Technology Learning 4 Spruz.com

We were able to get our site back up and running,  so that's good.  I really am not a big fan of Spruz at all...the amount of extra work that myself and my group members had to put in for this project was ridiculous, and it's because of the site and it's strict regulations.  At least now i know that i won't be using Spruz ever again! It was good to gain some experience though :)

Technology Learning 3 Spruz.com

Working with spruz.com has definitely been a roller coaster of ups and downs in terms of success with it.  The site is incredibly slow, and today we found out that our site was taken down by them because we haven't paid for anything and they want to eliminate spam sites.  So now we have to email the company to let them know that we are using their site strictly for learning purposes for our WRT class here at the university.  Once we hear back from them, we can move forward from there. This is a good learning experience because of this "bump" that we hit, so we have to work through it together and hopefully it'll work out!

Technology Learning 2 Spruz.com

So basically the actual website (spruz.com) is a horrible website, but this project itself has taught me a bit about what needs to go into a social networking page that works for a cause such as obesity. We are addressing elements like nutrition at school, a parent's role, and getting proper exercise.  It's something I'm passionate and interested in, so it's easier for me to relate to and write about.  All of my group members feel the same way about changing the way the young ones in our generation fuel themselves. Part of my role in the project was to write a little bit about what  parent can do to influence a child because parents have a huge impact on how a child eats and exercises. I'm excited about the final product and I hope other groups can see the passion that myself and my group members display on our page.

Technology Learning 1 Spruz.com

I am finding that I like wordpress.com much better than spruz.com for creating a web page. WordPress was much easier to navigate and the whole them was very simplified compared to Spruz. That being said, I am getting used to Spruz to create our "Awareness" page.  My group is addressing the issue of childhood obesity in America today. I am quite passionate about health, especially for our youth so, this is a fun project.  I think it's really exciting to write about something I have a genuine interest in, like health. I am writing about the role of the parent in making sure their child eats well.  I hope I can connect with parents (I know no one is really going to see the website), but I do genuinely hope to someday make a difference in this new issue today. Years ago, this wasn't a problem for America, so it is up to our generation to help the younger generation struggling.

Boyd & Bennett Reading Response

     Boyd and Bennett both had very different views on how social networking can benefit society today.  Boyd feels strongly that social networks hinder our society and offer little benefit to its progress. She described how anyone can be someone they're not on the internet because it allows for 'attention-seeking people to do their thing." (113) She said that the internet is full of egoists trying to get attention for anything.  Boyd takes a much more negative stand on social networking throughout the reading. At one point, she says that the social network sites work as "echo-chambers" in which the same information is passed among friends but goes no further than that.
     Bennett's approach sees social networking in a more positive light and he thinks we should take what we have, and use our resources to create a better society. He thinks the technology of today can be of great benefit to us.  He says that the youth should be more involved with the internet and such in order to move forward.  Since the world today is so technology-based, we must learn how to make use of these tools.
     Bennett seems to take a much more ideal approach to this subject because we are only becoming more and more engaged in the technological society of today.  To ignore this fact, or bash it is unrealistic because we are now a technological society.  We must accept this, and utilize our tools to the greatest extent to keep moving forward.

Technology Learning 4 Web Design

The most beneficial thing that I've learned from this project is, obviously, how to make a webpage using wordpress.com.  However, the thing I'm most excited about is that, for my final project for my COM 310 class, we have to create "user-generated media." We can create music, a blog, a webpage, or anything else created online by me. This project has given me the skills to create a webpage for this project, and I'm really excited to put my skills to use.  So many times, students don't feel like the things they learn are actually needed until they have to use them.  I feel that the skills I learned for this project are being put to use right away for my Com project.

Technology Learning 3 Web Design

As this project is wrapping up, I am more and more pleased with wordpress.com. It's getting easier and easier for me to figure out how to make our website simple to navigate and such. I am really happy with how it's turning out. I feel as though our site is so much better than the original version, and it's encouraging me to want to do more of this type of thing. Now, I think I feel really comfortable with how a proper website should look. Years from now, if I ever need to make site, I'd feel very comfortable doing so because of this project.