After Googling myself, I was pleasantly surprised that the number two item under "Scarlet Stark" on Google is this very blog I write in! In first place was my Facebook profile! In addition, the images which came up that are associated with my name are mostly of me and none are inappropriate! My LinkedIn profile also came up which made me happy as I continuously work on it to boost my views and network! I also think LinkedIn is a great way to build a positive digital footprint as it is professional in nature. The biggest change in my foot print was the addition of this blog. Prior to this, I had no writing samples when my name was googled. Now I do! This will help me to expand my personal learning network and environment while also building a positive online presence for myself.
Creating and maintaining a positive digital footprint has been a major theme for me throughout this course. When I graduate next year, I know employers may want to look me up before they hire me. By having and maintaining a positive digital footprint, I can ensure that anything related to myself online is appropriate and un-offensive. In addition, I know that as a student it is also important to maintain a positive digital footprint. If grad school is of interest, it is critical to ensure that anything you post online is a positive, not negative, reflection of yourself. Having a positive digital footprint is important when it comes to responsible digital citizen in this digital world because many people will and can judge you based on your online presence. It's important to view online presence as an extension of yourself to help maintain a positive digital presence!
One of the key lessons I learned about digital citizenship that can be used to promote quality online interactions with others is to use tools that work for you and your digital needs while also remembering your responsibility as a digital citizen to respect the rights, views and content of others through digital interactions. Using tools that are frustrating will show in your communication with others! I found chatting in Google Docs a great way to communicate whereas others may not prefer it. Whatever your preferred method, use it to make interactions a higher quality experience!
As Mark Ribble states in his textbook "Digital Citizenship in Schools":
"As members of this digital society, it is our responsibility to provide all users the opportunity to work, interact and use technology without interference, destruction or obstruction by the actions of others not appropriately using technology" (Ribble, 2015). It's important to remember the rights of others when interacting and utilizing information online and to let this guide your interactions and research to uphold a positive digital community! To check out this great textbook click HERE.
To promote appropriate behaviors to other digital citizens, I will promote the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship. Prior to learning more about this through the course, I had no idea all the factors that are involved in individual digital citizenship. The Digital Citizenship website helped me (in combination with the text!) and is easily sharable. Click HERE to view it. To me, this website was the most valuable in establishing the pillars of digital citizenship, allowing me to understand my obligations as a digital citizen in the digital world!
I think another way I can help others build upon their knowledge of digital citizenship in order to help them thrive in digital society appropriately is through my position at Career Services at Brock. I think too many students forget that what they post online can hurt ones reputation when it comes to employment. Through working at Career Services I've learned that more and more employers look to the internet to assess candidates prior to hiring them. Through letting students who come to Career Services know how important their online reputation is, I can begin to explain the benefits of being a leader in the digital world by keeping up with the elements of digital citizenship! I can also aid them with creating LinkedIn profiles so they can join professional online communities and expand their professional network prior to graduating. I hope this helps give me the edge I need when it comes time to job hunt as well!
Thanks for joining me on my journey! I appreciate everyone who has read and contributed comments to this blog!
Scarlet
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Weekly Report & Reflection #11
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| Stark, S. (CC) 2016 |
I think using podcasting tools like SoundCloud will enhance my personal learning environment and my personal learning network immensely! Not only did I learn a new tool which I can now utilize for future academic projects or presentations, but I also found another way to create my own content which I thoroughly enjoy doing! I can also connect with other content creators, learn from their content and share this knowledge with others which allows me to continue to expand my personal learning environment. One thing I especially enjoyed was the ability to create content with audio. So much of my exploration has involved text reading and using chat functions which I enjoy. However, it is nice to have a way to be able to express ideas and information verbally. I also liked how easily it is to share the links of audio content with others!
I also created my own Creative Commons license for my blog. After discovering I couldn't add a header or footer, I added the code for my CC licence to my HTML code and I still don't see the icon! I decided to screenshot part of my license from when I created it to show that I am serious about Digital Responsibilities. We as digital citizens and content creators can protect our content! Adding a Creative Commons license to original content is an easy way to protect oneself and gain credit from others use of our personal creative content!
