Unit 6 post

I believe that the new media has increased the level of personal empowerment. Most of the resources being used, like the Internet, TV, newspaper, radio has increased people's knowledge about health care issues, health care providers and more. The new media has helped answer some of people's question regarding a specific issue. While on the bright side the new media seems to be a helpful and a powerful tool for people to use, i am afraid to say that it might harm people if they do not know what is a reliable source and what is not. If people are not guided and directed to a reliable source, they might not get the information needed, and might end up harmed than benefited.  

As a future health care provider i will implement new media into my practice and i will do my best to educate my patient about the available resource that might be useful for them. I think the biggest and important factor is to be able to reach and educate people using easy language that they can understand. I think with the new media and the use of technology it is definitely possible to educate and make available information in different languages.   

Unit 5 post

For our group's PSA we chose to do our video on washing hands which was the product. In order to inform people of the importance of washing ones' hand, we needed to show them the downside of not washing one's hands can do to the person, which was the price. Washing ones' hand could be done anywhere were there is a sink, water and soap, there is really not a specific place. And i think we forget to wash our hands with such a busy life, and i think we need to promote washing hands just as a reminder (promotion).

Unit 4 post

The paper examined the use of social marketing to advance public health. And talked about ways to target population with the fastest and easiest way becoming the "social marketing" approach. Big companies promote a specific product or big insurance companies promote their latest insurance plan to create a healthier environment for people. However, the question i ask myself always is that their true intention, is this really a better plan than what i have, is this product going to make me feel better. The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. I believe that companies use the fact the society is in need in anyway to feel better, to look younger, to look fit and slim, to reduce cholesterol, to get ride of body fats and promote products and medication that might have side effect that might worsen their health, for the companies profit. All around me i see commercials that talks about important health issues like obesity for examples and provide ways, and programs to help reduce obesity and steps to really talk care of oneself. However, on the other side i see cigarettes, alcohol and beer being promoted as well by big companies, and people get overwhelmed and do in fact start using these mentioned above as a way to get their mind off of real live problems, smoke because its cool like teenager might think. So i believe that we really need to educate people about health care issues before we overwhelm them with products and plans that might help or might not help their lives.

Unit 3 Post

In the Collins and Tilson article they discuss the characteristics of generational groups and how this knowledge can help us the educators to design a more effective instructions. My generation was the Millennial generation. Some of the characteristics that were mentioned about this generation is that we like structured curriculum. Subjects that are more of an interest to us are math and sciences. We get things done if we have detail instruction and positive feedback. We take school seriously. We work best in environment that provide support, encouragement, and motivation. Reading the article and thinking back when i used to be in middle school, high school, and undergraduate college, I cannot necessarily 100% agree that all of the characteristics accurately describe all the people within the generation. However, it closely describe my behavior and the way i did things in these stages mentioned above. I did like detail instructions when assignment were given, i like to see structured, ordered curriculum, and i definitely take school seriously. So i do somewhat i agree with the description of the generation, but this does not necessary describe every Millennial.  

As an educator i would try to make the learning environment a fun environment. As an learners the more interesting the lecture is to me, the more i pay attention, and the more i remember what was on the slides for that particular subject. So to me engaging the students in activities that make the lecture fun while covering the important points, is important to me, and as an educator it is something that i will implement in my teaching style when educating a millennial and others. 

Unit 2 Post

The article Understanding Health Literacy by Zarcadoolas article proposes a health literacy model that is characterized by four domain. The four domain are: Fundamental literacy, science literacy, civic literacy and cultural literacy. When I look at the definition of each of these domain that is mentioned in the article, I conclude that all four domain are of equal importance in increasing the health literacy of an individual or the society as a whole. I think its important to be educated and familiar with all aspects of the four domain because it just makes the process of communication between patients and health care provider for example a lot easier, than if a person is illiterate in any of the areas. In addition to making the communication between patients and provider easier, it also makes it easier for the people around the patient, like the people who support, live, and transport them. For example, my parents do not speak english well. As we are immigrants from a very different culture and language. So they do not even have the "Fundamental literacy" domain because my parents speak a different language than the language of their physician. My parents also have limited access and knowledge to the technology we have now a days, and that makes them also illiterate in the "Science Literacy" domain. And they also lack in the other two domain due to language barriers and different cultural upbringing as i mentioned before. So as their daughter i have to be the bridge between my parents' physicians and my parents. And this makes the process longer and not so easy to say the least. Because instead of working with only one schedule, we have to work with 3 different schedule. So if my parents were literate in all of the four domains, it would have been a lot easier and more convenient to all of us who are involved. 

Unit 1 post

In the Sharif articles about social capital and health in a Digital Society, he talks about the positive and  negative aspects of technology in our society. In my opinion all of the technology we see today has a positive and negative side that affects us all.  Having lab tops and wireless connection everywhere has increased the chances to keep in touch with friends and loved ones anywhere in the world like he mentions in the article. And with just one click we are able to talk to them, see them and with that we are able to feel their presence. I think this is one technology that has a positive impact on us. As an immigrant i am able to relate to this, i am able to keep in touch with my close friends and my relative even when we are thousands miles away, and that in return has helped me to stay healthy and not lonely because i am able to speak to them anytime i need them to help motivate me or push me to do well, and to keep my spirit up not go into depression trying to adjust to this new style of living and fast pace world. But this is just one positive aspect of computers and wireless connection as there are many. 

Seeing people listening to their ipods, talking on the phone or sending text messages to each other like every second has definitely increased since i was in high school.  I saw this more in my undergraduate school, because being in new a campus no one wants to feel alone or left out so instead of smiling while walking on campus to each other and try to communicate and make friends, we instead take out our phones and call our family or friend that we already know to keep us entertained until we reach our destination. And that takes away from our social relationships with others and make people feel left out even more, due to 2 reasons, one someone might not be able to afford text messaging or even a phone, and two what if they have a phone but have no one to talk to.

In the Bardzell et al. article, the development team used the ADDIE Model to create a distance learning environment. The part that I found interesting in this article is when they integrated both the technology and face to face interaction between other students and also between instructors. I found that interesting because you can pace yourself and learn anywhere through your computer about this particular class, but at the same time interactions and discussion of the topic is not totally wiped out. And for me as a student i learn better when i read for myself first, figure out what we are learning, and i retain it by talking about it with other students, so for me this is the best way that I learn. 

I think all the technologies we see today are great ones, but it depends on how we use them and how they shape our daily lives.