Learning 2.0 - Privacy

I just got finished watching the Frontline "United States of Secrets" and I am literally sickened.  I knew that the Patriot Act was a bag of tricks when it was sold to the public back in 2001, but I guess I didn't realize exactly how much personal data is being sifted through daily on me and other US citizens in search of "unknown" terrorists.  I wanted to believe that the sifting was on targeted known terrorist, but if they WERE in fact known terrorist, a legal warrant could easily be attained, and this massive collection of US citizens would not be necessary.   I am equally shocked to hear that this program has not only grown to a 10 Billion program in 2010, but now this program is even more powerful under the FISA act. I am empathetic to the whistle blowers that thought when they risked everything to come out with the truth about this program,  that the American public would be appalled by this information, and that the NSA would be forced to shut down this program, but instead the public has been mislead and told only about the least invasive part of the program, protecting the domestic program, the larger program that tracks US citizens phone calls, email, internet searches, financial transactions and more.  It seems so strange to me that as the end of Bushes term approached Obama openly opposed the illegal spying of US citizens and promised to put a stop to it, but then after being put into office he signs the FISA act continuing the program and giving it even more power making all of the programs legal!

 

Further in the program after learning everything you google, every word of every email, all AT&T phone call are all being captured and stored, we learn that Gmail and the new social media information whore FaceBook are competing with each other to see who can gather the most information on you as possible.  Additionally a new program called Muscular begins breaking into other countries gathering marketing information on their citizens as well.  The beast just keeps growing.  Now all of the tracking "cookies" are used by the NSA as well.  The NSA sent out 56,000 letters to internet companies demanding them to not only turn all of their information over to them, and demanded a gag order, before one person from a small internet company contested.  People that stand up for their constitutional rights do so at great expenses and risks.  I am grateful to them for coming forward to bring this beast to light!  I am anxious to watch the documentary "Citizen Four" this weekend and learn more about Edward Snowden.  Some people would call him a traitor or criminal, but I applaud him for making the sacrifices he did to begin to bring this illegal program into the light.  When I think of a traitor I think of someone that is giving information to other countries that would hurt the USA, the information that he is bringing to light is Illegal activity within the National Security Agency that is hurting American citizens.  I do like the idea that Obama made a panel of people to investigate the programs and discuss where the fine line is between security and freedom.  I have to wonder though, who and how were these people chosen, and why didn't he use elected officials that have been voted in by the people like governors or senators make these decisions.  Obamas panel concluded that Prism program was acceptable but dragnet collection of mass information was overreaching and threaten our personal freedom.  The documentary never said what steps were taken as a consequence of the panels decisions if any, so we can assume that the same illegal activity is going on right now!  In defense of the NSA I did empathize with Micheal Haydens closing remarks that stated that the American people feel like not enough is being done when they feel endangered, but as soon as the feel safe again, they feel like the NSA is  doing too much.  

This poll would seem to suggest this argument is correct.  This thought from Micheal Hayden may be true but that doesn't justify them doing what ever they want tillegally and bullying companies to comply with a gag orders.  Many others could argue the same complaint.  Insurances is too expensive and you don't like paying it until you are in a wreck.   The defense department spends too much money on defense until war breaks out etc.. This argument doesn't make this enormous wrong justifiable.  We need to applaud whistle blowers, bring all of the actions of the NSA out into the open vote and decide through elected leaders where we want the line to be.  We need to shut down all of the Spy programs and destroy all of the information illegally obtained.  Right now the programs are spinning out of control and growing so fast that we don't even know how much we are being watch and and by whom?  It needs to end. 

Learning 2.0

When it comes to learning, I think we can all agree to a point that different people learn better in different environments and different ways.  There are many different beliefs about the varying styles of learning that are more beneficial to students.  One of the current beliefs is the Seven Major learning styles. 

1. Visual: These people prefer to use pictures, images, diagrams, colors, and mind maps.
2. Physical: These are the “learn by doing” people that use their body to assist in their learning. Drawing diagrams, using physical objects, or role playing are all strategies of the Physical learner.
3. Aural: People who prefer using sound (obviously), rhythms, music, recordings, clever rhymes, and so on.
4. Verbal: The verbal learner is someone who prefers using words, both in speech and in writing to assist in their learning. They make the most of word based techniques, scripting, and reading content aloud.
5. Logical: The people who prefer using logic, reasoning, and “systems” to explain or understand concepts. They aim to understand the reasons behind the learning, and have a good ability to understand the bigger picture.
6. Social: These people are the ones who enjoy learning in groups or with other people, and aim to work with others as much as possible.
7. Solitary: The solitary learner prefers to learn alone and through self-study.

