Blog 1

The Sharif article discusses the relationship between social capital, health, and technology. Discuss a technology you think has a negative impact on social capital and health. Discuss a technology that has a positive impact on social capital and health.

In the article, "social capital and Health in a digital society,"Sharif makes a clear correlation between certain technological advancement and the social capital or well being of people. while some advancements have proved to create a positive impact in our lives, others have proved to be more harmful than beneficial. One of the advances which I believe have made a tremendous difference in this recent century; is cellphones. I personally have witnessed how efficient and life saving cellphones can be. I think that nowdays people rely on their cellphones for mainly everything including paying bills, calling for prescriptions refills, scheduling appointment and so on. I also believe that cellphones are most helpful during emergencies, or whenever one's life is in danger. Therefore, not only can they save time, but they can also save people's lives. Wireless phones can be used anywhere, which makes it even more convenient for people to accomplish tasks and get things done. The different features of a cell phone such as voicemail, text messaging, and interent access offer a great opportunity for people to communicate faster, and will absolutely facilitate interactions. One of the greatest advances ever known to history is the interent. I believe that as much as the interent is an important tool, it also has some drawbacks. Social networks such as facebook, myspace, tagged and so on have gained a huge popularity over the past couple of years. The number of people who utilize these networks has also been on the rise. I understand that people join these networks for social reasons. However, these sites could be a huge time waster if not used properly. More and more, research have shown that people who spend too many hours in front of a computer screen will eventually have impaired vision over the long run. I finally think that the internet is a great technology and a valuable resource when it is used the right way.

In the Bardzell et al. article, the development team used the ADDIE Model to create a distance learning environment. Which part of the process was most interesting to you? Why?

The part which I thought was interesting, is the evaluation approach. In any distance learning program, it becomes very crucial to assess and find out whether or not students are learning what they are supposed to learn. I believe that students' attitude toward the internet will be a determinant factor on how they will perform in the class. Therefore, it is very important to know the students' perceptions regarding the interent and how they feel about this technology.