5 Potential Research Topics

1. Drunk driving- I chose this topic  because I'm going to be driving soon and I want to be as safe as possible. I would rather be fined than wrapped around a pole and possibly take another persons life.
2. Standerized Testing- I chose this topic because as a student I feel like standerized testing takes away from the teachers oppurtunity to actually teach the subject instead of teaching the kids how to pass the test.
3. Bullying- I chose this topic because its something I've experienced and its a worldwide problem. Many teenagers have comitted suicide because of other kids
4. Smoking-  I chose this topic because it's something thats been a big problem in the world since it became popular. Parents who smoke in danger their kids because of second hand smoke and its not fair the child.
5. Common Core- I chose this topic because it doesn't allow the teacher to teach the kids instead only prepare them for the test. All students are categorized the same but everyone has different abilities.

Things That Tick Me Off

Make a list of four or five things that "tick you off." Explain why. (Choose significant things that others might experience as well. For instance, your little brother might tick you off, but there is little chance that this annoyance will yield a possible paper topic). It is possible that one of these annoyances can be transformed into an interesting, engaging, and researchable project.

1. The SAT because if you are prepped more for it then you are more likely to succeed. Also because a test makes or breaks your college career.
2. When people drink and drive because not only are they harming themselves but putting other people in harms way.
3. Child abuse, because children shouldn't be harmed for being a child or making mistakes.
4. Animal abuse, because I love animals and they don't know right from wrong and shouldn't be accountable.

Wikipedia Story

1. What did wiki software allow Web users to do that the Mosaic browser did not? The Mosaic browser did not allow people to edit web pages. However, Wiki had the ability to let people edit the web pages.
2. What do blogs and wikis have in common? Blogs encouraged user generated content and that is what Wiki is based off of to involve user generated content in web pages. That is what Wiki's and Blogs have in common.
3. What problem did a young Jimmy Wales find with the World Book Encyclopedia? The problem he found was that there was a lot of things in it but not everything. That's what he wanted to fix.
4. How was Jimmy Wales inspired by the World Book Encyclopedia to create Wikipedia? He was inspired by stickering his encyclopedia that his mom bought him. He did this to update the original encyclopedia which is what Wikipedia is, people can edit the original content on the web page. 
5. How have encyclopedias inspired you in your own life? Encyclopedias as books have not had much of an impact on my life but Wikipedia has. Wikipedia has helped me with many projects in school and just random thoughts on things i wondered about.
6. Why did Nupedia fail? Nupedia failed because there was only one dozen articles published and there was 150 in drafts which shows how long the process is.
7. How did wiki software change the ideas behind Nupedia? Wiki software changed the ideas behind Nupedia by allowing the general public to modify pages with no review by staff.
8. What is “ crowdsourcing?” Crowd-sourcing means to obtain any information into a particular task by enlisting the services of a number of people either paid or unpaid.
9. What do you think about the concept of “any fool in the world” being able to write articles for Wikipedia? I believe he means that wikipedia will become biased a website and people will edit things to fool around.
10. Do agree with the idea that “total idiots” could edit Wikipedia and of that being a good thing? Explain. No I don't believe the idea of "total idiots" editing Wikipedia could be a good thing. I don't believe this is a good thing because it will provide false information and not many people would use it.
11. Why do you think Wikipedia grew so fast and became so popular in such a short amount of time? I think Wikipedia grew so fast and became so popular in such a short amount of time because it was made clear Nupedia had no connection to Wikipedia.
12. Do you believe Sanger’s elitist attitude was a good thing or a bad thing for Wikipedia? I believe Sanger's elitist attitude was a good thing because the Wikipedia community proved him wrong.
13. What did you learn from the anecdote about the Wikipedia article on Einstein going to Albania for a passport in 1935? I learned that people with correct  information can correct other peoples  statements helping balance out the information.
14. Explain this quote from the article: “I can’t imagine who could have written such detailed guidelines other than a bunch of people working together...It’s common in Wikipedia that we’ll come to a solution that’s really well thought out because so many minds have had a crack at improving it.” The article written by a bunch of  people helps  spread a neutral viewpoint of things such as world hunger.
15. The author of the article states that Wikipedia “grew organically.” What does he mean by that? I think that the author of the article means that the Wikipedia site grew by  the people of the community contributing to help develop and grow. 
16. How has Wikipedia “been the greatest collaborative knowledge project in history?” 
17. Based on your own opinion and experience with Wikipedia, do you agree with the above statement or disagree with it? Explain.
18. What does the author mean by “wiki-crack?” The author  means its a rush of "dopamine" that goes to the brain's pleasure center. The happens when the person makes an intelligent edit and it immediately appears in a Wikipedia article.
19. Based on the article, do you believe Wikipedia is a reliable source of information? I still don't believe Wikipedia is reliable source of information because of the amount of teachers  who tell me to use a more reliable source.
20. Do you believe its possible for a 16-year-old from New Jersey to write “insightful” Wikipedia articles? I do believe its possible for a 16-year-old from New Jersey to write an "insightful" Wikipedia article but the article would need to be revised and proof read by a teacher with great knowledge of the subject.
21. How do you feel about basing your own research on something a 16-year-old wrote on Wikipedia? I would  feel a little iffy on basing my research on something a 16 yr old wrote because, I would always have doubt on whether or not my information is correct.
22. What does Jimmy Wales mean by this mission statement: “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge?”
23. Do you agree or disagree with this mission statement?
24. Do you think Wikipedia has succeeded in its mission?
25. Do you agree or disagree that ordinary people, people without degrees, can “be part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?” I believe that people with out a degree shouldn't be a part of the the process because it can be credible site if they weren't. 
26. Based on your reading of the article, would you yourself use Wikipedia for your academic research? No I would not use Wikipedia for my academic research because other people could falsify the information of the topic I am looking at. I would rather get my information from a trusted site written by someone with credibility.
27. Would you yourself like to write and/or edit Wikipedia articles in order to be “a part of the process  of creating and distributing knowledge?” Why or why not?  I would not like to write or edit Wikipedia articles because I believe I would not have all the correct information and wouldn't want to give misleading information.