These different learning styles are a step in the right direction, although I believe that it is much more complicated then this.  One could thrive in several different learning styles and there may even be more styles then these.  The good news is we are starting to realize that education is not "one size fits all."   I have three children and have tried just about every type of school available.  Public schools, academic charter, school of arts charter and I have even tried homeschooling.  Each one of my children does better in a different learning system and thrives with different learning styles.  I am grateful that there are now several different options for children.  I think we are heading in the right direction but I feel like there is a long way to go to discover how to cater to different children and build on there existing strengths. 

In the Huffington Post there is a article that criticizes the seven styles of learning called "Learning- Styles Theory Questioned By Researchers"  They claim that a large industry has developed that has profited by selling materials that teach in these different ways, however the research shows that test taking by using these learning tools doesn't yield any higher results.

 “Clearly, people have distinctive abilities and aptitudes. Some people have higher visual ability, and some have higher auditory ability,” said UCSD professor Hal Pashler, lead author on the report. “But the question is whether that predicts anything about the most effective way to teach them. … There is a complete lack of evidence of the sort.”

I agree with this article in that I don't think I would invest a lot of money into learning tools that claim to specifically cater to one learning style, and I do believe that a study would be very difficult  to chart differences in learning with and without these different styles because everyone's style and intelligence varies completely.  But I do know from personal experience that I learn best by doing something myself (as opposed to watching or listening)  and I remember visual images more then written information.  Regardless of which side you choose to believe I know that Both sides agree on one thing: Using a diverse range of teaching styles and institutions is beneficial for all students.

On the Media- To Your Health

One the Media- To Your Health

This podcast addresses the problem of media, including social media and even celebrities selling bogus diets, health scares and beauty tricks.  For every study that claims red wine or getting 9+ hours of sleep is beneficial, there is an opposing study that says red wine is harmful and sleeping 9+ hours a night will kill you! Phony diets like the werewolf diet (juice fasting on a full moon), baby food diet (yes eating only baby food), juice fast and detoxes, vampire facials (taking blood out of your body and putting it on your face), placenta facials (Placenta on the face) gluten free diet and so many more and so on are talked about and even sold to the naive consumer.   This problem is real and has been for as long as I can remember, but now thanks to social media and the internet these "news stories travel far and fast!  It is really becoming a problem in our society when people cannot decipher fact from fiction. 

I was raised in a home where my mother was unfortunately the victim of every health scare or snake oil selling salesman that she came across.  There are many problems in following every health "breakthrough" It is very time consuming, expensive, and can even be harmful to your health.  Not to mention the psychological effects of being raised to believe every bit of information found through non scientific channels and discarding all scientific health discoveries. 

These types  of "reporting" is irresponsible reporting.  These "Miracle" discoveries or these "This food will kill you" discoveries prey on so many of us and especially on the those who have a psychological disorder like Munchhausen syndrome where a person draws on attention or sympathy of others.  They now, thanks to the internet, have a term called Munchhausen by Internet.  These sensational stories and fraudulent health claims need to stop. These Health studies need to be responsible and upfront about their studies.  They need to be held to a standard of scientific testing. Reporters that pass these fictional finds and studies along as "news" need to be held accountable for passing along false information.  

A guest on the show John Bonhanen showed us how easy it is to start a health rumor by setting up a phony study with only 16 people over a period of three weeks to prove that eating chocolate aids in weight loss!  This phone study, as suspected took off like wildfire.  Even the data on testing is often incorrectly posted.   When you hear claims like "reduces depression by 50%"  You need to ask 50% of what?  

Why are these bogus Health Claims so popular?  Why do so many people believe these non- scientific claims or science?  Psychologically we all want to  escape death,  socially we don't want to talk about death or aging or believe that is our inevitable destination.  We live in a culture where we worship and idolize youth and beauty. We will believe just about anything that we read or hear that will help is attain longevity youth and beauty.

In addition to creating a standard of testing which all must be accountable , including where all test data is reported, and media being responsible for the validity of the information they pass along as "science"  I fell that by as a society if we were to embrace aging and death as another stage of life Maybe people wouldn't always be chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. People would have less anxiety and learn to except and enjoy each stage of their life to the fullest.