scratch tutorial

scratch game

scratch game

Gardens of time

I  can see how this can be useful in the class room.  Besides being fun it does teach about different times and places.  It isn't overly "teachy" as some educational games can be but its fun and you can still learn a little. 
Some of the things this game has are : 
Interaction in that the players must interact with each other and the game to complete tasks.  They have to help one another by sending gifts and visiting each others gardens.
Production:  The player designs their own space and can replay boards as often as they like in order to level up. 
Ordered Problems:  The game has newer and harder levels as you progress through it.
Cycles of ecpertise:  The game is designed so that you begin to focus more on objects that look different and there for you are training your brain and eyes to search.
Exploring:  This games has chances to try different styles of play and different types of objectives besides the main search and find.

3. Risk Taking. Video games provide a far lower degree of failure and it’s consequences which encourage players to explore the environment, take risks and try new things. This concept is utilized in boss encounters, which forces players to utilize previously learned skills to attempt, perhaps fail, and then use those initial failures to determine the pattern of behavior and gain feedback. If a certain action or hypothesis fails, the player is compelled to re-evaluate the situation, and create a new hypothesis on how to solve the problem. Eventually, although it may take some time, the player finds an alternate solution and continues progression. Therefore it can be argued that in video games, failure is good as it helps facilitate alternate solutions to problems.


While I understand how some games can be useful in the classroom, I also feel that they can have negative effects. As stated above, they can lead children to take more risks which isn't alway a good thing.  Because you can always hit restart on the game young children don't always understand that there are consiquences to actions.  Also graphic violence and death can desensitize children and give them unrealistic ideas about life and death.  I am not however blaming video games on childrens poor behavior just stating that some can contribute to both the good and bad behaviors in children today. 

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

wiki no class post

Watch How a Ragtag band created Wikipedia

            I learned that if you go on and change something it goes live immediately.  That it is almost exclusively volunteer funded by donations from the public and only has one main employee. 

            I agree with the idea of locking down articles that are being continually changed during times of controversy.  I like the idea of using the social concept of cooperation as a means to create neutrality and diversity.  In theory it sounds great.  Whether it works out that way is a different story.  The one thing I don’t agree with is letting anonymous users change things.  I think that every article should be able to have its sources traced.

Wikipedia Pretty Accurate But Hard to Read

Not really I think that because Wikipedia can be edited by anyone many professionals &  highly educated people probably want to make sure that the information is correct & thorough for anyone wanting to find the information.   Also people who genuinely care about the topic are more likely to supply information for the topic.  Unfortunately all these people write and post information in much different ways and that is probably why reading it is so difficult.  It can seem choppy overly technical or juvenile or a combination of all of the above.

4 Ways to Use Wikipeida Never Cite IT

I sometimes use Wikipedia in these ways especially when I have hit a wall with research or don’t have enough resources.  If I have run out of information to prove my point or possibly need other viewpoints.

Find a Wikipedia Article and complete the Wikipedia worksheet. 

Post the information in a blog posting

Wikipedia Reliability Worksheet

Article title:  St. Patrick’s Day

Answer the following questions to see how reliable a Wikipedia article is.

1. Start with the main page. Does it have any cleanup banners that have been placed there to indicate problems with the article? (A complete list is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/
   Cleanup.)

Any one of the following cleanup banners means the article is an unreliable source:

This article or section has multiple issues.	no
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.	No
The neutrality of this article is disputed.	No
The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.	No
This needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.	No
This may contain material not appropriate for an encyclopedia.	No
This article only describes one highly specialized aspect of its associated subject.	No
This article requires authentication or verification by an expert.	No
This article or section needs to be updated.	No
This article may not provide balanced geographical coverage on a region.	No
This is missing citations or needs footnotes.	No
This article does not cite any references or sources.	No

2. Read through the article and see if it meets the following requirements:

Is it written in a clear and organized way?	yes
Is the tone neutral (not taking sides)?	Yes
Are all important facts referenced (you're told where they come from)?	Yes
Does the information provided seem complete or does it look like there are gaps (or just one side of the story)?	complete

3. Scroll down to the article's References and open them in new windows or tabs. Do they seem like reliable sources? (For help in determining the general reliability of a source, check out the Knowing What's What and What's Note: The 5 Ws (and 1 "H") of Cyberspace handout.)
   
   Reliable references:
   
   http://www. http://www.saintpatrickfoundation.org/spf-in-an-

http://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/3496

Possibly unreliable references:

http://iak.co.kr/events/

Definitely unreliable references:

http://humphrysfamilytree.com/OMeara/james.html


 

4. Click on the Discussion tab. How is the article rated on the Rating Scale (Stub, Start, C, B, GA, A, FA)? What issues around the article are being discussed? Do any of them make you doubt the article's reliability?

The article is rated B.  It is rated on different areas such as holidays Ireland, USA, and religion with different levels of importance and it even says that some of what is discussed is myth legend and tradition and is separate from the real St. Patrick which makes it seem more reliable. 

5. Based on the above questions, give the article an overall ranking of Reliable, Partially Reliable or Unreliable.

• You may use a Reliable article as a source (but remember that even if a Wikipedia article is reliable, it should never be your only source on a topic!)
• You may use a Partially Reliable article as a starting point for your research, and may use some
  of its references as sources, but do not us it as a source.
• You should not use an Unreliable article as a source or a starting point. Research the same topic in a different encyclopedia.

How did you rank this article (Reliable, Partially Reliable or Unreliable)? Give at least three reasons to support
your answer.

I Rate it as reliable  because it has sources from news, history and cultural areas.   It states clearly that St. Patrick’s Day and the actual St. Patrick are separate entities.  It gives a breakdown of how celebrations in Ireland differ from the US And many other countries

Double Journal Entry 8

Due Thursday Midnight Read Wikipedia and answer the following questions on your blog a. What is Wikipedia?  b. How would you answer the question posed in this piece “How reliable can a source be when anyone can edit it?”?  c. Who do the creators of Wikipedia place their trust in when it comes to weeding out misinformation?  d. Why did founder Larry Sanger leave Wikipedia?  e. What would abuse or vandalism look like on a Wikipedia page?  f. What do the statistics quoted in the third paragraph of this piece reveal?  g. Why do you think Wikipedia is so successful?  h. Why might Wikipedia’s creators not want to accept advertising?  i. How does Wikiscanner help increase the reliability of Wikipedia entries?

A: According to itself “Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization.”

B: In the beginning of Wikipedia I wouldn’t have trusted it but now I feel that it is for the most part trustworthy simply because those who care about a topic are more likely to make sure that the facts are correct.  I know several people who have made corrections to comic book character, rock band and video game topics. While these aren’t the most scholarly examples I believe the same would hold true for other topics.  Those who have a true interest in a topic will want to make sure the information is correct.

C: They place their trust in the wisdom of crowds.

D:  He felt that experts should be given more authority over the information rather than anyone.

E:  Abuse or vandalism could be anything from misinformation to slanderous statements.  It could be posting false information and claiming to be from another source such as a government or business.  Postings that double as advertisements could also be a form of abuse.

F:  How widespread and universal it is.  How much information it covers and how often it is used.

G:  It is easy to read and understand.  It also links to related topics and gives sources and additional outside articles for further reading.

H:  Advertisers could lessen its trustworthiness, lead people to fear bias or misinformation.  If they allowed advertising it would lose credibility.

I:  You can track who is posting to see if they are reliable or have ulterior motives for posting the information that they did.

think aloud

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