Weekly Reflection & Report #12: Good Bye to All.

Now that we are wrapping up the course, I have learnt so much in regards to building a positive digital footprint.  By ethically learning and living online, I have grown my digital footprint.  After exploring several digital tools, I have become a more positive and educated digital citizen.

The following list is a summary of most of the digital tools I used:

-          Blogger

-          Feedly

-          Diigo

-          Scoop.it

-          Twitter

-          Google Docs

-          Voice Thread

-          Popplet

-          Prezi

-          Jing

-          Animoto

-          Slideshare

While creating a positive digital footprint, I always consider the internet as a public place where anyone can see what I am doing.  Therefore, while participating in this online course I always thought before I published.  Considering this was an educational activity, I consistently remained professional and ethical as well. Learning in a digital environment has shown me there are so many ways people can create both good and bad reputations of themselves online.  But throughout the course, I always took into consideration that I want to keep my digital footprint as clean and positive as possible.  Who knows who is watching you.

After learning about digital citizenship, specifically the nine elements, I have grown into a much wiser digital citizen.  I am more aware of my rights/responsibilities and safety/security after using the forms to discuss these topics as well as creating a group/collaborative presentation.  

In order to promote quality online interactions, I have explored several tools to assist with this.  They include Google Hangouts, blogs, VoiceThread, discussion forums, and more.  Promoting quality online interactions is not hard if you are familiar with your digital responsibilities and netiquette.  Considering I took part in a large amount of discussion through commenting on peer’s blogs and on their discussion forums, I know that in order to create quality interactions I need to critically think and ask questions in order to stimulate the conversation and keep it going.

There are several ways to promote appropriate behaviours in the digital world.  By spreading awareness of the digital responsibilities that digital citizens should hold, others will understand why it is so important to be respectful and act online as if they were in the real world.  Also, by sharing the basic rules of netiquette, people have an opportunity to learn the most important rules when participating in the online world. Promoting appropriate behaviour is the next step to creating a positive digital world.

After completion of this course, I will have a lot of knowledge of how to work and live in a digital society.  Although I was already a digital native prior to this course, I have gained so much valuable information about the digital society.  Who knew it was so big!?!? By sharing my knowledge with friends, family, and peers, I hope to spread information based on the digital society we live in.

…Considering this is the final blog post of ADED 1P32, I would just to like to express my appreciation for all of my online peers who helped make this course a very valuable and memorable one.  The information I have been given in this course is something with no set value as I will continue to use all my knowledge gained here and run with it as far as possible. After all, the world is becoming so technologically advanced that the only way to keep up with the game is to stay ahead of it!!!

Weekly Report & Reflection #11: Webcasting

     First, I would like to note that the end is near fellow class/online mates…We have all survived learning and exploring a massive amount of digital tools to enhance our learning in the academic setting as well as in our personal lives.  Congratulations guys! We finally made it.  Which tools will you continue to use after concluding the class of ADED 1P32 and what tools will be disregarded right away?

     Throughout the 11^th session of ADED 1P32, we discovered how to create our own pod cast and/or screen cast.

 

     I like to think of pod casts as talk shows that mimic official radio shows (CNN).  Podcasts can be downloaded as audio files that are playable on most media devices as they seem to be a growing trend considering there are more than 3000 pod castings online since last year (CNN).  It’s an ideal idea because virtually anyone can be a podcaster that contributes to the online content of the World Wide Web!

Screen casts are another similar growing trend in the Digital Age.  Screen casts are digital recordings of a computer screen usually containing audio narration (Good, 2007).  Have you ever tried to search YouTube for a solution on how to install/uninstall software from your personal computer?  Remember when the tutorial would be a video of what your screen should look like and where your mouse should move and click on in order to solve your problem?  Those were screen casts…Although you may not have known the term for this type of video, now you do!

     After exploring the various options for creating either a podcast or a screen cast, I decided to create a screen cast.  I chose this type of cast primarily because I feel more engaged in visuals than audio, it is just my personal preference.   So after debating for a couple minutes on which service to use, either Screenr or Jing, I chose Jing because Screenr required a Java update that was giving me too many problems to correctly update it.  At the end of the day, Jing ended up being just as great of a screen casting tool as Screenr!

