The end and the beginning

This post marks . . .

The end of my Digital Civilizations class and this blog being specifically for that class,

But it is the beginning of where the impacts of this class are going to take me.  

The Event--Digital Revolution: Upgrading Education for Digital Civilization

Last night, we hosted our final event, featuring the various group projects from our class.  It was huge success!  We had a great turnout and everyone seemed really excited about the projects and the class in general.  Even though I had seen the presentations previously in class, it was so fun to see the polished presentations.  Everyone did so well!

2 Days Left Before Our Digital Revolution

Today in class we had a practice run of the event.  It was really fun and interesting to see what each group worked on.  There is so much variety and yet, they are all connected through this class. :)

An exciting announcement was made in class today...our event will be broadcast live online!  It can be viewed on Thursday, December 9, from 7-9pm MST by going to justin.tv/digiciv.  We will be referring to our audience that is participating online, so we'd love to have people attend that way, if it is not possible for them to attend in person. 

You are invited . . .

Our group has been working hard to finish our project, The Evaluation of Medical Support Websites.  We created a Prezi for our presentation.  I will post our Prezi on my blog after we present on Thursday.  It has been fun to go back and look at everything we have done up to this point and then try to capture that in a 5 minute presentation. 

As our event draws closer, I have been inviting people who I think will find it especially interesting. 

'Tis the Season

With classes wrapping up, 'tis the season of projects and finals and lack of sleep and the list goes on. . . .

More importantly, 'tis the season of so much more, as we were reminded in the Christmas Devotional last night.  The members of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were the speakers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra on Temple Square provided the music.  It was wonderful! I am so grateful for this reminder that this a season to commemorate our Savior, Jesus Christ's, birth and to serve those around us.  You can watch the Devotional in its entirety below, and I highly encourage you to do so!



Merry Christmas! I hope and pray that you will feel God's love for you during this season and through out the year.

Adding a Discussion Board to Your Blog

Our group has realized how important it is for medical support groups to provide ways for people to connect with other people who are in similar situations.  In addition to having a chat feature, an excellent way to do this on a blog is by having a discussion board.  This allows for people to talk and connect even if they are online at different times.  It also tracks the conversations, so someone later can see what has been said and join in the conversation.  In researching how to add a discussion board, I found a blog called bloggersentral.com and it had a great post on how to add a discussion board to a blog.  Here is how you do it and you can do it in less than 5 minutes.

Creating a Screen Shot on Windows Vista

I have Windows Vista, so lately when I have been creating screen shots (especially for my blog) I have had to do it the long way (using the "Prnt Scrn" button and Microsoft Paint.  Yesterday I was using someone else's computer, which is a Mac.  I needed to create some screen captures and so I did a search in help and learned that it is much simpler to do on a Mac.  When I was back on my computer today I decided to do a little research to see if there isn't an easier way with Windows than the one I have been using.  Guess what?!?! There is an easier way!  If you have Windows Vista then there is a much easier way to create screen captures!

Keep reading to learn how.

I Nominate . . .

Here are my nominations for the best posts from my classmates' blogs this semester.  There are so many posts worthy of being nominated, but due to limited time I will only mention three.  :)

Creating a Calendar for Your Blog

As our group has been evaluating medical support websites, we have noticed how important it is for medical support groups to have a current, updated calendar on their website.   As part of our project we are setting up a blog that demonstrates how to create and use different important tools, such as a calendar.  One of my responsibilities was to figure out how to create a calendar that can be published on a blog or website.  Here is what I learned:

Web 2.0: Our Project

'I have always imagined the information space as something to which everyone has immediate and intuitive access, and not just to browse, but to create.'  (Tim Berners-Lee, 1999, p. 169)

This quote was in our reading assignment for tomorrow's class.  I think that this quote captures a lot of what this class has been teaching me about the digital world.  Before this class, most of what I did on the internet was consume.  Our professors have really pushed us to become part of the digital world by consuming, creating, and connecting.  This is a powerful combination, because it actively involves us in the Web 2.0 experience.  (The fact that I am writing this on a blog is evidence of this....I started this blog and have maintained it as a part of this class.)

