Reflection Time--Where this class is taking me

This is week 5 of the semester, and looking back I can see how much I have learned from this class and the opportunities it provides. 

Being a civilizations class, Digital Civilizations definitely has taught me about the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.  I have also come to see that there are significant parallels between those times and now.  One example of this is a blog post done by Jake C., one of my classmates.  He blogged about Descartes and then asked the question, who are the Descartes today?  This made me realize that there is so much discovery and learning going on around us today and in many ways it is very similar to that which was happening centuries ago. 

Taxi Driver's

I read a BBC article that Brandon McCloskey posted titled, “How Good Software Makes Us Stupid”.  It talks about how taxi drivers in London and other big cities used to have to pass a test showing that they knew all the streets in the city and that they could get around.  However, now thanks to navigation systems this is all changing and more reliance is being placed on the technology.  This really made me think, because I have been in taxis and experienced this first hand multiple times. 

One of those times was last year when I had the opportunity to go to Sydney, Australia where I had my first real experience with taxis.  One day my sisters and I had been out sightseeing but then we needed to get back to our hotel. We had been walking everywhere, but we ended up getting really tired and so we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel.  Since we hadn’t planned on taking a taxi back to the hotel we weren’t very smart and didn’t have our hotel address with us, since we knew how to walk back.  When we told the taxi driver the name of the hotel he knew right where it was and how to get there even without us showing him the way.   He explained to us how they are required to know the city so well that they can get people wherever they need to go, and he did just that.

That was very impressive to me.  I think that in the case of taxi drivers that a human being will probably be able to navigate better than the GPS, with the exception of if they are going somewhere that they have never been and never heard of.  I think that taxi drivers should still be required to pass that test, but then they should also have a GPS in case they need it sometime, but it shouldn’t be their only way to navigate.

Google Documents--Access to your files around the world

Google offers online file creating, saving, and sharing, in the form of Google Documents.  If you already have a Google Account you can use your same login, otherwise you can create a Google Account for access.  Visit docs.google.com.

Google Documents allows you to create and save online new word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forms, etc.  Google Documents also lets you upload ones that you have already created on another computer.  These documents can then be saved in your Google Account and you can access them anywhere that you have internet access.  Also, you can change the privacy options on the files so that you can control who can view them. 

Google Documents have a wide variety of uses from personal use and group projects to collecting wedding address. 

I had the chance to teach a few of the students in my Digital Civilizations class about Google Documents last week, and I found that as I taught them about it I continued to learn more about the options available. 

Google Documents allow us easier access to our files no matter where we are.  In today’s world we continually have the need to be able to share what we are working on and to access it from another computer.  Google Documents makes it so that you don’t have to email files to yourself or always have a flash drive on you, because you can have files saved online.  In the past it was sufficient to just have your ideas committed to memory or possibly written down so that a few other people could see them, but today it is important to be able to have our files and documents travel with us, since we live in a world that it digitally connected.

Diigo--Helping us learn through the learning of others

This semester I had the opportunity to learn more about Diigo, which is a social bookmarking tool.  I was immediately fascinated by the options that Diigo offers. For example, I always wanted to highlight things I read online. Diigo offers that! I wanted to be able to add little comments to things I read online.  Diigo has sticky notes that you can add to pages.  I often read something amazing online, but when I later try to retrace my steps to find it I am not able to.  Diigo solves this too!  Diigo has options for bookmarking pages, sorting them by tags, bookmark searching options, etc.  Diigo even lets you create groups and then you can share what you find among your groups.  Diigo has some amazing options for connecting to other people and seeing what they are studying and keeping track of your own research. Diigo is free to sign up for and it has so many options for how you can use it to your benefit. It is free to sign up at Diigo.com. 

After teaching Jeff, one of my classmates, about Diigo, I had an opportunity to apply it in another one of my classes.  We have a group assignment where we all have to read these articles and then right a paper together about them.  I saw this as a great chance to apply what I had learned, so I taught the members of my group about Diigo and we started a group. 

Even though Diigo is a highly modern tool, it also closely relates to what we have been talking about in our Digital Civilizations class.  In the 15^th century, the printing press enabled the printed word to be spread rapidly among the people.  The printing press made possible learning and understanding that had previously been unavailable.  Diigo is a different kind of printing press, but it is accomplishing some of the same things.  Diigo makes it so that people can expand their learning and understanding by seeing what others are studying and what they are thinking about it.  Diigo is a great tool and it provides so many opportunities for us to expand our views and knowledge.

Are we willing to challenge the norm?