Jing had a very simple, user-friendly layout that was ideal for new screen casters.  The only time I needed to find a tutorial (and yes it was indeed a screencast) was when I had trouble finding the embedded coding.   

 But other than that, Jing was incredibly easy to use!

     Considering the requirements of that learning activity were very broad, I wasn’t sure what I should create as my screen cast.  I finally decided on briefly summarizing what Feedly was and how to use it.  After only one try, the final screencast I posted to my blog (see prior post) was awesome! I was so happy with the outcome… regardless of how nervous my voice sounded. 

     After using and creating a screencast, I realized that these can be used in so many ways to enhance one’s digital learning. 

     First, these are a great tool to use for MOOCs.  MOOC can be defined as Massive Open Online Courses (Angel, 2012). Screen casts provide digital citizens with a way to visually learn or engage in something.  For online courses, professors can share screen casts in order for their students to understand (more thoroughly) how to do something.  It saves time for the student as they eliminate the process of looking up YouTube tutorials on how to do a specific task on a computer. 

     Another great way to use screencasts in an academic setting is with your peers.  For example, say your group member did not know how to create a Prezi and could not find any great tutorials to help him/her… Well considering you were an expert at creating Prezis, you could easily create a 1-2 minute screen casts to show your partner how to do a specific task on Prezi.  By using visuals and audio in your screencast, this gives your partner a much better understanding of the idea that you are presenting to them.    

     After wrapping up session 11 of ADED 1P32, I was very pleased with the exploration of screencasts.  They have definitely become one of my favourite digital tools we have explored since the beginning of this course.

Item of Interest via Feedly:   HAPPY APRIL FOOLS !!! These are fantastic.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/01/best-of-april-fools-2014-roundup-list/

References

Angel, E. (2012). Massive list of MOOC resources.  Retrieved from http://www.worldofwebcast.com/post/massive-list-of-mooc-resources-lit-and-literati

CNN Video: What is Podcasting? If you cannot view the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM5lXOFD4Zg

Good, R. (2007) What is a Screencast? If you cannot view the video, go tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5e5oO1zAPw&list=PL28F3C621E2AFF39F   

My Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Weekly Report & Reflection #10: Copyright

     Copyright law is a very important and popular topic in the Digital Age.  In order for digital citizens to act responsibly in the online world, they must understand what copyright is.  Copyright law was created to help protect the creators of original material (2Learn, 2012).  These creations include literary, dramatic, musical, rapid, and audio-visual creations (Burt, 2011).  It essentially shows who gets paid for the creation and who pays to borrow such a creation (2Learn, 2012).  Copyright infringement is when someone claims ownership of a copyright without permission from the actual owner.  Copyright infringement is a massive area in the legal system!

     In order to understand the law of copyright, North America established a Copyright Act that has “fair dealing exemptions” where consumers have certain rights to use copyrighted material without permission from the original owner (MediaSmarts).  The fair dealing has two tests: it must fall under exemption and/or have fair dealing factors (MediaSmarts).  Thankfully education is an area that falls under such exemptions (MediaSmarts). 

     Creative Commons is the newest form of resisting copyright law and infringement.  It is a non-profit organization that allows creators to invite certain uses of their works while keeping the copyright (Sites2See, 2012).  It is pretty much how original owners give permission upfront for others to use their work (Lucier).  One can view Creative Commons as the gap filler between all rights reserved and the public domain (Lucier).  The copyright symbol acts as the red light where the Creative Commons symbol acts as the green light to share other people’s work (Creative Commons, 2007). 

     There are two permissions that Creative Commons offers copyright owners: the permission to share and the permission to remix (Lucier).  There are also several conditions in which copyright owners consider while giving permission to their work.  These include attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative works, and share alike (Lucier).  In order to apply for a free copyright license, digital citizens can go to www.creativecommons.org. 

     The amount of sites that offer media and online content with Creative Commons licenses is increasing as the Information Age and the internet allow digital citizens to explore so much online content (Sites2See, 2012)!  A very common example of such a website would be www.flickr.com.  But there is an overwhelming amount of other Creative Commons content directories for digital citizens to use on the World Wide Web.

