Digital+Citizenship+Website

Digital Citizenship Website

 * DESCRIPTION**

Digital citizenship is not an aspect of modern culture that is normally at the forefront of ones mind. Certainly navigating the digital world is part of everyday life, but much of what comprises digital citizenship goes unnoticed, flying under the radar until a specific incident brings it to your attention. Prior to undertaking this assignment I had not given digital citizenship much, if any thought whatsoever. We were asked to focus on three areas of digital citizenship and select specific topics that conformed to those three subjects. The three web pages on my digital citizenship website are:

[|Copyright and Fair Use in Education: Digital Media] [|Online Exams vs. Traditional Exams: Digital Access and Assistive Technologies] [|A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forums: A Beginner's Guide To Message Boards]

Each page addresses a different aspect of digital citizenship. //Copyright and Fair Use in Education: Digital Media// provides information on United States copyright law that is of specific interest to educators. Copyright law can be confusing and vague, and the specifics of what is considered "fair use" can be subjective, so I have attempted to provide clear and easily accessible information for other educators that they can use every day. Copyright violations could be very costly for the individual instructor and the institution. The page contains common myths and frequently asked questions about fair use and copyright in regard to digital media, and ideally clarifies what is acceptable use in a classroom setting. However it is important that teachers check their specific circumstances against the information on the U.S. Copyright Office website, located in the "Links" section of the page.

The next page on the website, //Online Exams vs. Traditional Exams: Digital Access and Assistive Technologies// explores some of the intricacies of acting as a responsible digital citizen when administering exams online. The push for educators to use new technology can be overwhelming, and there are aspects to this new technology than many instructors may not have considered. Switching to online exams instead of pen-and-paper exams has many benefits, but there are also several inherent problems in regard to digital access. In my own teaching endeavors I had rarely if ever considered students who might be using assistive technologies outside of the classroom, however I have had instances where student access to computer equipment and internet access outside of class was an issue. The web page provides information to other educators in how to effectively consider both the "digital divide" in terms of equitable access and students who may be using assistive technology. I created several ethical scenarios where digital access plays a key role, and asks educators to think about what they would do in each situation.

The final page on the website, //A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forums: A Beginner's Guide To Message Boards// gives the novice a crash course in the basic terminology and etiquette of Internet forums. The content is not limited to educators or to any particular audience, though it is geared toward someone with little to no knowledge of online forums, the information could be of interest to anyone regardless of their skill level. Internet forums are an important aspect of digital citizenship for more than just socializing and an exchange of information. Since message boards are focused on thousands of different topics, users can turn to the online community for quick and innovative collaboration and problem solving. Further, many technology companies are utilizing forums for technical support in favor of phone support, and in some instances are charging the customer to talk to a support representative. Being able to understand the etiquette of online communities and building skills in navigating them effectively is of importance to every digital citizen.


 * SELECTION PROCESS**

Each of the web pages had similar development processes, but the impetus for each page was unique, though all three are based in part on my own experiences. For [|Copyright and Fair Use in Education: Digital Media] I began with an issue that I thought I already understood quite well. Being both a filmmaker and an instructor of film history, it seemed logical to discuss how copyrighted digital media can be used in the classroom. To help focus the content of the page, I first researched the basics of copyright law and "fair use" information. From that, I developed short informal survey I distributed to other educators via email. The original survey can be found here, and the survey results can be found here. I based the survey questions on my own prior misconceptions about copyright and fair use, and what I learned in my research. I suspected that much of the same confusion and misconceptions I had about copyright and fair use would be the same with other educators. Specifically, I wondered if other teachers felt that "fair use" was a blanket protection for all educational purposes, as I previously did. The web page provides some clear information on the issues and questions brought up in the survey, and the content was directly influenced by the survey results. The resources provided in the "Links" section give much more in-depth information about copyright law, and several of the link deal specifically with using copyright material legally in the classroom.

For the [|Online Exams vs. Traditional Exams: Digital Access and Assistive Technologies] I again drew on my own experience as an educator as a starting point to develop the content. I was encouraged by my department to use online exams for a face-to-face class rather than pen-and-paper exams, and there are indeed many benefits to doing so. Ease of grading and being "green" by saving paper are only two of the positives, but I soon realized that there are several downsides that must be considered. I had already experienced issues with students who were unable to complete assessments due to lack of access and technology problems. Further, I had never considered the assistive technologies that students might be using outside of class. I suspected there might be other educators in the same predicament, so I again turned to a survey distributed to other educators to help focus the content of the web page. The short survey, found here, asked several questions about digital access and assistive technology in regard to education, and specifically online assessments. The full survey results can be found here. I used the survey results as the basis for the web page, though it was difficult finding specific research to support such a narrow topic. Instead, I added links to resources covering several different aspects of the topic, that combined provided the necessary information for the web page. The survey indicated that some educators might recoil from new technologies based on digital access issues, so the web page content is meant to educate and inform. The ethical scenarios I have constructed will ideally help other educators consider digital access issues now, so that they might have a better idea of how to react if placed in a similar situation.