“As the sciences which we now have do not help us in finding out new works, so neither does the logic which we now have help us in finding out new sciences.”

This quote from Francis Bacon relating to The New Scientific Method really made me think about how important it is for us to be continually trying to see things in new ways and to increase our understanding.  As college students I think that we are especially prone to just looking at everything the way that we have been and are taught to look at it. What if we approached each class with an excitement to learn, but also a willingness to question what we are being taught?  Throughout history we see that it takes someone who is willing to fight against the way that things are regularly thought to be in order to make progress and growth.  One example of this would be Martin Luther with the Protestant Reformation.  Luther was willing to challenge what was being accepted by others and to look at religion in a new way.  Think about the impact of his actions.

How do you access another computer from the Internet?

Last week in one of my classes, our professor had to unexpectedly access his material for the class from a computer in the library.  He was able to get his PowerPoint that he needed even though he did not have it directly with him.  This made me really curious about other options for how to access files that are saved on another computer.  One of my friends recently introduced me to Drop Box, which is a free download that helps you maintain the same files on multiple computers and then you can access those files from the Internet.  This seems very helpful, but I have been wondering are there other good ways to access files that you have saved on another computer?  Has anyone found a particular method that they especially like? I’d appreciate any ideas that you have.  Thanks!

Tweet Tweet

Today Jeff Chen taught me more about microblogging options through Twitter. I had heard of Twitter and "tweets", but I had never tried to figure out what they are or what they could be used for.  Today that all changed.

Twitter is another way that we can communicate easily with our friends, but also with people from all around the world.  Twitter is free to sign up for at http://twitter.com/.  Twitter provides options to send specific people a message. It also allows you to post a comment, question, etc. that anyone can see and can respond to.  Many companies are now using Twitter both as an advertising method and also as a way to communicate with their employees, because they can easily and quickly send a "tweet" to everyone to remind them of an upcoming meeting.  You can also connect with other people who have similar interests and follow what they are saying.  Twitter also allows you to choose which people you want to follow and then you can receive updates whenever they post a "tweet".  Thanks to Jeff I now have a much better understanding of Twitter, and I am even considering signing up for an account.

Are We Saved by Grace?

I really enjoyed reading Eric Collyer's blog post about Martin Luther and the Reformation.  He mentioned that there are some main differences between what Martin Luther believed about grace and what we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe.  I did a little more research and found a talk by James E. Faust, who was formerly a member of the First Presidency. He says, "I am profoundly grateful for the principle of saving grace. Many people think they need only confess that Jesus is the Christ and then they are saved by grace alone. We cannot be saved by grace alone, 'for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do'(2 Nephi 25:23)". I think that this is a beautiful way to explain it. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that made it possible for us to be "saved by grace, after all we can do".

Changes in Printing Today

Today I came across a really interesting blog that relates to the printing press, but in a more current setting.  It is the blog for a printing company in Texas. They posted an article comparing the quality of digital and offset printing. Many of the concerns with printing today seem to be related to the competition of the Internet. However, this article brought up an idea that I hadn't even considered, that being, that within the printing world today there continue to be improvements made in the actual methods of printing. Check out the article and their site at: http://sirspeedyaddison.com/digital-printing/the-best-print-quality-digital-or-offset/.

"Da Da" to the Digital World

In class on Tuesday, it was discussed that mastering a language unlocks powers for an individual. I think that one area where we see this as a significant example is with children. When an infant is born they quickly learn to communicate, though their abilities are quite limited. They are able to cry, smile, etc. to send different messages. However, as they grow they begin to try to imitate the sounds that they hear around them.

When they are finally able to put the sounds together to form a word, they get closer to mastering the human language, and likewise their ability and power to communicate increases. Rather than crying when they are tired, thirsty, hungry, sad, and frustrated, they start to express their feelings and desires through words. The power in this is that it becomes that much easier for them to get what they want, because those around them are better able to understand them.

As they continue to grow up, they must learn to speak better and understand even more than they previously had, because the manner that was acceptable for the 1-year-old to ask for something is no longer considered mastery for the 6-year-old who keeps yelling “Drink! Drink! Drink!”

In these digital days, in order to master the human language, one must also master the digital language. Children can no longer plan to live their lives without needing to use a computer. Just as a young child has to learn how to put sounds together to form words and to put those words together to form an understandable statement, individuals now must learn to navigate and use the technology around them. The sounds that we are working to put together are those of how we can communicate with people on the other side of the world through the internet, how we can share what we are learning and thinking about with anyone who may be interested. Sometimes I feel like I’m a toddler again and the sounds I’m putting together don’t quite make sense yet….or the picture on my blog won’t go where I want it to. In order to have the power of language, one must master that language. This class is helping us to come closer to mastering the digital language, so that we can unlock the power and opportunities that the digital world has to offer.