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| Stark, S. (CC) 2016 |
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Weekly Report & Reflection #10
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| Stark, S. (CC) 2016 |
I must say that using Prezi did cause me some headaches. I had difficulty editing text at some points, could not figure out how to properly embed even after consulting the "Help" page on Prezi and found that some of the formats were extremely restricting when it came to adding content. Although some might be more fluent with Prezi which would make this a great educational tool, I found it to be difficult to navigate. I did attempt to explore other platforms and found similar problems. For example, the character count restrictions on Animoto were super frustrating! It was like creating a presentation using Twitter! Tools like Prezi and Animoto could easily be added to anyone's PLE as a great curation, organization and creation tool. You can easily curate content into one creative presentation making it easy to add many different pieces of information to share with others. I don't think I will be adding Prezi to my PLE due to my difficulty with navigating and embedding with this online tool but I do see the benefits if one is able to conquer the nuances of this tool! If you'd like to view my slideshow to learn more about copyrights and how they relate to you, click the "My Slideshow" page at the top of my blog!
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| Stark, S. (CC) 2016 |
One item of interest from my Feedly reader is a blog by Edutopia on curation tools and how they can support learning initiatives. Given this weeks exploration of presentation tools, I thought this was relevant! Read it by clicking HERE!
Thanks for reading everyone!
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Weekly Report & Reflection # 9
This week I got to explore Voicethread for the first time and I have to say I was very impressed! Although it took me some reading and exploration to learn how to use the tool (click HERE to learn more about VoiceThread - this PDF helped me immensely!), once I was able to add comments and view the slideshow and read other comments, I was very impressed with the tool! I like how verbal communication and visual media are combined in this tool. Many of the other tools we have explored do not involve any verbal communication whatsoever. I think it is still important in our digital age to utilize our voices because it is the core of our communication! Having a tool that combines comments, visual input AND auditory input all in one is truly amazing and I can see myself adding it to my PLE to collaborate and idea share with other students in the future. I also think VoiceThread is a great networking tool. It allows students to learn from other students quickly and easily and can be a great way to grow your network.
The scenario blog I posted before this one also enhanced my knowledge of digital rights and responsibilities. I think it is important to recognize that we as students have obligations to others in our use of technology and should not impede the rights of others through our own use of digital technology tools. Through the scenario, I learned more about the rights we have when it comes to others taking photographs without consent and how this can impede on the privacy rights of others. I also learned that defaming others (especially teachers!) can lead to major consequences for us as students. I would encourage my readers to check out my scenario blog and click the links there to learn more about digital rights and responsibilities. To read it, click HERE.
Although a bit off topic, one item I found interesting on my Feedly reader was a Brock University Student Blog post on Experience BU. As a Sr. Career Assistant at Career Services at Brock, I constantly get questions on how to get more involved on campus. Experience BU is a great way to find out about upcoming events and ways to get involved! And since the year is coming to end rather quickly, there are many students wishing they had become more involved. I encourage these students to check out ExperienceBU and all the great events still happening! It is not too late to get involved! Click HERE to read this interesting blog and start getting involved today!
Thanks for reading!
Scarlet
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| Stark, S. (CC) 2016 |
The scenario blog I posted before this one also enhanced my knowledge of digital rights and responsibilities. I think it is important to recognize that we as students have obligations to others in our use of technology and should not impede the rights of others through our own use of digital technology tools. Through the scenario, I learned more about the rights we have when it comes to others taking photographs without consent and how this can impede on the privacy rights of others. I also learned that defaming others (especially teachers!) can lead to major consequences for us as students. I would encourage my readers to check out my scenario blog and click the links there to learn more about digital rights and responsibilities. To read it, click HERE.
Although a bit off topic, one item I found interesting on my Feedly reader was a Brock University Student Blog post on Experience BU. As a Sr. Career Assistant at Career Services at Brock, I constantly get questions on how to get more involved on campus. Experience BU is a great way to find out about upcoming events and ways to get involved! And since the year is coming to end rather quickly, there are many students wishing they had become more involved. I encourage these students to check out ExperienceBU and all the great events still happening! It is not too late to get involved! Click HERE to read this interesting blog and start getting involved today!
