Spoken Word- Suli Breaks

So before I for get to do my blog I'm going to finish the one that I never got to submit. Why? Because  I am running out of shows to talk about especially since the season has ended for most of them. But, I thought I'd take a go at what I like to do in my spare time, whenever the time may be. Since I personally like to write poetry and music I thought this was worth writing about. Spoken Word--- is a great way for individuals to express themselves and explore their identity.

This is a spoken word piece that speaks it all ....
Suli Break presents ....

I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate||Spoken Word

It speaks truth. ... It asks questions I ask myself these questions going through high school. It speaks on society and ability.

Suli Breaks discusses many poems based on Education and self-worth...
They are powerful and filled with debatable concepts.
And in many ways he challenges society to think outside the box.

Suli Breaks... Why I Hate School but Love Education

Education is the Key ...

He speaks that Education is the Key... Not School

Common Sense 

Inspiring one's mind

"It does a fool no good to spend money on an education" 

-George Bush

These are the things that students go through in a school year. 

We say to ourselves "I pay all this money for school and .... "

We always expect the most 

But we shouldn't have to worry about these situations 

But there is more than one way to be educated.. 

 

True Facts about...

You probably have come across the "True Facts about (insert animal name here)" videos on youtube. If you haven't basically its video clips of an animal living its life while a man tells you facts about the animal. I was recently introduced to the video about the mantis shrimp.

I like these videos because they present the information about the animals in a way that isn't dry like a textbook. The man talking in these videos has a very unenthusiastic tone when telling you these interesting facts and he is often bitter about the things the animals can do that he cannot. He always starts out telling the facts professionally and then he slowly gets more casual and more inappropriate as he goes on. Towards the end of each video he's cursing frivolously. I think videos like this are a great way to teach kids about animals they wouldn't typically learn about or want to know about.

Movies on Education

I'm planning on visiting my old high school over the break to help out with some stuff and when I went to their front page, they were advertising two movie screenings at the school for students (which I've never heard of at my high school before). Although they screen on days I won't be there I was wondering if anyone has heard of these titles: Race to Nowhere / 2 Million Minutes. The first is a documentary about the pressures of the school system on students, teachers, and parents, while the latter is about how students spend their time in school. At least, that is what their descriptions say.

What is creepy is that it seems we just had a discussion along these lines in class today. You don't have any connections in Vermont, do you Arturo?

Cornell Cinema

I don't know how many of you guys have heard about this, but Cornell Cinema is a really good place to see some excellent films, both new and old. Last semester they played a whole bunch of Kurosawa films which was awesome. It only costs four dollars to see a movie and I know that you could probably watch a lot of the films they have on DVD from the library for free, but nothing beats watching a movie on a big screen. They also have other events; for example, last spring they had a band called the Books play there. It was really cheap and was a fantastic show with a questions and answers section at the end. I would recommend checking this place out.

The Power of Drill Baby, Drill!

If games and virtual environments were not critically influential in "educating" people by drilling into their brain and responsive system whatever message we wish to convey, then we would not spend so much money, time, research etc. in such medium. But the fact is that...

"Manhunt 2" is a video game in which characters kill
and torture using items such as a fuse box and a toilet.

Photo Credit:

Rockstar Games Via Associated Press
Related Article:
Study Links Violent Video Games, Hostility

The day the world changed

When 9/11 happened the vultures that ruled our country went into a rampage of destruction and deception under the cover of fear. That fateful day the world indeed changed for ever. Change in that case meant that everything that was a promise of compassion, understanding and peace would be sacrificed at the altar of greed and intolerance. Thousands of young impressionable American kids have and continue to be slaughtered in the name of geopolitical dominance.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been and continue to be killed for the sin of living in an oil rich region which happens to be at the strategic center of the Muslim world, a very convenient situation that allowed the Bush cartel to portray them as dangerous because of their beliefs in a "wrong" god (as if there was a "right" one), for dressing differently, for having a different shade of brown in their skin. That was portrayed over and over as a threat to be eliminated, and the masses went for it, giving away their sons and daughters and their economic future to fund the slaughter

But today, the world has changed again, in a reaction so powerful that it might, it just might, restore the balance that we have surely lost. Perhaps it is too late and the damage to our world and to our own humanity is beyond rescue, but there is hope, all around the world, in that world largely ignored by the American people as if it did not exist or matter, that the crumbling empire that is the US might allow the birth of an entirely new world citizenship, that might, just might help guide the world into a hopefully brighter future.

