Monday 27 February 2017

Q.5.1 There has been an exponential increase in the usage of smart phones in the last decade. Some students now use smart phones to cheat on tests and assignments. Develop an Acceptable Use Policy concerning the use of smart phones for the Independent Institute of Education to be implemented at the various campuses.


  •        No smartphone use (eg phone calls, texts) allowed during class or during any examinations/tests.
  •     Anyone caught using a device will be liable to have it confiscated, and may result in failure of that exam/test. Phones must be turned off during class times. The only exception to this would be where the teacher has given explicit permission for their use (eg calculator function in a maths class). 
  •        Smartphones must not be used in any area where there are issues of privacy (eg locker rooms, toilets etc). 
  •        No photos must be taken of other students or staff without their permission. 
  •        Use of mobile devices to bully or tease other students will not be tolerated, and will result in appropriate action taken.
References: 
Office of Education Technology (2012). Acceptable Internet Use Policy. VDOE: Acceptable Internet Use Policy. Virginia Department of Education. (Accessed 1 May, 2017). 

Q.4.1 Use your cell phone to create a short video for tertiary students on the importance of netiquette and why it is important. Discuss the role it plays in all aspects of our lives. Upload the video on to your blog.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/54twesrrbno3bco/Movie%20on%202017-05-07%20at%2008.40.m4v?dl=0



Q.3.1 Discuss the Internet of Things and how it will affect businesses in South Africa. Identify a sector in the industry and detail how it will be impacted.


The internet of things refers to any device or thing which can be connected to the internet. This is more and more common nowadays, with so many devices being available that rely on the internet (Kobie, 2017). This will have a major impact on South African businesses, as we can already see it is currently doing (Toesland, 2015). 

More and more businesses are having to update their technology, develop apps and smart devices in order to keep up with the current trends. Taking an example, the healthcare industry is already being completely changed by the Internet of Things. There are so many wearables that you can get which will tell you your heart rate, sleep quality and time and so much more, which is giving the patients much more access to their own medical records, and allowing them to track their own health (Meola, 2016). Remote care monitoring is becoming more common, and there are apps through which you can get a doctor’s diagnosis now, and telehealth is more common where you are able to have a doctor's appointment remotely (Johnson, 2016). 

This is radically changing the whole of healthcare and the accessibility of these services to millions, as people do not necessarily have to go into a doctors surgery anymore, which can be very difficult for some people, particularly those who do not have the money for the high fees, or for public transport. These changes therefore have huge potential for increasing availability of healthcare across the country. 

References: 
Johnson, A. (2016) The Internet of Things and its Impact on the Healthcare Sector, Cira Labs. Available at: https://cira.ca/blogs/cira-labs/internet-things-iot-and-its-impact-healthcare-sector (Accessed: 29 March 2017).
Kobie, N. (2017) What is the internet of things?, the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/06/what-is-the-internet-of-things-google (Accessed: 29 March 2017).
Meola, A. (2016) Internet of Things in healthcare: Information technology in health, Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-of-things-in-healthcare-2016-8 (Accessed: 29 March 2017).
Toesland, F. (2015) Will Africa take the lead in the Internet of Things?, African Business Magazine. Available at: http://africanbusinessmagazine.com/sectors/infrastructure/will-africa-take-lead-internet-things (Accessed: 29 March 2017).

Q.2.3 Provide a few tips on how one can manage their digital footprint?


In order to manage your digital footprint, ensure that your privacy settings are set to secure on all your online social media sites. Also, be very cautious as to what you post online, and remember that it maybe seen by other people for whom it was not intended. Keep your personal information secure by not revealing it online (eg phone numbers, address, etc). (Roberts, 2015). 

References: 
Roberts, M. (2015) How to Manage Your Digital Footprint, Online Learning Tips. Available at: http://onlinelearningtips.com/2015/08/26/how-to-manage-your-digital-footprint/ (Accessed: 30 March 2017).

Q.2.2 Digital footprints can be construed as trails that digital citizens leave online. Do you think that digital footprints could become a problem? Discuss.


Yes I do think this can be a huge problem, as so much of what is said online is irreversible, or may be seen by people that you didn’t intend to see. Some people do not have adequate privacy settings on their social media for example, so anyone in the world can access their social media accounts, which can often have quite personal information on them. This has the potential to be very dangerous.
(Open University, 2016). 

Reference: 
Open University, (2016) Your online presence - Help Centre - Open University, Www2.open.ac.uk. Available at: http://www2.open.ac.uk/students/help/your-online-presence (Accessed: 31 March 2017).


Q.2.1 Unemployment between the ages of 15 and 24 has reached a staggering 71 million (ILO, 2016). Solution fluency is a guided problem solving framework that consists of six D’s. Use the solution fluency process to solve unemployment problems in your area. Provide a brief background of your area and how you intend to tackle this problem.

Solution fluency is a set of skills that teach us how to learn. By developing these skills we can then apply them to many situations in order to solve issues that arise, and help us to learn in different environments.
Define: ‘How to solve unemployment in Cape Town.’
Discover: how did we get here, what was done in the past and what can we do differently? This is largely due to poor educational outcomes in South Africa, where many young people simply don’t have the skills to be able to enter into jobs.
Dream: Move forward and think of solutions: I believe more access to vocational training for youth who are out of school or who do not have skills ready to enter into jobs would be beneficial for their long term work prospects.
Design: How to make dream become a reality- steps to take us from problem to solution. This would be done by setting up various vocational training programs in order to help the youth gain skills.
Deliver: Putting design into action: produce and publish. This would be producing the programs, and putting them into action.
Debrief: Evaluate all previous steps. This would be the actual revision of the previous steps when the program is in place, to evaluate what is working and know where to improve the service, or if it is not working to think of another idea.
(Crockett R, 2015). 

