Moment of Zen - Computers and Eduction

- How important is the use of computers in schools today?
- Should there be differences depending on the age? (in terms of the amount of usage)
- Is the use of Laptops at university recommendable?

First of all I believe that education and the use of computers are two subjects that developed a very strong connections within the last years. Nowadays this subjects go hand in hand on a regular basis. However, the use of computer in 1. to 4. is in my point of view not as important as in higher grads. Of cause it is nice to use some learning material once in while and it is also good if children learn how to use a computer, but practical work and interaction is more important during that period. When children become older they use their computer mainly for research and typing assignments which is not as important in the age of 6 to 10. I really support the use of computers in school, furthermore at universities. It saves time, because if you have a free-period you can still spent your time sensible and work on the computer and it also simplifies work in different ways. You have constantly access to all your notes and materials, you can take notes and you can look up thing very quick.

Burnout - no chance to recharge the batteries

The Burnout syndrome is a widely known and nowadays common issue that many people have to face. In medical terms this phenomenon is explained as a state of emotional and mental exhaustion, varying in intensity depending on the case. The declining stability on the work-market and the growing pressure people have to cope with, magnify this condition. The flood of work requirements, competition and stress on different levels of life can cause this feeling of mental overload.

Psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North concluded to this subject that the burnout process can be divided in different phases, which are not necessarily followed sequentially
1. compulsion to prove oneself
2. working harder
3.neglecting one's own needs
4.displacement of conflicts (the person does not realize the root cause of the distress)
5.revision of values (friends or hobbies are completely dismissed)
6.denial of emerging problems (cynicism and aggression become apparent) 7.withdrawal (reducing social contacts to a minimum, becoming walled off; alcohol or other substance abuse may occur)
8. behavioral changes become obvious to others
9.inner emptiness
10.depression
11.burnout syndrome
They concluded that the only way to manage this issue is to remove oneself entirely from the situation.
more on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)

The theory by psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North is very interesting. It has a lot of substance and sad to say, I can see a couple of the mentioned symptoms in some of my friends. I'm not talking about any severe cases, but everybody lives through periods of exhaustion and of being overwhelmed. It is important to every now and then take a break from the everyday chaos. In this blog I wanted to remind the people that recognize themselves in to many facts in the theory above, to take a timeout once in while. Because the consequences are often worth then the once of a shot break.

It is tough to function when your batteries are already empty and your day is just about to begin.

Innovation VS. Tradition within Art

The creation of new art pieces and art movements are based on creativity and the charm of novelty, but lately these aspects tent to influence the entire processes. Nowadays it seems like it is more important to create something shocking and as unusually as possible than having a concept, traditional use of material or personal meaning or relation to the piece.
The values of traditions and use of structure is very important for the concept of a piece of art and even more for a series.

On the contrary it is not the case that today nobody is using organized principles anymore. Gerhard Richter http://www.gerhard-richter.com/ for incidence, also know as the Picasso of the 21. century uses a very organized and effective structure.

Many of Richter's paintings are made in a multi-step process of representations. He starts with a photograph, which he has found or taken himself, and projects it onto his canvas, where he traces it for exact form. Taking his color palette from the photograph, he paints to replicate the look of the original picture. His hallmark "blur"—sometimes a softening by the light touch of a soft brush, sometimes a hard smear by an aggressive pull with his squeegee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Richter

Examples for extreme art which I consider nothing but hot air would be the the work of Johan Meese. To me he is pretty much the expression of innovation throughout controversy and ugliness. Have a look at an youtube interview that simply sums up his artwork and questionable self-expression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aue-fnJNN28

Also questionable, but yet a famous piece of the century was the "Fettecke" by Joseph Beuys.Besides the fact that his work has more substance than the work of Meese because of the hint to social imbalance and topics like that, I'm still not convinced that pieces as the "Fettecke" weren't just products to attract peoples attention.

Concluding to say is that all over the globe, great art is been produced, even throughout expressive, emotional and spontaneous ways. I criticise art that only intense to be as shocking and controversial as possible without any substance. Most of the greatest artists in history and today had a concept and put meaning into their work without using far-fetched nonsense.

Moment of Zen

I was curious about the questions about the oppotuinities and limits of blogging. As I was checking out the web for more information I found a couple of links that I want to share:

http://www.pronetadvertising.com/articles/the-first-7-days-of-blogging.html

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/08/01/15-desktop-blogging-tools-reviewed/

http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050714gardner/


Check out the pages, maybe they can help you or show you new options in terms of blogging.

Moment of Zen

My questions today mainly concern about the concept of a blog. Do we have to follow any formal criteria or a certain universal structure? Where do I find the best information? As I did some research on that question, I ended up on pages as :

http://www.murraywilliams.com/writing/iblog/2-blogvstrad.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

Are these sources valuable and can we use them?

Furthermore I was wondering about the limitations of blogging. What kinds of statutory provisions do we have to consider, especially concerning "copyrights"? Is it possible to publish pictures in our blogs that we found online?