Report and Reflection 11- MORE Synthesizing, Remixing, and Creating: Webcasting

This week we learned about podcasts and screencasts and got some experience with them. I myself never really listened to or watched podcasts and screencasts before this but learned about the interesting and useful features they had. In the CNN video it describes podcasting, which allow you to download different talk shows the same way you would with movies or music. For example I know many podcasts are available for download off of itunes. There are all sorts of different kinds of podcasts about all sorts of things including sports, movies, fishing or anything you could think off! Podcasts are audio files that can be played on an iPod, iPhone, tablet  or any portable music device. Screencasts are similar to the podcast but includes a visual aspect. In the reading by Good (2007), they are described as digital recordings of a computer screen output and often contains audio narration. Screencasts are basically movies of the changes over time a user sees on their computer screen, but also with audio. There are multiple screencasting software available to create your own, which you can then put online.  

once I looked at the different tools and what they offer, it was interesting to see certain tools that could be used for Podcasts. For example SoundCloud was listed as a tool, which was a tool I was aware of and have used in the past to listen to music, but I never considered the possibility to use it to download and upload Podcasts. After reading about Podcasts it makes perfect sense though to use Soundcloud to find Podcasts and to even create your own! These different creative tools have contributed to my overall digital knowledge because I have learned about even more ways to present information digitally. Podcasts and screencasts present an alternative displaying information in just written text by instead expressing knowledge through audio and visual ways, which can allow many new fun and creative ways to present information. This sets it apart from other collaborative/communication tools. They allow you to personalize your presentation by having you narrate, as if you are doing a presentation.

I do not think I would include these in my PLE, because I do not see myself ever creating them. But if I were to listen to Podcasts then I could add it to my leisure section of my PLE. I do not think I would use a podcast or screencast for learning purposes but could see myself listening to a podcast just for fun in the future!

This weekend, with it being Easter and all, I found a video from Business Insider on my Feedly about Kinder Surprise eggs. It was a video unboxing a number of these chocolate eggs and highlighting them for the American audience. The reason for this is because they are illegal in the US. I found this surprising because they are so popular here in Canada and all over the World, and are so tasty! So I was interested in finding out why they were illegal. It turns out the small toys found inside the eggs are considered choking hazards so they are banned!

Kinder Surprise [Online Image] Retrieved from http://revolvingfloor.com/issues/1/let-us-now-praise-chocolate-eggs/

Talk with you next week,

Jordan

Report and Reflection 10- Synthesizing, Remixing, & Creating: Images & Slideshows

This week we explored various slideshow tools. While playing around with some of them I discovered that they make it really easy for inserting images. Each one has different features, for exmple Animoto has different templates and designs that help you create a presentation that is visually appealing. Photopeach seemed to be simpler in design  than Animoto, but it was still easy to add images. It was not as visually appealing as the features that Animoto offered, but it  did not have a word limit for inputting text, which Animoto has. For Photopeach, if you wanted to add text it would just appear as a caption at the bottom of the slide, which could be difficult to read. I felt that overall Animoto was better except for the fact that it had a word limit because it restricts the amount of writing you can add. Also, there were options to customize various things about the presentation, but having a free trial restricts what you can do. These learning tools are still beneficial in educational activities because they offer a unique way to present information instead of using a powerpoint presentation.
I also believe that it can potentially be used in other contexts than educational ones as well. I could add this to my PLE under social as well as education. It is definitely a tool that can be used to learn and create, but it can be used for sharing pictures as well as sharing information. I could see it being used to make fun presentations that could be shared with friends and family, such as showing pictures from a vacation. These tools might be easier to use than other tools such as moviemaker. I think that they can also be used within the classroom as well for similar presentations.

Along with learning about these learning tools, I also learned more about Copyrights. Copyright laws are created to protect someone’s original work that they create and publish that may be written, videos, images etc. All users have the right to be given credit if their work is used or shared. Part of being a Digital Citizen means giving credit to others for using their original work. As discussed by Media Smarts, consumers do have certain rights/instance where they can use copyrighted material without permission or a license from the owner through the Copyright Act. For example when being used for research, private study, criticism or review, news reporting, parody and satire, or education one does not need to give credit. However when copyright laws are not taken into consideration, it becomes copyright infringement and the one who commits it may receive penalties such as having their online account banned or taken down.

This week on Feedly, I read an article titled: A man who spent 5 years studying self-made millionaires found a commondaily habit could be keeping you from getting rich. The daily habit that holds people back is procrastination, and by making daily to-do lists and prompt deadlines for things can greatly help to remove procrastination from one’s life and could improve their job performance or any other aspect of their life.

Talk with you next week,

Jordan

Technology Use Scenario

Scenario #12: Matt enjoys taking pictures with his digital camera. His pictures are quite unusual and can be easily identified as his work. He wants to let other people see his pictures so he posts them on his website. A couple of months later he is surfing the Internet and sees some of his pictures on someone else’s website. At first he is flattered that someone enjoyed his pictures, but on closer inspection he sees that he is not credited anywhere on the site as the person who took the photos. The way the images are posted makes it seem as if the site owner had taken the pictures.

