EdVentures in Technology
teaching, learning and change
Archive for February, 2006
February 24, 2006 at 1:57 am · Filed under Web Expressions
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Discuss and defend their personal concept of netiquette
- Explain their philosophy of ethical network behavior as it pertains to:
- Personal privacy
- Legal issues such as libel/slander
- Intellectual property
- Copyright law
- Creative commons
- Explain the concept of the Creative Commons
- Identify and explain the different “licensing” levels that the Creative Commons provides
- Explain the concept of “open source”
- Explain the concept of “public domain”
- Explain the difference between a copyright and a patent
Netiquette
What is “netiquette?” Netiquette is a set of guidelines which help to ease the disconnect that can exist in online communication. Wikipedia has a wonderful article on netiquette. Albion.com has another good link.These are general rules of the road, but there are also more specific guidelines that cover such technologies as email, blogs and instant
messaging. Cyberjournalist.net has opened a dialogue on blogging ethics. Harvard’s Martin Kuhn has a paper (in PDF format) on blogging ethics as well. Rather than read the entire paper, focus on Appendices A and B.
Assignment:
Post a blog entry that details your own “code of ethics.”
Remember that we are expecting two posts a week at this point in our class.
Privacy
A topic that always seems to fire our passions is that of privacy. With the advent of the Internet, this has become almost non-existent. Whether the problem is offering too much personal information as in the case of many MySpace profiles or whether it is businesses with poor data management skills or even corporations falling victim to crackers, privacy and in particular identity theft is a growing concern. Wikipedia has a decent entry on data privacy.
USA PATRIOT Act
Sometimes concerns over a lack of privacy come as a result of legislation, such as the USA PATRIOT Act. If your eyes glaze over at the thought of reading a legislative bill, Wikipedia has a summary that might make a bit more sense. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has an article that highlights their perspective as does the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Libraries Association (ALA).
Automated services
Try to answer this question:
What are Internet or web “bots” and what impact might they have on one’s privacy?
Check this Wikipedia link to get yourself started.
Intellectual Property
One of the challenges any student faces is that over what constitutes fair-use of intellectual property. The U.S. Copyright office offers the legal standard, but the folks at Lamson Library have a number of wonderful books that deal specifically with copyright law as it pertains to the type of projects we will be creating.Here are a few more links you should check out:
Creative Commons
One answer to the vexing problem posed by the fundamentals of copyright law is the Creative Commons project. In this project, authors can assign a number of licensing options ranging in their level of restriction.Here are a few questions for you to answer:
- How many different Creative Commons licensing combinations are there?
- How is this different from public domain material?
- How is this different from open source material?
- What benefits can you see that might come from the expanded use of the Creative Commons concept?
Assignment:
Try creating something uniquely yours (it does NOT have to be very intricate) and post it to your blog. Give it a creative commons license following their directions for including the appropriate identification.
February 23, 2006 at 3:41 am · Filed under Creativity
Kathy Sierra is perhaps one of my greatest inspirations, next to my wife and children of course!
For those of you who are not familiar, Kathy Sierra is the author of a number of Head First books from O’Reilly Press but what really impresses me is her blog, Creating Passionate Users. I’ve referenced a number of her posts in my Web Expressions course and have tried to incorporate her learning and teaching philosophies into my own practice. Her latest entries as of this post are: Mediocrity by "areas of improvement", a fresh look at re-engineering the dreaded performance review, and Brain death by dull cubicle - her take on new developments in brain theory as they apply to our work environments.
These are a few of my favorite Kathy Sierra posts:
Crafting a user experience
Keeping users engaged
Blowing your own mind
Think sexy
The importance of seduction and curiosity
Creating a passionate…You
The user’s journey
Transparency v. seduction
and perhaps my own guiding text,
Ten tips for new trainers/teachers
Thanks for the inspiration Kathy and keep up the great work!
technorati tags: kathy, sierra, creating, passionate, users, passion, creativity, inspiration, wow
February 23, 2006 at 3:06 am · Filed under Web Expressions
In our last class we spoke of the resources available to you as students at Plymouth State University participating in this course. For
the purposes of this class you have two web resources at your disposal, your Oz account and your Turing account. The Oz account has a current quota of 180MB for students and is yours as long as you remain an active student with the University. The Turing account has a larger capacity as it is designed to meet the needs of students majoring in Computer and Information Technologies and is yours for the duration of this class, longer if you apply for special dispensation from the department (meaning you will be actively updating and maintaining your web-based resource).