The third page on the digital citizenship website, [|A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forums: A Beginner's Guide To Message Boards], is the broadest topic of the three. Instead of being aimed at educators, the audience is anyone who wants to explore more information about the world of Internet forums. Rather than a survey, I posted an informal thread to a technology forum asking what aspects of forum netiquette were most important to them. 14 members responded in the thread, mentioning topics like typing in all caps and respecting others as significant issues. Combining their responses with my own significant experience with online message boards I was able to focus the page on becoming comfortable with the common etiquette and terminology of online communities. By providing the novice user with the information necessary to comfortably enter and navigate an online forum, the web page allows someone with no prior knowledge whatsoever to become a digital citizen. The ability to comfortably interact with people from around the world on a message board opens up a whole new universe of information to the user. I was also able to find a short video about online forum behavior that will make the topic even more accessible to the beginning user. The web page also includes an attached pamphlet in PDF format, explaining some of the most common terminology and acronyms of online forums. The pamphlet can be found here.

The website was created using Google Sites, which makes well organized and eye-pleasing web design available to anyone. Google sites offers a very short learning curve and has many web templates that allow the user to jump directly into the content portion of the website, rather than wasting time on the tedium of web design. The banner graphics were designed with Adobe Photoshop using images from [].


 * REFLECTION**

Before taking this course and designing this website I had barely given any thought at all to being a digital citizen. Many aspects of my life have involved elements of digital citizenship, but I had never made the connection until recently. Reading the many articles and resources and completing the assignments associated with this class allowed me to look back on several events in my life and career and use them as concepts in building the website.

For example, during my first semester teaching in the Fall of 2008 I structured my class based on the models of my own college experience in the mid-1990s. As such, when it came time for my first final exam I asked the administrative assistant in the office for a package of "blue-books," which had been a standard for final exams when I was an undergraduate. The response I received from the young staff member, looking to be in his early 20s, was "What's a blue-book?" After some searching a few were eventually located, but it was an eye-opening experience. Further conversations with the program coordinator urged me to administer all exams online using Blackboard, extolling all of the virtues, but unfortunately none of the pitfalls. The experiences I later had dealing with students asked to complete exams online outside of class has made me realize that a great deal of thought must be put into the digital divide and equitable access in regard to today's college students. Further, until this course I had never even considered that my students might be using assistive technology or that is was something I needed to consider when creating exams.

Teaching film history means I show a great deal of video clips of of movies in class. In doing research about copyright and fair use in education I realized that I was definitely in some gray areas when it comes to displaying films in class. I, like several other educators I surveyed, believed that "fair use" protected any material shown in an educational environment. I also discovered that many of my own experiences as a student were in serious violation of copyright laws, even when in film school as an undergraduate, where presumably the professors would be more aware. I recall many specific instances where copyright laws were bent, if not outright broken, and I can only assume that it was due to ignorance of the law. Unfortunately, ignorance is not a legitimate defense, and stiff penalties could be handed down to educators and institutions if they are caught. As a result of researching this topic and building this web page, I know I will be significantly changing the way I handle showing videos to students in the future, so as to avoid any potential issues with copyright infringement.

In regard to online communities, I have long been an active member of Internet forums, even the ancestor of the current message boards, the dial-up BBS, popular through the 1980s and 90s. Navigating online communities has been effortless for me, but I have noticed a paradigm shift recently as more and more emphasis is put on internet forums by corporations. As an anecdotal reference, I was told recently that a major computer manufacturer was now charging customers for telephone technical support, even when the product was under warranty. Free tech support was being offered through the official support forums by the company, and in fact online support might yield faster and more effective results. However, for people who aren't knowledgeable about the customs of internet forums and the etiquette of message boards, they could be intimidated by this shift. Other internet forums, such as unofficial or fan forums can offer valuable resources like crowdsourcing for problem solving, and give like-minded individuals a chance to collaborate with one another. If the modern digital citizen is too afraid to enter a world of strange acronyms and potentially hostile users they are missing out on a wealth of opportunity and information. I have seen many educated people scared off from online forums because they are overwhelmed with foreign terminology and users who can be dismissive, condescending, or openly hostile to new members. It is my hope that the information on the web page will make these communities more accessible to the novice user. In general, I learned an astounding about about digital citizenship in crafting these web pages, and the information will have significant impact of my teaching career, and my life in general, as a "digital citizen."


 * REFERENCES**

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U.S. Copyright Office. (October 6, 2009). //Can I Use Someone Else's Work? Can Someone Else Use Mine?// Retrieved from []

Newsome, Cathy. (1997). //A Teachers Guide to Fair Use and Copyright.// Retrieved from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm

Center for Social Media at American University. (n.d.) //Copyright and Fair Use in Teaching Resources//. Retrieved from @http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/fair_use_and_teaching/

Center for Social Media at American University. (n.d.) //Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video//. Retrieved from @http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/fair_use_in_online_video/

California Student Media Festival 2010. (n.d.) //Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers//. Retrieved from []

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