Social Media Users In Love: Romance Update [INFOGRAPHIC]

 by Charlie White. Mashable.

How do you meet people you’d like to get to know better? How do you treat each other once you’re together? Social media turns out to be a great accelerator for exposing you to potential mates, but does that change the basic way people interact with each other?

The infographic and research experts at Lab42 set out to take the pulse of today’s relationship hunters as well as established lovers, conducting a survey between Oct. 27 and Oct. 30 where they asked 500 social network users over age 18 some rather personal questions about meeting people, cheating, communication and more.

Is your romantic life similar to that of most other social networkers, or do you play the game your own way? Find out by checking out the fresh results of this infographic:

Click to see full size.

The Benefit and Danger of Education Technology

The Benefit and Danger of Education Technology

by Rafael Scapin on NOVEMBER 4, 2011 in DAWSONITE, EDTECH

This is the second in a series on the digital divide that exists in the world of education. Each article is by an Edudemic guest author. Want to weigh in? Click here to get your article published. Read Jill Rooney’s article “Education, Race and the Internet: Digital Divide or Racial Ravine?“

The rapid changes in technology over the last 75 years have created enormous opportunities for education. While some technologies such as the computer were adopted early on, a reluctance to embrace change coupled with a lack of funding has resulted in a continuing dependence on chalkboards and other anachronistic technologies. The extent to which schools adopt new technologies, not surprisingly, often depends on how well they’re funded. It isn’t uncommon for schools that are separated by very little physical distance to be at opposite ends of the technology gap.

Many folks familiar with this scenario understand the inherent lack of fairness in the disparate funding of schools. What many people don’t understand however is that it also threatens the uniquely American ideals of democracy and equality. One of the bedrocks of our democracy is the idea that we’re governed by the electoral choices of a well-informed citizenry. Having equal access to a decent education is the assumption that underlies this premise. But the ways in which rapid advances in technology are adopted have both positive and negative implications for schools and for broader society in general.

Preparing For The Workforce

One of the most positive results of schools embracing new technologies is found when low-income students gain skills they otherwise wouldn’t. The ability to type, use email and execute basic computer functions like Word and Excel are imperative in today’s workforce. When students who have no access to computers at home learn these skills specifically because of technology in the classroom, they have a far greater chance of moving from have-nots to haves in the future. Having technological competence gives them a better chance of success in the workforce and gives them a greater ability and confidence to pursue online education university options.

No Student Left Behind

When classrooms adopt iPads or other tablets in lower grades amongst younger students, the possibility that those students will be left behind in terms of the greater society decreases dramatically. Studies have consistently shown that new technology introduction to younger children provides better results than when introduced at a later age. Even if low-income students have no access to computers at home, the integration of new technology into all aspects of school life ensures that they have greater opportunities going forward.

Handwriting Requirements

There are some arguably negative implications to the adoption of new technologies as well. Some of the most evident for the short term involve dropping long-standing handwriting requirements. Penmanship was dropped from most English classes over the last twenty years and cursive writing requirements are quickly being cut from many programs as well. Depending on one’s perspective, not learning cursive in elementary school may not be the end of the world academically speaking. But advocates of teaching cursive argue that losing cursive is just one more case of technology eroding academic rigor.

Quality of Writing

There is another, lesser known, but reasonable argument against adopting computers across all academic disciplines. Pen and paper often tend to be more conducive to good writing than computer keyboarding. Longhand writing is more likely to result in well-reasoned, nuanced and intricate prose. This may arise from the fact that typing lends itself more easily to abrupt and punchy prose. The staccato quality of typing can work its way into writing. Stylistic arguments aside; a potentially far more worrisome implication for the long term is the increasing technology gap among schools.

Social Class

When the only technology requirements for completing aprimary education involved paper, pencils, a slide rule and eventually calculators, the impact technology had in widening the divide between haves and have-nots was minimal. But the technology gap which exists in schools today also functions as a solidifier of social class. If low-income students are unlucky enough to attend schools which can’t fund technology purchases, the chance that they’ll find a way out of a low income life becomes less likely. It’s understandable that if a school can’t afford air conditioning, they’re probably not going to view iPads as a logical expenditure.

The Danger of Making Technology So Critical

The ability to use technologies such as laptops and tablet computers allows students to acquire the same sets of core competencies they’ll need in the workforce. Not acquiring these skill sets is more than an inconvenience. The ability to access information and basic computer literacy can function as a potential stepping-stone out of poverty for many students. If a student graduates high school without at least a rudimentary and working knowledge of new technologies, their future starts looking a lot less bright.

And since many school districts which can’t afford to incorporate technology into the classroom are largely found in less affluent areas, the likelihood of upward social mobility decreases significantly and social classes begin to look a lot more like social castes. The technology gap runs the risk of further cementing social class. This country has always celebrated the ability of Americans to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. We love it when the underdog makes good. It’s part of our national identity to root for the little guy. But when the little guy is deprived of what are rapidly becoming basic tools of future economic survival, the ability for any effective bootstrap pulling begins to disappear.