Reference: 
Crockett, R., 2015. Global Digital Citizenship Foundation. [Online] Available at: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/21st- century-fluencies [Accessed 30 March 2017].

Q.1.4 Create a LinkedIn account and subscribe to two at least 2 groups that are relevant to your field of study. Add a link of your profile to your blog.

Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-galloway-7879b944/


Q.1.3 Organisations such as Facebook, Airbnb and Uber have harnessed social capital to grow their market shares and become major disruptive forces in their industries. Define and explain how a digital citizen can build and enhance social capital.


Source: Impact Report (2015). Available: http://impactreport-coact.org.au/building-social-capital.html, accessed 31 March 2017


Social capital is the collective value of all social networks (such as facebook, linkedin, twitter) and the benefits these bring in our lives. The diagram above shows all the benefits that come from social capital: a sense of belonging, bonding, feeling of trust and safety, reciprocity, participation, citizen proactivity, our values and norms, and diversity. The digital divide impacts social capital, therefore by decreasing the digital divide by providing more people with access to internet and computers, this will help build the social capital (The Independent Institute of Education, 2016).

Resources: 
The Independent Institute of Education (2016). Digital Citizenship Module Manual DIGC5110W. The Independent Institute of Education: Unpublished. 






Q.1.2 Facebook in a quest to mitigate the effects of infrastructure and the digital divide have launched Project Aquila. The problem of infrastructure is prevalent in Africa. Discuss the implication of all the different forms of the digital divide.

The digital divide is a big problem especially prevalent in South Africa. Developed countries have far greater access to appropriate infrastructure, which is more widespread than developing countries, such as here in South Africa. It explains how some of the population have no access to technology, whereas other people have full access. This, along with socio-economic factors, means that a large proportion of the population do not have access to technology. For example, those in townships have less access to internet as they have to use cellphones due to no wifi available, which is very expensive and leaves many without access.
One major problem is a ‘Divide in Content’: that all major websites are in English, so for those who do not speak English as their first language, this may provide problems, and limit their access to resources (Independent Institute of Education, 2016).            
Another divide is the ‘Gender Divide’ which shows that women are far less likely than men to have access to the internet, which severely impacts their economic and educational resources, as well as limiting their support networks, and career opportunities (Antonio and Tuffley, 2014).           
A ‘Skills Divide’ describes how some people are unskilled in knowing how to operate a computer, maybe due to lack of access and hence lack of practice (which could be due to socioeconomic factors). This causes problems with regards to job opportunities, as many jobs nowadays rely on computer skills (Independent Institute of Education, 2016).            
A digital divide in education is also present, as those with limited access to the internet have problems with the amount of education they can access, as so much education is provided online nowadays, through email communication, online videos and tutorials (Independent Institute of Education, 2016).       
Finally, the ‘Universal Access Divide’ describes how those with physical disabilities can be at a disadvantage, as they may not be able to access as many resources as others.  Some software and hardware are available but these can be very expensive, hence increasing the risk of lower accessibility (Independent Institute of Education, 2016).


References
Antonio, A. and Tuffley, D. (2014) "The Gender Digital Divide in Developing Countries", Future Internet, 6(4), pp. 673-687. doi: 10.3390/fi6040673.
Independent Institute of Education (2016). Digital Citizenship Module Manual DIGC5110W. The Independent Institute of Education: Unpublished. 

Q.1.1 Ribble (2011) identifies nine elements that make up digital citizenship, encompassing the issue of the use, abuse and misuse of technology. Briefly discuss these nine elements.


Digital citizenship is the use of technology in a responsible and appropriate manner.

The nine elements that it consists of are the following:

1. Digital Access: this is the full electronic participation in society (Ribble, 2014). It is the access we have to the internet, emails and technology, and how these are used in daily life.

2. Digital Commerce: this is the buying and selling of items and services on the internet (Gartner, n.d).

3. Digital Communication: this is the exchange of information electronically (The Independent Institute of Education, 2016).

4. Digital Literacy: this is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills (The Independent Institute of Education, 2016).

5. Digital Etiquette: this is communicating in a respectful and decent manner, on emails, forums, blogs and social network sites (Ribble, 2014).

6. Digital Law: this is being responsible for electronic actions that are either ethical or unethical (The Independent Institute of Education, 2016).

7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities: digital access gives us freedom, yet there are also expectations of how we should behave when using digital technology (Ribble, 2014).

8. Digital Health and Wellness: this is the physical and psychological wellbeing in the electronic world (The Independent Institute of Education, 2016).

9. Digital Security: this is the safety of the user when using technology and internet- the ability to access information digitally without interference or unauthorized access (Ribble, 2014)

References:
Gartner (n.d.). Digital Commerce. [Online]. Gartner.com. Available at: http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/digital-commerce (Accessed 1 May 2017).
The Independent Institute of Education (2016). Digital Citizenship Module Manual DIGC5110W. The Independent Institute of Education: Unpublished.

Ribble R (2014). Essential Elements of Digital Citizenship. [Online].  Itse.org. Available at: https://www.iste.org/explore/ArticleDetail?articleid=101 (Accessed 1 May 2017).