Synthesis Paper CEP 416 Erica Lewis. variations of innovations within technology. Each technology has both strengths and

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Logan Lee
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1 Synthesis Paper CEP 416 Erica Lewis Today technology is very important to our everyday lives. Yet, there are many variations of innovations within technology. Each technology has both strengths and weaknesses. From the wide range of resources a teacher can utilize, many build off one another to create the total package. Sometimes single technologies can stand alone. I feel that both websites and blogs are very important to the classroom and are important resources for teachers to utilize. Yet, there are constraints to both the website and the blog. Blogs and Websites share a number of similar characteristics. Blogs share information in an easy to use format and are usually individual text filled pages with entries which are generally dated. Websites also have information on them and have text too in most instances. Both of them share information through the internet. They can be similar because with the right programs both blogs and websites can be easily and quickly updated. The difference is the time it takes and the logistics of updating each separate one. Websites take more thought when updating one. You must either have a program or know how to HTML format in order to create a website. Also you must have a server to upload your information to. A server is an area where many people can connect to upload their web information so that it can be shared with other computers. It stores information so that some random person doesn t have to access your personal computer in order to view information. Without a server your information never reaches the actual internet. The website may look complete on your personal computer but without a server

2 no one on the internet will ever be able to access it. To update a blog one only has to log into the website, type an entry and then click publish. As the user of a blog you do not need to go through a server because the website does it for you or has its own server. This makes using a blog sometimes easier. Blogs ask you to log in during your sessions while at the site while websites do not ask you to do so unless you have to subscribe to the particular site such as yahoo or facebook. Websites usually have many links that lead a user into interconnected pages. If there is a link within a blog entry it relates back to an outside source. Yet, websites can link to outside sources as well but usually the pages are all entwined. The most significant difference between a blog and a website is the fact that a blog updates in chronological order. Usually the entries are arranged with the most current entry on top with subsequent entries below in time order. When a website is updated the changes are made so that a viewer does not know what the previous state of the website was. There are exceptions to this rule such as Wikipedia which allows users to view the changes and how the site looked previously. The viewer can always see a blogs updates and changes unless they set their mode to private but most of the time you can see the updates made. I think both technologies are better suited for certain specific aspects. A website would be really useful for showcasing student work, sample lessons, or calendars while a blog would be useful in keeping parents up to date on information and what personal beliefs the teacher holds. In both cases as a teacher I want to utilize both a website and a blog for my students, fellow coworkers, and parents.

3 Myspace.com and Facebook.com are two technologies that we haven t touched on in class. Both are sites where people can befriend other people and connect across schools, communities, and countries. There are a few differences though between the two that stand out very much. Myspace.com allows the individual to fully control the content of their own page. This means that the person gets to personalize everything. This becomes a problem because sometimes people place pictures, videos, and music on their personal page. What happens is that the site then takes forever to download on a computer especially one with a slower internet connection. This poses a problem for server space too since the videos and pictures become embedded into the page. Myspace.com is a personalized free webpage for anyone to use and essentially allows any person to become their own webmaster. With Facebook.com the user must stay within the content of what is provided. It is designed for a user to put up information that they want others to know. Pictures can be uploaded and short video clips can be added but there is no music. Facebook.com runs a lot faster because the videos and pictures must be clicked on to view. They are made as links instead and do not automatically pop up and slow the page speed. Privacy is also an issue between the two sites. Both Myspace.com and Facebook.com have privacy settings but there are degrees of variation between the two. Facebook.com has options that allow you to set the personal info on private, friends only, public, or school only settings. Up until recently facebook.com was closed to anyone that wasn t in a college or university. This kept younger children from viewing inappropriate things and also kept creepy old people from stalking others. Both sites use a similar

4 system that allows the user to either accept or reject requests to allow access to their personal page. On facebook.com it is easier to tell if a person is a friend because their full name is listed in the request. Myspace.com users are allowed to make up any name they choose and sometimes this can confuse the user into thinking it might be a friend when really it isn t. Myspace.com allows anyone to join regardless of age. Even though a person must still accept or reject a friend request from another person on Myspace.com, it ultimately means that a ten year old could be friends with an older person through the site. If the privacy setting is friends only for facebook.com and listed as private for Myspace.com you can still see the sites if you are a friend of the user. On facebook.com if your setting is private no one is allowed to see it at all. Another difference is that anyone can access a Myspace.com user site regardless if they have a login or not. Facebook.com is not accessible to the public without an account on the actual site. They both help connect people across the country but the major difference is that myspace.com can connect anyone from around the world where facebook.com can only connect people from the United States. Facebook.com allows users to organize groups and events much better than on Myspace.com. There are groups for myspace.com but they don t allow the connecting of individuals through them so it isn t as user friendly. With myspace.com the interests can be searched and all those with similar interest pop up. With facebook.com you can actually join groups about your interests. Facebook.com doesn t allow music groups and movie hype to become members were as Myspace.com does. This is great for bands and musicians because they can make fan based user accounts that act as their own personal

5 advertising site. This is because Myspace.com doesn t have groups to join. Facebook.com eliminates the need to have user accounts for musicians because you can join the group about the musician instead. Myspace.com and Facebook.com are both great sites to connect from person to person but they are both different in their own ways. Privacy, access, and the set up are just a few examples of how these two sites differ. Both the sites are important for communication and help create connections between people. Each one just has a different set up and style in doing so.

Social Networking Applied

Social Networking Applied 1 I. Facebook Social Networking Applied Uses: An address book: Facebook users can share their current city, e-mail address, phone number, screen name, street address, and birthday