"In My Language" Reflection

After watching this video my eyes have been opened. Personally, I do not know anyone and have never met anyone who is autistic. This video helped me understand the life of autistic people from a first person perspective which was very interesting. It is interesting to know the many different ways in which someone can communicate. Communication does not just take place through words and conversation, and just because someone is unable to speak does not mean that they are unable to communicate, or that they are not real. However, it is great that there is the technology to make it easier for the autistic to verbalize their thoughts and communicate verbally much easier. I think that all of the technology today has made their lives easier. My impression of autistic people has changed greatly. They are jsut as much alive as I am, they are just as communicative as I am, they are just different. Technology has changed the life of this woman profoundly. Technology has enabled her to communicate more easily, and in a way that more people understand. It enables her to "speak" and be understood by others listening to her. I feel that videos are a great way for children to learn and understand, as I have learned about the life of autistic people from this video. While I feel that they are a good source of information, I feel that youtube.com has too much inappropriate content on it for children to be using in school. I feel that teachers could use videos from the website, but not allow their students to access it personally in school.

Cell Phones

Cell phones are little pieces of technology that make a big impact on the lives of the people that use them (which is mostly everyone). Cell phones have become a necessity for many people throughout the world. It makes keeping in touch with family and friends, even business associates, much easier. Todays phones not only make phone calls, but store information, take pictures access the internet. Personally, I can't imagine living without a cell phone. One of the main reasons I like my cell phone is the safety factor. I like knowing that wherever I go, I am able to call someone for help if I need it. For esample, driving alone at night. If something happens to my car, I am able to call my parents right away for help, instead of being stranded alone on the side of the road in the dark. Cell phones have come a long way in recent years. They used to be very bulky, heavy, very expensive and some even required a base unit that had to be transported with the phone. They were more of a nuisance than helpful. Now, however, many can fit in the palm of your hand, and prices on phones have come down. Service reception has also improved. Finding a reliable service provider is no longer much of an issue. Cell phone reception has become reliable and of high quality due to advances in wireless technology. It is amazing to know of all the applications and accessories that come with cell phones. This is the reason that the prices of them vary so much. They can range from very inexpensive to over one thousand dollars. There are many options available. Some people just use their phones to make phone calls and send text messages, as I do. Some other people use their cell phones as a personal computer, storing information, important dates to remember, pictures, videos, and more. Over the past decade cell phone use has increased greatly and now, in 2007, have become very important in peoples lives. They have become almost a necessity to everyone, myself included. I use my cellphone throughout the entire day, many times. Granted, I just use it to text message and call my family and friends, it is used very often. It is strange, to me, to imagine life without a cell phone because of the time during which I have grown up.

Technology on Campus

As I sit at my desk in my dorm room I am surrounded by pieces of technology that have come a long way in recent years. My dorm room now, in the twenty first century, is very different than the rooms that my parents stayed in when they were in college in the 1960s. On my desk is my laptop computer, my cell phone, and my ipod speakers. Behind my desk is my television and dvd player. As my mom explained to me, I am very privilaged to grow up with all of this technology. She told me that when she was in college the only form of communication that she had was by a single telephone in the hallway of her dorm. I, however, have a phone in my room, a cell phone, email and instant messanger. I am very grateful to have grown up with all of this technology and definatley do not take it for granted. I realize how difficult it must have been to stay in contact with family and friends from home without any of these forms of communication. This technology is not only present in my dorm room, but also in the classrooms and everywhere around campus. In 2006, Forbes Magazine ran an article titled, "Dorm Rooms: 2006 vs. 1976" and it explained how technology has been integrated into college life. It describes the accounts professors posting assignments online, emailing their students their grades, and downloading class notes to websites. This is reality now. Going to class, you see students taking notes on their computers, not writing them out, using search engines to investigate things that they dont understand and sending instant messages to eachother when the class gets boring. The end of the article states that experts are in constant disagreement over whether or not all of this technology improves the quality of the students education or whether it distracts them. The conclusion they came to was the obvious conclusion that the college world is a very different place from what it was 30 years ago. I feel that the technology is useful in improving student learning. Interacting, not only taking notes, is an important part of learning. This is more of a direct instruction method, in which students interact and do groupwork to learn, rather than an indirect instruction method in which students individually learn exactly what the teacher tells them and makes them copy down. Overall, I am very grateful for all of the technology that I am surrounded by in my dorm room and classroom.