Additional Assignment #1

GOOGLE SQUARED
1. COUNTRY POPULATIONS:   
India: India is listed as 750 million people in the population, however, when google squared took me to wikipedia under U.S. there was a listing that said India has 1,187,510,000 people.
 China:1.4 billion people are said to make up the population of China this year (2010). 
United States: 310,225,000 are said to make up the population of the U.S. this year (2010)


2. LANGUAGES OF COUNTRIES: 
Spanish-speaking countries: Google Squared showed that there are 17 Spanish-speaking countries.
English-speaking countries: Google Squared showed that there are 20 English-speaking countries, although it is not all of those countries first language.
French-speaking countries: Google Squared showed that there are 20 French-speaking countries, although it is not all of those countries first language.


3.Top Movies:
Google Squared showed a lot of the top movies throughout the decades. Three of these are: Braveheart, Happy Feet 2, and Golden Eye.

QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT GOOGLE SQUARED

*What are the educational implications of searches such as Google Squared provides?

It allows people to look up things that they are curious about and get a lot of information out of one search. It allows a lot of information about a specific topic to show up at one time instead of having to search one thing at a time.

*Did you know about Google Squared before?

No I did not. I have never heard of it.

WOLFRAM ALPHA
1. Presidential Terms:
Served the most terms over all: Franklin D. Roosevelt served an overall time of 12 years 1 month in office.
Served the shortest period of time: William Henry Harrison was only able to serve 1 month in office, not even close to one term.
2. Christmas:
According to Wolfram Alpha, Christmas is exactly 3 months and 13 days from today (September 12, 2010). Other ways it was shown: 14 weeks 6 days from now, 104 days from now, 75 weekdays from now, and 0.28 years from now.
***NOTE: I typed in "most popular Christmas songs" and this is what Wolfram Alpha came up with.

QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT WOLFRAM ALPHA

*What are the educational implications of searches such a Wolfram Alpha provides?

It allows a detailed description of the topic you are trying to search. It is good for people to find out information in a clear and constructed format.

*Did you know about Wolfram Alpha before?

No I did not. I have never heard of it before now.

DID YOU KNOW?
According to Mr. Strange's comments on my blog:
My thinking was not altered much after the comments left on my blog. Much of what I wrote is the opinion of my own and I do not expect everyone to agree with what my mind thinks. By using the word "increase" I meant that the numbers in the statistics are most likely going to increase over time. Although it may not always be true that things will increase, new things are going to come about and increase in number, thus the process continues. When Mr. Strange asked what I saw as dangerous, technology or people, the answer is both. The world and it's people can bring about many great things, but one bad thing is danger. We are already living in a world where bad things happen daily, that's a given. But with increased technology, danger increases as well. When Facebook and your phone can show everyone exactly where you are every second of the day-danger, when your cell phone number is posted online for everyone to see-danger. It is everywhere, and honestly, when information gets in the hands of the wrong people (which is very easy these days) it makes a lot of things easier for not so great things to happen. This is clearly my opinion: I don't want people to know where I am or what I'm doing all the time. It isn't there business. And I certainly don't want my information out for people to "find" me on blog, facebook, myspace, and whatever else is out there. If I meet someone and give them my information that is a different story, but when someone comes up to me and says, "hey, i found your number on a site"......not cool...creepy! If other people want there information out there that is there perfectly fine decision to make. But personally, when I have children I don't want everyone to know where my kids are all the time and I certainly don't want sites and other things popping up on the internet that subject my children to harm or danger....not happening. By the comment I made about some people preferring pen and paper to learn. The word "some" is very important in that sentence. I do believe that technology can be a very good tool, and I will use some of it; however, I also believe that students can learn from a teacher taking time with them in a classroom setting where they can ask questions in person, take good notes (considering that writing things down is a form of learning), be with other students their own age, and not stare at a computer screen constantly and notice that their eye sight is getting worse by the minute. Technology can be great, but sometimes it is great to go back to the basics that have worked so well for so long. I think that technology can be implemented greatly and as a resource of further learning......but if technology is all it becomes, where are the teachers and the real relationship between the teacher and the student? What would happen next and where would the classroom go (would your teacher become the computer sitting in your lap)? According to the comment left about not using the tools therefore not giving the children in my classroom the opportunity for getting a job: Yes, I am going to use technology, but not as the main source of teaching. According to the "Did You Know?" video, what the children will be learning will be outdated in four years anyway, so by the time they get to College and in search of a career everything I have taught them through technology will be updated and most likely not used any more. This is why I am not a fan of rapid change.....where are the foundations if things are continuously changing, and where did all my years of teaching them in ways we thought they needed to learn? Technology brings about good things also, but much of the basics should remain also.


PITCAIM ISLANDS MAP

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
This was a very interesting story. I think it is great that an illiterate kid could figure it out on his own. More technology should be easy to figure out......the joys of simplicity! When a kid, or even a person, can pick up something and figure out how to handle it quickly that feels like such an accomplishment and relief to people. Nothing is wrong with being able to figure out products easily and quickly.