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The article, Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century, is arguing the point that the types of literacies are expanding every day, and people need to be kept up on them. The authors, Barbara Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne Flannigan, state that to be a fully functioning member of society, you must acquire and understand a new literacy; a digital one. They also state, "Today, we still seek better communication methods, only now we have myriad more choices, along with new tools and strategies and greater knowledge of effective communication". Technologies will not just be used to communicate though anymore, it is being to "create, to manipulate, to design, to self-actualize". In the New Literacy and Education paragraphs, it is stated that classrooms today are less advanced for the students who are being put in them. Almost all of these students are digitally literate, but teachers are presenting ideas in the ways they always have. Maybe, it is not just the classrooms that need remodeling, but the teachers need to attend workshops and become more accustomed to dealing with these new types of literacies. Schools who are looking to hire teachers need to look at what background the interviewees have, or require a pre-requisite for computer literacy. The authors also state that today, students are "digitally savvy". They don't believe that teachers should be re-typing overheads into PowerPoint's. There are so many different technological ways to teach things to students. It just isn't the same anymore to just use a whiteboard and an overhead projector. "As an example, now teachers can do a PowerPoint presentation with streaming video, instant Internet access, and real-time audio-video interaction, and they can do it with relative speed and ease".

Barbara Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne Flannigan in their article "Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century" state the reason the definition of literacy has gradually changed through time, will always be changed, and that the history behind why it has changed leads to the definition itself. They assert that through the technological advancements the thought processes in the humans mind have drastically changed; and in order for literacy to keep up with this rapidly changing "E-generation" Jones-Kavalier and Flannigan express that our minds need to be open to this change. They state that "vision combined with practical, recognizable goals and incentives that encourage people to embrace new digital and visual literacy skills individually and collectively" will allow there to actually be a change universally.

This article discusses how literate once meant a person's ability to read and write. Now that technology is rapidly changing, our society is learning to adjust to it. Now, literacy has a new definition. According to the authors, "Literacy includes the ability to read and interpret media (text, sound, images), to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments." Older generations are having a more difficult time adjusting to it than the teenage generation. Learning technology is starting to seem like learning a new language. Although, it's a priority for society to learn to acclimate to these changes in order to learn and communicate effectively.

This article describes what the Language Immersion Program is (specifically talks about spanish), how it is beneficial, what the drawbacks are, research studies, and how children are effected by using the program. The author's opinion is clear, so in her whole article she has a slightly persuasive tone and she makes the program look and sound amazing to probably everyone who reads it. There is some good information about the program and some research studies, and the benefits/drawback are very interesting.

The article "Using Instructional Technology in Transformed Learning Environments: An Evaluation of Project CHILD," by Sarah Butzin, claims that students are able to learn more and are more motivated when they are able to use technology and implement the Computers Helping Instruction and Learning Development (CHILD) project. Butzin studied the effects of technology by comparing two schools that were both technology-rich. One school implemented project CHILD and the other school implemented a more traditional design. According to the author, the CHILD method involves a cluster of three grades that are broken into smaller groups and remain with the same teachers throughout those three grades (K-2 and 3-5.) The more traditional learning style still involved the use of technology in day to day learning, but every year the students changed teachers and only worked within their grade level. The CHILD implementation makes it so that children can learn at their own pace and switch stations that include bookwork, one on one or small group time with the teacher, working with technology, and hands-on experience. Butzin claims that this style of learning showed positive outcomes for testing scores, classroom motivation, improvement in behavior, and increased parent involvement.

The chapter "The Computer and Active Learning" from the book The Vitrual Classroom by Starr Hiltz really grasps the use of computers in the classroom. "Whether in CIA or in the Virtual Classroom, the student is forced to actively participate" this is one of the main ideas to this book and especially this chapter. Students who use the computer to learn are actively participating by answering questions after they are on the computer. The chapter also develops the idea that computer education works, but teacher and student communication is important, "it appears to be effective only if there is also significant communication between teacher and student". The article holds computer to a high standard by defining computer use as "an active learning situation", instead of taking a quiz later on what a student learned, they get to take a quiz right after they read it online. They response as they go, making computer use active learning. It also develops the idea of the computer as a social process; "this social process of developing shared understanding through interaction is the "natural" way for people to learn". The author believes that responding to peers work creates a process of learning that is never seen in the classroom. All of the ideas are great examples of why technology in the classroom works, and can be used to our advantage as teachers.

