Week 12: Report and Reflection

Hey bloggers,

For twelve weeks now, these blog posts have been my way of sharing my thoughts, ideas, and opinions on various digital tools that I have been discovering and learning about. I have learned to become a better digital citizen and build a digital footprint through these blog posts, and through social media. It's great to look back at my journey and see how much I have learned throughout these past four months. Most importantly, it's great to see how much better I have become as a digital citizen.

You may not know it, but you and I have been building or digital footprints ever since we first started using technology. Your digital footprint is a reflection on what you have contributed to the digital environment, and how you have contributed it. We need to be aware of how we portray ourselves through out digital footprint, mainly with social media. We need to realise that once we post something online, it is there FOREVER. We must open our minds and learn how we properly use the online tools we are privileged with. This will create a huge difference within the digital community, adding a more positive feel and making everyone welcome.

As a digital citizen, it is my responsibility to promote a positive environment. My biggest concern is cyber bullying and how to stop and prevent it. And this isn't something I can or should be doing alone. If we all want to be good digital citizens, this is a stand that we need to take together. We need to stand up for those who are harassed online, and we need to educate those who are harassing. We need to cater to both sides of the bullying, it isn't fair for us to just focus on the victim.

There are many great tools and sites that I have learned about that can be used to educate us all. A great example of this is k12learning20.wikispaces.com. This site provides details for new comers into the digital environment. The onus is on ourselves to embrace the responsibility we have and contribute in a positive manner. It is important that we seek out others. We should do our best to network and interact with those around us. Many people learn better when they see the positive of actions of others, therefore we should always be on the top of our game in case people are looking to us in order to learn. 

This experience has allowed me to come across many great tools and many great people. The lessons I learned are things I can take with me in order to better myself as a student, professional, and as an overall person. Thank you for taking this journey with me!

-Zaed

Week 11: Report and Reflection

Good afternoon bloggers,

This week I was introduced to several pod cast and screen casting tools in order to create my very own web cast. For more details on which tool I used and to listen to my pod cast, check out my page called "Podcast." Living in today's world involves living in a digital environment as well. Because of this, we have an obligation as digital citizens to take care of this environment. We are truly privileged to have access to hundreds of different tools in order to create a diverse and creative digital environment, but at the same time there comes an enormous amount of responsibility on our end as users. In my opinion, everything starts with communication. Communication is an extremely key aspect of digital citizenship because that is what the digital environment is based on. Everything you see online is a communication of some sort, whether it is a thought, idea, process, etc. Following communication, there are many different responsibilities we have on HOW to properly communicate with each other. We need to really have a good idea on what type of communication is right or wrong, and how to seriously avoid situations evolving into cyber bullying. I have had experiences working with others in my class on projects without even meeting my classmates in person. This is a great example where cyber manners really comes into play. Communicating with each other allowed for us to stay on the same page, and work efficiently to complete our goals. SoundCloud has made me realise all of this, and is definitely a tool I am adding to my PLE.

This week, NBA history has been made! I'd like to share with you an article called Kings' Sim Bhullar embracing place in NBA history. This article explains how Sim Bhullar is the first player of Indian decent to ever be signed to an NBA team. Why I personally like this article is because, Sim is actually also Canadian! Sim comes from an Indian family who moved to Canada when he was very young. It's great to see the success of those from our great country, and truly proves that you can do anything as long as you set your mind to it. Give it a read!

-Zaed

Week 10: Report and Reflection

Good evening bloggers,

This week, I was required to create a slideshow about the topic of Copyright. To see my thoughts on copyright laws, our responsibilities, and the slideshow, check out my other page called "My Slideshow!"

This week, I'm going to be speaking about a couple of the slideshow tools I tried out before creating my final slideshow. First I'm going to talk about a slideshow tool called "Animoto." I found that this created the best slideshow with respects to the layout of their slideshows and the look of the slideshow. I did not use this tool for one main reason. The slideshow did not provide enough characters for me to properly sight the images I was using. It offered a maximum of 50 characters which was not enough, and for that reason I could not use it. I highly recommend Animoto for people who are creating slideshows with very minimal text and commentary.

The second slideshow tool I checked out is called "Photopeach." Now this is the tool I did end up using, as it gave me enough room to site each picture on every slide. The downfall of this tool is that, it is not very appealing visually. Also, it does not give you flexibility over where your text will appear in the slideshow. Therefore, I do not really recommend this tool to anyone. In my opinion, if you have a lot of time on your hands, learn how to use Prezi. Prezi is an extremely creative and visually capturing slideshow tool that can be used for any occasion.

This week I'm going to share some very exciting news! For the past few weeks I've steered away from talking about the Toronto Raptors, but this new is too good not to share with all of you! The article is called Raptors Outlast Lakers, Clinch Atlantic. Some of you may not know what "Clinched Atlantic" means, this is the exciting news actually. The Raptors are in the Atlantic Division of the NBA. Clinching means that they have won enough games that they are the best of the divison.! This also results in an automatic playoff berth for the Raptors, for a second straight year! Give it a read!

Regards,


Zaed Yousif

Week 9: Report and Reflection

Good evening bloggers!

