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Film Review

Film review
The Theory of Everything
Biographical drama, 2014

The Theory of Everything is about the scientist Stephen Hawking. The film is based on a book, ‘Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen’ by his wife, Jane Wilde Hawking. The film is set in England and starts in the early 1960s. It tells the story of Hawking’s relationship with Jane, the diagnosis of his motor neuron disease and his success as a physicist. I love the acting in this film. Eddie Redmayne stars as Hawking and Felicity Jones plays the role of Jane. My favourite character is Stephen Hawking because he is very clever and brave. I think this is an ideal film for people who like true stories. It is a bit sad at times but the story is very interesting and there is a lot of action. I give The Theory of Everything ★★★★. Go and watch it soon!

Cyberbullying and online gaming

Cyberbullying and Online Gaming

Playing videogames is a popular activity, with 72 percent of teens gaming online. Many video games – whether they are console, web, or computer-based – allow users to play with friends they know in person and others they have met only online. While gaming can have positive benefits like making new friends, socializing, and learning how to strategize and problem solve, it is also another place where cyberbullying occurs. 

Anonymity of players and the use of avatars allow users to create alter-egos or fictional versions of themselves, which is part of the fun of gaming. But it also allows users to harass, bully, and sometimes gang up on other players, sending or posting negative or hurtful messages and using the game as a tool of harassment. If someone is not performing well, other children may curse or make negative remarks that turn into bullying, or they might exclude the person from playing together.

Because players are anonymous, they cannot necessarily be held accountable for their behavior, and their harassment can cause some players to leave games. Some anonymous users use the game as a means to harass strangers or to get their personal information, like user names and passwords. 

There are things adults can do to prevent cyberbullying of children who are gaming:

• Play the game or observe when the gaming happens to understand how it works and what a child is exposed to in the game.
• Check in periodically with your child about who is online, playing the game with them.
• Teach your children about safe online behavior, including not clicking on links from strangers, not sharing personal information, not participating in bullying behavior of other players, and what to do if they observe or experience bullying.
• Establish rules about how much time a child can spend playing video games.

Phones should not be allowed into the classrooms.

To the Editor:

With the recent arrest of a student because she did not put her cellphone away fast enough in South Carolina, the conversation about electronics in the classroom is growing.

There really is a very simple, common-sense solution to the use of electronic communication by school students during lessons: Ban it.

I was a teacher years ago, before such phones existed, and frankly I could not imagine them in the hands of students while I was teaching.

But what I really am confused about is why teachers permit students to have phones in their classrooms. Despite all my son's whining, I made sure he never had a cellphone of his own until he left high school, which did not hurt him at all. We have a computer in the house which he can access to it most of the time but it's in the living area, so we can monitor him. If I were still teaching, all my students would have to leave their phones in a separate location upon entering the classroom, or be absolutely required to have them turned off.

Furthermore, students now are permitted to bring their laptop or the school would provide for those without. So, why do students still need phones? I know the chromebook or laptop have great learning potential, but you have to understand that these are teenagers! They are poor at managing themselves, and so it's better to let the teachers manage them, which means chromebook allowed but not personal cellphones. There really is no use. Without mentioning the disruptions and constant urge of checking their phones is really a problem and is affecting the cognitive function of students. 

And for schools who permit students to bring their phones, I heard that teachers do not really care anymore if students are paying attention or surfing away with their phones. This is pathetic. 

There is one simple certainty. No phones equals no problems of this type.

Problem solved.

James Steamer

State College, Pa.

Voki Happy

Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized avatars to use on your wikis, blogs or websites. The best thing about Voki is that it motivates learners of different ages, because of their highly interactivity by providing various options for students to customize them. This service provides various features which allows students to personalize their speaking avatar's voice, appearance, hair color, background, clothing, etc. 

Image Source: Flickr by I'm Your Father with some rights reserved

Image Source: Flickr by I'm Your Father with some rights reserved.

Teachers can use this in the classroom by having their students creating digital identities. For English classes mainly, whether ESL or the mainstream English classes, students can use it for any digital storytelling projects. This can help raise the learners' interests in reading and storytelling which will help improve their speaking and reading skills. Besides that, learners can create conversations with their classmates or teacher and this can help to motivate all kinds of learners--the quiet or the outspoken ones--to practice their speaking and listening skills.

Besides that, most parents would feel comfortable with their children using avatars instead of their real identities especially when it is geared towards learning. 

Here are some suggestions that teachers can do with Voki in their classroom, this is geared mostly towards English teachers. 

The Power of Educational Technology: Arguments for the iPad in Education

The Power of Educational Technology: Arguments for the iPad in Education:
As our generation transits into a world surrounded and functioned with technology, should we as educators stick to our traditional ways of teaching which have done a pretty good job over the past decades, or should we embrace the new "in-thing"--incorporating technology into our class? If your answer is yes, congratulations, you will see so much learning opportunities and convenience that technology will provide to you and your students. Now the bigger question is, what's the big thing about iPad and some teachers have doubts and are unfamiliar with the 1 to 1 teaching program. This article will give you some insights on it and tell you why you should use iPad instead of a computer.

Image source: Iowa AEA online by iClipart for Schools