Final Exam

Write a detailed critical response to two of your own entries on the class blog. Your responses should reflect the point of view of someone who disagrees with various aspects of your previously held views.

In my second journal entry i wrote a response against distance learning.

Journal #2
Distance learning can be effective but it shouldn't be used. I think that someone can easily master many, but not all skills via distance learning. However, I do not think that they should be given the opportunity. Learning from a distance contributes to the problems already associated with American youth. Distance learning contributes to lack of social skills, if you could go to school in your bedroom why would you ever leave and interact with people.Distance learning also contributes to laziness. If you don't have to physically get up and go to class you probably won't get up to do anything during the day. Traditional learning also builds responsibility, you have to follow a routine to be successful. Distance learning doesn't require responsibility. Therefore i believe distance can be effective but there are more important skills that must be mastered before distance learning can be incorporated and not take away from the maturation of Americas youth

COUNTER ARGUMENT

Distance learning can be a very effective and should be used to the fullest extent possible. Distance learning can be used to learn skills and master almost all skills that could be taught in a traditional classroom and i believe that it should be pushed into the educational system in the United States. Distance learning would allow people to stay at home and still be able to receive an education. this would allow people to get more work done in the home and cut down on the amount of $4 gas they bought to commute to school. i think that distance learning could be extremely effective when used in situations where a person for some reason (pregnancy, suspended license, car trouble) couldn't get to school. Distance learning would not take away from the responsibility associated with education because students would still be required to show that they have a thorough understanding of the knowledge. Distance learning has been said to possible deteriorate the social skills of the people involved. but you could argue that at the point when someone had the skills to take a class through a distance learning setting they would already have acquired the social skills they need. Distance learning would not contribute to laziness that plagues American society because distance learning would require more work from the student than that of a traditional education. Students must be responsible enough to pay attention to the discussions, where as in a traditional classroom if you show up for class the teacher assumes you are paying attention. Students also have to take more intuitive when turning in assignments. Students could not simply hand them in but they would either need to e-mail them to the professor or make a special trip to hand them in. Distance learning should be introduced into the American educational system because there are no drawbacks associated with it and in most cases it would be more convienent that traditional learnig.

In my 5th Journal i wrote a response agreeing with Stuart Sim.

journal #5
Stuart Sim believes that we are part of a "Culture of Noise". this idea is easy to agree with. How could you argue that Americans aren't faced with noise constantly. It is almost impossible to experience silence, America has become a place of background noise. You cant eat a meal, go to a library, walk down a street, watch a ballgame, or study without some constant noise. Cell-phones, I-Pods, cars, airplanes, radios, TVs, are always around and are always emitting some unbelievably annoying noise even when no one is paying attention. Americans, me included haven't become fed up with this noise yet so it remains and will probably only continue to get worse. Think of the most secluded place you have ever been , chances are it wasn't completely silent. However, I don't believe this is always a bad thing. Yes, i would like to have silence when i study or I'm trying to sleep but other than that silence is scary. The last time i can remember silence was watching TV on 9/11, then the room other than the TV was totally silent. Silence to me means that there is something wrong. Today Americans disregard silence for convenience.

COUNTER ARGUMENT

American a "culture of noise" are you kidding me? How can America be a culture of noise. people hardly ever talk to one another, most people spend all their time in a car by themselves or sitting in front of the TV or computer. Yeah they are experiencing some noise but that's all it is noise there is nothing meaningful coming out of it. people have driven themselves away from human interaction and into a routine that involves themselves, a TV and a computer. How many people sit down as a family and eat a meal, how many children never see one or both parents because they leave for work before they wake up and get home after they are asleep. Yeah American might be a "culture of noise" but its not because of all the human interaction people are experiencing. The other day i was in the waiting room at the dentist for about 25 mins with three other people, guess how many words we said to each other? Yeah that's right 0 instead we spent the 25mins watching some jackass on TV tell us how to brush our teeth and what great work he could do if you came to him for dental care. Yeah there was noise involved but the noise had nothing to do with culture. Because of this example and many others that take place everyday i cant agree with Stuart Sim..... yeah there's a lot of noise in America but it doesn't have anything to do with culture.