     The use of Creative Commons has several benefits.  First, it allows digital citizens to share creative wealth while staying digitally responsible (Lessig, 2006).  It also builds a richer online culture that is accessible to everyone (Lessig, 2006).  Creative Commons gives online users an opportunity to share, re-use, and remix online content without worrying about copyright infringement (Lessig, 2006).  It has helped to create a world where collaboration rules!

      After exploring the use of Animoto and having to find copyright free images online, I have grown into a more responsible digital citizen.  I was never aware of the serious consequences that arise from using other people’s online content.  Isn’t everything on the internet free? If it isn’t, then why is it still available to me?  That is like keeping a Future Shop unlocked 24 hours with no security! It is hard for me to understand why there is such a heavy focus on copyright law and infringement when the internet instigates using, sharing, and remixing other people’s online content.  But now that I have learnt about the serious consequences of copyright infringement and explored options to find copyright free content, I feel like I am going to be a more responsible and ethical digital citizen.  Now excuse me, while I go and take down everything on the internet that I may have stolen from others without the permission of the original owner!!!

Feedly Item:

“Viacom and YouTube Settle Lawsuit Over Copyright”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/business/media/viacom-and-youtube-settle-lawsuit-over-copyright.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

References

Burt, R. (2011). Teaching Students About Copyright - the YouTube Way. If you cannot view the video, go to http://youtu.be/InzDjH1-9Ns

CreativeCommons. (2007). Get Creative. If you cannot view the video, go to:http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/getcreative/Creative_Commons_-_Get_Creative.swf

Lessig. (2006). Wanna Work Together? If you cannot view the video, go to http://youtu.be/P3rksT1q4eg

Lucier, R. Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs to Know. If you cannot view the video, go tohttp://dotsub.com/view/b2ead831-4a4e-4530-94d8-381558cfecec

MediaSmarts.com (n.d.). Fair dealing for media education. Available from http://mediasmarts.ca/intellectual-property/fair-dealing-media-education

Sites2See. (2012). Copyright for Students (resource page). Available at http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/8587/

The 2Learn.ca Educational Society. (2011-2012 ). Your Digital Presence. Available at http://www.2learn.ca/ydp/copyrightabout.aspx

Weekly Report & Reflection #9: Digital Rights and Responsibilities

     Digital rights and responsibilities has also been a primary topic for Week 9’s readings and learning activities.  After reading the articles, I realized that digital rights and responsibilities is a very large topic that can be grouped into subtopics.  There are just so many rights and responsibilities that relate to participating in the online world! Some of these topics include internet safety, cyberbullying, and cyber ethics (Edutopia, 2011).  “Netiquette” is another term that relates to digital responsibilities. These netiquette guidelines illuminate how digital citizens must act online the same as if they were in real life.  The guidelines can specifically relate to e-mail, cellphone, and social media communication too. 

     Communication is a crucial aspect of digital rights and responsibilities.  More specifically, communicating with others for academic purposes needs to be respectful.  While skimming the readings for this week I came across some great guidelines for online student communication (Tucker, 2010).  These guidelines include:

Avoiding emotional punctuation…it is difficult to determine the tone of some people when their messages are filled with exclamation marks and question marks.

  Re-reading messages before sending… make sure it is free from error or mistake.

Keeping language direct… communicating through screens is hard enough as it is!

Use each other’s names… to build better relationships

Ask questions…this will stimulate more conversation (Tucker, 2010)

     I found the best (and by that I mean most interesting) piece of reading material discussing the absolute worst times or places to use phones (Pappas, 2011).  While reading this, be honest with yourself…as was I. Can you recall ever using your phone during these times or places? Did you think it was disrespectful?

The Movies.

-The most irritating thing to me is when people have their bright digital screen up to their face watching the latest Vine video a row ahead of me… My curious eyes are now forced to glance over at the Vine video while watching the movie.  I think that people who use their cellphones during a movie are completely disrespectful and have no care for anyone but themselves.  If I am with someone who is doing this, I always feel SO embarrassed and force them to put it away.