 In this scenario, Matt does not demonstrate technology use in an inappropriate way, however it could be a lot more appropriate if he had been using it more responsibly.  A right that individuals have as users online, is that they have the freedom to share their own personal content in trusting that other users will not partake in plagiarism of their work, which is further expressed by Ribble (2011), as he states "If they wish to make their creations freely available to the world, they should be allowed to do so."  Matt's actions in this scenario could be considered appropriate, if it is taken in the perspective of him wanting to share the work that he has created which is easily identified as his own.  Furthermore, as the pictures Matt has shared can be deemed unusual in a way that represents his work, and in a way that others know that they are his, his assumption that others will not plagiarize his work is not necessarily wrong.  Moreover, Ribble (2011) had also discussed what being a digital citizen includes which is having rights within the online world, but with these rights also come the responsibilities as well.  Therefore, there are also inappropriate actions involved in this scenario, which include someone else using Matt's pictures and neglecting to give him the credit for his work. 
The action of citing sources is definitely important, as Steinbach (2014) explains, because people who create their own work deserve to have it as their own; it belongs to them and is considered something of their possession.  Thus, not citing someone elses work would be the same as stealing from them.


In this scenario, Matt is not exactly using this technology inappropriately, however, he could be using it in a more responsible way. Users have the right to have the freedom to share their own content online and trust that other users will not plagiarize. Just as mentioned by Ribble (2011), “If they wish to make their creations freely available to the world, they should be allowed to do so.” It can be considered as appropriate because he wants to share his work which is easily identified as his. Since his pictures are unusual in a way that others know that they are his, it is not particularly wrong for Matt to assume that others will not take credit for his work. As discussed in Ribble (2011), being a digital citizen means having rights within the online world, but having responsibilities as well. This means citing others’ work and giving them credit in respect for their material. Thus, the actions within this scenario that are inappropriate, are that someone else had used his pictures without giving him credit for his work. Instead of merely sharing his work, Matt could have established ownership by creating a watermark. Watermarks are a simple and quick way to protect images by having a visible watermark stamped on them (Shu, 2013).

Report and reflection 8- More Collaborative Tools: Wikis & Concept Mapping

This week we are learning about wikis, which is another collaborative tool. As defined is the K12Learning2.0 resource, a wiki is a website that anyone can edit easily using a regular web browser. A wiki can be as basic as a single page containing information with links by one author, or it could be as complex as Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia which contains over 38 million articles! Wikis can be made for any purpose and can be used to create and share content on the web. Wikis can be edited and worked on by multiple users from anywhere. A few key features of wikis are the revision listing, which stores any user’s information along with page revisions, which allows people to easily track and evaluate the user’s content. Every version of every page is also saved under the wiki’s history, which makes it easier to track and compare versions of a page. Another feature is the wiki’s permissions, which allow the wiki to be set to public, private or protected.

(2015, September 8.) Wikipedia on

 massive drive to increase Tamil content 

[Online Image] Retrieved from http

://www.dnaindia.com/scitech

/report-wikipedia-on-massive-drive-to-

increase-tamil-content-2123004

Wikis are a useful way to improve one’s literacy skills. Wiki contributors can get plenty of practise and experience writing and editing wiki pages. Also, for people using wikis, they can also teach good researching skills by encouraging students to evaluate the validity of the pages. As said by Clark (2012), a wiki is a strongly collaborative medium that forces people to be collaborative. It also teaches you to be collaborative within a set of rules and reflect on the nature of collaboration in terms of the roles of individuals within a process.  In my opinion, wikis can be very useful in finding basic information or a quick history of something, but are not too reliable to use for in depth research. Since the people who edit wikis could be anyone, you must always question the validity or credibility of anything found on wikis. In fact, nearly every class I have been in in university has said to not Wikipedia as a source!

From learning about digital responsibilities and their importance to all sorts of online tools, I have determined what the most important rights are in my opinion. These are the right to privacy, ownership, and freedom of expression. It is important that one’s privacy be respected online, as well as one should always respect others privacy. There is also a responsibility to also give credit to when using someone else's work, which is also very important for wikis. Also, while people should have the right to post whatever they want online, they should still abide by proper digital etiquette.

(2015, October 21.) Trudeau and Stephen Harper meet as transition begins [Online Image] Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-and-stephen-harper-meet-as-transition-begins-1.3282769

Lastly, from my feedly reader this week I read an article titled Canada plans to experiment with giving people unconditional free money. This article talked about the government’s plan to give everyone in Ontario a basic monthy income to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing and various utilities, being implemented later this year. Sheila Regehr stated that "So there's no reason why people and governments in other parts of this country need sit on the sidelines – it's time for us all to get to work." This likely indicates that this idea will spread across Canada. I for one really hope this happens, since it could help me pay off my student debt!

Talk with you next week,

Jordan