My 4 Favorites from the
     Online Generational Curriculum
                          Mining for Gold
 
 

                                                    Table Of Contents: 

My selection #1: "Video Game Road Rage--Problem or a Pleasure" By Travis Abe G7, 459.

My selection #2: "Driving Personality Makeovers and Techniques:  Do we need them? By Carolyn Agmata G9, 409. My selection #3 " Social Psychology Of USENET Newsgroups: Psychological Forces on Newbies to the Web". By George Higuchi, G6 409. My selection #4 "Driving Buddy:  Teaching a New Driver.  By David Thomson, G8 459.                                           My classmates generations.html file:
                                            My suggestions for future generations:

 
          I chose Travis Abe's homepage initially because I am interested in the topic of video games and the subject of video game violence.  Also, Travis' web page was the only one I came across with sound in the way of a recorded warning.  Finally, I thought the backround wallpaper was original and creative.  I feel Travis' page really catches the viewers attention with both the sounds and the visuals.
         The steps that led me to this report were first of all I believe the instructions stated that we were to use four different generations with two from 459 and two from a 409 class.  Therefore I had to decide which generation I would start with first.  I started from the most recently created pages and went back to the earliest generations.  My thinking was that the most recent would be the most advanced.  This was true for the most part having looked at some of the really early generations.  However some did catch my attention.
 
         The report starts with the current state of the video game industry.  Travis writes that the average age of the normal video game player is increasing.  Therefore to satisfy the tastes of the older game player, game manufacturers are producing more violent games.  Many of the new games coming out seem to deal with automotive violence; e.g. running over people.
       Next Travis gives a review of four games that supposedly deal with road rage.  Abe starts by reviewing a game called "Carmeggedon".  From the author's review I felt like this was my type of video game.  Abe includes 4 actual screen shots which really move.  I think there java applets or something.  Anyway the report finishes with reviews of three more video games that are supposed to be road rage type games.
       The last part of the report is some final thoughts by the author.  Abe feels that although video games are more violent they shouldn't be banned but rather put on some type of rating system.
         My reactions to this report were mixed.  I liked the topic and the screen shots.  However, the report was basically a review of driving games with little in the way of how these games affect the children who manage to play them.  Abe talks of a rating system for games which since the time of the report has already been enlisted.  My point is, if a kid really wants a game they will get it.  Ratings won't do anything to stop that.
 
         Travis Abe's report and homepage were definitly the flashiest and eye-catching.  I also found Abe's reports easy to read and interesting to look at.  And when a person is searching for a page to do a report on, eye-candy definitly takes precedence over substance in my book.  Meaning, there were some reports that may have had more to say but the average viewer doesn't always want that.

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       I chose this report because I felt the topic would be beneficial to myself.  Let me explain, I suffer from a serious case of road rage.  I get behind the wheel and somebody does something stupid my blood starts to boil.  Fortunately, I have not resulted to violence other than the usual hand gestures and curse words normally associated with road rage.  I believe I am getting better especially since becoming a father which has mellowed me out a great deal.  Even so, I feel my personality behind the wheel could use some tweaking.  Therefore, I felt that Carolyn Agmata's report would be right up my alley.
 
         The steps that led me to Carolyn Agmata's report were similiar to the way that I chose Travis Abe's report.  I started from the most previous reports and worked my way back.  When I found the four reports I liked I reviewed them and then put them in the following order that appears here on my page.
 
         The report starts with an introduction and what the definition of a driving personality makeover is.  Well, actually the definitions are from other students who I assume have some knowledge of the subject.  Next Carolyn describes a technique that involves three steps known as AWM. This technique was started by Dr. James who is also known as Dr. Driving.  The technique starts with step 1, acknowledging that you are out of control.  This is similiar to A.A. where the first step is to admid you have a drinking problem.  Step 2 is witnessing yourself being out of control at the wheel.  Step 3 is modifying your bad driving behaviors and changing them one at a time.  This method sounds easy enough but I think when your in the heat of battle on the road all commen sense goes out the window along with the middle finger.
       Next, Carolyn Agmata tries an experiment on herself.  From what I read in Ms. Agmata's report, she did not use the AWM technique but rather got an earlier start to her destination which relieved the pressure of being late.
         My reactions to this report were mostly positive.  I liked the techniques described in Carolyn Agmata's report however I felt she could have written on a few more methods for curing road rage.  Carolyn did go into great detail with the AWM technique but then when it came time to put it into practice it was nowhere to be found.  So, other than those minor gripes ,the report overall was quite good.
         Compared to other reports, Carolyn Agmata's report was very good.  I found it easy to read and well organized.  When comparing it to other reports, I find that I may be a bit unfair to other reports by giving reports that interest me higher marks than those that don't.  In other words, I would choose an average report on a subject that I liked over an excellent report on something that didn't interest me.

