Freebie
I figured I should post our MDG video on my blog:
May 16, 2008
May 07, 2008
Classmate Response
I was fascinated by Broc and Kelly's presentation on using communication technology to improve the quality of life in developing countries. I loved that they focused in on one aspect of life in those countries that we don't usually think of. We just assume that they have more immediate concerns than whether their citizens have cell phones. But like they showed in their presentation, cell phones and computers gave the people of Somolia a better life. It's interesting to consider the potential for them to skip analog communication and just leap frog into the digital world. This makes a lot of sense to me, and I think there is no major reason why that can't happen. It will take some large scale global initiatives to make it happen, but with organizations such as the UN, the world can work together to bring communication technology to poor countries.
Technology truly has improved the quality of education in developed countries. We have always taken for granted the computers we have always had access to. Our generation is the first one to have grown up computer literate for our entire lives. It comes so naturally to us, we hardly can imagine a world without our technologies. If you think about it, though, our education has been affected by computers forever. I think the Hole in the Wall schools are a good idea. It was smart of Broc and Kelly to focus on this simple, specific solution in their proposal. With a discreet area for your donations to go to, I think people will be more likely to give money to these sorts of causes. Proposing it in this way would attract philanthropists, since the outcomes of these computer kiosks are very clear. The hundred dollar laptops are a good idea as well. Since there is a difficulty in managing quality schools in Africa, these self-teaching tools are going to prove invaluable in the future.
May 05, 2008
Volunteer Journal
This was my second semester volunteering at the Minnesota Internship Charter School. Last semester, I was an after-school tutor, but this semester I was put in two classrooms to help the teachers. I would love to say that my time there was endlessly wonderful, but the one I really learned a lot from my students happened last semester. I was tutoring a girl I often worked with, when we started talking about our families. She told me that she had been married in Somalia when she was fourteen. They'd had two children, then her husband died. She came to America after that and left her children with her mother. She was going to school at MNIC and working at Target to save up enough money to bring her children over to America. The story broke my heart. I will never forget hearing that story told to me personally. At nineteen, she had gone through far more than I will ever expect to go through in life, and she was so brave. She graduated in January, so I haven't seen her in months, but she had a major impact on me.
This semester, I was placed in an Art class with a charismatic Mexican teacher, Mr. Veyez. He often stumbled through the English language and would ask me how to say certain words. There was never anything to do in those classes except do silly art projects with the students. They conversed among themselves for the most part, but once in a while I could chat with them. I observed bullying last time I was there, so ended up sitting with the bullied girl and hopefully I improved her day a little. I wish there had been more around-the-classroom things for me to help out with. With the few supplies they had, there were never many dishes to rinse or papers to sort. I tried asking the teacher if he had anything for me to do, but often I felt like I was a burden more than a help. The students were very unenthusiastic. The art class was obviously a requirement none of them wanted to fulfill. The teacher often had to raise his voice at the disrespectful students. It made me sad that these mostly Somalian students, who were spending a good amount of their family's money on getting a high school degree, treated their education with such disrespect.
After that hour in art, I would go to a class that was sometimes math and sometimes grammar. Like before, the students were badly behaved, especially for high schoolers. I did help out a lot in this class, though. I usually helped them get through their assignments. I was exhausting, teaching the students the same things over and over again. After I left every day, though, I felt that maybe I had put in some worthwhile work. The teachers were obviously overworked in that school, so whatever I could do was appreciated.
So my experiences volunteering this semester had rewarding parts and aggravating parts. Like all volunteer work, though, it does give you a sense of accomplishment in the end. I definitely will remember some of the students I tutored over the year. However, I think my volunteer job as a campus tour guide will be the one that suits me the best.
May 04, 2008
Architecture and Technology
After studying architecture and technology for several weeks, I have come to the conclusion that the tech revolution should not be viewed as an inherently negative thing or an inherently good thing. After listening to our guest lecturer's lesson, I was even more in awe of digital design possibilities than I was before. I am in Design in the Digital Age this semester, though our curriculum barely scratches the surface of the world of digital design. We learned about the amazing possibilities of Google SketchUp, though we didn't get much into the abstract shapes that make Franky Gehry famous. I think progress in any field is necessary, particularly so in the field of design. The potentials for the future of design are endless, thanks to the computer programs involved in architecture these days. The shapes we can make are incredible, and should be valued as quality architecture.
However, the tried-and-true methods of design should never be abandoned. While the modeling of your design on a computer is useful for seeing your building in 3D before it has any solidity to it, hand drawing the plans is still an important way to understand your building. Our graphics may be getting fancier, but the essential elements of design have always stayed the same, and should continue to stay that way.
We can't say that the tech revolution is the whole future of the design field. It is an addition to the methods of design that have been used for thousands of years. SketchUp makes our designing easier, but at the end of the day, it is our hand-drawn designs that will determine our success.
May 01, 2008
Sorry It's Late!
I was having technical difficulties getting my title page designs up. But here they are!