This week I was introduced to VOICETHREAD and it was an amazingly fun tool to use. For my insight and thoughts on the tool, check out my page called "VOICETHREAD"! I'm going to speak more about the rights and responsibilities that we have as Digital Citizens. There are many things that we need to be aware of while we are online, as students and as professionals. As students, we need to understand that we must respect the opinions, thoughts, and ideas of others. We must seek these ideas through scholarly sources, basically from people who actually have credibility in what they are speaking about. There is a big difference in the quality and truth to information that is published by a scholarly source, and it is extremely important that we only use these sources when performing our work as students. On the other hand, as professionals, our responsibility is to recognize the relevance in what we are doing online. When we are spending company time searching for things do to with our work, we must ONLY try and be online for work purposes. Going on Facebook, or other social media mediums is not work (well depending what your job entails) and must be limited.

This week, I want to share with all of you an interesting article that I found on my feedly. It is called March Madness Continues To See Record-Setting TV Rating. That's right, let the madness begin! For those of you who don't know, March Madness is the final tournament in NCAA College basketball. It starts off with 64 teams, and in order to be the last team standing, you must win EVERY game in that tournament. Its really fascinating to see how much the interest in college basketball and college sports in general has really taken off. Check it out!

Regards,

Zaed Yousif

Technology Use Scenarios

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 case, both Matt and the owner of the website are misusing technology. Matt is using technology inappropriately because he did not identify the work as his own since he did not create a copyright for his own pictures. The owner of the website is also misusing technology because he did not even try and find out who the owner of these pictures really is so he could credit them. As a digital citizen, it is our responsibility to ensure that we are using technology correctly, and ensure that those around us are also doing the same. A friend of mine is a Photographer and uses different outlets to release his pictures so they can already be identified as his own. For example, one way that Matt could have prevented all of this is by setting up his own page on facebook or even his own website, where he can release all of his pictures and take credit for them. This is a really good example that shows Digital Citizenship must be a two way street, we must respect ourselves so that in return, we can be respected.

Week 8: Report and Reflection

Happy Sunday bloggers!
 

 

This week we were introduced to "Wiki" or Wikipedia as most of you call it. Wiki is a tool that allows for everyone to insert their input on various topics on the web. From most of the classes I've taken at Brock, the professors usually do not allow articles or information from Wikipedia to be used as a scholarly source. This is because anyone can edit the information at anytime, which does not make it reliable. For example, I can go to the Toronto Raptors' Wiki page and edit it to say that they are a soccer team even though they are a basketball team. Once I click save, the information will be saved even though it is incorrect. Therefore Wikipedia in my opinion can't really be trusted. Now Wikipedia also has another function that is VERY similar to Google Docs. It basically allows you to create a shared document for others to contribute to. When comparing the two, I found that I really prefer to use Google Docs. Google Docs provides a better platform and is a lot easier to use in my opinion than Wiki. Also, Google Docs allows for me to choose who I want to be able to edit and share my document, while Wiki leaves it open for the entire world. Although they are used for different reasons (Wiki more for research and Google Docs more for personal use) I would still prefer to use Google Docs when planning projects or ideas with group mates, colleagues, and friends. I do not really recommend Wiki to anyone.

 

Also In this week learning activities, we were challenged to search through different wiki resources to identify different digital citizen’s right and responsibilities. During the process, I once again realised that Wiki isn't a very reliable source for information, and should not be trust. But nonetheless, I think the three most important rights and responsibilities digital citizens need to understand are: 

 

1) Understanding digital ethics and etiquette

2) Taking the initiative to report and prevent unacceptable behaviour

3) Understanding the great responsibility you possess that comes with the privilege of being a digital citizen

 Yousif, Z. (CC) 2015

Finally, I wanted to share with you all another interesting article from my feedly. This article is called Why Richard Branson Thinks Failure Should Be An Option For All Entrepreneurs  by Forbes magazine. The reason why I really enjoyed this article is because, many entrepreneurs feel that nothing can come out of failure. But this article and Richard Branson does a great job of explaining that failure for start ups is extremely reasonable, and that it should be approached as a learning experience. If you've got the entrepreneurial spirit, then give it a read!

 

Until next time,

 

 

Zaed Yousif

Week 7: Report and Reflection

Good evening everyone!

This week we were introduced to Google Docs. Basically, Google Docs allows you to create a document, just like a Word document, and share it with the world! Once you share the document with the people you want to share it with, it allows them to edit the document as they please. When they sign into the document, their edits will show up in different colors to identify who have made the changes. This is not only an awesome tool for group projects, but also for working professionals! It allows for team/group members to work together without physically being together. It saves time, effort, and allows for a new dynamic to be created within groups and teams. Since Google Doc can share to the others and let others edit, students can conveniently work on the document at anytime they choose, no need for the hassle of planning a group meeting or anything. Overall,I think Google Docs is an extremely important tool for working professionals and students. It increases productivity like no other tool, and it really should be implemented by group members in order to better their work. If you haven't given it a try then I strongly suggest you do so.

I found a really interesting topic from my feedly this week that is really relative to me as a co-op student. It's called How to Answer the Question 'What is your Greatest Accomplishment?'. In many of the interviews I've been in, this question as come up. As much as I practice and prepare for my interviews, this question always becomes a challenging questions for me to answer. At this age, I personally haven't accomplished many things that will necessarily "wow" the interviewers infront of me. This article does a great job of explaining how to approach the questions and provides very useful tips on what types of accomplishments you should use. If you'd like to better your interview skills and answers, give it a read!

Regards,

Zaed Yousif