Social networking sites, such as MySpace, have various communication features associated with them.  First of all, there is privacy issues associated with the site—this is set according to individual preference.  If you set your entire page to private, only people that you add as friends can view the contents of your page (i.e. pictures, blogs, comments, page layout, etc.)  The only thing an outsider can see is your profile picture and your status (i.e. happy, sad, energetic, etc .)  Consequently, if you don’t want outsiders to have any access to pictures of you, it is ideal to set a profile picture as another picture other than yourself. 

In the same way, you have the option to accept friends, decline them, or just let them set in your friend’s box to hopefully avoid any mixed feelings from people.  You can email the person to find out more about them, or if their page is public then you can check it out to gather more information about the person.  From experience, sometimes I have not recognized a profile picture and actually known the person.  There is a feature now, when you request friends, that allows people to have their name posted to the friend request and they can type a message to him/her.  

So the question is, are there any rules with a social networking site like MySpace?  There are options available when considering privacy, set up, friends, blog choices, available pictures, profile theme, etc.  Nonetheless, there are rules posted such as no nudity or copyrighted pictures allowed on a personal MySpace site; however, I have had emails from unknown people requesting to be “friends,” and they very well have pictures posted that should not be posted on their page, but yet their site is still going.  I have also heard friends mention identity theft when dealing with MySpace.  There is a feature that gives directions as to what a person needs to do when dealing with identity theft, and that particular site is supposed to be deleted; however, I have a friend that experienced this sad event and the false site is still being used by the person that stole her identity.  So, are there rules?  I guess we would like to think of rules as being present, but I believe it is safe to say that rules are very limited in the social networking cyber world. 

With a MySpace site, there are unlimited opportunities as to what type of site you can create.  I have seen sites for advertising personal music, which I have one myself, modeling, businesses, photography, paintings, education, friend contacts, etc.  I have noticed that even though a site has a set theme, there are personal comments listed, in some cases personal pictures included, therefore, the site can serve multiple purposes. 

In addition, the site is open to people all over the world.  If you agree to invite various people in as friends, there are unlimited amounts of people that can participate in your networking site.  They can send messages and talk anytime they would like to.  Keep in mind that there is an option that you can set to have to approve your comments and therefore, control what is actually posted on your site.  I have seen situations where comments have supposedly been posted by a particular individual, when in fact a hacker has sent the comment out to all of that person’s friends. 

Overall, I have experienced both positives and negatives when dealing with MySpace.  Just recently, I chose not to approve a friend request from a particular gentleman that I knew, but didn’t really want him to be a part of my personal site.  Nonetheless, I decided to click into his profile picture and discovered that his site was set to public.  When I clicked in to his pictures, there were several pictures that I had used as my profile setting in the past previous months.  Needless to say, the pictures weren’t as big as the ones I uploaded, but they were the size of the profile picture and that was plenty big enough for people to see them.  Now, did I give him those pictures?  Absolutely not—I felt like I had been taken advantage of.  I was in a folder labeled, “Friends, Lovers, and Dreams.”  To me, that is just wrong.  Are those pictures still there?  I am sure they are—he has those pictures now.

In the same way, I have experienced several underage children that have MySpace sites.  Recently, my children and I have moved to a new community—shortly after the kids in the neighborhood discovered my name, I began receiving several friend requests from the children in the neighborhood—they are in Elementary School!  They had fixed the age so their site could be created.  That’s against the so called “MySpace Rules,” but their site is still going—how would you prove that the kids aren’t the age that they put down?  For security purposes, I have a friend that has her age listed as 100—should she get in trouble? 

So it all comes back to the question, are there rules or not?  I would have to say no, the networking site is unlimited.  There are posted guidelines and what to do if one should suspect any one misusing their MySpace site.  Nonetheless, connections are endless—people all over the world can communicate and share interests.  In the same way, there are various uses for networking sites; therefore, it is safe to say that we are able to make our own rules for our site.      

So, I am finally home from the long awaited birth of my daughter, Ms. Brylee Marie Hackney.  You know, it seems like from the minute that I found out I was expecting, I have counted down the days until her birth.  Yes, I do feel relieved from the extra weight, elephant feet, fat face, back pain, sleepless nights, and unbearable heart-burn, but I have this overwhelming guilt—it is all over!!

Let’s backtrack to Wednesday, April 9, 2008.  I fixed up extra special because I had a doctor’s appointment.  Lord knows I hadn’t felt like fixing up in weeks, but I thought it would make me feel better.  J  The plan was to weigh Brylee Marie and check my cervix, and then make a plan to avoid the delivery trauma that I had with my son.  So I was sitting in the doctor’s office thinking, “Gee I have three more weeks of this misery!” 

