Google Yourself

After googling myself at the conclusion of this semester i was surprised to find that very little has changed about me. The only new thing that comes up on google web search in my name is the twitter i associated with this account. I thought that there would be more about me on google. I am happy this isnt the case, i do not want all my digital life out there easy to access.

As a digital citizen i believe i can teach others about the online world and how to properly use it to communicate to others. Theres a difference between a positive digital footprint, and a negative one. I believe the best way to do this is by educating them on digital responsibilities first. Once you are aware of your responsibilities online it is easy to navigate the web for educational purposes with ease.

Digital privacy was another main issue this course. Digital privacy is rare when you put your information out there for the whole world to have access to however if you know how to use privacy settings, you can set it up so others see only what you want. I believe this is important because everyone wants some privacy in their lives.

My privacy settings reflect what i want, and that is to almost remain anonymous online. Sure my name will pop up, however with the proper knowledge it is difficult for others to get any other information from you without permission online.

Weekly Report & Reflection # 11

This week we were introduced to an amazing set of tools for screen-casting. Screen-casting is when you record your computer screen so others can see exactly what it is your doing on it. This is very useful when it comes to contributing to building my knowledge because it is an educational tool. Screencast such as Jing allows me to record step by step on my laptop screen and verbally communicate in the background. This tool contributes to my work in building knowledge because it is easy to use and has endless possibilities. The online world can be a scary place, and often times theres so much out there that it is difficult to take it all in. Screencast allows users to create how-to videos by actually showing others how it's done visually. This is a great feature that everyone has used once in their digital lifetime.

This week my Feedly reader introduced me to a controversial piece pf legislation that was just changed. Police 'Carding' as it is called has come under fire and a new legislation makes it mandatory for police to have good reason to request ID. This new piece of legislation also makes police officers inform members of the public that they do not have to produce their ID, they have the right to walk-away and not co-operate.This is seen as a victory to some and a nightmare to others. Judgement is a key concept of the job, and now that it has come under scrutiny, legislation has been passed to limit the powers of a police officer. This legislation could be good for citizens, but it can also be very bad for society. What are your thoughts on this?

Screencast

The closer the semester is to coming to an end the better quality of tools we are introduced to that can be used as part of our digital learning portfolio. This week we were introduced to podcasts and screencasts. I preferred screencast because it was a very unique way to get information passed on from one party to another. My Screencast is a simple view of a bill passed in Canada called bill S-4 which was introduced because of the digital world. 

The reason I chose screencast instead of podcast is because although I had the option to use my microphone and speak during the video, I preferred to get the audience involved in actively reading instead of just listening to me talk. This is a learning technique that I find helps people engage themselves. The digital world has made people lazy, screen casting without sound is a way to help people get involved.

Using Screencast contributes to my digital citizenship because it is a tool that I will now use that can be accessed online anytime, anywhere. The reason this fits a digital citizenship profile is because it is a common tool that is used. Anytime I watch a tutorial video it is a screencast. Today for this assignment I had to YouTube how to embed from screencast. The digital world is taking over and screencast is contributing to this in a positive way. Without tools such as screencast our digital involvement would be minor compared to what it is now. Everyone uses some form of screencast for help when stuck in the digital world trying to figure out how to work something. Screencast is a very helpful tool in the online world!

In the following screencast about digital privacy law i used another tool we were introduced to earlier on in the course, diigo which was very useful in highlighting parts of the screencast that attention needed to be brought to. All these tools we are introduced to throughout the year are extremely helpful and all contribute to a better digital learning experience.

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

Weekly Report and Reflection Blog # 10

Slideshow tools are a great way to make learning fun. Incorporating learning materials with pictures and sounds into one presentation that can be played and viewed is a great tool teachers can use to teach topics to students while keeping them interested. These tools are useful for educational activities because you can put a lot of information into a slide show all while making it appealing to the selected audience. There are many ways to make the slide show stand out on powerpoint and other slide show tools, it all depends on what the end goal of the slide show is. Slideshows also keep information in a single document such as google docs. Everything that needs to be included can be on one presentation through many slides.