Homework #1

1) If you believe that all students should be Web literate, what is the best strategy for your school to prepare you with this skill? Explain.
I do believe that all students should be Web literate because the internet is such a big part of our lives. The best strategy for our school to prepare us with this skill is to able to have class time with this subject.  We could learn things that make up the internet and why it does. Our school cold also allow us to have hands on activities with computers in lab.

 2) What skills should all teachers have to be Web literate? Explain.
 Teachers should have many skills to be Web literate such as creating activities online for students, Grading online and also just knowing how to research on the web. These are important because students rely on grades being available online and the online activities. The teachers knowing how to use the web in general is a much in order to do anything today.

 3) What role should school filtering play in your school district? Explain why schools should block or not block Web sites.
 I believe that schools should block websites but not all because sometimes it does provide a roadblock when trying to show educational activities or trying to present a project. There should be some websites blocked because there are some that are inappropriate ones but some that can be used for good that have their own privacy violations shouldn't be blocked.

4) Do you believe the Internet is as big a transformer of culture as the printing press? Explain.
The internet is a big transformer of our culture because it changed how people do everything. Like the printing press which created reading material that published daily news, the internet has news from all countries with the touch of a button. Having the internet, especially in schools, helps students do their research on current events easier then it was with just news papers.

 5) If yes, what parts of our culture do you believe will be most affected? Explain.
Almost everything in our culture has changed. Now, people just go on the computer to do research. Also people use the internet to do general things like paying bills or making appointments, or even finding jobs. People have become very dependent on the internet.

About Me

• The subject I most enjoy reading about is U.S history.

• My favorite hobby or pastime is basketball and video games.

• If I won the lottery, I would use the money to donate to charity and give back to my community.

• The type of volunteer activity I prefer is helping other kids.

• My favorite school subject has always been history and physical education.

• If I ran the world, the first thing I would change would be the amount of poverty in many areas