Digital Literacy

Part One – Name searched: Marco Germinario

1) What does your partner’s current digital footprint says about him/her, does it say anything about their new media creative abilities or interests?
Well, when searching up for any information about Marco Germinario, one will find that there really isn’t very much to find. The only link that I found that was tied back to Marco was the link to his Facebook page (assuming that he wasn’t the Artistic Director and Founder of the Ragnarok Nordic Festival in 2010). Through his Facebook page, you can see that aside from being a normal kid, he has a photo album displaying a few of the paintings art pieces that he created, which are certainly impressive. The paintings show his ability to be creative and communicate his ideas and concepts, which is a key element for the creation of new media art pieces.

2) Do you think an  employer or teacher should be able to see that?
I would think that an employer or teacher should be able to see the work that Marco has done. It would give other people a good idea of what he is capable of in terms of artistic creation. In terms of the other photos and information that can be found about him on his Facebook page, there really isn’t anything there to show that he’s anything but a normal kid.

3) Where is the information coming from?  A blog, a website, Facebook, etc.
As stated earlier, the information I gathered came from Facebook.

 

Part Two

How to establish your digital footprint using web 2.0 technologies (Julia)

• Create personal profiles pages on social networking websites
• Comment on other people’s blog, profile pages, websites, etc
• Tag yourself in blog posts, videos, photos, etc
• Subscribe to other people’s posts
• Keep on top of what is being said about you and your own posts

How to create a data trail that can be searched and found via specific keywords (Julia)

• Add as many keywords and tags as your possibly can
• Be specific with your key-words, or be vague when you want to reach a wide audience
• Limit where each unit of information can lead- if you let them free, the trail can’t be followed
• Use unique keywords
• Try to think like your target audience – use the keywords that they would use.

A strategy would best serve the purpose of creating a digital identity that serves to inform teachers and potential employers of who you are as a new media creative professional (Marco)

Your identity in life is one perceived by others through your words and actions in the moment. Now image being able to sit down at your computer with that moment and tweak every aspect of your produced information. I’m pretty sure you would not only be the best but would look the best all the time, come on we’re all a little conceited. Well as crazy as that might sound its possible, how you say, well through something called your digital identity. The main purpose of which is to outsource your information as it suits you through a multitude of mediums. This information can be descriptive and beneficial to your social image as well as a way to inform teachers and potential employers of how you see yourself. As for a new media student it shows ones creative potential and professional caliber. Though the words you write, videos and photos you post it also helps familiarize yourself to your superiors and points out your creative abilities and interests, something very advantageous when yearning to get ahead of the rest. Altogether its a quick and easy way to outsource your information, like an ongoing, digital resume with and the space and customization for you to fill it with.

Participation

This comic has nothing to do with the post. I just thought it was funny.

 

I honestly don’t have anything remotely clever to say for this topic whatsoever. I swear. Buckle your seat belts….this may get boring. I’ll put another comic at the end to reward you for making it through the whole post.

I’ve never really had a problem participating in class. I find it to be second nature. Teacher asks a question, I answer it. We’re having a discussion, I add my thoughts and opinions. I’m confused, I ask a question. Simple. Obviously of course you have some lazy or boring days where you really just don’t feel like talking or you didn’t get enough sleep last night so you’re struggling for consciousness. These kinds of days can’t be avoided because we’re all human…I think.

Anyway. If anyone happens to be reading this and they believe they struggle with participation in class, here’s some tips from this website.

• Simply agree with what someone has said. It can be as easy as “Oh yeah! I agree with that.”. It gets the ball rolling.
• Ask someone to clarify their point, or ask for an example. This can make sure you understand and that everyone else understands. Also, it puts you into the conversation.
• Provide your own examples relating to the current topic. Adding in your own story or thought shows that you understand the topic and shows that you’re making connections.
• Don’t be afraid to outwardly disagree with someone. Differing viewpoints make for the best conversations, and with a good supervisor you can turn it into a fairly decent debate.
• Answer the questions that are asked of the entire group. Don’t be scared that someone won’t agree with you or that you have the wrong answer. First of all, someone is obviously going to disagree, but this can lead to those debates that I just mentioned. Secondly, there’s nothing wrong with making mistakes. It helps you and the others around you learn.
• Connect earlier made points with the points being made presently. This helps the conversation avoid getting out of hand and it helps conclude the conversation you’re participating in.
• Try and play the devil’s advocate. Sometimes this can be fun, and it gets a good conversation going.

