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The digital divide.

Since I didn't post at all for the month of October, (I was busy getting my Halloween costume ready) I figure I had better get it in gear. So, I thought I would mention the new Eee PC. It is a small laptop that is under $300. That means hopefully, a lot more people will be able to afford one. But, I think a bunch of computer geeks are snatching them up, so I don't think the masses are going to be able to pick one up this holiday season. Wal-Mart also has an under $300 computer this shoping season. And it's not nearly as cool. But the remarkable thing about both these computers is they run on Linux. Which is free so they can keep their cost down.

Please allow me to rant....

Ok, I figure blogging about the wrong thing is better then blogging about nothing so here we go. First, I don't use the Internet much for professional things. I don't even know what I would look for. I always just ask someone who has taught the subject before if I need information. That is not to say I don't use the Internet. I love the Internet. I love that it took less then 10 seconds to see if I really remembered what "gerrymandering" was. I love that I can get the Transformers DVD months before it comes out in stores. I think we are on the edge of the information age where all knowledge is at our fingertips. But, I hate blogs.


I don't like the randomness of blogs. Since anyone can write what ever they want, they usually do. You just have to go with the flow of the blogs. Sometimes you end up spending too much time wading through tons of stuff you don't care about to find one thing you do care about. I thought having an RSS reader would help, but it made the problem worse. Now, I have 119 posts I have to read. I know my classmates are all very intelligent and have very important things to say, but my feeble brain can't handle 119 different subjects.

I also don't think blogs are the next big thing. My friends and I had a blog a couple of years ago. We would each make posts and comment on each others posts, but it was too much work. Now, we just have one email thread that we write back and forth to each other. Everyone is on the list and we just "reply all." If we need to, we can attach pictures or include a link to funny websites. I guess we can't really go back and look at past posts, but nothing we say is that important anyway.

I know one of the big selling points of blogs is that you are "published"and the whole world can read what you are thinking. But, according to the CEO of Google, the average blog has one reader, the blogger. (10 things your blogger won't tell you) The world wide web is full of sites and the chances of someone random just stumbling on this one and reading it is very very low. (I would rather play the lottery)



Finally, I don't really feel like posting a comments on blogs is a conversation. I think a conservation is back and forth. I feel blogs aren't like that. Blogs are a lot more one sided. You make a post, and someone may comment on it and then that is it. And plus, it is impossible for me to blog about all my classmates 119 posts. I guess it's possible, but not likely. I think a bulletin board or even just plain old email is much better for conversations.

more comments on the Economics of Attention

I went to a meeting the other day on how to give the I2A test on the computer. As the "older" teachers worried about how to log in and change their password, the "younger" teacher next to me, logged in, changed her password, checked and replied to an email, and checked out which movies where opening that weekend. That, to me, is the Economics of attention. Back when I was in school, I would look out the window, or doodle on my paper. But, now, if you put a kid in front of a computer, you are competing against millions of sites for their attention.

It is the same thing at home. I'll admit, between reading the responses to my last post and writing this one, I got on iTunes and checked out which songs I downloaded the other day and checked a couple of websites that didn't have anything to do with school. Teachers have to make things a lot more interesting if they really want to reach the kids.

Although, while giving the students the I2A test, not one kid tried to get to a different website when they were taking the test. I know they thought they would get in trouble if they didn't finish the test, but they also know that the test was for a grade. What is important to the students gets most of their attention. As long as they think doing well in school is important, they will pay more attention to it.

Comments on Ecomomics of attention

Finally, what I have been telling my mother since I got a nintendo when I was 13 years old has come true. Playing video games is really better for your brain then reading. We had that argument several times during my Junior High days.

But really, there is something to video games. I see high school kids everyday playing Pokemon. And, it's not just boys either. Everyone loves Pokemon. They know the names of all the pokemon, and what they do. If they knew half as much about math, (or spent half as much time on it) they would all be in Calculus as Freshman. It's not surprising though, they have been playing their whole life.

Now, if you'll excuse me. I downloaded Dead Head Fred for the Playstation Portable to do some research.

My bio

Hello, I'm Ryan Adams. I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, home of the Jayhawks. Although I got my undergrad from the University of Wyoming, I consider myself a Jawhawk because I lived there so long. (Plus, my sister is the assistant rowing coach). But now, even though I am at UCD, I need to start cheering for the Metro State Roadrunners because my wife teaches English there.

I teach at Green Mountain, so now I am a Ram, but last year I was a Prairie Hawk. From 1997 to 2003 I taught at South Junior High, so I was a cougar. But, I coached at Lawrence High, so I was also a Lion. (The cool thing is it's "Chesty Lions" not just lions. Michael Feldman from NPR's "What do you know" made fun of it, once)

As you can tell, I live my life though mascots. At home, we are the Yellow Labs and the mascot's name is "Barley." We run her around the apartment complex when ever something good happeneds at home and yell, "Wooo We're number one!!!!" If I were to have a personal mascot, it would have to be a killer whale because while playing "sharks and minnows" with the LHS swim team, one of the athletes said, "Wow, coach, you move just like a killer whale." I think if I was a little skinnier he would have chosen dolphin.

I have learned my first thing about posting on Blogger, the pictures end up on top of the text. I'll leave them there to serve as an example to you all.