NIU

School Paper

Posted by Stacy on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:58 AM

For a school paper for my anatomy class, a partner and I did a project and research paper on hearing aids. We had to interview people (we sent out an email to the entire school) who had now or had ever had a hearing aid and we asked them questions about their quality of life with and without them.

It was interesting to hear from both people who had needed hearing aids their entire life and people that had lived without them and then needed them later on for some reason. Both of those groups had a completely different outlook. People who had needed them their whole life really praised them and had no faults. On the other hand, the majority of people who needed them later on in life found them faulty and were not impressed with their quality of hearing once they had them (but they also had non problem hearing in the past to compare it to). We also researched and looked into different kinds, like digital hearing aids and different cases and situations in where people needed them and why.

We had to use support for our research paper so we looked in medical journals and books and found some hearing aid reviews from people who had previously done a study on them. We actually found two different studies done, one by a person who was deaf and at one point in his life had needed hearing aids and another by someone who wasn't but was just interested in the subject. That was extremely interesting to see their outlooks and how much they differed but were also the same.

I think we actually learned a lot from doing this paper. At first when we got our topic we thought it would be kind of dull compared to some of the other ones that our classmates got. But our presentation and research paper turned out to be one of the more interesting ones in all of the classes. It was surprising to us (and I think our classmates and professors) how many people on campus (and our school isn't very big) actually had a hearing problem and needed or needed in the past hearing aids (and even someone in our class had them and we had no idea). It makes it more interesting when people can relate to studies and papers and projects that we do.

KNOWING WHAT YOU NEED IN A WEB HOST

Posted by Stacy on Friday, February 20, 2009 8:55 AM

Now like many people you may be in need of some information about finding a web hosting service that is right for your needs. Well, if this is the case, first you must really determine what your needs are. Obviously, if you are a large corporation then your needs will be a lot different from someone just starting a small website up. These are things that you must consider when you are looking for a host.

The next thing you need to know is what your budget is. Can you spend for a web host that will offer you the bigger better options or are you functioning on a really tight budget and looking for a web host that is relatively inexpensive and might need to put some free advertising on your pages. Are you okay with that?

Another thing to consider when making your web hosting choice is the reliability of the service that they are providing you with. Realize that a website that is not accessible to people when they want it, is not worth much. People need to know that when they come to your site that they can get on, get done what they need to, and then be done. No one wants to wait to get onto your site, they will just go to a site that can meet their needs more quickly, and that is lost business and money. A good web host will have down time of only 1% or less, anything more than this will cause you to be one step behind your competitors.

It is also really important to have a web host who offers you full technical support. This can be very helpful in getting things done quickly and getting the answers you need when problems arise, quickly and simply.

Understanding your needs is really the key to finding the host that is right for you. Knowing what type of files you will need to be downloading and knowing what your web host will allow and disallow will definitely be the key to making your transition smoother. If you are not sure what your needs are, then you either need to research this, or you need to find a professional who can help you assess your web hosting needs.

Web Hosting and Marketing Class

Posted by Stacy on Friday, February 20, 2009 8:47 AM

One day in marketing class we talked about web hosting and everything that it entails. We had to read this article called the guide to web hosting and since I really wasn't familiar with it before, it helped me to get a better grasp on it.

The book talked about everything from cheap web hosting to free setup offers, virus protection and a ton of other things that I really have no clue about). Then after reading about all of the details, we had to compare different offers and find the best one (in our eyes) and pitch it to the class.

It was actually a pretty fun project to do because we got to do a lot of online searching. We could decide whether the website was supposed to be used for us personally or for business and then go from that angle. We decided business because there seemed to be more guidelines that we could follow.

So we talked about pricing and space and advertising and getting all of your information out there to the client. It went really well and we ended up getting a good grade on the project (well an A ha). But I also actually learned some stuff too. I really never thought about websites before or how companies got them or got their information on them and whether or not they had to pay to have that space on the internet. Even though I am terrible with computers (well I can hold my own I guess) I thought that this project was interesting and helpful for my future. There are a lot of times in class when I feel like we are wasting our time and that what we are doing will never be used again, however this project will help me out in the future, in school and possibly my career.

You can never know too much about computers or the internet and when you have the chance to learn about advertising and advancing your company, you should take it, because you never know. That information you learned may set you apart from another person applying for the same job as you or maybe for a raise or promotion. The more you know (especially about computers), the better chance you have of succeeding in the future and in your career, so soak up that technology information like a sponge!

Education

Posted by Stacy on Monday, February 16, 2009 8:18 AM

My roommate last year took a few classes online through our university over the summer. It was much better than doing summer school here because we are out of state students and like to be home for the summer and also at home because the credits and grades often don't transfer or get messed up. She told me about them and I ended up signing up for one during the fall semester.

I took art history online and it was the greatest class I have ever taken. I could read when I wanted and I could take the tests on my own time from my home usually. It was a great opportunity to have and since I felt like I had more control over it and actually feel like I learned more from the online class then from my regular college courses that I attend on campus. No wonder people get their online degree.

