Thursday, October 27, 2011

Flow in the Workplace

After listening to the gentleman talk about flow in the workplace, it reminded me a lot of my past employment. People for the most part I think don't really like what they are doing, and as Mihaly stated, if people are bored with their jobs and they're not happy, they will usually rush to get the work done as fast as possible. He suggests that people should become engaged with their work. People look for a sense of happiness with their jobs. People need to find a challenge with their job in order to make it more rewarding, they also need to perfect their skill level in order to become proficient in what they are doing and lastly, they need to focus on that task at hand, because that would shift their negative feelings towards their job. I recall in my last job that it got to the point that I hated going to work. I worked in a highly creative job, I was a floral designer for almost 10 years. But, I would add, that when you have owners who tend to be negative and who always dwell on negative things and who always dwell on mistakes, then there really is no room to move forward in that job. It can become extremely stifling and often times, it become detrimental to your health. It was actually making me ill. My staff quit because they couldn't take the constant daily negative comments. In order for employees to be happy, they need to feel appreciated and they need to know that they are valued.
Karen

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Survey on Social Networking and learning

I came upon this article that presented info in a survey about how kids between 9 to 17 are using social networking sites. Its a short article but very insightful.

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/sourcefiles/CreateandConnect.pdf

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Disconnected: People who aren't afforded the use of a computer

I came across another article about disconnect, but this one relates to people who are disconnected from computers due to their situation in life. It's a good article that looks at Libraries and how they help these people.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6573334.html

Kids and Social Networking Skills

I felt the need to write about this topic because its something that I have spoken about in the past week.  I came upon an article today in a magazine given to me by my mom. In the August issue of Family Circle, there is an article titled Virtual Reality in which the author, Dan Tynan, talks about kids and the disconnect with them and other family members. He asks a question, "Are we digitally distracted?" I agree with him that yes we are. He speaks about this topic with alot of first hand knowledge because he and his wife are both technology journalists. He states in the article that according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Americans between 8 and 18 consume media nearly 8 hours a day. The article also states that the time families spend together has dropped from 26 hours a week to under 18. He feels that technology is putting a wedge between people, and that what concerns him is the fact that people are consumed by it. There is a passage in the article which I had stated in a blog last week, so its alittle interesting that I would be reading exactly what I was thinking last week. He writes., "Apparently Generation Text spends so much time typing and tapping they may have difficulty understanding body language, resolving conflicts or feeling compassion for their real-life, flesh and blood companions." The internet provides many kids with the ability to act out a role behind the computer. Microsoft Reasercher, Danah Boyd refers to this as "identity performance", in which kids try on a virtual personality in an arena like Facebook where the fear of any social awkwardness vanishes. For introverted children that may be a good thing. But, there still exists a problem amongst teenagers who are all too consumed with FB, or texting, to fully understand that a real world does exist outside of their cell phone and computer. There is a huge problem when kids look at FB as a way of playing a part. They may not necessarily have to be themselves online because there is no one there to critique them. Unfortunately, this makes alot of sense. But ,it gives kids a false sense of security that these FB friends are really their friends, when in reality, these type of friends are not their for the long haul. The biggest problem that I have with social networking and how many kids abuse the priviledge, is the fact that because they'd rather text, verbal communication has now taken a back seat to texting. This is bad on so many levels, because I see alot of kids constantly texting. In fact, two kids were sitting next to each other, texting one another. "Texting and tweeting instead of talking not only leads to conversations filled with dramatic hyperbole, creative spelling and LOL's, it can also create a generation of conversational illiterates who struggle to read body language, resolve conflicts or deal with difficult emotions, warns Van Petten." She is the founder of a teen-driven advice site called Radical Parenting. It also warns that technology may be playing a role with people's capacity to feel grief. In a study conducted by the University of Michigan, it says that 40% of college students today are less empathetic than students 30 years ago. Researchers partially blame social media for this decline, because lets face facts, you can't learn how to be empathetic attached to your computer screen. Educational psychologist Michael Borba, has stated that " technology can rob us of face-to-face interactions." While some will argue that social media in the professional realm is a thing that is ever present and will only continue to grow, it still must be looked at as a reall issue with kids. While texting may not be viewed as a form of verbal communication, it is however a form of communication that is widely used and will be used in the professional world. Technology for all of the negatives, does have many positives. More and more people are able to communicate with people all over the world. Relatives and friends can now stay in touch more. Skype is a great tool for talking to people in far off places. Granted, I  may not like the fact that kids, especially the younger adolescent group, can become all too engrossed in their technology, but I would like to see parents curtail the texting, especially during family time. I just don't want to see kids grow up and one day realize that they don't know how to hold a real conversation for more than 10 minutes. I would also like to see people becoming less disconnected, because it creates an environment where people are self absorbed in technology and less connected with the outside real world. Read the entire article, its really eye opening   .http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/technology/connecting-with-your-kids/

