Week Eleven of GECHS

This week was by far the best week ever here at GECHS. The moment we have all been waiting for has finally happened. The new building was ready for us! It was supposed to be completed a while back but all the waiting has finally paid off. Our first full day in the new building was on November 2, 2012. It was very exciting for all of us.


This week we signed up for a website called Noredink. Noredink is a simple site that both teachers and students can use. The site helps students practice and master grammar and writing skills in a fun and easy way. Noredink is also a way for us to study for grammar test. I really enjoy using it.


Our first assignment, as usual, was to edit our peers' blog. After having our blog edited, we went back and did a little revision and fixed our blog. Later, we commented on our classmates blogs. Having someone comment on our blog allows us to take in any suggestions and fix mistakes so our blog could be amazing.


The next day we started a new discussion on online tracking and targeting. Most of what we learned was about how companies can track your online activity and target specific ads and searches based on your demographic information and digital history. This may seem as an invasion of privacy but it doesn't all have to be negative. There are both negative and positive perspectives to it.

Description: Targeting
Date:April 23, 2008
Found at: Flickrcc.net

Online tracking and targeting can easily be something positive instead of negative. For example, you are looking for a movie to watch on Netflix. Instead of searching for a long time, netflix tries to determine the type of movies you enjoy based on your choices. Then they recommend movies that you may enjoy. Doing this is less time consuming and helps you search for movies easier.


The negative side of online tracking and targeting is that some information is hidden from you due to companies and search engines trying to tailor your online experience. This means that when two different people search the same thing, the results are not necessarily going to be the same. Having information personalized for you at all times doesn't always turn out to be a good thing.

Description:
Date:
Found at: www.flickrcc.net

We were also given a list of new vocabulary words to define.

Track- When companies collect information about you based on your online behavior.
Target- When companies tailor content to you based on the information they have collected about you.
Demographic- Common categories of the population, such as age, gender, and race.
Cookies- Data files that are stored on your computer when you visit certain sites.


There are multiple ways to stop companies from collecting too much of your information. This brings me to my next topic. Our new web 2.0 tool we used this week was Mixbook. Mixbook is a website that allows you to create a variety of things. Mostly photobooks, photocards, scrapbooks, yearbooks, and calenders.


The instructions given to us was to create a brochure giving 7 tips on how to limit data collection. Using mixbook, was a a little bit of a challenge. After a while it was easy to use. There wasn't really any negative aspects of Mixbook. It was a fun and easy website to use. My Mixbook is shown below.

| Start your own Photo Books | Create custom Christmas Cards

Overall, this week was absolutely amazing! I really enjoyed everything we went over in class. I never knew that companies kept track of what you do online and try to tailor your online experience. Moving into our new building was just the icing on top of the cake! I can't wait until next week. It'll be our first full week in the new building.