Online Entertainment

The Internet is changing in many ways, one being online entertainment. Online entertainment includes online gaming, radio and watching videos online.

Some examples of online entertainment are:

• Youtube
• Video Google
• Mousebreaker

Online entertainment is very useful for us, this is because:

• The ability to speak to friends from other places
• Enjoy a game or video with millions of others
• The interactive between people who are usually unable to do the activity (in online games)

But with everything, there are also downsides to this, some of them are:

• The possibility to online bulling in games and videos
• The lack of age restrictions on the web
• The fact that what you post can be accessed by anyone

Online Services Im Studying

The five online services i wil be doing are:

• News Groups
• Instant Messaging
• Blogs
• Video Conferencing
• Email

Downloading

From all the stuff that we have downloaded and have found many advantages and disadvantages.
Below are some of the stuff we have downloaded and good and bad points about the idea of downloading.
Stuff we have downloaded

• Music
• Films
• Computer Updates
• Computer Programs

Advantages

• Cheaper than physical products
• Quick
• Free
• Can try before we but

Disadvantages

• Virus
• They can download stuff of you
• Downloads can traced
• Hackers
• Filed under false name
• Often Illegal sites

As a final overview I believe that the in general downloading software, songs and programs from the Internet is every good. But I believe that the idea of Internet downloading can be greatly improved. Such as being able to see the original source of the program and that it is possible to be 100% sure that a file does not contain a virus before you download it.

VLE

I used Wikipedia to find the definition for a VLE.
A VLE is a virtual learning environment which is a software system designed to support teaching and learning in an educational setting, as distinct from a Managed Learning Environment (MLE) where the focus is on management.
A VLE will normally work over the Internet and provide a collection of tools such as those for assessment, particularly of types that can be marked automatically, such as multiple choice assessments, communication, uploading of content, return of students' work, peer assessment, administration of student groups, collecting and organizing student grades, questionnaires, tracking tools, etc.
New features in these systems include wikis, blogs, RSS and 3D virtual learning spaces.

Advantages to having VLE’s in school are:

• The lesson can be done anywhere where there is Internet connection- No student will require to miss a lesson.
• All work will be able to be accessed via teachers computer.

Examples of VLE’s at Abbeyfield School are:

• School website
• Blogger
• Samlearning

Online Learning

Bitesize, Sam Learning, Net Frog, Science Museum and AQA

Internet learning is a very useful way of learning things that sometimes may not be possible to do in school. They can be used in and outside of the classroom and are also for people of all ages.

Sam Learning is a very good website which I personally used and found useful myself. One of the best things about Sam Learning is that you can track your progress of what you’ve done, how well you did, and the grades you received on each task. There is one massive downfall that this site has which none of the others do, this is that you have to pay to use it, although this is paid for by the school at £4,500 per year.

BBC Bitesize is also a quite useful website but it is not as good as Sam Learning. Some of the main differences are firstly that it’s free and you don’t need login details to use it. Secondly, because you don’t have your own login you cannot track your progress which is one of the best advantages of Sam Learning.

Net Frog is also another good website to help students learn things that possibly aren’t possible to do in school like the dissection of a frog. This is a very good website for science practicals and experiments. The disadvantage of this site is that a lot of the videos dont work due to the website being very old. Some people may also find it too gorey.

The AQA website is very useful for revising before exams. This is because it has lots of past exam papers on it and the mark schemes so you can mark your own work. The main disadvantage is that it is very boring to use so therefore you need a lot of self motivation to do them because they take so long to do.

The Science Museum is an OK site but most defiantly not the best one of the others ive reviewed. This is because there are not a lot of interactive things to do on the website.

Finally, I have came to the conclusion that the best online learning website is Sam Learning due to how good the revision activities are and how you can track your progress.

The Disection Of A Frog

To compare two education websites I went on a site which teaches students how to dissect a frog using technology. Although for some it may be a bit horrific, I believe it is a more practical method of dissection instead of loads of students doing it themselves. Also before taking the final test there is a step by step guide in how to conduct the dissection correctly. The website is very old, however it is still very useful if you want to know how to dissect a frog.

The Science Museum, 'Making Of The Modern World' Page Evaluation

I read through the information on the http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk website to se how educational pages on the internet have evolved in recent years. I feel that it gives alot of very valuble information which is very interesting and teaches me facts i diddnt know before. The site also shows pictures and videos of how the PC has evolved over many years which also keeps the reader interested and maybe amused.
It shows the life of a computer and how it has changed from the type writer, to what it is now.
This site shows that internet and online learning is easy to use, but is also very educational.
Also it is informative information which fits its purpose correctly.

The Weather On Thursday

Today has been rather cold outside, although it is sunny which is what was predicted by the 5 day weather forecast.

The Weather On Wednesday

On Wednesday morning at 10:35 the weather outside looks overcast. This is what the five day weather forecast had predicted.

The Weather On Tuesday

On Tuesday afternoon at 14:18 the weather outside looks overcast which is exactly what the 5 day weather forecast predicted.

The Weather On Monday

On Monday morning at 09:33 the weather outside looks overcast which is exactly what the 5 day weather forecast predicted.

Travel To Tottenham Court Road Via Train

To travel to Tottenham Court Road from Northampton I decided to choose the option closest to the 10 am start.
I started the journey from Northampton and the train leaves at 10:09 am and arrives at London Euston at 11:11.
Then I would walk just under a mile to Tottenham Court Road. In total this would take 1 hour 12 mins.
This meant the car journey was faster but the cost would be more than the train as you would spend more money on petrol.