 

There you go. That’s all I’ve got for you. Good job getting through it all. Here’s your comic as your reward.

 

Signing off in 3…2…1…

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Problem Solving

Well…I suppose that’s ONE way to solve the problem!

Problem solving skills seem to be a big thing in…well…the world. Problem solving created the new inventions and innovations that forward our world. Think about it. We couldn’t see at night? Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. We wanted to travel long distances quickly? Karl Benz invented the automobile. These two men solved their problems and created new movements in the world.

In terms of the specific skills associated with problem solving…here’s a pretty picture:

To compress that into simpler terms, the ability to problem solve depends on your effectiveness to:

a) Know what your problem is

b) Gather information surrounding your problem

c) Develop ideas for solving the problem, and critique them

d) Decide on the best course of action

e) Carry out the solution

Seems pretty simple, right?

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In terms of knowing what your problem is, I can safely say that I’ve always found this fairly straightforward.
What is the problem?
I can’t find my glasses.
I need a job.
I’m thirsty.
You get my point.

The next step is basically elaborating on the problem, figuring out what specifically is the issue. This will help you better understand what kind of solution you need. This again has never really been an issue for me. I like to elaborate, as you may have noticed from my blogs that go on far too long.
Explain the problem:
I can’t find my glasses because I currently cannot see clearly and everything around me is blurry. I know I put them down somewhere in my room, but I can’t exactly remember where it was. I know that nobody could have taken them because I haven’t left my room in six hours.

This next part is probably my favourite, because it’s where the brainstorming comes in. Developing solutions to your problem can be amusing sometimes because you can imagine both the simplest and the most outlandish of solutions. Again, I’ve had a fairly easy time with this because I tend to have quite the imagination.
What are the solutions to my problem?
#1: I could painstakingly examine every inch of my room in my blurry haze of impaired vision.
#2: I could go the rest of the day without wearing glasses.
#3: Heck, I could go for the rest of my life without wearing glasses…who needs vision?
#4: I could purchase contacts so I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my glasses.
#5: I could find a friend that can see clearly and ask them to help me out.

The next step can be disappointing, because it can throw away some of your best and most brilliant ideas.  I can sometimes have trouble with this because I don’t enjoy critiquing my own ideas. I find it very easy to critique others, but it’s hard having to throw away your own ideas because you’d like to believe that they’re amazingly genius. However, this is usually NOT the case.
What are the issues with my solutions?
#1: Seriously? I don’t have time for this.
#2: Really Julia? I think you’d like to be able to see what you’re doing.
#3: I can’t believe you wrote that one down. It’s stupid.
#4: I already own contacts, but I can’t find them because I can’t see!
#5: This doesn’t seem like a terrible idea. I might not have any friends that are home though!

Finally, it gets to the part that you’ve been working for: the decision regarding what you’re actually going to do to solve this problem. Sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes not so much. As most people probably do, I have trouble with this, especially when I’ve narrowed it down to two good ideas. I find that in a case like this, I just bite the bullet and pick one. In the case of my imaginary scenario, it’s a fairly easy solution.
Which solution is the best solution for my problem?
#5 obviously.

And then, you carry that solution out. Easiest part of the whole process.
*knocks on friend’s door*
“Hey Sam! Could you help me look for my glasses please?”
“They’re on your head, silly”
“Oh….thank you…”
*walks away in shame*

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Signing off in 3…2…1…

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Group Work

Always the best part of group work, right?

Back in high school, I used to HATE group work because I would always get stuck in those groups where everyone would look at me and say “Well Julia, what do we do?”, or even worse, they would just sit there and wait until someone told them what they were going to be doing. I would always despise this because it turned into a project that I was running that everyone else would get credit for. Since I myself wanted a good mark, I would end up doing most of the work anyway. Don’t say I didn’t try, either. I would always ask the other group members if they had any ideas, input, etc. and I would continue to get blank stares. Then I was right back where I started. Doing the majority of the project solo. Grrrr…….

ANYWAY…throughout the years of strenuous group work, I developed some skills for getting other people to contribute to these group projects. I believe the main ones are taking control, listening, and asking questions.