Karen

Works Cited: http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/technology/connecting-with-your-kids/
Dan Tynan.

Monday, October 10, 2011

"The quality of your life is the quality of your communication"

I'm not sure that I would totally agree with that quote. Not everyone can communicate effectively, so would that make their life less worthy? Because in a sense, isn't it saying that you must be a good communicator, or the quality of your life will suffer? Maybe I am misinterpreting what is being said. I think the quality of my life is more than communication, its about the things I do, how I give selflessly of myself to others. The saying " actions speak louder than words" would seem completely opposite of this quote.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Creativity Later in Life

I have racked my brain on many occasions to come up with creative ideas, but some days, I just can't think. I used to think that it was because I was tired, but now I really think that alot of it has to do with age. I used to be a floral designer for almost 10 years and I could whip together a design in minutes, now I find that it takes me a little longer to gather my thoughts. Are my cognitive skills suffering because of my age? I have to say that I know that I want to say somethinng or do something, but I feel that whatever it is, its lost in my brain somewhere. I often times just chalked it up to my ADD, but now I just think its an aging brain. I read in Aging and Creativity where Denney 1990, has stated, "The cognitive processes underlying the exploration stage, involving conceptual shifting, and hypothesis testing, show a similar decline with age." In the article, it states that older adults usually rely on the first idea, because they have a more difficult time coming up with a multitude of creative ideas. But, it does go on to say, that older adults have more original ideas because of their extensive knowledge that they've acquired over the years as opposed to the younger generation. It kind of doesn't make sense, because in one respect its saying that older adults have a more difficult time in coming up with creative ideas, but then it says that they have more knowledge to come up with original ideas. It's alittle confusing to say the least. I know that I have the knowledge, I just feel like I've hit that road block and I don't know what to do to get it going again. I would also add. that I think sometimes when there's too many distractions they can sometimes be a detriment to the creative process. I find diffculty even writing my thoughts down in this blog because I'm thinking about what I have to do tomorrow. I have thought about taking medicine for my ADD, because maybe that would help me to focus a bit more. I know that drugs aren't always the answer, but I'm extremely frustrated by my lack of creative output. I know that I have the ability to do something great, I just don't know what that is.

Karen
DENNEY, N. W. (1990). Adult age differences in traditional and practical problem solving. In E. A. Lovelace

(Ed.),
Aging and cognition: Mental processes, self awareness and interventions (pp. 329-349).

New York: Elsevier Science Publishers B. V. (North-Holland).

Creativity and Innovation

I came across this video while I was watching another video and it really was rather interesting how Edward De Bono used hats for his analogies on creativity and innovation. What he said makes a lot of sense and I also believe that people can sometimes sabotage creativity, especially if you're working in a group and you have someone who always looks at the glass as being half empty. It's hard to be creative when there's negativity, but there are ways to get around that as he has stated.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Social Networking and the Learning Disabled

I like the idea of social networking as a way of learning from others. It's a great way to utilize a format that enables people to reach out to other parts of the globe. With respect to learning, who wouldn't want to have that option to speak with other people in a different part of the world. I wonder how would this type of learning benefit someone with learning disabilities? I want my son to go back to school so badly but he is very insecure about his abilities, mainly because he did poorly in high school. I wonder if a format could be created that would allow these kids the ability to learn given their disability? I'm not sure if one already exists, but I think the idea would be worthwhile. There are so many more adults being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, that it would probably benefit them if there was a way to learn that was more on their terms. I realize that most students who are classified get accomodations from their respective schools, but there is that percentage of students who aren't classified, but still have difficulty with learning.