Trouble on YouTube

It is really disturbing to think that it is so easy for someone to create and post a video on YouTube. Any video can be shown to millions of people. The article about a "Teacher's Nightmare" is a perfect example. She was inappropriately taped at a public graduation ceremony, and her image was set to the tune of a Van Halen song. Anyone searching YouTube for "Van Halen" would come across this video. In fact, nearly 200,000 people viewed it. That's scary. Even though it was eventually removed from the site, anyone could have downloaded it. This means that once a video is posted, it might be impossible to make it go away.

del.icio.us

Last week we learned about del.icio.us. This is a great way to organize all of your favorite links in one place that can be accessed from any computer with internet access. It is much more convenient than just using "Favorites" on your computer. "Favorites" can only be accessed from the computer on which they were saved. On del.icio.us you can tag bookmarks with one-word descriptor which helps you organize and find them in the future. Another advantage to del.icio.us is that you can share your favorites with others or you can find other people with similar interests and add their links to your collection.

Last week we learned about blogs and how to start our own blogs. I can see how teenagers can get into trouble using blogs. Afterall, it is tempting to make comments like you are just talking to a friend. However, everyone can see what you've written. This can be very dangerous. I always tell my students not to write anything on a computer that they wouldn't be proud to print out and hold up for everyone to see.

Learning Habits

When I think about my own learning habits, I have to admit that I sometimes get overwhelmed by new challenges. I look at them as problems that need to be solved immediately rather than breaking them down into manageable pieces. I often tell others not to scare themselves by looking at the big picture, but I don't follow my own advice. It is easier to take baby steps and accomplish a bit at a time than to try to attack the entire problem at once.

The thing I find to be easiest is to set goals. I know what I want to accomplish. If I could learn to set short-term goals instead of long-term goals, I think life would be less stressful.