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         I chose this report because having never used newsgroups I felt it would be beneficial.  In addition, our class has to do an exercise dealing with newsgroups so again I figured I could pick up some pointers on newsgroup etiquite.
       Once again I was doing my search from present to past when I came across this report.  I knew from the description of the exercise that I had to pick a report that was not in the generations that I had picked earlier.  That narrowed it down a little.  Next, I began scanning the reports.  What I noticed was that all of the reports in this generation were on the same topic.  Therefore, I had to take different steps in choosing a report.  To be honest, it came down to visual appeal and length.  Sometimes a person viewing a web site can be overwhelmed by too much information.  When I came across George Higuchi 's  it was visually easy to view and wasn't too long.  Also, I consider myself a newbie to the web so I felt the I could apply some of the topics in my use of the internet.
         This report starts off with the author's main purpose for using newsgroups which happens to be the stock market.  Mr. Higuchi goes into great detail about the stock market and the ways in which a stock newsgroup helps him with his investing.
       After being briefed on bulls and bears Mr. Higuchi gets into the lingo associated with newsgroups.  Flaming is covered and spamming is mentioned however the latter is never defined.  I had an idea on what flaming was but I could didn't know what spamming was.  After reading this report, I still don't know.  Flaming however is covered very throughly with Mr. Higuchi even offering a link to a site devoted to flaming.
       Finally, the report discusses Mr. Higuchi's anxiety in his first posting.  Frankly, I don't see where all the anxiety stems from.  To me, your a faceless person on the newsgroup so it doesn't really matter if your first post is something lame.
         To put it bluntly, I was dissapointed with this report.  I feel the report should have been titled " How to apply newsgroups to the stockmarket".  The only psychological forces on newbies that was covered was the anxiety involved in posting a message.  I figured there would be more information on how to get started on a newsgroup and the do's and don'ts of posting.  The report had a few good points however, it wasn't too lengthy and was easily read and understood.  I also enjoyed the link to the flaming site.
        This generation's reports were a little different from those I had reviewed in the past.  All the students had to write on the same topic which was social psychology in newsgroups.  This changed the comparison process considerably.  All the reports had pros and cons some were stronger in certain topics others were strong in different topics.  All in all, I feel that George Higuchi's report held its own.
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         I chose this report because the title sounded like it would be a humorus report.  Also, I figured I will have to teach my daughter to drive one day and I thought I could pick up some pointers on teaching a person the finer points of driving.  Another factor that led me to David Thomson's report is that it was an original topic as most of the other reports in this generation were on the same topics.  Finally, I know I've said it before but the visuals of David's homepage played a significant part in my choosing of this report.
         I followed the same steps as I did with my choosing of previous reports.  I started going through the different generations spending approximately 3 minutes viewing each one, sometimes less time was spent if I knew I wouldn't be interested in the subject matter.  I can't emphasize enough the importance of good visuals when I'm choosing a web site.  I'm a real sucker for a good looking web page.
         David Thomson's report starts with a brief introduction as to how he came about choosing his topic.  Next, David gives some brief history about his situation in teaching a novice driver how to drive.  The novice is Mr. Thomson's wife who seemed to have some bad experiences in learning how to drive with other teachers.
       Next, the author gives detailed descriptions of his wifes previous attempts at learning how to drive.  First with her father who in my opinion should have showed more patience in teaching his daughter to drive.  Second, the author writes of his wifes second attempt at driving this time with David as teacher.
By the time the author tried to teach his wife, the damage had been done.  The wife had become far to fearful of driving to pass her test.  I believe part of her fear stemmed from the bad experiences of learning to drive from her father.
       Finally, in the reports conclusion, David Thomson gives tips for teaching people to drive.        My reactions to this report were that I felt sorry for both the author and his wife.  To me the wife could have used a professional instructor who specialized in driving phobias.  The content of the report was satisfactory with an easy to read format and was also well structured.  The report was also very original as I did not see anyone choosing the same topic.  On the other hand, I felt a little let down that the driving student never passed her driving test.
         In comparing David Thomson's report to the other generations I felt that his report offered something completely original in subject matter.  As stated earlier, many of the reports in G8 concentrated on the same topics.  I like it when a student comes up with their own idea for a report rather than sticking to the teachers format.
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         Most of the reports are not quite finished yet but there are a few which are complete and looking really good.  In fact, most of the finished generations reports of my classmates look better than mine.  This may be because I've been working on my report so long that I've gotten sick of looking at it.
         I have a few suggestions in regard to future generations.  First, stick with it.  I was tempted to say the hell with this on numerous occasions.  Second, don't be embarrassed to ask for advice and help from classmates who are more knowledgeable than yourself.  Or you can of course ask Dr. James for assistance.  Finally, check out other students reports and pick up some new ideas which you can apply to your own work.
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                                                           Navigation Table:

 
My Report 1: My Icons Folder:
My Report 2: My Bookmarks Folder:
My Chapter 3 Report: My Class Home Page:
My Newsgroups Report: Dr. James Home Page:
 
  E-Mail me :pederson@hawaii