Podcasts :)

People have predicted the death of radio for a very long time. When TV came around, everyone thought that radio would slowly die away. Now, with the internet, TV is slowly decreasing in popularity, but radio is still around in many different forms. One of these is through Podcasts. Do you listen to, or are subscribed to any podcasts? Do you think that the popularity of podcasts is going to decrease because music is so easily available through iTunes and other websites. What might be the reason why radio-type programs such as a podcasts are still as popular as they are today?

YouTube

Everyone has heard of YouTube before. It is a video sharing site where a person can upload and share videos. Formerly owned by Three Paypal employees ,YouTube is now owned by Google. Most people have gone on YouTube and watched videos. These videos are usually sent by a friend or co-worker saying “Hey, watch this it is funny or interesting”. Then there are also people who watch YouTube videos constantly and are actively using it every single day. YouTube is used in positive ways though, Teachers can easily access videos to show to their classes and people can have video blogs. Some may even have accounts on YouTube so they can post their own videos. When reading the (Mis)Conceptions of YouTube reading it brought up a few things that I found interesting.Lange points out that this is a video sharing site but more happens on YouTube then video sharing. Do you think YouTube has become more than a video sharing site? How do you feel about people being able to take a video you posted and link it anywhere on internet? That anyone can comment on your video and say anything like? Do you think it occurs to people that YouTube is transforming into another social networking site, with being able to have your own profile and being able to comment and send messages to people? Do you believe YouTube has proposed another platform for cyber bulling? What does YouTube and its content really mean to you, is it just another website or is it more than a video site?

Wikipedia

When doing a research essay, we have heard many times from many teachers not to use Wikipedia.org. The teachers/professors that put this restriction on the resourses do this because of the lack of accuracy that goes along with Wikipedia. As it says on the homepage Wikipedia is a “free encyclopedia”. It is a website that someone can go to to look up information. This information is a “web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation” (Wikipedia.org) . It allows users to edit articles, add articles and read articles for free. Some feel that Wikipedia is a wonderful tool that can and should be used by all, some feel it should be used with caution and some feel that Wikipedia should be avoided at all costs. Robert McHenry, former editor-in-chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica once described Wikipedia as “The user who visits Wikipedia to learn about some subject, to confirm some matter of fact, is rather in the position of a visitor to a public restroom. It may be obviously dirty, so that he knows to exercise great care, or it may seem fairly clean, so that he may be lulled into a false sense of security. What he certainly does not know is who has used the facilities before him. Wikipedia [is a] faith-based encyclopedia.” (Wikipedia.org). What are your thoughts about Wikipedia? Do you use Wikipedia? When is Wikipedia appropriate for use? Have you ever found any incorrect information while on Wikipedia, and if you have what was it (a link would be wonderful!)? Do you feel that people go out of the way to post incorrect information, or do you think that it is unitentional?

Tiffany Bird