President and Sister Samuelson's Counsel

Yesterday President and Sister Samuelson were the speakers for the first devotional of the semester.

Sister Samuelson spoke of the importance of gratitude. She told the story from the New Testament of the 10 lepers and how they were all healed, but only one returned to thank Jesus. How often in our lives do we accept blessings as they come, but then quickly move on to the next thing? I know that we are so blessed and have so much to be grateful for, even when things are hard. As we work on being grateful in all situations of life, we will find greater joy and peace regardless of what comes our way.

President Samuelson spoke of having appropriate zeal. Near the end of his talk he said, "I can promise you that if you will plan your time, discipline your activities and set your priorities properly, you will grow and develop in all spheres of your lives in ways which would not be possible elsewhere. You need to be intellectually stretched, but also spiritually strengthened." This was very meaningful to me, because of the fact that there is so much going on in my life right now. I think that especially at the beginning of the semester we tend to feel that we are getting pulled in more directions than we can actually go. This promise brought me peace, and I am going to work to apply it in my life!

Digital Learning is Everywhere

As I was doing some research for this class, I found a blog that is about Digital Learning in a school environment. The person in charge of it is a woman by the name of Martha Thornburgh. She works with teachers in her school district in Washington to educate them about new technology options with teaching. She is working to show how technology can actually improve the learning environment rather than only harming it. The work that she is doing seems very similar to what our class is doing, only she is doing it with teachers of elementary school age students. Here is a link to her blog: http://digital-doors.blogspot.com/. Check it out!

Are we taking full advantage of the opportunities that we have?

While reading Petrarch’s letters to Cicero, I found it interesting how Petrarch presents an update to Cicero, who is already dead. Petrarch reports on the current condition of Cicero’s writings. He reports on the influence of Cicero’s writings and efforts. Petrarch tells him that the current generations didn’t appreciate Cicero’s work and how his efforts may be lost to future generations.

I began to reflect on how many of these types of letters could be written to various people who have made significant contributions to how we live today. Hopefully, we are taking full advantage of all of the work that so many before us did, so that those letters could be quite positive.

Hippocrates,
the "Father of Medicine"

Being an Exercise and Wellness Major at BYU and planning to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health, one individual that I think it would be interesting to write to would be Hippocrates who is known as the “Father of Medicine.” Hippocrates had an understanding of the human body, how it works, and how it should be treated when one becomes ill, that far exceeded other physicians of his time. (For more information on Hippocrates, you can visit this site: http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Museum/hippoc.html). I think that a letter to Hippocrates would be quite optimistic, because of the many new medical discoveries and techniques that are continually being developed.  However, I also wonder if we are doing the most with the opportunities we have. Hippocrates made such monumental headway in a time where it was very hard to do so. Now with the technology and resources that we have, should we be discovering more than we are?

Going Beyond the Limits

As I was reading one of our assignments, I was intrigued by the idea that Aristotle believed that there was an end to our universe.  Our reading said that he believed that the universe "was finite: beyond the sphere of the fixed stars and the prime mover, there was nothing, not even space."  This really made me think about the fact that sometimes in my life I find boundaries and limits on what I am familiar with and what I understand. I am excited to work on expanding those boundaries this semester as we learn new things and explore new areas, especially ones that I am less familiar with.  Often going outside of those boundaries is a little difficult at first, but it is very rewarding. I look forward to learning a lot in this class and coming to better understand a broader range of topics and interests.

New Horizons

Welcome to my blog! Here is a little about me and the new horizons I've experiences in the last few years.

I love to travel and experience new things.  My explorations have taken me all around the world and on lots of adventures closer to home.  To introduce myself, I'll tell you about a few of my adventures. 

View of the Sydney Harbor from our hotel room

Big Ben

Last January I had the opportunity to go to Australia on a business trip with my dad and two of my sisters.  We had a blast! I really enjoyed getting to see the cultural similarities and differences.  Everything about going to Australia was an adventure.  It was full of new opportunities!

Last summer I had the opportunity to go on a Europe Business Study Abroad through BYU. We had the most amazing time as we visited 10 different countries in five and a half weeks! I learned sooo much and had a great time!

Cheese and Clogs Shop in Amsterdam

You can count on more adventures coming soon . . .

Now a little bit more about me. I enjoy hiking, camping, running, horseback riding, spending time with family and friends, playing games and watching movies! I love learning new things and I am excited for what we will learn in this class!