** My Intellectual Flakes ** » Uncategorized http://liping.edublogs.org On technology, education and media Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:15:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Our relationship with machine http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/12/06/our-relationship-with-machine/ http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/12/06/our-relationship-with-machine/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:27:50 +0000 liping http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/12/06/our-relationship-with-machine/ sexdrive_david_levy_250px.jpgThis increasingly blurred line between virtual and real life already seems overwhelming. Falling in love and marry a robot? That really sounds too absurd. But according to this article on Wired and the book she mentioned, it might be a reality by 2050.

Here are some of the reasons why robot might be an excellent lover and companion:

    • A robot can be a good dancer.
    • You can have real conversation (even intellectual one) with a robot.
    • A robot is a sensitive and responsive lover.
    • you can switch off a robot at any time and program it to your heart’s content
    • the safest sex on earth

But by my understanding, what’s vital in a relationship is the inter-dependency upon each other. We need a robot; but a robot doesn’t need us. The need to feel being needed is strongly connected to our self worth, self confidence and content with our life. But in this uneven relationship with a machine, the need for the other is unbalanced. So in this sense, a robot might be a great sex machine and companion, but never a husband.

]]> http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/12/06/our-relationship-with-machine/feed/ 1 Get out of MySpace http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/11/12/get-out-of-myspace/ http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/11/12/get-out-of-myspace/#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:41:30 +0000 liping http://liping.edublogs.org/2007/11/12/get-out-of-myspace/ There is an interesting article titled “Students tell universities: Get out of MySpace!). The message is loud and clear: students do want to keep their social and academic life separated. This message really should serve as a wake-up call for those educators who are enthusiastic about tapping into the educational use of social networking website like Facebook or MySpace. Maybe they should hold on for a minute and ponder: is this what students want and need? I think the application and incooperation of social networking websites for educational purposes are very challenging and difficult, if not possible. Plus their impact on students’ learning might only be indirect – through strengthening the social connections within a group of learners.

On the other hand, studies are showing the increasing evidence that the adoption of technology in various context is more to do with people’s beliefs or epistemology instead of the technical issues, such as, technical competency or infrastructure. It was pointed out that students nowadays are quite sophisticated users of technology and use it extensively in their daily life. Yet often, they didn’t realize the educational value of certain technology. Then how to cultivate this awareness becomes a key issue.

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