Web 2.0 Revolution Health

For my Web 2.0 award winner review I chose the first place winner from the health category. As a physical educator and coach being healthy is an important part of my life and my teachings. Revolution Health is a website that offers a comprehensive look at being healthy. The site covers medical conditions and ailments as well as exercise guidelines and cooking recipes. The site was easy to navigate and it was not totally covered with advertisements and links. The only part of the site I didn't like was the BMI calculator on the home page. The BMI calculator is not an effective tool in determining how healthy a person is just as the 2,000 calorie diet is not for everybody. Aside form that I found the site to be loaded with useful information that was easy to get into.

Google Docs

I can see Google Docs serving as a useful tool between myself and a colleague of mine on the baseball team. I create and teach the weight training program for the athletes at Monterey Peninsula College with the help of another coach. We take the athletes through different training progressions that last about 4 weeks a piece, with each 4 week set building on the last. In creating the workouts the assistant coach and I are continually communicating either via email or in person. We use excel spreadsheets to create the workouts and with Google Docs we could make changes and add suggestions to each workout without changing the original template, making web based communication more effective. This could be a great tool. We will give it a try.

Bloglines

I had no idea that a site like Bloglines was available on the web. I found it easy to link in any page that I wanted to follow and the format of the site made for simple navigation from tab to tab. Bloglines will save me a lot of time when it comes to checking all of my favorite sites for news or blog updates. If there is nothing new from one of my favorite blogs then I will be able to quickly see that without having to open a new tab or navigate away from my current page. Great technology!

Technology

Technology is growing faster than ever before and with it comes new capabilities in communication, education, and fun. People have the ability to stay in touch with one another no matter where they are on the globe. Students can utilize creative learning software and online libraries with seemingly endless amounts of information. Gaming enthusiasts can compete in online gaming communities using the web and games that are incredibly lifelike. The changes in technology have done some amazing things but I also think that technology has contributed to lifestyle changes that are not so favorable. From my observation the days of children playing outside until the sun goes down are nearly gone. Now children are immersed in video games and and minute by minute status updates to their social networking accounts. I believe that it is no coincidence that childhood obesity and diabetes rates are at all time highs. With the connectedness our current levels of technology bring us I also feel there is a degree of disconnectedness. Often times people attempt to solve problems or distribute information via email or web post. I am still a fan of a good old phone call, or better yet, a face to face meeting. Technology can be great but sometimes it is better to get out of your office chair and walk across campus or across the hall and truly interact with someone.

Social Networking

The creation of social networking sites like Facebook has done wonders for communication via the web. I have played baseball for many years and in doing so I have made some amazing friends. Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with many of my old teammates and coaches with a simple friend request. The ability to communicate on facebook through private message or chat has also allowed me to easily communicate with my professional team overseas without having to make expensive phone calls. In addition, when I am playing in Germany I can keep my friends and family updated on how everything is going. Fast, easy, and effective. One aspect of the social sites that worries me is the privacy. You have to make sure that you check all of your privacy settings to ensure that your important information is safe. It is a shame that there are people who navigate social sites looking to copy personal information for malicious reasons, but it is a reality. By checking your settings and adding only people you know, you will be off to a good start to protecting yourself and enjoying the ability to communicate globally at any time.

Emerging Technologies

The days of hand written letters and "snail mail" are almost over. With such technologies as emial, blogs, RSS feeds, and social networking sites like twitter and facebook it is no wonder people have ditched traditional forms of communication for the high speed alternatives. Isn't is time for schools and libraries to get on board? As technology continues to advance, communication on a vast scale is becoming easier than ever. People now have the ability to be kept up to date with the latest events or schedule changes 24 hours a day. Most of these new forms of communication are very easy to use and best of all the majority of them are also free! Technology has allowed students from around the world to earn a degree from their bedroom. With the invention of e-books it won't be long until you can get any book sent to you via the internet at any time. No more standing in lines to check something out and no more waiting for somebody to return a book for you to use. Sounds good to me.

Flickr

Being a first time Flickr user I found the site to be fun and I think it serves a great way for people to connect with one another. I never would have thought that there would be a social web community built around photo sharing alone. The tagging process in Flickr is very cool. Simply by searching for a keyword you can be directed to photos from users that included that keyword in their "tag". My posted photo was taken during a power outage in the middle of one of our games in Germany. Our lights were out for about 30 minutes but that didn't stop the camera guy.

Welcome!

     First and foremost I would like to thank you for visiting my blog site. I am a newcomer to the blogging community and I am excited to share my thoughts with anyone who is interested. My blog will be focused on physical education and, in particular, how it relates to a persons physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well being. I would also like to explore the role of technology within the field. Thank you for coming and I hope we can expand on ideas together in the future.