Access to these accounts varies. Your Oz drive, also known as your M: drive, is mapped automatically on cluster computers. The Turing drive must be mapped separately. If you are on campus (and using a PC) you may map either of these drives yourself using the following directions:
- Right-click on My Computer and click on Map Network Drive
- Select the drive letter you prefer from the drop down menu in the Drive: field
- Type the following into the Folder: field
For Oz: \\logon.plymouth.edu\username replacing username with your own PSU username
For Turing: \\turing.plymouth.edu\username replacing username with your own PSU username
- To ensure that this drive remains mapped, check the box to Reconnect at Logon
- Now click on the Connect using a different user name link and type \\logon\username in the username box (again replacing username with your own PSU username) and type your password in the password field.
- Click OK, then click Finish
A window should open at this point displaying the contents of your mapped drive.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite 
February 23, 2006 at 3:02 am · Filed under Web Expressions
Thanks to the combined efforts of our Systems group and CIS’ own Alan Baker, we can now offer students enrolled in the Web Expressions courses access to the Dreamweaver HTML editor via Terminal Services. This will allow you to work on your web projects from the comfort of your own computer but bear in mind that we have a finite number of licenses. In times of high demand, you may find that you will have to wait until someone has finished their work and frees up a license for your use.
To access Dreamweaver, or any other application accessible via Terminal Services, map a network drive to: \\owl.plymouth.edu\afserv
If you should need a refresher on mapping a drive, check my last post. Once this drive is mapped, look for the folder titled TSClients. In this folder, you will find a number of shortcuts to the Terminal Services applications provided to you.
February 23, 2006 at 3:01 am · Filed under Web Expressions
"I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind. "
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
February 20, 2006 at 1:53 am · Filed under Web Expressions
My apologies for being this late but between a sick child and the power outage of the last couple of days it has been difficult to post. That
being said, here is your mission:
Given what we uncovered last week in both our class and at the Security Fair, and taking into account what you have discovered in your explorations, pick one aspect of network security and awareness and speak to it. Bear in mind that beginning with this post, we will raise the bar on our professional presentation and style. This means that spelling, grammar, context and content will be critical components of all posts from here on out.
For those of you who already began a post on the Security Fair, simply update that entry with an eye toward one specific aspect that held meaning for you. I look forward to reading your posts and encourage you to begin to take a look at the work of your classmates and post comments where appropriate.
February 16, 2006 at 5:06 pm · Filed under Web Expressions
“Always dream and shoot higher than you know how to.
Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself. “
- William Faulkner -
February 15, 2006 at 1:49 pm · Filed under Random Thoughts
It’s time for a bit of a change, and I wanted a less restricted view of my posts. This may be going to far in the other direction but it will do for now. Most everyone else is reading this via RSS anyway.
February 14, 2006 at 6:56 pm · Filed under Web Expressions
Class: Lab and field experience
Exercise: Student survey (visit online survey to assess current skill set)
Field Experience: Security Fair visitation
Learning Objectives: Students should be able to:
- Explain the technology that allows us to view web pages
- Explain how email is created, delivered and read
- Explain how the Internet impacts one’s privacy
- Identify and explain the impact of:
- spyware
- adware
- viruses
- worms
- phishing
- Define and explain “cookies”
Internet Basics
Please visit the Learn The Net website and explore the links that discuss the following:
- Connecting to the Internet (this animation deals with dial-up accounts, please be able to explain how your on-campus or apartment account differs)
- How the web works(please be able to discuss what hardware and software is required to be able to access the Internet)
- How e-mail works (Please be able to explain how you access your email here on campus and what is required in order to be able to send and/or receive email)
This online quiz will help you assess your knowledge of the Internet.
