Catholic Exchange Forums Topic: Computers in the home

Catholic Exchange Forums Topic: Computers in the home http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Catholic Exchange Forums Topic: Computers in the home en Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:25:57 +0000 pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687/page/2#post-11974 Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:04:32 +0000 pouliot 11974@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ To: P.S. <blockquote>RE: "BAD influence"</blockquote>But look how well teached a person can become. <dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma (Cradle Catholic & generally inveterate amateur)</dd></dl> wljewell on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687/page/2#post-11975 Mon, 02 Jul 2007 07:22:15 +0000 wljewell 11975@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ God loves you . :) Having taught GyBs new 'words' to say to his wife when she gets tired of shampooing and such so as to talk to him . . . . . . BAD influence in his house. Remember, I love you, too Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, Pristinus Sapienter (wljewell @catholicexchange.com or ... yahoo.com) pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11973 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:39:54 +0000 pouliot 11973@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ To: GrumpyBumpas <blockquote>RE: "she shut it down,came into the kitchen and started to talk to me again..."</blockquote>An amusing picture but what does it have to do with the question of whether computer use has a negative impact on the ability to learn and reatin information? <dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma (Cradle Catholic & generally inveterate amateur)</dd></dl> grumpybumpas on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11972 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:38:32 +0000 grumpybumpas 11972@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ (New kid on the block,just waiving a hand.)  My wife got so mad at her computer the otherday that she shut it down,came into the kitchen and started to talk to me again.  I love my computer as it has thought me a new vocabulary of four letter words. pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11971 Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:33:18 +0000 pouliot 11971@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ <blockquote>RE: "certification"</blockquote>As a solution to quality achievement in any area of human activity, this is a mirage.  The idea of "certification" has experienced a revival of sorts in this computerized age as management discovered that not every geek could fix a broken network or write a reliable software application.  At first it actually meant something to be certified.  Now the process has been corrupted by "grade" inflation and "purchased" certificates.  One now needs to certify the certifiers.  Time to return to the guild system.<dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma (Cradle Catholic & generally inveterate amateur)</dd></dl> fishman on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11970 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:41:46 +0000 fishman 11970@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ I wonder if it would not be possible to offer certified education at a reduced price using computers. It seems that if you can gain a much larger audiance you might be able to charge less per capita and still be able to let teh instructor eat and all. I have seen and been involved in some of this kind of thing, but I haven't seen anything that is certified with transferable credits AND is self paced. Why not? faithmatters on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687/page/2#post-11979 Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:41:12 +0000 faithmatters 11979@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Leticia Velsquez,Thank you! I was just thinking about that today, too. I have discovered how podcasting is being used by educators to share the love of learning with the general public and I was wondering why a home educator wouldn't take advantage of such technology.  I checked out your blogs. They are delightful! Your writer's voice is very much that of a strong Catholic mother - very homey but very concerned with the truth. I am going blogroll you on my blog. I hope you would consider returning the favor.<img src="/modules/tinymce/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /> Congratulations on getting published (announced in her blog <a href="http://cause-of-our-joy.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://cause-of-our-joy.blogspot.com/</a> on April 12)! I will look for your article in Faith and Family magazine. We do subscribe to that magazine.  My moral theology course is scheduled to be done in September. I hope to have the web site up at that time as well. I will write myself a note to contact you, and I will probably also post something on this forum. Thank you for offering to link to it!   In the love of Christ,Jeff  "We are made for you, oh God, to live forever in your love and our hearts will not rest until they rest in You." St Augustine See my blog at <a href="http://www.faith-matters.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">www.faith-matters.blogspot.com</a> pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11969 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:36:47 +0000 pouliot 11969@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ To: CathHsMom <blockquote>RE: "You should have corrected me :)"</blockquote>As you may have noticed in other cases, I do tend towards some selectivity in the observations I post here.  And I selectively correct posts I quote as well.  My keyboard doesn't always send the second (or is it the first) of doubled letters reliably so I tend towards considering things like "to" for "too" and "agre" for "agree" as being caused by distant kin of my keyboard rather than errors in usage.<dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma</dd></dl> cathsmom on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11968 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:43:22 +0000 cathsmom 11968@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ I see said the blind man. The first attempt at logical breaks created CathsMom so I thought perhaps you thought I was in fact Cath's mom. I was unsure of the Cath-S-mom (was unable to decipher the S for schooling) so thought perhaps you figured my name was Cath and I didn't want to misrepresent myself.UH-OH just saw in your copying of my original post that the to before lazy should actually be too. You should have corrected me :) pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11967 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:26:46 +0000 pouliot 11967@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ To: CathHsMom aka Cath-S-Mom <blockquote>RE: "As for the login name, I should have added another 'H' since it was to reflect Catholic Homeschool Mom (cathhsmom would have been better). I realized it after I created it but am to lazy to correct. I have no children named Cath (as in CathsMom), nor is my first name Cath or my middle/last initial S (as in Cath-S-Mom)."</blockquote>Perhaps it will strain credibility, but I took "cathsmom" to stand for "Catholic Schooling Mom," with the understanding, given the name of this forum, that the "Schooling" was being done at home.  "Cath-S-Mom" was my attempt to show where I believed the logical breaks were likely to come in the Username; it was not my intent to look for anything personal or obscure in it.<dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma</dd></dl> cathsmom on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11966 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:28:23 +0000 cathsmom 11966@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Pouliot:I most likely will not point out any other errors. That one occurred at an opportune time and I took advantage of the situation. Technically they were not the same type of mistake--the one you corrected was more grammatical (using the wrong word) whereas I corrected your spelling. As for the login name, I should have added another 'H' since it was to reflect Catholic Homeschool Mom (cathhsmom would have been better). I realized it after I created it but am to lazy to correct. I have no children named Cath (as in CathsMom), nor is my first name Cath or my middle/last initial S (as in Cath-S-Mom). pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687/page/2#post-11978 Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:54:58 +0000 pouliot 11978@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ To: Cath-S-Mom <blockquote>RE: "I have been visiting the board, that is why I couldn't resist--especially since it is one of the words you listed as often being incorrect on another thread. I certainly am NO master of the English language as you and wljewell seem to be (and truly shouldn't be pointing out others mistakes), but I found humor in that one."</blockquote>I found it humorous too, and educational.  So please let me know when you find others of mine.  There is no substitute for self-discipline and, for it to occur, there must first be awareness. <dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma (Cradle Catholic - amateur at most endeavours.)</dd></dl> Leticia Velsquez on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11965 Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:03:57 +0000 Leticia Velsquez 11965@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Faithmatters, as a blogger <a href="http://cause-of-our-joy.blogspot.com/">http://cause-of-our-joy.blogspot.com</a> and <a href="http://causa-nostrae-laetitiae.blogspot.com/">http://causa-nostrae-laetitiae.blogspot.com</a> I most certainly agree that Catholics must engage the internet for good, or let the pagans corrupt it fully. I would like a link to your moral theology curriculum when it's up; be sure to post it. I have recently met the author of a compendium of mother's thoughts: "Gifts: how children with Down Syndrome Have Enriched Our Lives". It was first self-published on the internet, and within three weeks, Woodbine House picked it up, and will sell it in stores. Here's another example of how the internet can be used for good. wljewell on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11964 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:59:56 +0000 wljewell 11964@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ God loves you . Cathsmom and all, You find me in a misspelling or grammatic delusion - give me a word of correction . . . Find me mis-Catholic-izing - scare the hell out of me! But, do pardon me if you find me e - lip . . . ticklish :) Remember, I love you, too Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, Pristinus Sapienter (wljewell @catholicexchange.com or ... yahoo.com) cathsmom on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11963 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:51:21 +0000 cathsmom 11963@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ I have been visiting the board, that is why I couldn't resist--especially since it is one of the words you listed as often being incorrect on another thread. I certainly am NO master of the English language as you and wljewell seem to be (and truly shouldn't be pointing out others mistakes), but I found humor in that one. pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11962 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:37:31 +0000 pouliot 11962@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ To: CathsMom <blockquote>RE: "Try: believe"</blockquote>Touché.  My fingers mess up a whole slew of words consistently. Mostly "ie" combinations.  But some others include "dose" instead of "does", "fo" vs. "of", but I bore you I am sure.  Usually I catch them when I proof read but clearly I miss some/many.  I must try to do better.I'd edit some I've found (the above excepted since I didn't find it) but doing so repositions the post to the "most recent" slot and the new sequence can be confusing as context is difficult to find if a long cite isn't provided. I infer you've been visiting the board long enough to have read my plaint about spelleos and typos.<dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma</dd></dl> cathsmom on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11961 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:46:56 +0000 cathsmom 11961@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Pouliot:Try:believe "(I beleive the reason ..."Sorry, could not resist :). pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11960 Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:02:50 +0000 pouliot 11960@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Try: "than" & "compliment" (Software may signal an error in spelling, but only when it doesn't happen to be a valid word. I believe these are called "spelleo's.") So was that due to a reduction in blood flow, or some other cause? (I beleive the reason for these may tend to support my hypothesis, but of course only you can provide the facts, one way or the other.) <dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma</dd></dl> PS for CE Technical Support: The navigation options (1 2 Next, etc) for a long thread need to appear at the top of the thread as well as at the bottom. fishman on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11959 Tue, 06 Feb 2007 09:44:42 +0000 fishman 11959@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ well, far-fetched means if you think about it drawing more from the creative then from the analytical so in some ways it is a complement. I've never seen a study to support or refute the idea so from the point of view of a scientist it is still on the table as far as I'm concerned. pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11944 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:38:46 +0000 pouliot 11944@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ While the cautionary news below applies to any home, the homeschooling community might be somewhat more vulnerable than the non-homeschooling household because of the competing demand for hours which are necessarily in short supply. A study is reported by Britain's Royal Economic Society that claims "Holding other family characteristics constant, students perform significantly worse if they have computers at home." According to the article in which I found this, "In contrast, children with access to 500 books in their homes performed better." (Not necessarily a cause and effect relationship there I should think. Also, the precision of the number is a little suspect to me. Why is it that 450 books didn't have a salutary influence?) pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11958 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:38:07 +0000 pouliot 11958@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ "...monitor in desk..." Yes, I've always wanted to test that arrangement. I jury-rigged something like that during an application development effort and it certainly seemed to matter, but the test was too short and naturally the results were subjective and lacked an appropriate sample size. "...far-fetched..." Thank you.<dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma</dd></dl> PS for CE Technical Support: The navigation options (1 2 Next, etc) for a long thread need to appear at the top of the thread as well as at the bottom. fishman on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11957 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:25:53 +0000 fishman 11957@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ pouliot - if you are worried about blood flow I'd recommend one of the computer desks that places the monitor in the desk itself so that it is in the same reading position as a book. (I think your theory is a little far fetched but if you happen to be right there is an easy solution then isn't there.) fishman on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11956 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:23:11 +0000 fishman 11956@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ still the technique I've described above can be abused if you don't learn to read the surrounding text deeply enough to understand the context that the statements were made in. fishman on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11955 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:22:10 +0000 fishman 11955@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ One thing I really like about having books in electronic format is the ability to research them. For instance if someone claims that Jesus did not name simon - peter. It is easy enough to find all the places in the new testament and where the name simon is used. You can then go back and look at the context of specific statements. It took me about a half an hour to realize that Simon bar Jona was named Cephus ( translate peter) by Jesus in John 1:42 and that the gosphel of mathew 14 "You are petros and on this petra I will build my ecclisa" is not in fact Jesus renameing Simon but an example of when he used the name he had already given him. without the ability to do keyword searches on the text I would have had to trust secondary sources to find my answer and it may have taken me weeks or months. faithmatters on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11954 Sun, 21 Jan 2007 12:56:00 +0000 faithmatters 11954@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ These last two posts were excellent. I am especially thrilled by Ipioch's comments. I have always made the point that most Internet use involves reading. The Internet has offered us reading material that would otherwise be unavailable, at little or no cost, and available whenever and for however long we would like to use it. The important thing as far as I am concerned is to steer children away from the glance-and-click browsing technique in which they don't really read anything, but just glance at a web site long enough to see what it's about and then move on to the next. I have also seen students at the high school where I used to teach copying and pasting web pages, and I assume they use that information without really reading it or thinking about it. That's another bad Internet habit (akin to the old copying information out of an encyclopedia). Bad habits are possible with any learning tool. Children need to be shaped. The Internet also allows for communication and exchange of ideas, such as this forum. Internet use definitely needs to be monitored, but so does all learning my children will do. We have a very good filter on our computers and our computers are in a public part of our house. My daughter is too young to read yet (only 11 months) but I look forward to using the Internet as part of her education. "We are made for you, oh God, to live forever in your love and our hearts will not rest until they rest in You." St Augustine See my blog at <a href="http://www.faith-matters.