Group items tagged

"Open Source software now has to be considered as part of any Australian government agencies ICT procurements, as of March 2011. Australian Government - Department of Finance and Deregulation - Open Source Software Policy. It will be interesting to see which agencies (if any) will take implement Open Source solutions and which ones they will be."

If you're a content creator, you already know that high-quality images make posts more enticing to readers. The Internet is chock-full of digital images, but which ones are free to use? You'll find plenty of open source images if you know where to look. You can start by reading our post 15 Best Sites for Open Source Images. But finding them is only the first step - you also need to know how to properly attribute them, and to give due credit to the image's copyright holder. Let's take a look at some of the best places to find open source images, and how to attribute them appropriately.

"In Digital Age, Learning Civics Means Doing Civics Traditional civic education has required students to memorize basic facts about American government, call it the what, who, and when model for civic literacy. The primary source of information has been textbooks, a source of literacy that has not always been the most accurate or inclusive. And while books (in various forms) will certainly continue to play a role in civic education emerging digital media platforms will be key in the effort to engage, invigorate, and create an informed citizenry. The rise of digital media offers a unique opportunity to add a more experiential dimension to civic education. Digital technologies can, of course, be used to teach kids basic civic facts, but they can also serve as an entry point into "doing" civics. This happened in a Minneapolis third grade class I visited earlier this year. "

Over the past couple of years, I've been trying to collect every good piece of writing and advice about verifying social media content and other types of information that flow across networks. This form of verification involves some new tools and techniques, and requires a basic understanding of the way networks operate and how people use them. It also requires many of the so-called old school values and techniques that have been around for a while: being skeptical, asking questions, tracking down high quality sources, exercising restraint, collaborating and communicating with team members. Post also contains a great Slideshare.

"That was the question I asked my students this fall and the answer I got surprised me. Students increasingly aren't going to the premium information services we've set up for them through our school library. They might not even be inclined to go elsewhere on the Web. Instead they often turn to Apps for their information. From The Elements to NASA, from National Geographic to the National Science Foundation there is a wealth of credible content in the App Store, but if students are using this information in an academic setting how do we help them correctly document and cite these sources? "This is a case of technology being ahead of the Modern Language Association," said my colleague Stephen Freeborn, longtime English teacher, but together with our school librarian we found a work-around hack that gets the job done."

"For most young people today, engagement with new digital media is a routine aspect of life. Through computers, mobile phones, and other handheld devices, youth can blog, tweet, participate in social networks like Facebook, play massive multi-player games, use online information sources, and share videos, stories, music, and art they've created. Important skills and knowledge can be gained from such activities, but there are also risks. For example, young people may only rarely consider what it means to be an ethical, socially responsible "citizen" on the Internet. Our Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments. "

"This Media 21 LibGuides chronicles the learning experiences of 10th Honors Literature/Composition who have participated in a 2009-10 learning initiative, Media 21, at Creekview High School. This program, spearheaded by school librarian Buffy Hamilton and English teacher Susan Lester, provided students a learning environment facilitated by both Hamilton and Lester in which Hamilton was "embedded" as an instructor. Media 21, rooted in connectivism, inquiry, and participatory literacy, emphasized students creating their own research "dashboards" and portals and the creation of personal learning networks to help students engage in their learning experiences and to evaluate a diverse offering of information sources more critically. This guide is also documenting the 2010-11 Cohort 2 of Media 21 and the learning experiences of both the students and the teachers."

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. It lives right where you do your work-in the web browser itself.

"Social media and online communication opportunities are important and can have a positive impact on all elements of the teaching and learning process, the school and learning community. We see teachers and other professionals creating networks to share ideas and resources, children and young people crowd source ideas and information. They seek and receive feedback on their work while parents engage more fully with teachers, their children and the school. Furthermore, even if we feel too old or too busy to engage with social media ourselves then we, as teachers, must still be able to model appropriate, safe and positive use of social technology for our learners and the wider learning community."

Global perspective: Schools Japan are redoubling their efforts to teach students rules and ethics for their use of the Internet. Until recently, this kind of education mainly focused on preventing minors from accessing harmful websites. Nowadays, however, education experts agree on the importance of instilling a sense of online ethics early on, to prevent young people from engaging in behavior such as inappropriate use of documents, academic papers and other sources, as well as the questionable posting of photos to the Internet.

An excellent collection of sites and sources but bias is American.

"We now live in a world where the topics of technology and privacy seem to work hand-in-hand. Gone are the days of buying a brand new TV or video game console where concerns of surveillance never existed. Now, our smart phones and tablets can act as TVs while tracking our location via GPS or wi-fi. The new batch of consoles set to come out later this year are both going to come with high definition cameras, with one of them confirmed to be active 24/7. Not only that, but now people are concerned about other possible emerging technologies such as facial recognition and thumbprint scanning. But are these fears warranted? Or are we simply becoming too paranoid and suspicious of companies and the technology they hand us?"

"Online privacy is a big issue, and the increasing popularity of social networks have only aided in adding fuel to the fire of this debate. But whether you're running a business online and don't want your accounts being hacked or you simply enjoy being active online and don't want your personal information or banking details being stolen, there are steps you can take to protect your privacy and more effectively secure your accounts."

I don't know whether this site has already been posted for this group. If you're like me you can be overwhelmed by the number of apps available and wonder when you will find the time to preview them all. You may also have your administator reminding you of the cost of apps and recommending that you seek out free versions wherever possible. On the OZTLNet, Mal Lee recommended talking to other schools about what they had found successful. This site provides links to ten more sources where apps have been previewed, used and evaluated.

"Almost since the birth of the internet there have been computer users who have attacked and hacked other computers out of malice or just because they could. One of these types of attacks features quite regularly in mainstream news; a Denial of Service or DoS attack. That's the general name they're given but actually a DoS attack is quite an old form of web attack and one that is largely unused. "

"The internet can be a dark place. For businesses, a mismanaged customer complaint online can spell the end for a well-established reputation, especially if the results go viral. By learning to deal with trolls and dissatisfied customers, businesses can turn negative word-of-mouth into satisfied consumers. Here are six ways you can make the most of online complaints, and hopefully increase brand loyalty."

Worry about information overload has become one of the drumbeats of our time. The world's books are being digitized, online magazines and newspapers and academic papers are steadily augmented by an endless stream of blog posts and Twitter feeds; and the gadgets to keep us participating in the digital deluge are more numerous and sophisticated. The total amount of information created on the world's electronic devices is expected to surpass the zettabyte mark this year (a barely conceivable 1 with 21 zeroes after it).