My Feedly reader had a good article about hockey this week. Dennis Wideman was in the news for receiving a 20 game suspension for hitting a referee
. Wideman claimed that he was dazed when it happened however the NHL handed him the lengthy suspension. The part of this article that amazes me is that after serving 19 of his 20 game suspension an NHL arbitrator reduced the suspension to 10 games. Although Wideman cannot make up those 9 games he missed with the reduced suspension he does get to retain some of his salary. The NHL does not agree with this decision claiming it tells kids that it is okay to attack officials because the consequences wont be upheld. It was a pretty interesting read and definitely a potential case precedence for future actions involving referees.

Creative Commons

Today my digital citizenship has expanded once again. This week we were tasked with creating a slide show to raise awareness to Copywriting laws and Creative Commons. The unique part of blogging about this is the fact that I had to embed my presentation into this blog post which allowed me to use other tools as well. The power point i have does not allow me to directly embed therefore i had to expand my digital environment and use an outside source to upload my presentation to in order to get an embedding code.This application, known as Scribd uploads the entire presentation, however does not keep track of the time for slides. Expanding my personal learning environment is a good way to improve my digital literacy all while keeping with my digital responsibilities. This presentation allowed us to explore the many aspects involved in creative commons, which essentially is the lock on certain digital pieces of information made public. Creative Commons are used for the creator to tell the general digital public to what extent their information is made available and how it can be reproduced.  

Creative Commons is an online privacy barrier for publishers to protect their content. Users who ignore these creative commons are ignoring digital responsibilities and breaking copywriting laws that were created to protect information shared by publishers. Without creative commons protecting peoples work it could be reproduced and someone could take credit for someone else’s work. Creative commons are an extremely important digital aspect especially for students who wish to use information for their own research.

Presentation 1

Weekly Report and Reflection #9

This week we were introduced to an amazing digital tool called VoiceThread. VoiceThread allows users to post within a group in text or over microphone. The cool feature of voice thread is that it is not like all other online posting forums. Although you can digitally type what you want to communicate for others to see text, you can speak into a voicebox and the clip will be saved for all to hear so they dont have to read. This is an important feature because
in the digital society today we are forgetting how to communicate without text. It is more personal when someone says something that can be heard instead of someone just reading text. This tool can build my knowledge of online communication in the digital context because it brings us back to our roots. There was a time when all communication was verbal and there was no writing and reading text. This feature helps us remember where we came from which is the most important part of learning.

This week my Feedly reader introduced me to a new program by the OPP for amber alerts. This program pops up on TV screens when an amber alert is issued, making those watching tv aware. In our digital society today the reaction the OPP got from this was disgusting. People were annoyed that their shows were interrupted because of the amber alert. It just goes to show how the digital age has taken over life. People miss 30 seconds of their show and are annoyed because theres a missing child that was possible taken from the parents. People need to take a step back and think about the important things in life, missing parts of a TV show, or a child missing and a grieving and scared family trying everything they can do to help get the child back. People are so caught up in the digital age that they forget the important things in life.

Technology Use Scenario

Scenario 6 - John and his friend Mike both have access to messaging systems that allow for camera uploads. Mike sits in the back of the class and uses his phone to photograph the test for John, who is taking the test that afternoon. Mike then shares the photograph of the test for John. What issues might occur because of Mike's actions?

Digital responsibility is the key concept in this scenario. Mike not only violated school policy and helped John cheat on a test, but he also was digitally irresponsible. Just because there are applications and features that allow easy sharing for information doesn't mean that individuals are entitled to share certain kinds of information. The big issue here for John is he now has access to material he shouldn't have access to. This violates school code. Although Mike sent the images John has access to them. Digital responsibility is a big issue in this scenario.

Having the tools to cheat does not give one the right to cheat. Mike should not have taken the image and sent it to John. If John really wanted to cheat he could have asked Mike how the test was and what was on it. Mike should never have taken a picture of the test and given John an advantage that no other students have.

Who do you think is more digitally irresponsible in this scenario Mike for taking the picture and sending it to John, or John for having access to this picture when he shouldn't?