And like Obama said, it is OUR task, that of all of us, not the US, but us, the world, to come together and become what we are supposed to be, the stewards of our only ailing planet.

Education & Capitalism

Why do we have schools? To educate! Of course. That must be it, but if you peel back a couple of the layers and discover that Columbus really didn't discover 'America.'

We assume many things we are taught to be true. Columbus is only the outer layer of half-truths we are indoctrinated with. More information can be found by clicking on the title OR just google, education capitalism. This is not always the case, but seems to be pretty prevalent at the University of Florida.

The reason I say all this is because this class seems more like job training than a educational experience. Just like many other classes, we are supposed to fulfill a certain amount of requirements to get a certain grade. That seems to be the main focus and it is up to the student to make it something more.

Sure we are learning, but why do we need to learn how to complete a business proposal? I was excited about this course based on James C. Oliverio introduction to Digital Worlds, but my experience has turned sour. Maybe virtual environments just isn't the thing for me...

Anyone know much about modern-day train hopping? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQcxnKC5V4Y&feature=related)

UF Graduate Student Council 2008 Research Forum

To our Class:

I just was notified Saturday that I was accepted as a Poster Presenter for the Graduate Student Council Research Forum happening this Monday, April 14 at the Rietz Union.

Between 10:30 and noon I will be displaying photos, summary documents, and logged into SL on my laptop showing how Group 6 is Bringing (Criminal) Justice to Second Life.

Drop by if you get a chance, I'll give a report on how the Forum went when I get the opportunity.

Doug

SL impact in Education

This March 2008 report about responses that were received on the topic "Measuring the impact of Second Life for educational purposes" by John Kirriemuir (Silversprite Helsinki), is a transcript of a meeting held in Second Life to discuss the issues raised by a UK academic survey on the subject of developing, or teaching in Second Life.

The Eduserve Foundation ( check their Eduserv Island if you have not done it already) is evaluating "what is happening in SL, particularly with regards to its use in education, and partly with the intention of providing help and support to educators and librarians as they begin to make use of SL as part of thier service delivery to end-users." Very interesting and timely indeed.

You can find the pdf here.

Rosedale in the mirror

gimme a break!

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The growth of Second Life, though, has subsided dramatically. Firms are pulling out …

Rosedale : The real business use of Second Life centers around collaboration and that is continuing to grow quite rapidly. There are more than 400 universities in Second Life and there are more than 4,000 teachers on our education mailing list. There might have been more enthusiasm and stronger growth in the first two quarters of 2007, but I think that the core growth in utility and in applications is still very strong. There's been a media focus on marketing …

Rosedale : We have to profoundly open up the system. We've opened up the client, and we'll continue to open up formats, protocols, standards, and code. I think we can serve a function as a company that coordinates the activities of many companies and individuals within this system and by doing that allow Second Life to grow by two or three orders of magnitude. Ultimately, the use of virtual worlds will be greater than the use of the Web. Because the Web imposes a language barrier that a virtual world -- once it's perfect -- will not impose.

Limitations of Second Life

As part of our (group 6's) project about crime scene investigation education in SL, I am researching some fundamental limitations of SL which could inhibit progress in VW education.
Specifically I am interested in technical details such as how small an object can be and how detailed can objects be? For example, often in crime scene investigation, the CSI looks for hairs, fingerprints, and other types of trace evidence. It does not seem feasible to incorporate these directly into an SL crime scene.

While searching the web for relevant information I came across a video discussing some other issues with SL education. Have a look
She makes a bold statement at the end which I don't necessarily agree with:
"Even if the technical problems are resolved, there is nothing to be gained by replacing lectures or discussions in a classroom on a campus when all students live within driving distance with those types of sessions in Second Life."

So in addition to limitations, what new abilities does SL bring to the table?