Anyway, they measured my little/big girl and averaged her at 7 pounds and 6 ounces—the lady assured us that she is never off over a half a pound either way.  So at that point, I was sure that I had at least another week before they could induce me!  After my doctor checked my cervix, my daughter was so low that she decided to stretch my cervix—that hurt like heck, but my motivation was thinking of a step closer to giving birth!!

I was sent to the hospital to check for toxemia since I was swollen so badly.  My orders were given to me, and I had no idea that I was heading to the hospital to have my baby girl.  So, when I got up to the registration desk, the lady entered all of my personal life history and then handed me a packet of document to take to OB—OB, I said!  “Yes”, she replied, “but we will go ahead and get your labs first.”  They took blood, and sent me to labor and delivery. 

My mom was with me, and neither she nor I had a clue what was happening. 

I rode the elevator up to the second floor and handed the girls my folder.  Everyone seemed to look at me like I was in the wrong place.  “Am I in the wrong place?”  I figured that I surely was, but they confirmed that I was right where I needed to be.

The next thing I new, I was getting in a delivery bed and being hooked up to all kinds of monitors.  I was having contractions, but I figured I would end up being sent home.  Well, nope that didn’t happen.  About three hours later my doctor visited and confirmed that I was in the early stages of labor and she was going to keep me.  If I hadn’t progressed steadily, she wanted to put me on the drip during the night. 

Oh—the drip!!  I had it with my son, and I swear I think it is worse than being in labor on your own.  While my family and I camped out in the delivery room, I was praying underneath my breath that the labor would progress and we could get it over with.  On the contrary, come 12:00 am. I found myself being given the labor inducing, Pitocin. 

The labor obviously began to progress and everyone was trying to grab a little sleep to be prepared for the busy day ahead.  I had no prayer of sleeping because of a combination of pain and the rock of a labor bed that I was lying in.  However, my husband took the concrete floor, my sister took the chair, my son was gracefully given the cot, my dad found a bench outside the room, and my mom took the last chair.  J  Needless to say, it was a long-long night!!! 

Throughout the night, I concentrated on breathing techniques and thought it would be nice if I could make it through the labor without an Epidural.  Call me crazy—I know, but I thought it would be an experience.  The nurses kept a check on me throughout the early morning, and when they checked me around 6:30 a.m., I had only dilated to five and there was some decent pain happening to my body.  In fear of a nursing shift change and possibly not having the option of an Epidural, I went ahead and requested it. 

It was after 7 o’clock when the nurse and the anesthesiologist made it to my room to make my life a little easier!  The thought of the needle piercing my back and the extreme pain of labor, caused me to erupt in tears.  I felt so helpless—this was supposed to be the happiest time of my life and I was crying my eyes out.  I kept worrying about my make-up because I wanted to be a little pretty when people came to see my newborn, but finally I just gave up on worrying with it.

As the gentleman made his way to the side of my bed, a nurse helped me to turn sideways across the edge of the mattress.  The guy kept commenting about gowns and how ridiculous they were when giving the Epidural.  Considering that I didn’t have a warning about staying in the hospital after my Wednesday doctor’s appointment, I was convinced that he was talking about my gown and the lacy red bra I had on.   In a flood of tears, I asked the nurse, “Is he talking about my gown—I’m sorry, so, so sorry.”  That nurse kind of gave a giggle and she said, “Sweetie, he is talking about the gown they make him wear.”  I was in too much pain to be embarrassed, but I did feel better that he didn’t have a problem with me.  J   

Pretty much after a few minutes of allowing the meds to creep through my body, I felt like I was in heaven!  That was most definitely the way to go.  I was talking, laughing, and having a grand ol’ time waiting for my dear daughter to make her debut into the world.

As I came closer and closer to giving birth, I began to feel the unwanted labor pains again.  It was intense pain—almost continuous pain.  I never felt that with my son, but as a result I did experience what it is like to give birth somewhat natural.  Not long after the pains returned, the nurses informed me that I was finally dilated to ten—the long awaited time had come. 

The nurses quickly got my doctor and it was my time to push.  They seemed to be impressed at my abilities—I had an entire cheerleading team of nurses to cheer me on.  It only took me a few pushes and I heard my daughter’s sweet cry.  The doctor laid her sticky, coated body onto my belly and I burst into tears.  It was the most indescribable moment that a mom can ever experience.  There are no words that can describe the feelings—I was in complete love all over again.  The fear of being able to divide my time between my son and daughter was erased.  The worry of having an equal amount of love for both of them diminished; I was ready for the new journey in my life. 

