Special Blog Post #1

Misinterpreted Data

In blog post #2 we were assigned several videos to watch and discuss, one of which was “Did You Know?” The video reported on several facts; many looking at the differences between China’s, India’s, and the United States’ populations. After reviewing students’ posts, Dr. Strange found many students misinterpreted the video and the data presented. As a result we were all asked to do a little research of our own on the populations of China, India, and the United States using WolframAlpha search. According the WolframAlpha, there are 1.21 billion people living in India, 1.35 billion people in China, and 309 million people in the United States. So after seeing the results from the WolframAlpha comparison of the countries’ populations, we can better understand the information presented in “Did You Know?” To some the video may seem to place the U.S. below China and India for education and English speakers, but one must adjust the data to cover the differences in our smaller population versus the much larger populations of China and India.

WolframAlpha

Search- "Compare Mississippi and Alabama college enrollment"
Results- Mississippi-196045 people
Results- Alabama-305547 people

Compare Mississippi and Alabama College graduates
Mississippi 508063 people
Alabama 88708 people

I think WolframAlpha would be extremely helpful for both my students and me. After exploring the site a little, I stumbled upon the examples by topic and found hundreds of topics to choose from. There were quite a few science topics listed and would be great place to find materials for curriculum. I also would love to use it to find interesting facts to keep lectures fun and interested. I definitely would refer students to use WolframAlpha for projects or papers.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

Have you ever wondered how many likes or comments are posted to Facebook daily? How about in the last 30 seconds? Well thanks to Gary Hayes Social Media Count you can watch the increasing number of activities taking place in several different areas of social media. For instance, after just 30 seconds of viewing the counter 1,133,334 likes and comments took place on Facebook, 61,979 tweets were sent to Twitter, and 708,333 videos were watched on YouTube! But what does that mean for educators and students living in this in a world where social media and technology are so prominent?

Well I think there is an obvious need to evolve. No we don’t need to grow two extra arms and hands so we can tweet and grade papers at the same time. We as educators need to start incorporating some of these sites and programs positively into curriculum. There’s a reason the social media counter grows exponentially each second. It’s because people are using them and frequently. Why not incorporate some of these sites and applications into courses to show students that there is more uses to these sites then they may realize. Students are already using a number of these sites, why can't take avandatge of this usage as educators.