In "using the technology of today, in the classroom of today" authors Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, Jennifer Groff, Jason Haas start to give basis to the argument that technologies such as videogames and social networking sites help shape learning. They focus on how they are learning outside of school but in completely different ways than teachers focus on. They argue, "Nearly all institutions- business, industry, medicine, science and government - have harnessed aspects of these technologies for decades. Games and simulations have been a key component of training doctors and military personnel, but even businesses like PricewaterhouseCoopers used a game about a mining company in outer space to teach its employees about derivatives. Although that may seem a bit "off the wall," the fact is major corporations, the Department of Defense, and the medical community would not use these tools if they were not highly effective" to illustrate how corporations use videogames so the educational system shouldn't reject it them as a learning tool. They point out how videogames can serve as a simulation for real life just as mining in outer space can teach about derivatives. Videogames are also a highly interactive learning environment. Instead of being told information, students are right in the middle of the action and the learning. They also discuss how social networking is a new way of collaborating with other about a wide variety of subjects including school work. The authors write, "Of course, educators have long been aware that learning is a social activity, where learners construct their understanding not just through interaction with the material, but also through collaboratively constructing new knowledge with their peers" but teachers reject the use of social networking as means of learning because of the other aspects included safety or privacy. But what teachers can learn from social sites is that "'knowledge cultures' assembled in these o

This article is very rich with information that has to do with how digital games, social networks, and simulations can be involved in classrooms. With the involvement of them is more than just entertainment that children or people actually learn stuff from them.

The Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative of the Lynch School of Education at Boston College did a study based on the "Use, Support and Effect of Instructional Technology" otherwise known as USEIT, in 55 classrooms in nine Massachusetts school districts. They were trying to research if student usage of technology would affect their tests scores on standardized tests.

In the chapter called "High-Stakes Testing," the author is talking about the role of standardized testing and bench marks in schools. Later goes on to also talk about the roles of teachers and how it effects them.

The article, How to Use Social-Networking Technology for Learning, tries to get teachers to understand how to get students to interact with others by being "effective collaborators." It also goes into how to keep students engaged since many students can become easily distracted. By having open discussions about why students are using or abusing their social network, students can hopefully find a better way to portray themselves online.

The author is discussing this new classroom idea that will actually promote Social networking sites helping students create accounts, organize and share interest with others. The author shares a valid point, "Schools should reflect the world we live in today". The evolving world of Internet communication -- blogs, podcasts, tags, file swapping -- offers students radically new ways to research, create, and learn.

This article discusses a study done with 5-6 graders and their faculty. It talks about how allowing 24/7 access to laptops for each student in the class effects certain tasks that they are asked to complete that shows different skills.

Sarah M. Butzins article, Integrating Technology into The Classroom: Lessons from The Project CHILD Experience, claims that Project CHILD helps students learn to be independent workers and how to work effectively in groups by developing skills to help themselves and each other when the teacher is unavailable. Butzin realizes that it is uncommon for teachers to want to learn how to implement technology into the classroom and curriculum, but by having three main teachers who each specialize in one subject- reading, math, and language arts- they are able to become experts in utilizing technology and software into their area of expertise.

McKenna talks about how people are texting more than talking on the phone. She stated that texters are more lonely than talkers.

Most people probably feel that Twitter is nothing but a waste of time, and does nothing positive for the individuals using it. After reading this article, I must say Twitter is darn good invention, that has a postive effect and outcome for the individuals who partake in the action.

Video games today isn't just for kids and teaches anymore. Gaming have been use in many new and different ways that have helped improved businesses, educations and also the medical fields.

In this article, the author is explaining how lying gestures mean something, as well as the way a person's speech is. On the average, the effectiveness of uncovering a lie ranges from 45% to 70%. In most cases the suspicion that someone is lying can improve revealing the truth. I thought it was very interesting how they had an experiment where people went about their everyday lies, and still a few came out with a lie. I just don't understand how we can take something so small and stretch it to something large and grand, and for what? Is it the attention? Or is is the deception we want others to grasp upon? It stated that women are consistently more accurate than men at detecting lying and what the underlying truth really is. I was surprised to find out that women actually do fall for a man's lie more than vise versa. This article gave many small reason as to why people, and what was funny is that I, myself have heard them almost everyday or quite frequently.

Meade, the author, discusses the difference in lying when it comes to the opposite sex. She also discusses how growing we were not able to understand the differences in the types of lies.

Young people are increasingly using social networking sites (SNSs) like MySpace and Facebook to engage with others. The use of SNSs can have both positive and negative effects on the individual; however, few studies identify the types of people who frequent these Internet sites. This study sought to predict young adults' use of SNSs and addictive tendency toward the use of SNSs from their personality characteristics and levels of self-esteem.

This article talks about the profanity in video games and how it effects video games.

This is a critique on (wo)mankind's addiction to risk and the effects it has on the world. Pretty amazing... (i don't really know how i should tag this video)

This article discusses the effect of music on improving memory. It states that people can recognize a song even when it is sung in different ways which shows that the brain focuses on certain constant properties of a song.