Week 14: Using games for teaching

In this lecture we discussed how using games and fun activites can be a great way to teach. Now-a-days the internet and gaming world has taken over kids and young adults lifes. So inorder to keep the attention of students teachers are able to do it in a fun, entertaining way.
Some examples of games to use to teach are:

Second life is a 3-d virtual world that enables teachers to teach via the web. Students can interact with other students and teachers via second life.

Leap Frog is a video game type thing that kids can use to increase their knowlegde about basic things...like math, reading, colors, numbers and letters.


THis video shows how using Leap Frog teaches children the alphabet in a fun and entertaining way.

How this relates to PR:
This relates to PR because it can come in handy with ways to teach upcoming PR majors new things about the PR industry. It also can influence a PR agency to use new and innovative ways to reach their consumers, by using fun, entertaining things to attract peoples attention and time.

Week 13: Distant Education

This week we learned about distance education and virtual learning. An example that was used class was the website: http://www.geteducated.com/
This website showed that ANYONE can get their education online, EVEN A DOG! It also showed how easy it was for people to get their education online.
We also debated (somewhat) whether it was fair or not to get an education online. Now-a-days so any people dont have to actually attend school anymore, they can just sit at their computer and learn. But for some, dishonest people, they use other people to do their work but their getting the degree. So, this isnt as useful as some may think because it questions if the people in the workforce now-a-days, that got their degree online, if they really earned it themself and if they really know what they're doing.

Here is a spoof of an online education commercial.


How this relates to PR:
This relates to PR because some people in PR could have gotten their degrees online. IF that is the case, they might not have the appropriate or experienced levels of writing and public speaking that they may need.

Week 12: Professional Web Presence

During this lecture we talked about web presence and how they are useful when it comes to applying to jobs. One example that was used in class was googlesites.com. This website allows users to build and edit their own website according to their personality. It is important to have a website for future employers to look at because it allows the the oppurtunity to get to know you a little better. It's sort of like a blog, but google sites allows you to go more indepth with whatever you want.

Here is my google site: http://sites.google.com/site/tiffsuttsite/

Although I havent finished with it, I def am considering using it for future employers and companies im interested in working for.

How this relates to PR:
THis relates to PR because it allows me to build my own website for PR agencies to see...the PR agencies that i apply to work for. IT also will help me with my skills in building a website so that I can one day build a website for a PR company that I work for.

Week 11: Open Source Software

This week we learned even more about open-source software.
Office.org and sorceforge are two resources that are used for open-source software. Gimp is also another open-source software. Gimp offers its users a way to improve and update their photos and images. The best thing about open-source software is that it is FREE and ANYONE can use it! As a way to show you how to use gimp, I uploaded a youtube video explaining how to download it and use it.



How this relates to PR:
This relates to PR because it allows PR agencies to use open-source software, like gimp, to improve their company and their companies products. For example, if someone were to use gimp they could photoshop their pictures for better advertisement.

Kids and the Internet

It is truely amazing the fascination that kids have with the internet. Now-a-days, for fun kids would rather be inside surfing the internet than outside surfing waves. They would rather be in chat rooms playing games with other kids via screen and microphone than outside running around and playing. A lot of kids are more internet savy than their own parents. This generation of kids is the first generation to come of age using the internet. They have created their on virtual society.

Not only do kids play games and chat to people on the internet, they create profiles and blogs. Some go as far as to create a different person and profile, so as to mislead viewers. Many kids are secretive about their profiles to their parents and family memebers; they will keep things from them and try and avoid letting them see their profiles and blogs.

A lot of kids spend more time on the internet than doing anything else. Kids as young as 5-7 are using the internet and becoming "friends" with people on gaming websites. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are social networks that any aged person can create. Some kids put too much info up on these websites or spend too much of their time surfing around on these sites.

This YouTube video interviews a few different kids and asks them different things about their internet experiences. I think it's very interesting what the kids have to say. For example, the kids are asked what they would do without the internet and you get respsones like; they would be annoyed, they would be bored and they wouldnt have a way to socialize. I also think it's interesting that some of them dont have a time limit when playing and surfing on the internet. One boy even said he spends 4 hours a night on the internet.