Last Blog!

Half of our classmates displayed their technology posters on Monday. Most of their technology ideas are still very new to me. But I was impressed by those emerging technologies that may be not familiar to the majority. I bet some of those technologies will be in the market very soon in the future, people can benefit from those technologies in their real lives no matter for entertainment or communication functions.
This is my last blog this semester. Because I am not a technology person, writing blogs is not an easy job for me. But throughout the whole semester, I realized that “not a technology girl” is not a wise excuse when facing the challenge of so many emerging and functional technologies!

Electronic Dictionary

My parents are flying to America to visit me during Christmas break. However, they are worrying a lot about flight. My parents do not speak any English at all. So they worried about the communication problem if something happened. I already told them there must be Chinese Flight Attendant on the flight from China to Chicago. But they still have many concerns of communication problem. Then my fiancé suggested me to by an electronic dictionary for them. Electronic dictionary are easy to use for tourists. Then I placed an order of the electronic dictionary online. After I got it, I found that it has a wide selection of translators allowing my parents to find the model which satisfies their needs. The electronic dictionaries allow them to input a meaning or phrase and dictionary finds the word they need. Besides, it provides you with instant access to over than 1,000,000 words and synonyms words. Some of them are voice-enabled translation devices and even can talk. I think the electronic dictionary can help my parents.

Reading and New Media

Last Sunday, the pastor in my church discussed “Are we real Christians?” with us. His discussion related to the issue of people’s reducing reading impressed me a lot. Although most people said they are Christians in U.S., there are very few Christians completely read the whole bible. Except for reading bible, nowadays, people tend to do less and less reading. More and more people turned to the new media such as television and Internet. In my organizational communication class, our professor Stacey told us that based on some researches, people tend to believe what they hear from the media without any critical thinking. I think the reducing reading of people is a very realistic phenomenon. The increasing prevalence of the internet and new media influences the culture of our reading ability and even education. The ability to read is the most necessary competence in a modern society. In my opinion, media literacy is very important but being able to read still should be the core competence, which can enable other abilities. Nowadays, we have unconsidered support to the new media in all corners of life, especially in our educational system. Schools and even kindergartens are supplied with computers and networks. I think schools should balance the benefits and disadvantages of the Internet or other new media.

Surface Computing

Because of taking an advertising class this semester, our project group needs us to make advertising for the surface computing. Then we did some research on the surface computing and we found that this technology is very convenient for people to utilize and communicate. Instead of using a mouse and keyboard, people can easily interact with a touch-sensitive screen. Actually, surface computing is starting to be used in real world applications. The Microsoft Surface is starting to pick up popularity and has been used in various places. According to the CNN news, AT&T became the first retailer to use Surface to help their customers to buy phones. This technology has been used in a wide variety of public venues which included Super Bowl XLIII to help police monitor some criminal incidents.
There is a fantastic demonstration video on YouTube related to the surface computing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtKQNwqNLLk

Research on Video Games and College Students

For last six months, I was helping the communication department of Harbin Institute of Technology to do the research related to video games. My neighbor in China, Xing, is the professor of the communication department at that university. Based on my language advantage, SPSS skills and studying abroad experience, Xing recommended me to join their video game research group. In order to explore the relationship between college students' learning burnouts and video game addiction, we got started to design questionnaire. The whole research group was trying to lower the bias on questionnaire as much as possible. I used the knowledge of SPSS which learned in COM 304 at Purdue University to analyze the statistics. According to our results of six month’s research, there were significant difference in the gender, majors and grades among college students with video game addiction and college students with other type of internet addiction. Our conclusion is that there is significant relationship between the internet addiction tendency of college students with online game addiction and learning burnouts.
During our research process, we found that one phenomenon is worthy of our serious attention. That is, because of the Chinese traditional education system, college students have lots of available time other than studying. The Chinese colleges accept students very strictly. However, once students entered into colleges, they can graduate easily without working hard. This is very different from American Universities. Because I am studying in the U.S. now, I can tell so many differences between Chinese education systems and America’s. Without many things to work on, Chinese college students have the tendency to play video games to kill the time.
Our research team leader asked us, “Should we change the Chinese education system from now on? My son in Cornell University is always studying! But Chinese college students have lots of time to play video games”

3D TV

During the lunch time, I watched some news on TV about the 3D TV. I think it has really cool technologies.

Some Japanese company such as Panasonic, Sony, and other high-definition makers are looking to faux 3D technology to provide stereoscopic depth. The Japanese technology people in Sony Company said that they believe this technology is a good reason for consumers to buy a newer set. His words impressed me a lot. Nowadays, what can persuade the consumers to buy the stuff they already have? New technology! I think it will also be the key motivation for the invention of high technology industries.

“The promise of 3D is a more immersive, more true-to-life experience, and substantively different from almost anything you've watched before. In commercial theaters, 3D projection typically involves superimposing polarized or distinctly colored images on each frame and then having viewers wear so-called "passive" glasses that reveal different images to each eye. The brain synthesizes the two images into a generally convincing notion of depth.”

I also found a demonstration for Philips 3D TV on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWgSQLnhWMw&feature=related

Video Games

As we discussed in Wednesday’s lab, video games function as both an angel and a devil.

Video games can have “tremendous educative power” such as integrating thinking, social interaction, and reinforce, and technology into the learning experience. Besides, video games can help children develop their critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and cooperation abilities. Most importantly, some experts claimed that video games play an essential role in youth civic and political development.

On the other hand, video games can lead to social isolation, aggressive behavior, and even reinforce gender stereotypes. I also believe time spending too much on video games makes people spend less time on reading and studying, which makes people less informed and intelligent. I have a cousin in China. After he went into the most top university, he was getting addicted to the video games and was forced to drop school. All my family members feel so sad for my cousin, because he destroyed his brilliant future!