Thanks for reading!
Scarlet
Technology Use Scenario #3
The scenario I chose goes as follows: Sarah received a smartphone for her birthday. As with most smartphones, hers has the ability to take photos and video. During algebra class, she decides to take a picture of MS. Everett, the substitute, while her back is turned to the whiteboard. She uploads it to her Facebook account and talks about how boring class was. What are the issues?
In this scenario, Sarah is using technology inappropriately. Firstly, during an algebra lesson is not the appropriate time to be using your cell phone as most schools have policies on this. I know this from being a student in such a school. Secondly, taking pictures of people and posting them online without their consent violates their rights and freedoms (to learn more about these rules, click HERE). Thirdly, insulting someone or posting an image of someone on-line and adding inappropriate comments is not only negative use of technology but inappropriate use and could be considered "defamation of character" which can actually lead to legal trouble for the person doing the posting (to learn more about character defamation and the cyberbullying of teachers, click HERE).
Although Sarah's use of her phone in class is inappropriate, I would have to argue that Sarah taking pictures and speaking inappropriately about the substitute teacher are much more inappropriate and hold greater repercussions. After reading an article on teacher's dealing with cyberbullying from students (read the article by clicking HERE), I learned a lot more about how common the bullying of teacher's on behalf of students is. I also learned that typically, students do not get into much trouble for doing this unless what is posted has been considered "defamation of character". In many cases, mere insults are not considered defamation of character. However, most teachers are protected under policies regarding use of information technology by students which impact teachers. It's good that teachers are protected by inappropriate, insulting and sometimes untrue comments and photos that are posted by students. Additionally, teachers (and anyone else for that matter!) are also protected by privacy laws when it comes to photos being taken of them and posted online without their consent. This is another area where Sarah inappropriately used her technology. If Sarah wanted to take a photo of her substitute teacher and post it on-line with comments, the correct way to go about this would've been to ask her substitute teacher for permission. Given the teacher had her back turned, Sarah likely would not have taken the picture to begin with if her teacher had been informed of the photo being posted, and her teacher likely would've said "no" to Sarah's request.
So what could Sarah have done differently? Sarah could have left the cell phone in her backpack or bag where it belongs during a classroom lesson. If she had done so, no picture would have ever been taken in the first place. Also, if she has an issue with algebra and how boring it is, Sarah could have easily discussed this with classmates outside of school without bringing the substitute teacher into it in an inappropriate way.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below! Thanks!
Scarlet
In this scenario, Sarah is using technology inappropriately. Firstly, during an algebra lesson is not the appropriate time to be using your cell phone as most schools have policies on this. I know this from being a student in such a school. Secondly, taking pictures of people and posting them online without their consent violates their rights and freedoms (to learn more about these rules, click HERE). Thirdly, insulting someone or posting an image of someone on-line and adding inappropriate comments is not only negative use of technology but inappropriate use and could be considered "defamation of character" which can actually lead to legal trouble for the person doing the posting (to learn more about character defamation and the cyberbullying of teachers, click HERE).
Although Sarah's use of her phone in class is inappropriate, I would have to argue that Sarah taking pictures and speaking inappropriately about the substitute teacher are much more inappropriate and hold greater repercussions. After reading an article on teacher's dealing with cyberbullying from students (read the article by clicking HERE), I learned a lot more about how common the bullying of teacher's on behalf of students is. I also learned that typically, students do not get into much trouble for doing this unless what is posted has been considered "defamation of character". In many cases, mere insults are not considered defamation of character. However, most teachers are protected under policies regarding use of information technology by students which impact teachers. It's good that teachers are protected by inappropriate, insulting and sometimes untrue comments and photos that are posted by students. Additionally, teachers (and anyone else for that matter!) are also protected by privacy laws when it comes to photos being taken of them and posted online without their consent. This is another area where Sarah inappropriately used her technology. If Sarah wanted to take a photo of her substitute teacher and post it on-line with comments, the correct way to go about this would've been to ask her substitute teacher for permission. Given the teacher had her back turned, Sarah likely would not have taken the picture to begin with if her teacher had been informed of the photo being posted, and her teacher likely would've said "no" to Sarah's request.
