School Shootings

Welcome back!!!  Not exactly a fun nor easy topic but one I think must be discussed. On February 14 a 19 year old former student walked into Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students and teachers. He also injured 14 people. Without any weapons training he was legally able to purchase a Ar-15 semi automatic rifle. A weapon capable of firing 20 shots in 9 seconds.  Here's some more facts:

Address the questions following in your post: 

1. Why do you think these incidents keep happening? 
2. What is your initial reaction when you hear about an event like this?  
3. What do you think should be done to help ensure things like this can be avoided? 

The Environment

There is a lot of talk about the environment in the news. Melting ice polar ice caps, too much carbon in the atmosphere, and so much more. It is easy to feel horrible about it and that there is very little impact one person can have. But knowledge is power and collective knowledge can have an enormous impact.

Check out this site:
https://www.ewg.org/

It is a highly respected site that rates the quality of the products we commonly use for healh and environmental safety.

For this post I want you to research THREE common products you use or find at home and report what you finding. Is the product good/bad and did it change your opinion of it. 

For example: Search here for common skin care or cosmetic products: https://www.ewg.org/skindeep#.WoGyc7ynGUk and report what you use and what you found out.

Or search here for common household cleaning products and report what you use and what you found out:
https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners#.WoGy77ynGUk

Or search the food you eat and report the findings: https://www.ewg.org/foodscores#.WoG1cLynHRY

Sample post: 

I like to use L'Oreal Paris Brow Stylist Designer Eyebrow Pencil, Brunette. After researching the product I found it contains some ingredients that cause me concern. For example: The product uses Castor Oil for enhanced skin absorption with can lead to developmental or reproductive toxicity.

Digital Responsibility

By now you have probably heard about Logan Paul. If not, he's a Youtube "celebrity" that recently filmed himself in Japan making fun of a suicide victim. It sparked global disgust and outrage and has since been removed from Youtube. Before it was removed it had been viewed 6 million times and most of his viewers are mostly young people.

It is important to discuss issues like this when they come up. Seeing incredibly graphic content displayed in a mocking manner can be debilitating for young people who may or may not have developed coping mechanisms to such material.

For this post please comment about your reaction to this case. Were you aware of who he was and what happened? Who should be held responsible? With just a click of a camera we can instantly transmit high offensive and morally repugnant content. How far is too far?

New Year, New You?

Welcome back. Happy New Year. People typically like to take the opportunity to reevaluate some bad habits and try to correct them around this time of year. For our first post of the New Year lets share a few resolutions you are committing to making or discuss how it may have went for you in the past. Are you able to stay committed to a resolution you make with yourself? Or what would you like to change about yourself and how can you?

Digital Literacy Continued

This is a continuation of our previous post regarding information literacy. Websites and news organizations make money from advertising when we view their content. There are three important distinctions for you to know:

1. Native Advertising - advertising that tries to sell or promote a product disguised as a news story
2. Traditional Advertising - most common advertising that sells or promotes a product 
3. News story - real content containing factual information about a subject and independent of bias and should answer, who, what, when and how

For this post take a look at the following two website banners and answer this question:

Which are these an example of: native advertising, traditional advertising or a news story and why? 

Credit: Stamford University Study: https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf

Digital Literacy 101

There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about the abundance of fake news. Fake news is information deliberately posted to confuse people, drive traffic to websites and in many cases can have a significant impact. We know from class that anyone can create a website. It is now our job to become detectives of what is real vs. what is fake.

Websites and news organizations make money from advertising when we view their content. There are three important distinctions for you to know:

1. Native Advertising - advertising that tries to sell or promote a product in the guise of a news story
2. Traditional Advertising - most common advertising that sells or promotes a product 
3. News story - real content containing factual information about a subject and independent of bias and should answer, who, what, when and how

For this post take a look at the following website banner and answer this question: 

Is this native advertising, traditional advertising or a news story and why? 

Credit: Stamford University Study: https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf

Q2 Ice Breaker

Here’s a simple query of your personal life: 

What are you reading?  

What are you watching?

What are you playing?

For our first blog post of Q2, please answer each of these 3 questions in the comment section. Please include the question. Do not include school work.  You can have multiple answers to each question.  Example:

What am I reading?

The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

What am I watching? 

Seinfeld

What am I playing? 

Doom (video game)