Cyber Bullying

To me, digital etiquette can display many things, however it only has one true meaning. And that is how you act online. You need to act proper and civilized and always remember that on the other end, there is a real human being with real feelings seeing, hearing and watching everything that’s being done. Digital Etiquette is remembering your manners, and politeness. Complimenting things rather than insulting things. It’s not being nasty and out of control over certain topics or videos. And it’s mainly treating others the way you want to be treated. Using digital Etiquette while online, is very easy to do. Remember that everything is real, and you ARENT a famous almighty immortal being. Don’t say anything that you wouldn’t say to someone’s face, and even if it is mean or hurtful and you WOULD say it to their face, don’t. Reflect upon your actions. What would make you want to hurt somebody? Being a bully online is the same as being one In real life. And if you enjoy doing that type of thing, then you need to look deep inside and find out the root of that. There’s plenty of help out there that is much more beneficial and rewarding then trying to solve your own problems by creating new problems by bullying others. Digital Etiquette is basically an invisible set of moral rules, and if followed, the internet can become a fun inspiring learning environment for the world. To me, Meanness is cruelty. It’s being heartless, and not considerate to the person or thing you are being mean to against. It is hurtful, and usually intended to be so. It never brings any good to anybody or any situation. Meanness has many shapes and sizes, and can be found anywhere if you look hard enough. Being mean can involve judging and making fun of people’s looks, fashion, likes, interests, hobbies, actions, beliefs. It can be shown physically, mentally, and emotionally. And no matter what form it in, no matter where it’s being done, it all hurts equally the same. Picking on people, calling them names, even playfully, words can never be taken back, and you can forgive but never forget. It’s quite easy to avoid being mean online, similar to how it’s easy to avoid being mean in person. If you disagree with something that someone likes, or comments on, it’s best not to retaliate in a negative way. If you see something and you feel tempted to judge, keep it civil and polite, and avoid it all together. If you often don’t agree with something or someone then its best to avoid it, or block that user and their posts, to avoid aggravation. Misery loves company, and negativity breeds negativity. Once you start something, it may cause a hurtful chain reaction. And again, you have to remember that these are all real people, and you could potentially be saying things on line that can haunt them offline. This meanness display on the internet towards an individual online is also called cyber bullying. The difference between and up stander and a bystander is fairly self-explanatory. A By stander is a person who simply stands by, watching someone being bullied. Not stepping up for them and offering help even if they know what they are witnessing is awful and sometimes untrue. An up stander is someone who sees what is going on, and has the courage and strength to stand up for the victim who is being bullied, in an attempt to stop the bullying from causing further harm. A solution to stop online meanness is to treat others the way you want to be treated, and to not say anything at all if you don’t have nothing nice to say. Overall this has been a very insightful topic for me and my peers, and I’m positive that we have all taken something and learned from digital Etiquette. And the effects of cyber bullying. We’ve all realized that it is wrong and we’ve all seen the consequences of what cyber bullying can do. We’ve also realized that the internet can be a much funner more enjoyable place when everyone is getting along and being positive. It’s time to stomp out cyber bullying, and for the world to become up standers rather than bystanders. >

Digital Literacy

What is Digital Literacy? Digital literacy is the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate and create information using a variety of digital technologies. To me, it means I am able to do recreational fun things on the internet, and use technologies such as tablets, phones, and iPods, to my advantage. I often use them to look up information for educational purposes, and to look up how to do things. Knowing how to use different technologies can definitely help me, my families, and friends, become responsible digital citizens. People that understand technology at a comfortable level will be more likely to partake in using it. Once you get the hang of it you will want to partake in surveys, polls, games, videos, and keep up to date on current events happening now! To be a responsible digital citizen you have to use proper, polite etiquette. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with a certain topic, or don’t like a certain person or business, etc. don’t be inappropriate and make a scene, or post nasty or hurtful things online. That can turn into legal matters and be considered cyber bullying. One important piece of digital literacy that I learned and will be more cautious of, is security. Some people don’t even think twice before posting their entire life story on the web, and give no thought to the information being put up. Things as little as you’re full name, phone number, or especially your address can be so dangerous if given to the wrong person. Many websites offer privacy settings for everyone to use, and its highly recommended to adjust them to your own comfort level. A good rule of thumb is to never post or upload anything that you wouldn’t want the whole world to see, because once it’s out there, it’s out there, and it always will be, even if you can’t see it. Being digitally literate can sometimes be challenging, due to the way some people talk and abbreviate things. Usually referred to “text talk” saying things such as brb (be right back) and ttyl (talk to you later) can really throw some people off. So don’t feel bad if you don’t get the hang of it right away! People make new abbreviations for things almost every day. And you’ll soon be savvy in the ways of understanding and fully using being able to use various technologies.

Digital Acess

What is Digital Access? You may wonder what this means. Digital Access is full Electronic Participation in Society. Meaning that you can actively participate using any electronic device in the community.  On a personal note, if I lacked digital access, then I would be embarrassed. I would constantly feel left out and confused. My family and friends also have digital access, and they’d probably feel the same as me. Digital Divide is the gap between those who have internet access and those who don’t. In education, the digital divide is quite the nuisance. If your child doesn’t have internet access it can be difficult for them to study, do research, and other assignments. Also if they aren’t exposed to it, it can be hard and embarrassing for them to keep up in class. To me, this digital divide has no real effect, because I’ve grown up with the internet. I can use it well enough to get around and even to help others. Personally, in my school, I really don’t notice a big digital divide. At least, nobody is vocal about it. Sometimes when printers break down or run out of ink that can be a problem. The biggest thing I notice is kids complaining about poor service or Wi-Fi. Teachers should realize that kids can’t always use the school library computers, because teachers with entire classes will book the computers in there instead of in a computer lab. As far as the digital divide affecting students, if it were more apparent, then it would definitely be an unacceptable inconvenience. However. It isn’t currently that apparent in my current community. However digital Access is a different story. Some kids really don’t have any internet, or if they do it may be down or broken. This would stress and confuse students. They would feel awful. This could affect them knowledge wise by limiting their resources of education by only using textbooks. The internet is a suitable alternative to textbook learning because it has the answer to any question you could ever have, and its more hands on. It has different methods of teaching you. Not having internet access could potentially affect children’s careers in many ways. A lot of jobs require online applications. If your child doesn’t have access, the company won’t do anything. It would just be a big disadvantage, and the child wouldn’t get the job over something as silly as this. That could increasingly affect their emotions in a negative way. As the article stated, Obama passed a technology access bill. This was to take steps and help ALL Americans fully access technology easier; even with their disabilities. Some of the steps being taken are: Providing Audible descriptions of on screen action, which helps the blind more accurately and fully enjoy television. Adding captions to online TV programming to help out the deaf, and making the equipment used for internet telephones calls compatible with hearing aids. These are all great steps to help close the digital divide that this country is facing. At school I believe we could do the same things in classrooms. As it is, we have special speakers around the classrooms for kids that are hard of hearing. It would be great if we could focus on closing the digital divide, other than focusing on those with handicaps. Some children simply live in households where it is unaffordable. The government should lower the pricing to make it cheaper for these people. Also some kids don’t know anybody that can help them learn. So schools should have a program of some sort to help out kids that truly struggle with figuring out the web. It is a truly beneficial and useful tool that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Everyone should equally be able to use the computer; After all, we do live in the 21^st century. There really is no need for these problems to exist.

Article Sources:

 http://onlineathens.com/stories/100910/nat_717778029.shtml

Digital Acess by thunderkata7x on GoAnimate