Taking Advantage of Creative Commons

Recently in my Digital Literacy class we learned all about Creative Commons. We learned about the different licenses and how to use them properly. We created an adobe voice that explains the basics about Creative Commons and how to use it. Here is the link to my adobe voice about Creative Commons. 

Creative Commons

On twitter my teacher, Mrs. Scheffer, introduced us to a problem she found that had to do with somebody taking advantage of Creative Commons and somebody else’s work. Beth Still wrote a blog post called Curating versus Stealing exposing a blogger who has been stealing work from other bloggers. Richard Byrne recently blogged about making a jeopardy game with Google. Richard posted this on January 1st, and by January 3, a person by the name of @medkh9 copied his work and used it as his own on a blog called Education Technology. Not only did @medkh9 steal Richards work, but he put it on his website using a Creative Commons website. This tells everyone that the work he published on his website, that wasn’t his in the first place, is okay for anyone to use “his” work as long as they give credit to him. This is wrong in many ways because he is used Richards work without permission, he is giving everybody the right to use that work, and he is taking the credit for it! If Richard used a Creative Commons license, @medkh9 could have used Richards work and gave credit to him, but instead, he has probably lost many followers on twitter because everyone knows what he did was wrong, and now he is exposed.

Hour of Code Tutorials; Are They Worth it?

In this past week in Digital Literacy we have been using Hour of Code tutorials to learn more about programing and coding. For some people like me, it is a completely new thing, so I’m learning this for the first time. Luckily for me, I am provided with very helpful and useful tutorials to help me through the challenge. I worked on four tutorials on the mac computers provided for us.

Hour of Code

1. Scratch- Get Creative With coding

2. Make a Flappy Game

3. Code Monkey

4. Tynker – Build Your Own Game

Tutorials; Too Easy to be Helpful?

I think the Scratch and the Flappy tutorials were the hardest because they were the most challenging. They were manageable, but they were more specific and they were more time consuming to figure out. Once I got the hang of it, they weren’t very tricky, but they were fun! Especially Scratch, that turned out to make a really awesome holiday card!

What Could Make the Tutorials More Effective?

I think the tutorials and instructions are quite helpful, but for somebody who is digitally literate, I think some people could figure it out on their own because a lot of them weren’t too challenging. If the instructions were a bit more challenging but also a bit more descriptive I think more people would enjoy them because they would become more tricky, but doable.

Tynker-Build Your Own Game

Hour of Code; Helpful or Not at All?

I’m not going to lie, after completing Hour of Code my opinion about computer science didn’t change much at all. I don’t really have an interest in it at all, in fact that is why I am taking this class, to become more digitally literate. I think for people who have a general interest in computer science would be greatly affected and persuaded by these tutorials, but for me, coding and programing isn’t my cup of tea. Even though I don’t know too much about computers, I am still determined to learn how to use technology in a modern way within my society.

What Advice Would I Give?

I think the main advice to give the students who will be completing this next year, is to complete a variety of coding challenges. I wouldn’t recommend repeating the same type of coding activities, for example doing three Scratch coding activities because then, you don’t get the experience of working with a broad variety of challenges. I would definitely recommend doing the Scratch holiday card because to me, it was  a lot of fun, but it was also the most helpful coding tutorial I completed.

Code Monkey

Is Social Networking an Advantage or a Disadvantage in the Classroom?

A common question is whether children at the middle school age or sometimes even younger should be able to use social media or not. In some schools, principals support it, but in others, they strongly discourage it. In many schools, they focus on the children being able to use social media in the classroom to help the students connect and learn, but the schools don’t see all the drama and negative effects of children using social media. In my Digital Literacy class, we recently had an online twitter chat about this topic using #bhsdigcit after we watched this video on one principal’s perspective. Here are some of the questions with my personal answers.

Image credit: Securedge networks.

Students should be able to be involved in social networking because it is an awesome way to communicate with other students and teachers in the classroom and an awesome way to spread ideas to one another.Schools and parents should always keep an eye out for gossip and cyberbullying on the internet, but I don’t think there is a specific solution to making sure students use it responsibly, because at the end of the day, they’re going to say what they want. But, if society treated people online as they do in person, I think social networking would be a much safer place. As a high school student I can make sure I am only using social networking to leave myself a positive digital footprint, rather than a negative one. Sometimes it can be hard to ignore all of the bad things online, but I know that I’m benefiting myself and everyone around me by not getting involved. Students can share ideas with their classmates and teachers as well as respectfully disagree with them without hurting anyone on social media.  The networking part of social networking is where all of the educational purposes take place, but even though the social side can be filled with drama, for the most part, it is used for communication and sharing ideas with one another. I think the two sides are equally important because a well functioning social network needs the social as well as the networking aspects to function as a well-rounded society. I would suggest that every school administration should use social networking because it is a great advantage in the classroom and it makes learning more fun and modern for the students! What do you think?

Why is App Smashing Efficient and Easy?

In our high school digital literacy class,this past week we have worked with many different apps, trying to make them work together to create awesome work. We used Chatter Pix and FaceQ to begin making our Digital Literacy PSA (Public Service Announcement).

Made By FaceQ

FaceQ/ Chatter Pix- Make Your Avatars Come to Life!

