin nako matanda ako but If ever na meron ng ganun before, mas pipiliin ko parin maligo sa ulan keysa magphoto shop. Or magmukang madumi kasi yung lang yung chance ko na parang walang problema. Hindi ko naman sila din masisi kasi yun yung mga napapanahon ngayon, but still gusto ko maexperience nila what a normal kids do.

So back to my question Naninwala kaba na every children needs to experince interaction and physical activities? Hell, yeah! =)

Internet and the Social world

The internet has evolved from being just a simple information highway to a rather much more impressive form of social interactive system. This transition made a lot of people born during the internet generation a lot more internet savvy...thus the term - online life.

In Web 1.0 we had chatrooms and bb's or bulletin boards, which a lot of people became addicted to. And now with Web 2.0, things became much more interesting.

The advent of Friendster, MySpace, and the spawning of other social interaction sites like Facebook, Multiply, and etc. have made interacting with people a lot more fun. Fully customizable, these sites offer a level of online interactivity that is very different from the look, feel, and function of the iRC era of the late 90's.

However, these sites, no matter how fun they might seem to be, are still dangerous. A plethora of sexual predators and con-artists proliferate in these kinds of sites, praying on the unwary.

One should still be careful.

SONA = A moment in time when a political leader becomes more famous than Michael Jackson

Honestly people, how many times have we clamored for justice? For Righteousness? Moral indignation, the Supremacy of Democracy? my friends, here we are in the face of adversity and we rely on the idea that this woman would make decisions based on what her political backups have obviously well wrote for her on script rather than her own profound legatic message. To me, I believe i should shed tears to the moment her lips exposed words of "visions" and "dreams" as to speak in order to remind us once again how much she spends more time posing on newspapers and billboards rather concentrating on being humble and working for the people who need us most, the uneducated, the unprovided, and the most of all the unloved... i know, it is not easy to speak freely of these fragile unkept notions, but to speak of hopes and faith in front of these miserable brothers and sisters is like adding salt to a wound like all the other leaders in the past decades... We have the power to change things, we have the capability to remedy the situation, we have the will to make a difference. Why would we let someone in power do something for us, when we ourselves ARE that power who make up this democracy. We standby idle in our shoes looking at options like we were in a supermarket picking brands that match our favor when we ourselves can make our own brands in that matter. We have a choice, a choice so powerful and fearful that no other country in the world can match in terms of will and dedication. The power to move hearts through unmatched empathic suffering, the power to shift legacies left by those who set the bar for us to reach and the power to grind impoverished faith in our hearts... The power of choice. Please...Give me your money. PEACE!!

It is Either Horrible or I am Just Spoiled

I am stuck here in my seat reading through sites that I often find myself surfing through or just passing by on and all of a sudden, I’m about enter, open, access or even just click on an icon that interests me… then POOF! Out comes the menacing leaf green demonic billboard signifying all that is evil within the cyberworld: The “DansGuardian”.

With it’s 1x1 margins, integrated format and radiation spewing colors, it appears when you least expect it like an undercover cop barging into your bathroom and flashing his badge at you while your taking a seismic level 6 dump in your toilet. It is blasphemous I tell you, how is a liberal student with a zest for learning and virtue suppose to broaden his intellectual horizon with this abomination trampling over every promising step he takes in exploring this wonderful network of information called the internet?! For goodness sake, it is bad enough that 90% of the internet is practically worthless and is overloaded with fake facts, pornography, useless blog sites, shout outs, pointless rantings, pop ups to high heaven and worst of all, lecherous old farts hunting little kids for “playtime” and harassment. Even if the point of the holier-than-thou “DansGuardian” was to limit such things, its only clogging the only passages to the truthful information that are buried underneath all this crud and feces made by people who devolved into monkeys that only have a shadow of what used to be human. To think that one of the vision mission goals of the La Salle system is and I quote:”Pursue an environment of meaningful and ENGAGED LEARNING, RIGOROUS ACADEMIC PURSUITS, AND CREATIVE DISCOVERIES, that is in harmony with ONE’S BELIEF in a loving and caring God.”, doesn’t even come close to the idea that a “DansGuardian” is the ultimate filter for such atrocious setbacks. The school system for personal educational perseverance is coming more like advertorial for people to get lured by rather than the right thing which is by constitutional right, “the right to be informed.”, it comes off more as a fast food chain like Mcdonalds where they feed you high cholesterol and a lot of salt in exchange for the glorified idea of convenience for them more than for you. The service provided by the “DansGuardian” is more like a road block for truth rather than the intended purpose which is to protect the “virgin intellect” of future La Salle leaders. I say, screw all the “VIRGINS” and let them figure things out on their own. Give them the freedom to explore what they can and pave the road for truth rather than restrain them. I guarantee they will learn more things faster than tracing their development for the ideal goal established by the system. DOWN WITH THE “DANSGUARDIAN”!!!

Instructions on the Final examination

For the final exam, present in 3-4 minutes a critique of an educational website in terms of its form and content. Please remember that by critique this would mean to include both the strengths and the weaknesses. Form, among others, would include matters such as application , used (flash presentation, etc), layout, functionality, etc. Content, meanwhile will include matters relating to the completeness and usefullness of information found in the site, and possible effects to children/students to whom this site is intended for (link it to my input on children in cyberspace). During the final exam, bring a static file ( put it in your flash drive)of the home page and other particular pages that you would like to show and highlight during your final exam presentation. The complete report, however must be sent through our class blog - cyber communication or my email. Make sure to turn in the soft copy of your critique other wise you will not get the full points for the final exam.

Attached are some links that may give you an idea on how to go about the critique. One link - "The Pro-Forma websites" gives 14 indicators which can be used to evaluate a website. Use only those indicators that apply to your chosen website. "Website application and critique" gives a short and casual approach to making a critique and touches on various sub-topics such as introductory pages, site features, site comments, etc.

For clarifications, please ask me during class hours.