Intro of Beth Thomas

Hi! This is my intro. Isn't this a pretty room?

Social Networking

Do you think Facebook could replace traditional email? Or is FB just a fad that will soon be replaced with something better like it did for MySpace? Is Google Buzz the next best thing in social networking?

Maybe a good research topic

Would OREGON TRAIL (my childhood favorite)be a good example of a PROSOCIAL MEDIA GAME? It was played in schools in the 1980s, but I can't remember ever winning the game because everyone on the trip alway died from disease or hunger.

When conducting scholarly searches of negative effects of mass media, more than 15,000 articles were revealed. And more specifically the literature details the negative effect of mass media on children, including aggression, violence and anxiety. However, in contrast there is little research documenting the positive or prosocial effects of mass media on children. When conducting a similar search of prosocial effects and mass media, only a handful of articles were found in the research databases. There is little research and emphasis placed on prosocial media, and what is available mostly focuses on television and movies. Furthermore, research needs to be conducted with video games that include characters that help and support each other in nonviolent ways.

Gimp

In 2003 I was introduced to Gimp, a free photo manipulation tool. At the time Gimp was difficult to use, but in the last year I gave it another try and I was pleasantly surprised at the strides it made in the last six years. Gimp is a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop because it is free and allows you to crop, enhance, retouch and manipulate images just like in Photoshop.

Take a look at this tutorial on how to create a vintage-looking photo in Gimp.

Making a Wii Smartboard

Can't afford to buy a SmartBoard for your classroom? You can make a homemade one for around $50 with an Apple computer and by following this short tutorial.

We've Come a Long Way Baby

Listen to Thomas Edison reproduce his first phonograph recording. This is a 1927 re-enactment by Edison of his first recording from 1877.

Multitasking makes you less productive

Turns out that multitasking actually makes us less productive, not only for adults but also for our youth. Nearly one-third of kids say they chat on the phone, surf the web, send instant messages, watch TV, or listen to music "most of the time" while doing their homework, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Whatever the consequences of multitasking, they're going to be widespread. The report also found that when students are sitting in front of their computers "studying," they're also doing something else 65 percent of the time.

What will be the long-term effects of multitasking and students' learning?