It was so convenient and there were so many classes offered and I was able to take it whenever I wanted. I could sign up whenever and then it would last for 9 weeks or whatever the allotted dates were. I didn't have to wait for that semester or the next semester to do it. I also liked that I got to have credit on my regular transcript and that it counted towards my GPA. A lot of summer classes you take at different schools (out of state students like me end up taking courses at home over the summer) transfer the credits but not the grade you got for the course. And typically when you are only taking one or two courses over the summer your grades are good and you want them to be able to go onto your GPA and count towards it to help you overall.

I think that the option of online courses has really helped me raise my GPA and get courses out of the way to help me focus more on my major. By taking electives over the summer online or over breaks I am able to spend more time in classes that I need to prepare me for my career in the future. I think that this is a great option to have and I am extremely thankful that I am in college at a time when this is popular.

Bingo

Posted by Stacy on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 8:40 AM

My grandma was telling me how there used to be free bingo at her church when she was younger and how she hates that you have to pay an obscene amount of money now a days to get into a game. I told her that you can just play bingo online now and that you don't even have to go anywhere to do it!

At first she was resistant, but after a few days she finally let me show her how to play online bingo and she ended up loving it. Even though she still goes once and a while with her girlfriends to play at the church of at the YMCA, she prefers to play online bingo than to go out and get dressed up and pay a ton of money to play.

I was surprised though when one day she asked me to come over to help her teach her friends how to play internet bingo. They were all sitting around when I got there and so excited to learn. My grandma is good at emailing and goggling stuff on the internet, but besides that (and games now ha) she is pretty clueless and we always laugh at her, but compared to her friends, she is an online expert. They knew basically nothing (one lady didn't even know how to click on the icon on the desktop to get to the internet). So I sat down with them and explained how to get on and how to check their email (and set email up for a few of them) and how to look up things like the weather or yellow pages and Google and then I taught them how to play games online and access other things that they asked about.

I thought that it would be a miserable afternoon, but it ended up being kind of fun teaching them stuff (they thought I was some sort of queen and I really don't even consider myself a technology person) and showing them how to contact their friends and family through email. My grandma was telling me a few days ago that they now send out group emails to each other so they can figure out where to meet for coffee or yoga every week. It was so nice to be able to help them out like that, and they even made me cookies afterwards.

Interior Design and Convenience

Posted by Stacy on Monday, February 09, 2009 11:14 AM

My roommate is an interior design major. She's always sitting around doing projects (like almost never has tests) and she has to make models and measure and glue tiny things together (something that would really annoy me if I had to do it). But she does get to do a lot of interesting and hand on projects.

Last week she was telling me about how she had people who were in wheelchairs come to her class and talk about the restrictions that were put on them because of buildings and vehicles not being very wheel chair accessible. They talked about our universities campus and also where they work and how they get in and out of their wheelchair vans. It was interesting to hear about everything that she had learned. We know (as people who don't have to use a wheelchair or get into and out of handicap vans) that it is hard for someone in that position, but we don't really realize the extent, because we don't have to go through it every day of our life.

So in her class she had to get into a wheelchair and go around campus (in the snow) and go to her classes and get through the day. They even ordered used wheelchair vans for them to use for the project. She said that there were a number of times that she just broke down crying because she couldn't handle all of the stress or that it would take her up to ten minutes sometimes just to cross the street, especially with the weather the way it is now. There are so many things that we don't think about because we aren't going through them on a daily basis that we really do take for granted.

I know my roommates and I complain when we have to walk to class or go up the stairs when the elevator isn't working (and it is usually just 2 or 3 flights) and it really does put things into perspective when you live in someone else's shoes for a day. The thing is though, at any time she could have gotten out of the wheelchair and walked, but a lot of people can't do that and we really need to learn more about how to make buildings and just everyday life more accessible for the people that are in wheelchairs.

Speech Class

Posted by Stacy on Tuesday, February 03, 2009 12:11 PM

I go too Ball State University and we recently had the David Letterman building put into our school (he is an alumni which he talks about a lot if you watch his show) which is now the communication building. Everyone is required to take a speech class (I think it's like comm. 210 or something like that) in order to graduate. So my sophomore year I took it with a few of my friends. We had a huge lecture that met just once a week on Mondays and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays we met with smaller groups and a teaching assistant and that's where we learned more about speaking and did our speeches.

In the larger lecture though on Mondays we would have people come in and speak to us and then we would evaluate them and their style in our smaller groups later that week and learn more. One time we had a motivational business keynote speaker come in and talk about affordable family health insurance. So then the next few days in class we had to talk about how he spoke, his style and what he did while he was speaking (whether he walked around or used his hands or even whether or not he involved his audience). And then surprisingly our teacher made an announcement that we too would have to do a speech about affordable family health insurance. That surprised us because usually we had a more broad topic, like hobbies or something like that and then we would get to pick our own subject within those guidelines. So we were all pretty scared because we didn't know very much about affordable family health insurance at all.

This class really did help me to prepare for the future. It made me less afraid to talk out loud and prepared me for interviews for jobs and even just my sorority's recruitment and getting the word out. I am now able to feel more comfortable talking about subjects that I don't know much about because we had to do that in our class (and David Letterman even came that week and sat in on classes). I can now understand why the university has made this class a requirement for graduation. It really has helped to prepare me (and a lot of other people I know that took it so far) for our future no matter what we end up doing.