First, we used FaceQ to make an avatar that represents our own physical appearance, then used Chatter Pix to make it look as if our avatar was talking and saying our line for the PSA. Personally, I thought Chatter Pix was very cool and creative, and it was very easy to use. I thought that FaceQ was super fun to use because there were so many options and I enjoyed being able to play around with the different features. Also, it was very effective because when I was finished, I ended up with a cute picture that resembled my appearance very well. According to ‘The Gamer with Kids,’ , FaceQ is more involved and shows individuality, rather than the common emojis.

Aurasma/ Pic Stich- Make Your Pictures Interactive and Fun!

Aurasma is also a very cool and involved app to use for educational purposes. I think even though it is very easy to use effectively, it is a more advanced app based on what it can do. If you have an Aurasma account, you can scan any picture that is in the account, and from that motionless picture, pops up a video that will explain the picture or has to do with it. I think Aurasma is very interactive because it actually requires you to scan a picture with a device, rather than just clicking a button. Overall, I enjoyed this app and I hope to use it more in the future for other projects. Pic Stich was also very easy to use and it worked, just like we needed it too. We only had to put a picture of ourself on one side, while there was a picture of our avatar on the other side, and it cause us no problems. By using Pic Stich, we had our photo collage in a matter of seconds.

Google Apps- Share Your Ideas!

We used Google Drive and Google slides to being everything together, and make the finishing touches on the final PSA project. The Google apps were very efficient because they let everybody see their classmates work so that they would a ll look the same they would look very professional and finished. Lastly, we used Google classroom to export everything to our teacher and share all of our final ideas with each other. Overall, app smashing was effective, and helped us understand how to do things easier, and efficiently. Check out edtechteacher’s website to see how people do things similar with a variety of apps!

Falling in Love with Fall

As much as I love winter, spring, and summer, fall is my favorite season. The smell of apple cider and pumpkin spice fills the air. The trees are so pretty and the view of all the foliage is unbelievable. I love seeing all the children running around in the street with their costumes, hunting for candy. Some people don’t like fall because of the odd weather and it finally starts to become cold, but I love the fact that I can finally wear jeans, boots, and a scarf again. I like halloween, but I absolutely love Thanksgiving. Family comes over, and the big turkey dinner is uneatable. My favorite part of the holiday is being so full and then lying down for a nap. When I wake up at around eleven, its like the beginning of a whole new holiday for me. I think Black Friday is every shoppers favorite holiday, and I absolutely love shopping just as much as I love Thanksgiving. I also love fall because I love watching football with my dad, it’s my favorite thing in the world. So, enjoy fall while you can, because it only comes once per year.

How Time Flies

When you are younger, everything is a game. Life was so simple and fun, and even though it still is, there is a much bigger responsibility on my shoulders as I am getting older. I am still young, I’m only fourteen years old, and I know I will have much bigger responsibilities as I get older, when I am further into high school, and eventually when I am in college, and even when I have a job, I will be confronted with much bigger obstacles. I understand that I am still young at the age of fourteen, but I miss when I was younger and I could get home from school and go hang out with my friends everyday, when I wasn’t overloaded with homework, so what I am saying is, everyone including myself should enjoy life while they’re young and not bombarded with loads of responsibilities because time flies. Before you know it, you’ll be married and have children of your own, so we should enjoy the time while we are still young.

How to Balance My Life.

Image Credit: Rocky River Bird’s Eye View

I have many priorities, from academics, to athletics, to my family, and my social life. I always put family first. I love my family and I try to spend the most time I can with them, when I am not overloaded with homework and sports. I take academics and athletics both very seriously,  but I think my grades are more important. My friends are also important to me, but hanging out with them isn’t my first priority.  Playing three sports, I don’t always have the most free time to hang out with friends and family during the week days because of the amount of homework I have. When I get out of school, I usually start my homework immediately. Then, I go to practice, knowing that I got some of my homework done, and it makes me feel good. As soon as I get home I finish my homework, and when I am done, then I spend time with my family and friends. During the weekend, I usually spend Saturday with my friends, and do something fun. I would say Sunday, I devote my time more to my family and academics. Overall, I try to be the best I can at whatever I do.

Where Do I See Myself in 10 Years?

When I get older, like almost everyone, I want to be successful in life, but unlike everyone, I am willing to work for my success. At the age of fourteen, most people don’t know what they want to do when they get older or who they want to be, but I think I have a pretty good idea. For some reason, nursing and health has always interested me. Not because of family members in the medical field, but because it is what interests me. Of course, things like this depend on how well I do in high school and college, but the kind of person I am shows that I am determined and that I don’t give up easily. In ten years I see myself graduating from college or getting a higher degree.  I’m not expecting myself to have a nursing or any other kind of medical job. This is because I will be 24 and still be in college for my major, but I hope to have a job so I can provide for myself in ten years. I would like to see myself express the same traits as I express now, but to a higher degree. I love to help people, and I’m always nice, and honest. Maybe in ten years, I can help people in a whole new way. I can volunteer places and make a difference in the world. Eventually(but probably not),in ten years, I would like to have a husband, kids, and a good house and a nice, well-paying job. I look forward to a bright future for myself.