Weekly Report and Reflection #7

This week in ADED 1P32 I was able to spend some time working with a tool called Google Docs. I have had previous experience doing collaborative essays and the like using this, so I was fairly familiar with its functions, which is a nice change for me.
Google Docs provides a convenient way to work collaboratively, by allowing every contributor of the project to see their partners working, in real time (not through video of course, but by allowing them to see the typed content that is being added). It also provides a chat window, which can be used to discuss minor errors or to provide brief instruction or encouragement.
My partner and I used the Brock email system to contact each other and eventually got to TodaysMeet where we set up a time to meet on GoogleDocs. I can say with confidence that I would take Google Docs study dates over emailing or Skype sessions any day. For one, there is no pressure to not wear pyjamas (phew), and there is no delay in response. I have already added Google Docs to my PLE but it serves a more specific purpose than I had considered. Until tonight, I was unaware that it was possible to collaborate on basically any piece of writing. I had previously held the belief that team editing features had only applied to word documents. Having the ability to work with my mom on perfecting a resume, or building a powerpoint presentation with someone slide by slide allows a level of convenience and productivity that messaging and sending photos of each other's work cannot come close to providing. Ultimately, Google Docs provides facilitation of teamwork as well as an automatically saving version of Microsoft Word that has your email connected to it to make it easier to share with other contributors.

One article that caught my attention in my reader this week was a study summary published by WebMD, a medical news website, about the effects of marijuana use on the brain. The article outlines the differences in brain structure observed by neuroscientists in marijuana smokers who had become regular users at the age of 16 or younger, compared to those who started smoking marijuana later in life. Though the article wasn't very specific about the age that they considered "older", and the study did not appear to include non-marijuana users at all, the scientists observed notable differences in the brain structures when compared using an mRI. It seems that regular users that had started at 16 or younger possessed fewer "wrinkles" in their brains, and less distinction between grey and white matter than those who had begun smoking at a later point in their development. Basically what this means is that the way in which marijuana affects dopamine levels in the brain may influence brain development. Perhaps the reason that such a distinction has been observed between the two groups has to do with neuronal development. Of course the brain's work is never done, but development significantly slows down in your twenties. My opinion is that this difference may be in part due to the drug's effect on the brain during critical maturation period.

Well, it was nice talking to you, but in the spirit of digital health and wellness I must be going because I have been staring at a screen for much longer than is considered healthy for my body and mind.

Until next week,

Amy

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20160226/pot-habit-early-in-life-may-alter-brain-study-suggests?src=RSS_PUBLIC
http://ylegalizepot.com/sites/default/files/teen%20brain.jpg

Weekly Report & Reflection #5

Hey everyone,

This week we set up Twitter accounts for educational use. Since I wanted this Twitter account to be separate from my own personal Twitter account, and I was not able to use my current email, I had to create a new email address and a new Twitter account. However, it did not end there. I typed in the wrong email address, and Twitter would not allow me to "tweet" without email confirmation, so I had to make another email, and another account. And then another Twitter account for some other reason. So needless to say, I will be getting several emails from Twitter every day until I die, probably. 

Apart from the inconvenience of setting up my Twitter account, which shouldn't apply to the average user, I consider Twitter to be a very effective method of communication and educational exposure. I enjoy Twitter particularly because of its 140 character limit (it makes things short and sweet and lets me get back to my life quickly). Additionally, it is far superior to email when connecting with peers, as it doesn't require correspondence, and allows individuals to follow other classmates' opinions and perspectives in shared courses without having to wait on responses. Hashtags make this infinitely easier still, by efficiently categorizing the tweets of individuals based on topics. While I have already included Twitter in my PLE under Social Media, with the discovery of its use as an educational tool, I would add it to my Information Platform as a means to which I can gather information from educators and peers about my topics of interest. I have also connected LinkedIn to my educational Twitter page, which will allow potential employers to have a more complete view on who I am as a professional.

I discovered something interesting in my feedly reader today as well that I believed would be relevant to this class. This article, titled "When Self-Monitoring Becomes Uncomfortably Intimate", published by the Guardian, outlines the impositions new fitness monitors put in place, and how, instead of improving our health, they cause an uncomfortable parental influence, with some universities and workplaces requiring students and employees to wear these watches, as if personally ensuring their wellness and even sexual purity. This article had me thinking about whether these fitness monitors as a new fad in technology really do have an adverse effect on our health as a whole. I myself own a fitbit, and I had considered it an integral part of my PLE (I was thinking healthy body, healthy mind I suppose), but I see how the pressure to succeed in all areas of life, and feeling like you're being judged when your weekly report gives you a sad face, can affect our personal growth and induce feelings of failure. 

This article may inspire me to carry out a healthy lifestyle without the influence of technology, and allow me to set specific limits on what areas of my life should be affected by technology. Speaking of which, I also came across an article this week on Pinterest that said that you will sleep more soundly if you don't look at a screen less than 30 minutes before you go to bed. So there's a weekly tip, and with that I'm signing out.

Hope everyones exams go well.

Until next time,

Amy

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/do-we-need-app-to-monitor-premarital-sex