So what could Sarah have done differently? Sarah could have left the cell phone in her backpack or bag where it belongs during a classroom lesson. If she had done so, no picture would have ever been taken in the first place. Also, if she has an issue with algebra and how boring it is, Sarah could have easily discussed this with classmates outside of school without bringing the substitute teacher into it in an inappropriate way.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below! Thanks!
Scarlet
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Weekly Report & Reflection #8
This week was huge in the way of exploring digital tools and rights! Not only did I learn more about wikis and how they can support learning, but I also gained more knowledge on the importance of being a digital citizen that knows and understands the rights and responsibilities that come with being an upstanding digital citizen!
My wiki exploration was much needed as I was slightly unclear about the use of wiki's and how they could aid in my learning. I discovered this week that wiki's allow not only for collaboration, but can actually also aid in peer reviewing, a very important aspect for me personally as a psychology student! Since many psychology studies need to be peer reviewed, it was interesting to learn about how wiki can function as a more informal peer review process to gain further understanding of how to effectively collaborate and idea share to make great content that has been approved by others. Check out this great blog post which helped aid in my understanding of wikis by clicking HERE.
Week after week I am also finding myself learning more and more about becoming a responsible digital citizen within the digital world! I created the diagram below after my exploration of the three most important digital rights and responsibilities I feel need to be better understood! Privacy, content ownership and free speech are the three which stood out to me most for the reasons listed below!
A great resource which aided in my understanding of digital rights and responsibilities is the textbook for this course called "Digital Citizenship in Schools" by Mark Ribble. I found a great online resource which covers his discussion of the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship for my readers to check out (click HERE to view it). I highly recommend knowing and understanding how to appropriately utilize online tools in a way which doesn't jeopardize yourself and others and am glad that this is an area I have been able to develop over the last seven weeks of this course!
Since the emphasis in this course has been on digital collaboration and communication the past two weeks, I wanted to share this video about how communication can go wrong in person and how we can become better communicators. Through collaborating online and finding it more effective than in person, I found myself wondering why group projects seem to be that much more complicated face to face. Thanks to my tracking TedED on Feedly, I found a great video on how miscommunications happen face to face, why this occurs and ways to overcome it to successfully communicate with others. To check out this great video, click HERE.
Thanks for reading!
My wiki exploration was much needed as I was slightly unclear about the use of wiki's and how they could aid in my learning. I discovered this week that wiki's allow not only for collaboration, but can actually also aid in peer reviewing, a very important aspect for me personally as a psychology student! Since many psychology studies need to be peer reviewed, it was interesting to learn about how wiki can function as a more informal peer review process to gain further understanding of how to effectively collaborate and idea share to make great content that has been approved by others. Check out this great blog post which helped aid in my understanding of wikis by clicking HERE.
Week after week I am also finding myself learning more and more about becoming a responsible digital citizen within the digital world! I created the diagram below after my exploration of the three most important digital rights and responsibilities I feel need to be better understood! Privacy, content ownership and free speech are the three which stood out to me most for the reasons listed below!
 |
| Stark, S. (CC) 2016 |
A great resource which aided in my understanding of digital rights and responsibilities is the textbook for this course called "Digital Citizenship in Schools" by Mark Ribble. I found a great online resource which covers his discussion of the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship for my readers to check out (click HERE to view it). I highly recommend knowing and understanding how to appropriately utilize online tools in a way which doesn't jeopardize yourself and others and am glad that this is an area I have been able to develop over the last seven weeks of this course!
Since the emphasis in this course has been on digital collaboration and communication the past two weeks, I wanted to share this video about how communication can go wrong in person and how we can become better communicators. Through collaborating online and finding it more effective than in person, I found myself wondering why group projects seem to be that much more complicated face to face. Thanks to my tracking TedED on Feedly, I found a great video on how miscommunications happen face to face, why this occurs and ways to overcome it to successfully communicate with others. To check out this great video, click HERE.
Thanks for reading!
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