If no-one stepped up to take control, I fulfilled this role. I find that it’s hard for a group to function without some form of control. If there is no-one starting things off, bringing up discussions, asking questions, etc. then nothing gets done. Due to the fact that I was in crappy groups in high school, I have a lot of experience with this to the point where it almost becomes second nature to me.

Hearing what other people in the group have to say (if they say anything at all) is key because that’s what makes it GROUP work, not YOU work. To be clear, I don’t mean just listening to the other people talk, I mean actively listening. This involves hearing what the other person has to contribute, understanding what they mean, and responding. Initially, I had issues with listening because I was in so many unfortunate situations that I started to believe that no-one had anything intelligent to contribute and I was going to be forced to do it all myself anyway. Yes, I recognize that this isn’t exactly a nice way of thinking, but believe me, I was in a LOT of s***ty groups. As my peers grew older and a bit more mature, their ideas began to appear and I discovered that these people actually had really good ideas!

When you ask a question, it opens the floor for the rest of the group to contribute. This is super important, like listening, because it almost forces the other group members to speak. When you ask a question and nobody answers, everyone starts to feel awkward so someone speaks to break the silence. Sometimes you end up in groups where no-one breaks that awkward silence. That’s fun. Most of the time, asking questions is a great facilitator and I’ve learned how to use this tactic for getting other group members to speak. I think it works pretty well.

Signing off in 3…2…1…

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21st Century Skills

As a digital native, there has never been a point in my life where computers and the internet did not exist. With that being said, I have should developed a set of what we can call “21st Century Skills” when it comes to technology usage. Let’s make a list, shall we?

KNOWING WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO

You can imagine how important this is. Lets pretend you are writing a multiple page assignment on cats (yes, we are back to cats again) and you are browsing through many web pages looking for the information you need. When reading through all these websites about cats, you need to be aware of what you are looking for. Are you needing to know how to train a cat? Care for a cat? Breed cats? By knowing exactly what you are looking for, you will be able to determine what information is useful when you come across it. I find I can have some trouble with this sometimes, but I think that is because there are times when I do not know exactly what I’m looking for.

ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH GOOD INFORMATION FROM CRAP INFORMATION

Let’s play a game. Just a small game. It won’t take much of your time, I promise.
Which website will give you good information and which one will give you crap information?

#1: Why is the sky blue?
#2: Why is the sky blue?

Okay…so that one was easy. But what about this one?

#1: Why do dogs spin in circles before they lie down?
#2: Why do dogs spin in circles before they lie down?

Not so easy, right? It’s hard to know what information is actually credible. The way that I have been able to work through this problem is by looking at multiple websites. Have you ever been told the same thing a bunch of times by many different people? This is taking the same approach. By seeing what other people think, write down, or believe, you can start to build an understanding of what is mostly true. I say “mostly true” because we cannot always believe what the majority of people say. Thinking back to my example, many of your friends could say that so-and-so did this with this other person (yes…remember those high school rumours?) but does that make it true?

Another way to help sort out the crap from the good stuff is to check the credibility of the authors, which I find I usually do. What is more reliable: a University professor’s thesis or a 12-year-old’s blog post regarding the subject of weather patterns in Toronto? Again, I think my point is fairly obvious.

ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY USE A SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE

This skill is SO important for so many people in today’s society. Social networking websites are key factors in business promotion and communication between members of a society. Think about all the business you know that have a Twitter and/or Facebook account. How many businesses or organizations do you follow on Twitter and/or Facebook to get information? Social networking has become such a key factor for advertisers and business people because it allows them to instantly communicate with the demographic that they wish to target. This has elevated our business related activities to a whole new level. This skill is a key skill because EVERYONE does it. When I come across people that are unplugged from the social media world, I find it hard to communicate with them about current social activities because they are completely unaware of them. Myself, being a user of Facebook, find it easy to obtain the information I need very quickly because everyone else is using the same networking website to communicate.

USING A SEARCH ENGINE PROPERLY

Believe it or not, many people do NOT know how to use one of these things correctly! I’ve seen people getting frustrated because they aren’t finding information, but when I go to help them I see that they aren’t even using the correct keywords for their searches. Knowing how to use a search engine can save you LOTS of time and LOTS of swear words. Due to the fact that I usually pick research topics that are hard to find information on, I had to learn how to use a search engine correctly to avoid causing myself a lot of stress. Some search engine tricks can be found here: Using Search Engines

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Signing off in 3…2…1…

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