A First Date

-This is just pathetic… If you are on your phone paying attention to the screen more than the newest potential partner then why are you even there?  Clearly people who use their phones while eating a nice dinner (or whatever individuals do these days on dates) are not worth anyone’s time if they are going to be that rude! This makes me so angry… I have had awful experiences with men more interested in their phone more than in me!

Church

-Although I may not be religious, I do know that using a cellphone during church would most likely be viewed as completely disrespectful to any decent person.

Bathroom Stall

-GUILTY! Okay, I admit it… Sometimes I check my phone to see if I have messages while using the washroom.  But take into consideration this is only in my private washroom at home.

Standing in line to check out

-You got me again! Some lines are long so why not speed up the sense of time with a nice Facebook feed or quick conversation with a friend.

When someone is talking to you

-Depending on who it is, I sometimes can be caught doing this (I know, I know, I am a terrible person).  I absolutely hate when people are on their phone when I am trying to have a normal conversation with them simply because most people can not use their phone while continuing to truly listen to me.  They may hear me, but rarely are they listening.

     The rules and standard guidelines of digital communication can be overwhelming.  This is not a pure science as nothing is ever set in stone.  But after reading that article and noticing that I am guilty for using my phone at wrong times in wrong places made me realize that digital rights and responsibilities play a large role in most digital native’s lives.

     The article of interest from my Feedly for this week relates to a large subtopic of digital rights and responsibilities, cyberbullying.  Cyberbullying is a real and growing threat (Belsey, 2007).  The article Secret CEO Responds to Cyberbullying Criticism is of controversial debate right now.  Do we really need another anonymous sharing app? Doesn’t this just support the act of cyberbullying? … Apparently not according to Secret’s CEO.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/secret-cyberbullying/

References

Belsey, B. (2007). Cyberbullying: A real and growing threat. ATA Magazine, 88(1). Available at http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Publications/ATA%20Magazine/Volume%2088/Number%201/Articles/Pages/Cyberbullying.aspx

Edutopia. (2011). Digital Citizenship: Resource Roundup. Retrieved at http://www.edutopia.org/cyberbullying-internet-digital-citizenship-resources

Pappas, C. (2011). 12 Most Inappropriate Times and Places to Use Your Cell Phone. Available athttp://12most.com/2011/08/11/12-inappropriate-times-places-smartphone/

Tucker, C. (2010 ). Top 10 Dos and Don'ts: Online Communication and Cyperbullying. Available athttp://catlintucker.com/2010/12/top-10-dos-and-don%E2%80%99ts-online-student-communication/

Technology Use Scenario

Max is always on the computer. except when he is at school, Max is on his 
social networking sites, video sites, or just surfing websites. He communicates with many people using his social networking sites or texting but rarely leaves the house. His mother is becoming concerned that he is not seeing his friends or going out. What should Max’s mother do?



Although Max isn’t using the technology inappropriately, some would believe he has been using it too much… But what is too much? Should there be a limit to a child’s online participation?

Considering Max is a young person growing up in the Digital Age, he is a digital native.  The youth generation of the Digital Age is adapted to a lifestyle filled with modern technology and advancements.  They are accustomed to this and find hanging out on the computer for countless hours to be normal. 

There is nothing wrong with the way Max is using technology as he primarily is just using social media, watching videos, and surfing the web. What is of concern in this particular situation is the amount of time spent using technology.  The excessive amount of time that Max plays on the computer illustrates how his real social life outside of the computer could be threatened.

Although he may be communicating with several people in the virtual world, he does not get to develop the interpersonal and interactive skills.  These skills are very important for people to develop at a younger age so that they can properly function in society.  Yes, I understand Max is popular online but does this justify him loosing connection to the real world? 

Max’s extreme use of the computer illustrates how he may be suffering from a computer or internet addiction.  Internet addiction is a global epidemic as the Digital Age continues to advance itself.  Internet addiction can result in physical and psychological symptoms which are very harmful to any human being. 

Max’s mother has every right to be concerned for her child’s well-being and social life.  Many families are experiencing the exact same thing across the nation as technology is more accessible than ever before.  Most of the younger generation know how to use all the digital technologies out there, but does mean we should make it fully accessible to our youth? 

