Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Final Project - Podcast

We have discussed the problem of cyber bullying and what can be done about it.
1. Do you think that cyber bullying is or could become a problem in Japan?
2. What kind of bullying is now happening in Japan?
3. How can we prevent it?
4. Why is this such an important issue?
5. How can we teach youth about safety and the Internet?
- society (Internet companies)
- teachers
- parents
- government

Prepare your podcast and add a link to your webpage. Present the complete webpage folder to the "PUT" folder in your class.

You are done! Have a good summer!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Our Podcast

So let us now try podcasting for ourselves. You will make a audio file and post it to your (virtual) homepage. You will work in pairs and make comments on the questions posted in last week's class. You will also be given questions on safety.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Podcasting and Internet Media

We have discussed and blogged about freedom and responsibility on the Internet. We then saw how this freedom means there can be great bias in webpages. Now we will look at two more topics, podcasting and safety.

After the class discussion, can you imagine how to use Internet media like podcasting and MySpace or Mixi pages to broadcast yourself? What are the benefits? Do you have a Mixi page? Why? How do you use it? Can you imagine the future of Internet media? What will it be like?

Here is one example of how someone can use Internet media. My nephew ( my sister's son) has a page to promote his music career.

www.myspace.com/mrmarksampson

And a homepage

www.marksampson.ca

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The Teacher Weighs In

At the risk of biasing your opinion, I will give you mine.

This story, though it arouses strong emotions on both sides seems a little silly.

I cannot see what the Japanese government is so worried about. They are spending a lot of money and wasting time on a non-issue.

Why is it a non-issue? There is nothing the government can really do. People will do as they like. They will invent new recipes. This is natural.

In fact this can be good, and good for genuine restaurants too. Take the example of curry in Japan. When curry 1st came to Japan, it was not the genuine kind. It was much milder than original Indian curry and served on top of rice. Now after Japanese have become accustomed to more and more spicy curries, genuine Indian restaurants are moving into Japan to serve the real thing. Had the original never been Japanized in the first place, curry may never have been able to get into Japan. Now many Indian restaurant owners proudly sell their cuisine, making a good living. And Japanese are proud to say to their friends, "I had real curry at a real Indian restaurant last night."

Popularization of a cuisine is natural, certainly not bad, and certainly not something any government can control.

S. R. White.

Bias - Continued

Now that you have looked at pages from different sources. Can you see if one is more or less biased than the other? Which is more biased?

After reading the different sides, how do you feel? Do you think the Sushi Police is a good idea or a bad idea? Why?

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Internet Publishing and Blogs

The one main difference between the Internet and other forms of Publishing is that anyone can publish anything. No one edits or checks the accuracy of web pages or Blogs.

Can we rely on the source? Can we trust the information we find in Blogs? How do we know if a blogger is telling the truth or telling lies? Is there a bias?

Please write your ideas in your next blog entry. Look at the current story about the Japanese government inspecting Japanese restaurants overseas. Search the term "Sushi Police" in both Japanese and English. Do you see any differences in the websites?

Paste a link to one website in your blog. ( see example below )

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/12/07/PM200612077.html


Sensei

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Privacy and Responsibility on the Internet

This is an online course about safety and security on the Internet.

We are discussing various topics. The first topic is Privacy and Responsibility.

Question 1.
Do you think that most people in Japan are aware of the dangers on the Internet?
Students; Please tell me about your experience using computers, did your teachers tell you about safety? Do you think they should have taught you more? Why do you think many Japanese do not know much about this issue?