I have two beautiful children now.  My son whom is the first born, the one I have faced so many tough times with, the one that lightens my day with his dimple faced smile (he got that from his momma of course), the one that calls me “mom” now because he is all grown up—but yet to accommodate my loss of hearing mommy, he admitted that he will call me “mommy” when no one is around and “mom” around people—the one that I have worked so hard for, my baby boy. 

Now I have my daughter whom has stolen my heart all over again, is the best of me and my husband bundled into this little person, whom is so innocent and new to this great big world, the one that lets me know what life is all about when she looks up at me with those big eyes and offers a hint of a smile, the one that is almost completely dependent on me for her daily needs, she is the one that is motivating me to finish this semester of classes and take my last Master’s class in June, she is my baby girl. 

Do I have enough love to go around?  I most definitely do—I love my children, my husband, and my family and friends—there’s plenty enough love.  J 

Education offers insight to the past, present, and future.  Such information is very important for preserving culture.  Understanding the past, allows us to appreciate and value the present.  In the same way, understanding the present allows us to accept what lies ahead in the future.

Nonetheless, I remember reading an article where some students teach themselves in the home school environment.  In doing this, the students are provided the tools to absorb new information and the instructor only facilitates the learning environment.  Thus, the student creates his/her own learning experiences.  When I had first read this article, I was completely against such an idea; however, when I think about it this very well could be a much better learning environment because the learning is driven by the student.  Of course, there are different opinions on the idea but it seems like a great opportunity.

On the other hand, I fear that social skills could suffer as a result of being home schooled.  Now let’s remember that I have never had a first hand experience with a child that has been home schooled so I am only anticipating thoughts of such a learning atmosphere.  In the traditional school setting, there are important social skills that are developed while interacting with other students in various situations.  On the contrary, I would fear that social skills would suffer as a result of being home schooled.

When considering distance education, there are pros and cons that are associated with this type of education. As mentioned several times in the past, there are diverse definitions of distance education. Thus, it can be as simple as students taking a virtual field trip in traditional classes, or it can be thought of as Internet classes or classes via satellite. Nevertheless, it is all part of distance education and has positives and negatives associated with it.

What are the advantages of distance education? First of all, learning is continuous–not to say that learning isn’t continuous anyhow, but with distance education it is encouraged more. As Nate said, “Learning doesn’t just end when the bell rings.” Distance education offers a chance to encourage learning outside the classroom and can easily be incorporated into the traditional classroom. In addition, self-motivation and independent study is a must with distance education and if mastered, it is something that can be very beneficial on educational terms. Likewise, there is an encouragement to venture into other fields with DE–for example, I can log on to my gator with intentions to do homework and I get so caught up in reading various things that have been posted that I loose track of time. Nevertheless, I am learning while reading these articles and I develop my own ideas of topics that have been written; I can broaden my horizons–I am learning.

Considering that there are diverse types of distance education, there are disadvantages associated with this type of education. First of all, there are technical difficulties that can arise and can sometimes be extremely frustrating considering the fact that most of the population that take distance learning classes have several obligations and they study at various times. Often times, the Internet may be down, or a satellite may not pick up a signal from a remote location, or a piece of technology can malfunction and that is valuable instruction time that is interfered with. In the same way, comfort level and easy transition may be difficult for in-experienced/limited technology experienced persons. In addition, with Internet classes, there is usually no face-to-face contact, or “in person” contact–of course there are cameras that can be installed, but not every one is on the computer at the same time. I know with satellite classes the students can see each other at different sites, but often times students at one remote site actually have the instructor in their classroom so there is still a lack of teacher-student contact. Likewise, self-motivation and independent study is a key to success and for some people this feature can be a problem and may result in failure.

All in all, learning doesn’t have to end when a class ends. As with almost anything, there are pros and cons that arise. Personally, I believe the “goods” out weigh the “bads” when it comes to distance education. In the same way, DE doesn’t have to be only associated with distance–it can be incorporated into the traditional classroom to increase educational possibilities and add to the learning experience and promote a positive learning environment for students. For example, there are several types of educational tools that can be found on the Internet to accompany a lesson or to reinforce skills that have been taught and hopefully encourage mastery of the skill. In addition, there are several free publishers for web pages and a teacher could design his or her own classroom webpage for student updates/activities that would hopefully increase parental support. In addition, each student could create their own blogs, sort of like we have done in this course, and have daily assignments for those. There are numerous ways that distance education could be incorporated into the traditional classroom where it would hopefully increase student interest and, as a result, there would be an increase in student grades and retention