Five Day Weather Forecast.

This is the five day weather forecast from, Monday 15th to Friday 20th September.

Chat Rooms And Instant Messaging

Chat rooms are helpful programmes but can be quite dangerous to use.

some of the advantages are:

• It can be accessed anywhere, all over the world.
• You have the ability to share views with other people.

Some of the disadvantages are:

• You can often be talking to complete strangers.
• You may be talking to someone who is not who they say they are.

Also instant messaging is used to communicate with friends.

Some of the advantages are:

• They can be used anytime as long as the Internet is working.
• You can add your friends and only people who you accept, who you want to talk to.

Some of the disadvantages are:

• People's accounts often get hacked or sum1 is pretending to be someone who they aren't.
• People you don't know can gain access of you email address.

Travel To Tottenham Court Road Via Car

Start out at NN4 0FQ,Wootton
Turn left onto Braemar Crescent
Turn right onto Penvale Road
Turn left onto the A5076
At roundabout take the 5th exit onto the A5076 (signposted Ring Road East)
At roundabout take the 5th exit, then merge onto the A45
At roundabout take the 2nd exit, then join the M1 motorway (signposted London)
Leave the M1 at junction 2, then merge onto the A1.
Traffic blackspot: Call 401100 from your mobile
At traffic signals continue forward
At Henlys Corner continue forward onto the A406 then
Keep in right hand lanes then branch right onto the A1 (signposted Central London, Holloway, Highgate)
Bear right (one-way) onto Archway Road
Continue forward (signposted Central London, Holloway, Archway)
At "The Woodman" public house continue forward (signposted C. London, Holloway, Archway)
At Archway Junction continue forward then immediately
Bear right and shortly
Continue forward onto the A400 (signposted Camden Town, Kentish Town)
At Tufnell Park Underground Station,traffic signals continue forward
At traffic signals continue forward onto the A400 (signposted C. London, Euston, Camden Town)
At "Quinns" public house, traffic signals branch left onto Camden Street (signposted C. London, Euston, Camden Town)
At traffic signals continue forward (signposted C. London, Euston, Kings Cross)
Take left hand lane and at traffic signals turn left onto the A400 (signposted Central London, Euston)
At traffic signals bear left onto the A400 (signposted West End, Westminster, Holborn)
Then at next raffic signals bear right take right hand lane then shortly
Continue forward onto the A400.
Central London Congestion Charges Apply
Mon-Fri 7am-6pm
At traffic signals continue forward onto Bloomsbury Street
At Shaftesbury Theatre, traffic signals turn right then
continue forward
At traffic signals turn right
Arrive at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station,London

Total time 1:36, Total Miles 66.74

The source i used was: http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

Communications During The Tsunami Disaster

In 2004 when the tsunami strick fixed-line communications failed, and other technology was used to help people find their missing relatives. People used text messages to let family and other relatives know that they were OK. People who were found had their picture posted on a webpage for familys to recognise them. Survivors could also send a text message or an email to TV stations, they then put them on a 'ticker' on thier channels for relatives to recognise and rescue them. Blogs were also set up after the disaster to help relief efforts and to give news and message boards where people could send an email asking information on their missing relatives.

Newsgroups

Newsroups are an old way of communicating which are now not very popular. On a newsgroup you will find peoples opinions on views on certain subjects.
To find this newsgroup i used 'google' and went onto the 'groups' section and then typed 'digital divide' into the search engine.


http://groups.google.co.uk/group/misc.activism.progressive/browse_thread/thread/b96937574d86745b/05bd3b60d3061639?hl=en&lnk=st&q=Digital+divide+groups#05bd3b60d3061639

Text Message

The way we communicate has changed vastly over recent years, using a mobile phone to text is one of these ways.

There are many advantages which include being able to send a text message from pretty much anywere to anyone. It is very cheap top send a text message and is very quick and easy. Messages can include pictures and sounds and can also be sent to more than one person at the same time.

There are also some disadvantages which are that you can recieve messages from people you dont know, and not know who they are. It is difficult to send large amounts of information and you can sometimes not get singnal. It can also end up costing quite alot because you end up sending alot of messages. Lastly the mobile phone itself can be very expensive.

Email Summary

Email Summary

Email is a very simple and effective way to contact all your friends which has grown massively during recent years as internet has became more popular. An email can be sent to one individual person or many at the same time. Some of the popular email services include Outlook Express, Hotmail and Yahoo.

The advantages of using email are firstly its simplicity, and its speed. You can send normal messages but can also send attachments of almost anything such as pictures and documents. Another of its advantages is that the recipient does not need to be home, whereas they do when using the phone. The message will jus be picked up when they next log in. Another advantage is that spell check can be used to ensure all words are spelt correctly.

There are also some disadvantages of using email which are that it can often be misused because people send inappropriate messages, spam or junk mail.

By receiving emails you can also receive viruses which attaches itself to your files which spreads and infects your whole computer. Two of these viruses are called Trojan which once installed on a computer it can take control of it, and Worm viruses which replicates itself and can also take over the computer.

Online Services

This is my personal audit of all my communication methods which are Instant Messaging, Blogs, Email, News Group and Video Conferencing.