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Digital Nation Blog

We just finished watching each other’s presentation on Digital Nation. One presentation that stuck out to me was Dalton’s Waging War. His presentation talked about how they are creating virtual worlds where soldiers use that to train with. It makes them feel as if they are actually there. Also they had this “store” where kids would go in and play war games. It was used to persuade teenagers to join the army by providing free video games that they can play.

Another presentation was Jordon’s Virtual Worlds. It was used to help cure post-traumatic stress disorder. The therapists created a virtual world exactly as what the soldier went through. The computer simulator lets you control what is going on. It had a comic book look and it made you think you were playing a video game. The goal of it was to help you control your anxiety. What triggers their anxiety could be any word someone says or sound they make.

The last presentation was Vincent’s. Living Faster talks about how technology controls our lives. Many people are unwilling to disconnect from technology. In a way we can’t escape technology because it’s in every aspect of our lives. When we go on vacation we are still blogging or updating our facebook status saying what we did today or how much fun we are having. What I learned from Digital Nation presentations are that I need to control how much time I’m on the Internet. Technology doesn’t have to be part of our lives, by making it our life we are cutting out our time with our family.

digital nation

I just finished reading the introduction to digital nation and what I learned from it was that teachers feel like they need to entertain their student in order for them to learn anything. School was about teaching kids about history, English, math, and science; now its about teaching them about technology and how technology works. I also went onto Your Stories and was amazed by what people think about technology. I remember one girl talked about how her and her boyfriend text more than they do talk more. Another one was how a girl met her boyfriend on an avatar game and she feels like the most romantic date was on online rather than in real life. One older woman talked about how her son had called her to ask if he could have another cookie. She was shocked that he had to call to ask for permission. Her thought was for parents to leave their phones at home so the children could make their own decisions.

Classmates Presentations

We just finished our power points on epic films. We had to watch epic films and compare them to Lord of The Rings. Everybody chose great movies to compare them to. The movie that I compared Lord of The Rings to was 300. Out of my whole presentation I realized how Lord of The Rings and 300 had very similar scenes. Both of Frodo and King Leonidas left their homes to keep them safe. Also King Leonidas and Frodo were both out numbered in their armies. In Lord of The Rings there were these evil things set out to destroy Frodo called “Orcs.” In 300 they also faced evil things that wanted to destroy King Leonidas and his army called “Immortals.” Also when I was going through Vincent’s power point I noticed that in Braveheart there were a lot of similarities between 300. Knowing that they are almost the same makes me want to see Braveheart even more.

The first person that went up was Reece. His epic film was on Matrix Revolutions. I haven’t seen this movie, but by how Reece explained it he makes me want to see it. At the same time I feel like I’ll get lost throughout the movie. One of the things I remembered out of Reece’s power point was the fighting scene with Neo and Morpheus. It was really cool because at first Neo didn’t know how to fight then all of a sudden he knew kung fu.

            The next person was Vincent. His epic analysis was over Braveheart. I haven’t seen Braveheart, but it looks pretty good. It reminds a lot about 300.  Out of Vincent’s presentation the one thing I remembered were the heroes’ traits. Frodo and William share almost the same type of traits. They are brave, strong, and tough. They aren’t afraid of anything. They will do anything to keep the people they love safe. Another thing I liked was how he talked the type of music that was in the movies and they change throughout the scens.

            Dalton’s presentation was on Saving Private Ryan. After watching his power point I noticed that the theme in both of the movies are almost the same. Both Frodo and Captain Miller leave their home in order to keep it safe. I think that they are really brave for leaving their place of home, were they themselves feel safe in. If I ever get the chance I would love to see the movie.

            The last person to go was Jordon. She used Pirates of The Caribbean. I’ve seen this movie before so I knew what she was talking about. In her power point I realized how both of the heroes had many guides to help them out. The scene that I remembered the most out of the whole movie was where. They also share the same type of traits. Also both of them fight for the people they love and will stop at nothing to keep them safe. I’ve always loved the Pirates of The Caribbean movies and I can see myself watching this movie again.

Lord of the Rings vs 300

View more presentations from rortega2011.

Slings and Arrows: Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth

Since the three of our classmates were gone, Mrs. Collins had us watch Slings and Arrows. My favorite part of the series was when Henry Breedlove was freaking out because the play Macbeth had been changed. He thinks he knows everything and people should do what he says. Another good part was when the actors of Romeo and Juliet were wearing these crazy outfits and the girl's outfit had wheels on it. By watching this, it made me realize that in someway plays can tie into your real life. Both of the plays reflected some type of problem with the actors.

Snow Days- Good or Evil?

Waking up and finding out that you don't have school because there is too much snow is the best news any child could ever get! I'm the type of person that loves and hates snow. One reason I love the snow is because it gives me the chance to go sledding with my sister. I also don't have to wake up early for school. I hate it when it snows a lot because then that means I'm stuck at home all day!

Epic Film Comparison

The movie that I'm going to compare with Lord of the Rings is 300.

Evil-"Lord of the Rings"

Evil plays an important role in Lord of the Rings. It shows us who the bad guys are and how they became evil. In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo has to destroy the ring. The ring's powers can only be used for evil. The ring draws in people who aren't pure hearted. It makes them really greedy by wanting the ring for themselves. One example of this would be when Boromir was running after Frodo in order to get the ring. After Frodo put the ring to get away Boromir then realized what he had done and was trying to do to Frodo. Another example is when Saruman was using the foreseen ball to possess King Theodin, king of Rohan. Gandalf the White used his powers to depossess the King. In a weird way evil is important in life because when evil shows up some citizen shows courage. Every time there is evil around someone realizes what they have to do in order to destroy evil. Evil makes good people show unity. They unite as one to destroy the evil ones. In many ways evil brings out the good in certain people.