Aha Blog 1: Visual Symbols in My Life

From when I first wake to when I go to sleep visual symbols are all around me. Some are noticed and some get ignored because my eyes are so used to seeing them. I see them on practically all the products I use throughout the day. Every company has some kind of color or symbol that they use to make sure that people remember their product. I have paintings on my walls at home and they are also visual symbols. When I get out of the house and drive to work or school I see road signs everywhere that tell me the rules of the road. Most of the time they are clearly visible and the bright colors make them hard to miss, unless they are covered in snow.



Just about every building that I drive by has some kind of sign that distinguishes them from other places. There is a big billboard by my house that always catches my attention with its big flashy displays. Also, all over the television are symbols of all shapes, colors, and sizes.


Image from: http://www.visualphotos.com/image/2x4115531/snow_covered_stop_sign

They impact my life in that they help me get to where I need to get and to stay safe getting there. Visual symbols also help me choose where to go eat and what products to buy.

Visual symbols are all over and are very hard to miss. The struggle is just being able to train your eyes to notice them.


Part 2:

I ended the first blog by saying that it is difficult to train your eyes to notice visuals and now I’m going to end it by saying that the difficulty is with interpreting the visuals. As an educator it is crucial for me to always be observant of the visuals that I am introducing to my students. It is not just about the quality, but about the meaning and depiction that they portray. I have to make sure that it is always know why I chose or created what I did to represent a certain concept because what makes sense to me might not make  sense to the rest of the class.

Our last project about a word being worth a thousand images was very eye-opening to me. Some of the groups went into completely different directions than what I would have done with the images that they used to portray their word. It just goes to show that not only do a thousand images represent one word, but that those thousand images could be different for each person. I will definitely be more understanding when I see a representation from a student that I feel has no meaning, because they all have meanings just not always the same for all people.

After having seen so much and heard so much from my classmates I now realize that visuals don’t always have to be concrete. Our train of thought consists of images and the way that they can be “seen” is through communication. We need to learn how to express what we are thinking through some form of communication so that everyone can know what it is that we see in our minds.

I was right before that visuals are all around us,  but I had no idea how prevalent they are to my daily life and will be for the rest of my life.  

Expectation for CCA

I am so glad that I found the courage to take an Ed. Tech. minor. I was always so terrified of all the new and advancing technology that I just wanted to stay as far away from it, but since I don’t see it going away anytime soon the only option I had was to become a part of it.

The last few classes I have taken have been very fun and I have walked away with a lot from them and I expect the same from Classroom Computer Applications. It’s a great feeling when you see how good a risk taking decision turned out to be. I feel so much better prepared now after having a technology background to get into my own classroom.

From Classroom Applications I hope to learn how to provide a technology-rich environment in my classroom by exploring new technologies and learning how to incorporate them as well.

I’m no longer terrified, instead I am so excited to learn about new technologies!

Learning Through Second Life

Tour of Islam

With just a few clicks so much could be learned. Check out what I learned about Islam by visiting the following landmarks:

World Arabic:
This is a place that shows a lot of architecture that is common in the Arabic countries. By walking around you would get a sense what it would actually be like being in the Middle East.

Moroccan Houses:
Examples of different kinds of homes specific to certain areas are shown here.

Penrod's Place:
It is a place that shows off the skills of the Arabic people-rug making.

Allah Mosque:
Mosques are all around the Middle East and it is a place of worship for the Muslims. This landmark shows an example of the inside and outside of a mosque.

Al Andalus Mezquita:
This is a place that resembles an Arabic city. There are many things to see and Muslims to meet while visiting this location.

Palestine Holocaust Memorial Museum:
This is more for mature audiences. It shows real images and stories of people that have lost their lives due the fighting.

Ummah of Noor - Al Rawnaq Mall:
For those intersted in learning about the dress of the Islamic people this is the place to be. There area activities that can be done and some information on the items that just about every Muslim has in their house.

Islam Forever:
Videos and factual information is all around about the religion of Islam.

Rahmatan Lil Almin:
It is a little village that teaches one what one living in these areas does.

OnIslam Virtual Hajj:
Great place to start when exploring Islam. The Quaran and the mosque are the biggest features.

Learning Geography and History through Second Life

As I took a tour of Ancient Civilizations I realized how beneficial this would be to my future students. Many students don’t enjoy reading text books and articles especially when learning about history. I know I always wished I could go back in time to learn what it was actually like for the people before us. Reading and researching could only do so much. For the students that struggle finding history and geography interesting Second Life would be a great tool. They are able to visit many locations and not only look at the buildings and streets, but also gain a lot of knowledge by exploring the places. Teachers could explore this even further by having students look for something in Second Life that catches their interest and then further research it.

Once again, I can’t believe how easy and fun this is! Within only a few minutes I have visited so many places. These are the places that I have learned throughout the years and this aspect makes it so much more interesting. Some may view most of these places as places to spend money, but so much more can be done with it. Teachers can just simply instruct the students to compare and contrast the clothing from certain time periods and today as well as many different things.

The possibilities are endless for exploration! I can’t wait to be able to do this with my own classroom one day. I have so many ideas floating around in my head already!

Makeovers in Second Life

I have always wanted to wear a big gown with a cute little hat, but never had the guts to do it in real life. Second Life has provided me with an oppotunity to do something I've always fantasized about. It is so trhrilling being able to adjust your appearance and see what you would like like with a different hairstyle or hair color. My mom has green eyes and I have wondered many times what I would have looked like if I had her eyes and I was able to see that through Second Life. Any girl of any age I'm sure would enjoy the makeovers as much as I did if not more. Guys could enjoy it too. We all have wondered at one point or another what we would have looked like in another time period and how certain styles would look on us. Whether we have the guts to try it or not in real life, we can always do it in Second Life.

Here is what I played around with:


Isn't my gown gorgeous??

Second Life Exploration Continued

Wow! I am impressed! I have had the opportunity to explore the world from my living room. Now that I have become a little more comfortable with Second Life I have come to enjoy it more. There is so much to see, I don’t know where to begin!

I have explored several places and it has been so much fun running and flying when I wanted to avoid walking around other avatars. I also discovered a way to make it so that people can’t send me messages; I just go to busy and no message go through to me. At first I was just noting down the places that I visited, but now that I know how to take pictures it makes it so much more fun. It really feels like I’m traveling the world and I can start a scrapbook of all my adventures.



Here are a few pictures of some of my adventures:

Second Life Exploration

As soon as I entered into Second Life I immediately received a message from a guy with a screen name of ___1969. That guy had not had enough time to look at my profile which I was still working on to see what age I was, so I don’t know what the intention of his message was to me. I don’t like that it is so open and if I was to do this with my class that I would have to take the chance of having to let my students explore something full of people from all over that might not have their best intentions at heart.

As I was exploring destinations I came across a place that had an image of some indecent exposure. Not only do I fear coming across inappropriate people, but now also inappropriate images. With this being out there and a chance there for my students to be able to see this, I don’t think that I would even consider it. I haven’t seen as many positive things so far as I have negative, so I am not in complete support of it.

Apart from all that, it was also very overwhelming. It felt as if I was in the middle of the world with no clue as to what I was doing or where I was going. There was so much to do and I had no idea as to where to begin.

I am hoping that with time that I will get comfortable with Second Life and that I will be able to see some pros and not just cons to it. I have to admit that I am just a little anxious about it aside from all the negative comments I have about it.

Check it out for yourself!

https://secondlife.com