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">www.faith-matters.blogspot.com</a> fishman on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11953 Wed, 17 Jan 2007 10:57:38 +0000 fishman 11953@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ well, I am a software engineer as my employment. So take this for what it is worth. I have seen both great benifit and great harm done by proper and improper use of technology respectively. computers are no different. May I reccomend you consider for a moment what the definition of a tool is? ( a object, created by man for the purpose of enhancing his power ) A hammer lets us fasten thing togther in ways we otherwise could not. A car lets us get places faster. A computer allows us to access coorlate and sort information in volumes and at speeds that are humanly impossible. Still, one should ask the question , why would I WANT to. Is traveling faster 'better'? It has occured to me from time to time that as man extends his power he does not extend his wisdom. However, he does extend his ability to harm himself as much as to do good. I wonder how long the common man will be able to live in comfortable gray areas about many of thier day to day choices. to address the thread more directly. The harm done is not the fault of the tool. It is a function of how it is being used. The study would probably have been very different if they had looked at homes with computers that did not allow thier children to play video games. lpioch on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11952 Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:55:13 +0000 lpioch 11952@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ I think computers are a very powerful tool - especially in the world of education. Even television can be (although it is much more limited than computers), if used properly. Television can help children and young adults visualize what before was very difficult to visualize. Of course, I'm speaking mostly about science (my background), but with history and literature as well. Not as a replacement of reading, but as a possible reinforcement. For me, anyway, I'm very much more visual than anything else. So even (or especially) for history, for it to stick better in my mind, I had to see something above and beyond just reading it. But, as with all things, moderation is the key, and training in the proper use as well. Now, computers are amazing creations. I really should say the internet, because that is what I'm thinking mostly about here. I have been on the internet almost since the internet was public. I don't know when it was public, but I have been on it since 1992 or so. Of course, back then, not much was on it! So I have developed the ability to seek and find almost anything I wish (information, that is). How can that not be valuable in the learning process?!? But for those that are not adult, IT MUST BE DONE ALWAYS WITH GUIDANCE. 1) it has addictive properties 2) it has morally reprehensible information as well as good information 3) it has SO MUCH information, that one needs an already formed conscience to be able to wade through the rubbish to find the diamonds. I think, by definition, those 3 properties mean that pre-adults cannot be expected to use it as the powerful tool that it is...without continued guidance and direction. I am a great fan of books. I have too many. :-) But in education, they, too are limited - by time, space, availability, and cost (if not in other aspects as well). faithmatters on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11951 Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:50:56 +0000 faithmatters 11951@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ I realize I am really late to jump into this discussion, but it is very relevant to my life right now. I am writing a moral theology curriculum for home educators, and I decided to publish it as a web site and CD-ROM so that I can self-publish and keep costs fairly low. I was hoping that computers and the Internet would be seen as a useful tool by home educators - in addition to books, of which I am a great fan. I tend to agree with wljewell that books and computers can exist side by side. Is there any hope of resurrecting this thread? Can pouliot and lpioch offer some more thoughts? "We are made for you, oh God, to live forever in your love and our hearts will not rest until they rest in You." St Augustine See my blog at <a href="http://www.faith-matters.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">www.faith-matters.blogspot.com</a> wljewell on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687#post-11950 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 21:45:54 +0000 wljewell 11950@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ How so, moderator-wanna-be? Sight and PC in the home - they correlate in how the thread was advancing. Though, the blind have to imagine-all-along what we are content to wait to see, of outcomes. Actually, it is without means of communication - input and output - at bottom, words - that undermine retention in memory. Babies rarely hold on to memories until they have means to express them. If they could come out communicating - talking well - a thought about which most mothers would pale - they would have means to complete the grasp of memory for all that they experience. Like 'event hangers', words are. How a home PC fits into that may be interesting if you have a program that utters common words gently to an infant watching and listening. Pictures and spelling with the sound would only advance Baby into "NO!" and "GIMME!" much sooner. Or, "LOADED! Dispel it before you can smell it!" Or, "RED ALERT! Diaper rash advancing on all unmentionable zones!" Or, "I get liquified ham and pureed peaches, and he gets solid cuts of meat on rye - we have a problem here!" Or, "On the shopping list, there, teething biscuits - almond flavored, maybe?" I remain your obedient servant, but God's first, Pristinus Sapienter (wljewell @mail.catholicexchange.com or ...yahoo.com) pouliot on "Computers in the home" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/687/page/2#post-11977 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:43:55 +0000 pouliot 11977@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Re PS's post of 15 December 2006, @ 8:11 pm. Hmmm. Perhaps an interesting question there. The one you raise about having others read to you if you are blind. I'm thinking of the blind men in the Gospel who, though blind had perceived the truth of Jesus and, through their faith, were healed. In the Greek tragic poets there is a theme that only the blind can really see the outcome of human actions. There is too a retro expression of this in some of T. S. Eliot, unless my memory fail. (Without sight, without memory; that would be hard to bear I think.)<dl><dt>Regards,</dt><dd>Old Sigma</dd></dl> PS: But PS note how you have subverted this thread. Why did you not start a separate thread back on December 13, 2006 (9:41 pm)?