Privacy and security on the Internet
Phishing IQ test: This is an excellent test as it shows how difficult it is to distinguish legitimate emails from phishing attempts. Particularly informative are the explanations located on the solution page.
There is also a PDF advising how to evaluate possible phishing attempts called: Top Ten Tips for Finding a Phish
Here is a recent article from Slashdot that discusses the more sophisticated vectors of attack that hackers are employing in their efforts to elicit your personal and account information.
UPDATE: After our discussion of phishing what should arrive in our University HelpDesk email but the following (note the link address):
Cookies
Wikipedia has an excellent article on cookies.
As does the following Cookie Central website.
This article provides quick and easy tips on how to view the cookies that reside on your computer and provide information about your Internet habits. Make a note to explore the links on the side that explain about the darker side of cookies. They also have an FAQ page that will tell you everything you never wanted to know about cookies.
These are questions you should be able to answer once you have explored these cookie resources.
- How could cookies divulge private information about you?
- What other dangers exist using cookies?
- What advantages exist to using cookies?
Now let’s examine the cookies that exist on your M: drive.
You can find them here: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Cookies
- What do you think?
- Will you delete your cookies?
- Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Now that you know where they are, here is how you can delete your cookies:
IE: Tools -> Internet Options -> Delete Cookies and then click “OK”
FireFox: Tools -> Clear Private Data -> Check the Cookies box and click “Clear Private Data Now”
Spyware
Again, wikipedia has a terrific definition on what spyware is.
Compare this to how they define viruses, or more properly virii.
See if you can answer the following questions:
- What characteristics distinguish spyware from other forms of malicious software?
- How is spyware similar to viruses?
- How does spyware get installed on your computer?
- What can you do to avoid/remove spyware?
Look at a few instances of spyware and describe their effects.
Provide an example of spyware masquerading as a spyware removal tool.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
February 14, 2006 at 3:45 am · Filed under Higher Education
Higher education is facing a crossroads. The web was, and remains yet, a wonderful tool for marketing because of its inherent ability to make instantly accessible a wealth of information about an institution, its philosophies and its practice. Recently though, more and more university administrations are realizing that this thing called the world wide web presents not only the professional side of the house but also the far less polished but no less real presence of the average user, be they faculty or student. What was once the exclusive domain of the web programmer is now in the hands of anyone with access to Microsoft Word.
The CIO of our institution aired his thoughts in a recent blog post:
“With the traditional web pages and my.Plymouth*, we now have an opportunity to focus our main PSU domain web pages on marketing to prospective students and outreach in our mission as a regional university. We can display our official pages, current and professional looking, to the world, and keep our business behind the firewall.”
From a marketing standpoint it would seem to make sense for any business to maintain strict control over its branding, the image presented to the world. But I wonder in this age where content consumer has become content creator if this 20th century model is still valid. Our future students are digital natives, born and bred in a world of search engines, blogs and constant communication. Will the sterility of the typical corporate presence serve as a warning flag? How will students interpret the PR spin? Will it be perceived as a lack of transparency and therefore somehow be found wanting? Will institutions be able to rely upon their current status to attract students in the future? And if so for how long?
I wish I had the answers, but right now I admit I am left only with questions.
UPDATE: I’ve started reading “The Cluetrain Manifesto” and what should appear in the first three paragraphs but a discussion about markets as a conversation. From the book (although you can read it in its entirety for free online):
“People of Earth…
A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter - and getting smarter faster than most companies.
These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny, and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can’t be faked.
Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do.”
Again more questions, but these have more to do with how we reach our market in the 21st century rather than dwelling on the techniques we’ve relied upon in the past. How do we reach those students in this evolving market? How do we keep pace with their almost insatiable demand for information? How do we provide and make accessible the information that we feel is most important? Or is that omitting our focus on the needs of our future learners?
* myPlymouth is our campus portal, powered by SCT Luminis, behind which lies access to the electronic services available to our campus community. It is one-stop shopping for email, campus news, e-learning, student and faculty services, library resources and other tools of use to the citizens of the modern campus. And while it holds great promise, I find it lacking in some fundamental features and functionality. But that is for another post.
technorati tags: higher, education, marketing, web, information, freedom, academic, cluetrain, manifesto
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