Friday, April 11, 2008

Characterizing your style for attending

1. List the kinds of media you use/read/engage with on a daily basis. Is your pattern for interacting with media the same or different than it was when you were 5? 10? 15? Give short descriptions to explain.

  • Internet
  • Text Books
  • Literature
  • music
  • tv
  • I think that my interaction with media is very different than when I was younger because it was much simpler back then. You just read in a book. Now if I have assignments they are posted online, require me to read them online or print them, do research online, get assignments through e-mail. When on the internet for this things there are a million other things going on in the backround that you sway to such as advertisements or hyperlinks that take you in other directions.

2. Rank the relative amount of time you presently spend with each medium -- be as specific as you can

  • Internet - 4 hours a day
  • Text - 1 hour a day
  • Literature - 1/2 hour a day
  • As I said before most of my classes require me to use the internet.


Monday, April 7, 2008

In class reflection

What features of Cyberspace contributed to Megan's death?
  • Anonymity- Do we like this?
  • Flash Mob reaction- many people involved?
  • Isolation/privacy of interactions?
  • Immediacy?

Who is the responsible party?

  • Myspace
  • Parent
  • ISD
  • Advertising
  • Megan

People should take responsiblity for their own actions on the internet.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Reflection Collins

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In Collins' article "A Friend Game" she begins by setting up an idyllic scene of a neighborhood and the friendships that go along with that. Then your thrown into this other world of lies and deceptions, a place where no one "really" liked each other, someone in the article compared it to the Desperate Housewives neighborhood. It was all fake in real life and as it was on the Internet. I don't want to sound void of emotion because I do feel that what happened to Megan was terrible. I wish someone could have reached out to her she was obviously a sad teenager, and those times are always rough for most of us. But I do not believe that the Drew's should be persecuted because this is a typical teenage thing. People get bullied whether online or at school. It is something that all children deal with but I feel that Megan had other issues going on and this incident was the straw that broke the camels back. As stated in the article, Megan's conversation with "John" lasted months and in those months their conversations were all polite and made her happy. It seemed like there was only one conversation that ignited this flame and that was the last day of Megan's life. Also both parents were aware of the situation and none of them stopped it. There are many other elements that are going on in the story it's not just a false identity issue. This leads into my research paper about cyberethics which is interesting I might use something from this article in my project.

Blog 10 research project entry 2

In class on Wed. I tried to do some work on Front Page but honestly it did not work. I thought that Ryan was going to be in class also to help us out but unfortunately he was not. I am having a hard time with it because it is the first time I am using a program like this.

In the section of Educating Children on CyberEthics
I will have a separate categories on of which is Internet Downloads.

This is the same material that I used on my Wiki page but took it off because of the neutrality, I figured I could put it to good use in my research assignment. So here it is again:

In Melanie G. Snyder's article, "CyberEthics and Internet Downloads: An Age by Age Guide to Teaching Children what they need to know" she explains that children do not feel that there is any real risk in downloading copyrighted work. Their mentality is "everyone is doing it therefore it's ok" but a clear and age appropriate lesson in CyberEthics could help children learn the risks involved in Internet downloading. Each age group requires a specific approach which is more likely to work when explaining cyberethics.

Elementary Schoolers are very black and white in their ethical thinking until the age of 11-12.
*Explain copyrighting
*Make sure the child can identify the copyright symbol
*Have the child sign a CyberEthics conduct code
*Simply tell them it's against the law and it's wrong to break the law

Middle Schoolers are the most challenging age group to speak to about this topic.
*Explain the economy and what goes into making movies, music, software and games
*Relate scenarios to "real people" because if kids can visualize victim they will think twice about the crime
*Review policies and make Internet conduct contract between parent and child

High Schoolers do not respond to lectures therefore have a two sided conversation
*Explain and talk about Internet risk, i.e. virus, spy ware
*Explain and talk about legal consequences
*Go through downloading scenarios; let the teen explore pros and cons on their own
*Set the right example by letting your child subscribe to a legal downloading website, this will send out the right message that you support the artists

Monday, March 31, 2008

Reflection CopyRight/CopyLeft

The copy right people are very strict about sharing their work. They closely watch how their works are used mainly to keep the money in their pockets. They would not want anyone to interfere with the flow of money that they receive from their copy righted product. Companies such as Disney are worried about their image. Which is a bit funny because it is known that many Disney movies contain crude material hidden in its images. Those were not taken out of the movies and that is not good for their image. Copyright protects the copyright holder, they are the one who benefits from the product. The Copyleft believe that material should belong to many people and they believe in innovation of the product. I have to agree with the copyleft group. As I brought up in class I don't think that a copyright should be held on to as long as it is or (forever). The person that comes up with the product is not necessarily the same person that can make that innovation as great as it can possibly be. Therefore, I believe that 14 years is plenty of time for the copyright holder to make the product as best he/she can and then allow someone else to work on it. This should be sufficient time for them to make money, but of course people are greedy and that is all they care about not in product itself. :/

Blog 9 Research Project Intro

Abstract:

The U. S. Census bureau reports that children ages 5 to 17 have extensive access to computers. Between 1993 and 1997 access among this age group increased from 32% to 50% at home and from 61% to 71% at school. These numbers (in the year 2000) are now significantly higher. The report further states that, among households with computer access, 60% of children ages 3-5 years are actively accessing the computer, 84% of ages 6-11 use the computer and 89% of ages 12-17 years are accessing the computer (Smith). With this recent surge in usage by children (as young as 3) there is a need to educate them in cyberethics. CyberEthics also known as "cybercitizenship" and "netiquette." The definition of ethics is "rational process founded on certain principles" once that definition is taken and formated to fit the internet it is simply the correct way of acting on the internet when no one is looking. It is the study of moral, legal, and social issues involving cybertechnology. Children, as they are educated in school also, need to be educated about appropriate behavior on the internet and also its dangers. Parents need support because speaking to children about sensitive subjects is always difficult. If we can educate children at an early age about cyberethics there is a good chance that cybercrime will decrease in the coming years. This is the ultimate resource for parents who do not know where to begin.

Sunday, March 23, 2008