A huge thanks to Lucia for marking my blog. You can find her marking and comments below.
Assessment 2 Marking Key Lucia
Also thanks to Lucy for providing my second rubric. Her marks and comments are below.
To see my completed marking please visit Anthea’s blog and Sophies’ blog.
Digital identities and digital security.
There was a time when we were able to be identified by just our phone number and address. But our identities now span across many different facets and is much more complicated. With the rise of social media, mobiles and increased web traffic our identities can now be found in the digital world (Bregman, 2014). Our digital identity is one made up of many parts, every shared Facebook post, credit card transaction, website cookies and emails sent and received all make up our digital identity.
How can we manage all these different factors that make up ourselves? Our digital identity can be seen to be made up of three parts, a transactional identity, a social identity and a professional identity (Managing your Identity, 2013). By controlling your privacy settings on social media sites you can start to take control of your identity. You can also change your profile pictures to be more professional, hiding or deleting unwanted posts and creating new accounts for business or professional use.
With such a large digital footprint we must also be aware of our digital security. The website http://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/ is a great resource to educate and advise us on our digital identity and security. Credit card theft, password issues and identity theft are become much more important as our lives make the transfer to the digital world. With so much of our personal information free for others to see, such as Facebook information, we must be informed and knowledgeable about the methods people may use to steal our identities and exploit our personal information for their gain. One method to fight these crimes may lie within open source software but that would require companies to see past traditional competitiveness and work together for our security (Shipley, 2014).
References
Bregman, M. (2014, March 11). Can we control our digital identities? Retrieved from Dark reading: http://www.darkreading.com/identity-and-access-management/can-we-control-our-digital-identities/d/d-id/1127620
(2013). Managing your Identity. Melbourne: ACMA.
Shipley, L. (2014, October 16). Why The Future Of Digital Security Is Open. Retrieved from tech crunch: http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/why-the-future-of-digital-security-is-open/
What is a digital world?
In the 21st century we have to adapt to the educational challenges that the evolution of technology and digital learning provide. The increasingly digital transformation of our world provides us with a unique challenge, one that requires us to use and utilise our digital resources but still being able to recognise the danger of living in a digital world.
Gone are the days where our lives revolved around our home town, thanks to advances in technology we are now more connected than ever with the rest of the world, a digital world. The digital world is a world where the best possible use is made of technologies. With the growth of home broadband we see voice over IP, skype etc, streaming services such as Netflix and twitch.tv and locational services such as GPS become more ingrained and more important in our lives (Living the Digital World, 2007).
The digital world also affects learning and education. In today’s classrooms children can get bored very quickly when faced with education that offers little to no technological involvement because it differs so much from their idea that technology is the basis of their life (Prensky, 2008). In countries such as Korea, where students live in a digital culture, the use of technology provides an effective method of communicating with students (Stewart, 2010). With 4 in 5 Australians having access to broadband internet there are more people than ever having access to digital resources be it by computer, tablet or phone (Bentley, 2014).
The digital world is our world. There needs no explanation why, a staggering 2,925,249,355 people have internet access in 2014, that’s 40% of the world population (Internet Users, 2015). As this figure continues to grow we must adapt to an ever changing digital landscape.
References
Bentley, P. (2014, July 3). Lack of affordable broadband creating digital divide. Retrieved from ABC: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-02/bridging-the-digital-divide/5566644
Internet Users. (2015, May 3). Retrieved from Internet Live Stats: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/
Living the Digital World. (2007, August 20). Retrieved from ITU: http://www.itu.int/newsroom/features/digital_world.html
Prensky, M. (2008, May 22). The 21st-Century Digital Learner. Retrieved from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2008
Stewart, V. (2010). Education Goes Digital and Global. Phi Delta Kappan, 99-100.
What is the digital divide?
The digital divide is the term that refers to the gap between those with technology and those without (Rouse, 2014). Traditionally it meant those with a phone and those without, this then changed to those with internet access and those without, and now it can be seen that it is those with broadband access and those without. One in five Australian homes don’t have broadband access, this is one facet of the digital divide in Australia (Bentley, 2014).
The term digital divide does not need to refer to just internet access either. Access to technology such as mobile phones and tablets are just as much a divide if not more-so. This divide typically exists between those in cities and those in regional and rural areas (Rouse, 2014). It can be something as simple as lack of access or a lower performance of technology, including slower computers, slower internet and higher cost data plans. One thing to remember about the digital divide is that the difference between having full access to technology compared to restricted access, as many regional centres have, is a big issue in first world countries such as Australia.
One glaring example we can relate to as Australians in the divide between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians are 69 per cent less likely to have an internet connection and half as likely to have broadband access (Dukes, 2015). Mainly due to geographical location many indigenous communities live without access to internet or sometimes even mobile phone reception. This then reduces the learning opportunities that come with technology.
The digital divide is something that we should be working to solve. With access to technology comes learning and an effective way to combat social disadvantage (Dukes, 2015). To bridge the digital divide is to take one step closer to economic equality, social mobility and economic growth.
References
Bentley, P. (2014, July 3). Lack of affordable broadband creating digital divide. Retrieved from ABC: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-02/bridging-the-digital-divide/5566644
Dukes, K. (2015, February 5). Bridging the digital divide in Indigenous communities. Retrieved from The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/voice/bridging-the-digital-divide-in-indigenous-communities-20150205-3pjfp.html
Rouse, M. (2014, June). Digital divide. Retrieved from whatis.techtarget: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-divide
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