Max’s mother needs to confront Max and confirm that his interpersonal social life is not being affected by his computer habits… or some would say obsession.  Then a limit should be put in place. Families and mothers like Max’s need to monitor their children’s use of technology and place a limit on how many hours they can spend on a computer.  This notion of limit and control is a growing topic in the world as so many families are affected by computer addiction.

I found a great resource for anyone who seeks help to overcome computer or internet addiction.

Retrieved from: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/internet_cybersex_addiction.htm

Weekly Report & Reflection Post #8: Wikis

     During week 8 of ADED 1P32, we got the opportunity to explore wikis.  The word “wiki” is derived from the Hawaiian term for “quick” (Teachers First, 2013).  Wikis can range in size from being a single website based on one topic to a huge online encyclopedia (K12Learning, 2013).   It is essentially a website that can be edited by anyone and therefore is continuously revised and updated by many online users (K12Learning, 2013).  It literally allows the website visitor to become an active participant and editor of the information on the website.  One of the greatest features of wikis includes the ability to view the history of the editing that takes place.

     Although the original creation of a wiki was an online space called WikiWikiWeb, the most popular example of a wiki in this generation is definitely Wikipedia (Teachers First, 2013).  Wikipedia is the most common wiki out there in the World Wide Web however, most academia institutions do not allow students to cite Wikipedia because of its “editable” and therefore not creditable information.

     

     Wikis supports social constructivist learning as it is a knowledge building competency (Teachers First, 2013).  This is unlike blogs that are used in a “Post, Comment, Comment, Comment, Comment style”.  Blogs tend to get messy and unorganized as comments can go on for what feels like for ever.  Without the use of comments, online users have the ability to maintain a much neater online space for information via wikis.  Although wikis may be very different than blogs, they are more similar to digital tools such as Google Docs and Evernote because it allows others to edit and revise the content.  Alike Google Docs and Evernote, wiki’s most powerful buttons are the “edit” and “save”.

     I strongly believe that wikis can be used as a very effective learning tool for digital citizens.  The ability to revise online content and edit other people’s work lets wikis offer online users a service that can promote shared knowledge construction and growth (Teachers First, 2013).  They have the ability to help teach and co-ordinate with others more efficiently (Lefever, 2005).  They also inevitably encourage good writing and editorial skills for students and these are seen as essential skills to be a successful communicator and editor (Clark, 2012).  Wikis can be used to develop websites (in the easiest way), create student research projects, and act as brainstorming pages (Teachers First, 2013).  On a more personal level, the best way to utilize wikis for my own learning is to critically evaluate online information sources (K12Learning, 2013).  With all the information that is accessible out there in the online world, it is hard to depict what is accurate and credible information.  I have trusted sources such as wikis when they were invalid and untrue information, therefore learning to critically evaluate online information sources is the best practice for me while browsing wikis.

     After completing the weekly activities and exploring Digital Rights and Responsibilities in thorough detail, I now understand why this element is so crucial to being a successful digital citizen.  Although there may be countless rights and responsibilities while participating in the online world, all of these guidelines should be adhered to in order to maintain a safe and ethical cyber world.  Here is my mind map of the most important digital rights and responsibilities that are seen in today’s Digital Age.

Worboys, J. (2013). Digital Rights Concept Map Image.

     As our topic for this week’s learning regarded wikis, I found an article from TechCrunch via my Feedly.  This article illustrates how there is massive amounts of money being poured into wiki spaces.  The rise of wikis is growing but why is Google not in the fight for some of its space?

http://techcrunch.com/2007/01/08/more-money-for-wikis/

References

Clark, D. (2012). Wikis - wickedly clever, underused learning tool. Available at:http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.ca/2012/12/wikis-wickedly-clever-underused.html

K12Learning20.com (2013). It's a wiki wiki world. Available athttp://k12learning20.wikispaces.com/8-wiki1

Lefever, L. (2005). Wikis in Plain English. If you cannot view the video below, go tohttp://www.commoncraft.com/video/wikis

TeachersFirst. (2008-2013). Wiki Walkthrough Step-by-Step. Available athttp://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/