Week Eight

Week Eight...oh, how I thought I would be so happy to hear those two words!  Yet, I'm not..really.  I am a little sad that this is my last 'Educational Technology' blog.  Maybe because this is my first masters class and I'm feeling a little like when the first child leaves the house.  A little melancholy it's really over!  Who knows....all I know is that I'm not quite as happy as I may have thought that day I had to set up a first time blog! 

It's interesting we are ending the course with a lesson on viruses and worms and other miscreant's projects!  For indeed, me, the 'never get tricked by a phishing email' or 'I've told you over and over not to open attached files' - was indeed, stupid!  Yes...in a haste in doing my technology explorations, I downloaded programs and then accepted toolbars, etc.. that added so much adware to my computer that the hard drive crashed.  Yes - you heard me right - it was the TECHNOLOGY class that did me in!

What have I learned?!?  Be very, very careful when RUNNING a downloadable program.  So many of them now aren't really asking permission to run the program, but are asking permission to run some toolbar option that latches on to your browser and adds a ton of adware.  When you download, be careful to look at the URL - is it really the official site?  When I tried to download Java - it was only later I realized it wasn't the Oracle site - but some software site that had other programs attached to it.  Be careful - it's a real pain in the @$$ (the netiquette guide said it was okay to put that) to fix it!

I was lucky.  I used this computer for my class and had I not had another computer, the class would not have had access to the Smartboard for 3 weeks.  If kids are not careful with school computers, it could be a very expensive fix.  Our school has a 'filter' and it probably prevents downloads (I've never had them try to download anything) - but it would be wise to educate the students on these perils.  Learning the hard way is NO FUN! 

Regarding the 'netiquette' article, I guess I am busted.  RULE 5 states, 'Know what you're talking about and make sense.'  I'm not sure I have followed that rule at any time in writing my blog.  I hope you all will forgive me - we should have been told this on Day 1! :)

Rule 1 says to REMEMBER THE HUMAN.  With that said, it is my hope that anyone who has ventured to this blog finds only things that can help them.  I'm not sure there is anything truly worthy of praise or inspiration, but at heart, it is written from a human heart!

It is with a little knot in my throat that I say cheers to you all and may your search for technology be successful and engaging! 

BLESSINGS!