Social Media--Connecting us or distancing us

We often hear about media and technology in a negative context.  We hear about the problems that occur because people spend all their time on the computer and they no longer interact with others in person.  If this is the case, they have stopped part way through the purpose and potential of social media. 

I'm Grateful for Modern Inventions

With Thanksgiving approaching, I have been thinking a lot about the things that I am grateful for. I was amazed by how many of the things that I am grateful for involve technology and modern inventions. I think that this is largely due to the fact that they make our lives easier and more convenient.

Two inventions that I am grateful for are the refrigerator and air conditioning. (Yes, even though it is below freezing outside right now I am still grateful that when it is hot outside during the summer there is a way to keep it cooler inside.) 

Make Your Own Online Quiz

For our Digital Literacy labs, one option was to make a survey.  I decided to instead make a quiz. 

With finals approaching, I decided it sounded fun to make my own quiz.  My family has a Thanksgiving Trivia quiz that we have used for many years.  I used an online free quiz making website called ProProfs.com to make my quiz.  You can sign-up for free and make your own quizzes too.  It is really simple and fast! Here is how you can do it!

Peer Evaluation--Clint Peterson

For our midterm evaluation we are also supposed to evaluate one of the other people in our class.  I was assigned to evaluate Clint Peterson. 

Clint Blog--The World Through Clint's Lens 

Reflective Blog Post

Where am I at?

Looking back over the past month and a half, I have learned a lot in this class.  In this post, I will focus on how I have met each of the Digital Civilization course learning outcomes since the beginning of October. 

GoAnimate—Create Simple Animations for Free!

Here is how you can create your own animations for free at GoAnimate.com.

1.       Go to goanimate.com

2.      Click on “Sign Up”

Atomic Age: Creating a Monster

Nuclear discoveries involving fission during the 1930’s led to interest and research in using it related to weapons, medicine, generating power, and much more.  To me, one of the most fascinating parts about the nuclear discoveries is the fact that it created the possibility for greater benefit and destruction in these areas than the world had previously known.  As one source states, “Once the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, Americans realized a new era in history, one defined by the ability of humans to destroy their world.” 

This reminds me of Frankenstein, because these scientist’s discoveries led to the creation of a monster.  In a PBS documentary it was said that J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”, “tried to warn his countrymen of their dangers, but powerful figures within the government feared he was a treat to America’s security.”  As quoted in the same documentary, Oppenheimer said of his discoveries, “We knew the world would not be the same.  A few people laughed.  A few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu Scripture the Bhagavad-Gita.  Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.  I suppose we all thought that one way or another.”

Firms . . . Forming when and why?

One of our assigned readings for class was focused Ronald Coase’s ideas on when firms form and why.  It was fascinating to read about this, and I learned a lot.  According to our reading, Coase believed that, “firms will arise when they can arrange to produce what they need internally and somehow avoid these costs [of using the market].” 

Psychology: Our Many Selves

In our Digital Civilizations class last week we talked about psychology.  We discussed Freud and Jung and their theories and beliefs about the human mind.  When we were talking about this someone (I apologize that I don’t remember who it was) mentioned a quote from C.S. Lewis. 

Modernism--the break down of certainty

During the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, there was a reaction to the Enlightenment ideals.  Below are some of my notes from our Digital Civilizations discussion on modernism:

·         Reaction to Enlightenment ideals > rationality

·         Reaction to positivism > truth

·         Lack of certainty

·         Lack of faith in progress

·         War—industrialized war

·         Relativity—Freud

·         Perspectivism—Nietzscher: morals based on perspective and circumstances—dangerous

·         Art for art’s sake—formal (playing with form), detached, rhetorical)

·         God’s role replaced with art and science

·         Surrealism, Expressionism (nonrepresentational—doesn’t look like—throw back to Romanticism)