Technology’s Impact on the Future

Twenty years ago, someone without computer skills could still expect to find a decent job which, though not providing a huge income, could still support a family. But now, jobs that used to be considered basic blue collar jobs require technological know-how. A car mechanic used to need mechanical aptitude and a good set of wrenches and they were in business. Working in customer service used to require basic telephone skills. But increasingly, even menial entry level jobs require much more computer literacy than what some disadvantaged students are getting in schools. If we want to ensure that more Americans continue to get a legitimate shot at the American Dream, we need to start a national dialogue focused on identifying workable solutions for narrowing the technology gap.

Jesse L. is a recent college graduate looking to make his mark on the world. Currently he is a blogger and a contributor at the Professional Intern. You can follow the Professional Intern on Twitter @TheProIntern. Be sure to check out his most recent article “How Steve Jobs Impacted Education.”

¿Han tocado techo las redes sociales?

Cada vez más voces aseguran que Facebook ha llegado a su cénit. Y según un reciente estudio internacional de la empresa de investigación de mercados Gartner, esta afirmación parece tener una base real.

Para la realización del informe,Gartner entrevistó a más de 6.000 internautas de 11 países. El 24% de los 

consultados, fundamentalmente usuarios muy afines a las nuevas tecnologías, admitió conectarse a su red social favorita con menos frecuencia que al principio.

Asimismo, el 31% de los consultados, internautas jóvenes y afines a la tecnología móviles y a las marcas, reconoció haberse cansado de las redes sociales.

El hartazgo de los internautas varía, de todas formas, en función de su nacionalidad. En Japón, Reino Unido y Estados Unidos, una quinta de los parte de los internautas se conecta a las redes social con menos frecuencia que al comienzo del “boom 2.0”. Sin embargo, el 40% de los usuarios siguen siendo fieles a Facebook y compañía.

Los más cansados de la Web Social son los rusos y los brasileños. Así, el 40% de los internautas de Rusia y el 30% de los usuarios de Brasil admiten utilizar las redes sociales con menos asiduidad que hace unos meses.

Por: http://www.marketingdirecto.com/

Manuel Castells - Comunicación Móvil y Sociedad: una perspectiva global.

Manuel Castells - Comunicación Móvil y Sociedad: una perspectiva global. (2006)
Las redes de comunicación inalámbrica es la tecnología que más rápidamente ha crecido de la historia. ¿Son los teléfonos móviles una expresión de la identidad, aparatos de moda, herramientas vitales... o un poco de todo? Comunicación móvil y sociedad trata de discernir de qué modo afecta la posibilidad de la comunicación multimodal, desde cualquier lugar a cualquier otro y en cualquier momento, tanto en el hogar como en el trabajo o en la escuela, ahondando en temas culturales y políticos desde una perspectiva global y local.


Lectura on-line por capítulos o descarga completa aquí
Leer

Open publication - Free publishing - More comunicacion

Publicada originalmente en inglés por el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts, y presentada luego al castellano gracias a la colaboración entre Fundación Telefónica y Editorial Ariel, Comunicación móvil y sociedad. Una perspectiva global es el resultado de una investigación colectiva bajo la coordinación del sociólogo español Manuel Castells y un equipo internacional de investigadores conformado por Mireia Fernández Ardèvol de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya; Jack Linchuan Qiu, de la Universidad China de Hong Kong; y Araba Sey, de la Universidad de California Meridional (USC).

Sharismo: una revolución de la mente - Isaac Mao

Sharismo: una revolución de la mente  Isaac Mao.
Traducción: Emilio Quintana.
Grupo Nodosele.
Isaac Mao (毛向輝) es empresario y blogger de la República Popular de China. Co-fundador de CNBlog.org, director de la Social Brain Foundation y vicepresidente de United Capital Investment Group.

Con la Gente de la World Wide Web comunicando de forma más total y libre en la nueva red (“social media”), a la vez que congregándose en un boom de contenido 2.0, se hace necesario estudiar más de cerca la dinámica interna de una explosión tan creativa. ¿Qué es lo que motiva a los que participan en este movimiento y qué futuro quieren crear? Hay un hecho clave: los que comparten están acumulando capital social y una superabundancia de respeto por parte de la comunidad.

El factor clave que motiva la nueva red, y el núcleo espiritual de la Web 2.0, reside en un cambio en la forma de pensar que llamamos sharismo. El sharismo propone una reorientación de los valores personales. Lo vemos en el Contenido Generado por el Usuario. Es la promesa de Creative Commons. Está en los planes de las iniciativas culturales orientadas al futuro. El sharismo es también una práctica mental que cualquiera puede probar, una actitud socio-psicológica que busca transformar un mundo amplio y aislado en un Cerebro Social super-inteligente.

Open publication - Free publishing - More blog
www.isaacmao.com es bloqueada en China.