MySpace Photos Lead to Child Porn Charges

A TEENAGER is facing child pornography charges after posting nude photos of herself on her MySpace page...did she have her settings to private? Does it matter?

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25249886-5014239,00.html

Master's Degree in Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter

Why didn't my academic adviser tell me about this?

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25262077-5014239,00.html

Privacy and Social Networking Sites

Social Networking Sites (SNS) have been a topic of interest at my house for quite some time. I have mentioned on a few occasions that I have teenage girls with both MySpace and Facebook accounts. I have tried my best to convey to them both the good and the bad of SNS. It is our (my wife and I) opinion that parents should educate and mentor their children in the use of SNS and not forbid it as an evil, dangerous, thing like some parents do. I think that it can be used as a healthy communication and expression tool for teens (and even adults at times). Therefore, the goal of parents should be to help their children to use SNS and the Internet responsibly.

However, many parents are clueless or only hear the negative stories in the news. Then they either do not help their children develop or they panic and say, “You will NOT have a SNS account at all!” Well, those kids only find other ways (go outside the home) to get their accounts and while their parents boast, “MY kids do not have a MySpace or Facebook account” their kids are doing it anyway with no parental guidance.

So then we have the issues that the article “Privacy and Social Networking Sites” discusses concerning the debate of what is private and what is not. While I think that we should work out those issues, ultimately what I have told my children and students is not to ever depend on privacy settings. Basically, my philosophy is that if you put something on the Internet consider it “public” and potentially global regardless of privacy settings. My thinking is that if you only publish photos, movies, text, etc. that you are okay with anyone seeing then there will be no issues. When you publish something that you only want to be private and that can have incriminating or embarrassing results in the wrong hands, there is always the risk that unintended eyes may view it.

Keep it safe on your space...or be prepared to face the consequences...you may win the legal battle, but at what expense?

How NOT to get a job via Twitter

Check out this article:
http://blogs.eweek.com/careers/content001/big_brother/how_not_to_get_a_job_via_twitter.html?kc=EWKNLCSM03242009STR1

A Stake in the Ground

For whatever reason I had difficultly "getting into" the readings for this week. The topic was good and I don't think that they were a particularly difficult read so maybe it was just the timing, as there was a lot going on in my life this past week. At any rate I had to read my article a couple of times to get through it.

Barab, S., & Squire, K. (2004). Design-based research: Putting a stake in the ground.
Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13 (1), 1-14.

Characteristics of Learning and Design-based Research:

I like these statements from the abstract concerning learning, "A fundamental assumption of many learning scientists is that cognition is not a thing located within the individual thinker but is a process that is distributed across the knower, the environment in which knowing occurs,and the activity in which the learner participates. In other words, learning, cognition, knowing, and context are irreducibly co-constituted and cannot be treated as isolated entities or processes." I like this concept as it considers learning as a whole. And so, "As such, learning scientists have found that they must develop technological tools, curriculum, and especially theories that help them systematically understand and predict how learning occurs."

So then, "Design-based research is not so much an approach as it is a series of approaches, with the intent of producing new theories, artifacts, and practices that account for and potentially impact learning and teaching in naturalistic settings. Design-based research is not simply a type of formative evaluation that allows learning scientists to better understand the ecological validity of theoretical claims generated in the laboratory. Design-based research, as conceived by Ann Brown (1992), was introduced with the expectation that researchers would systemically adjust various aspects of the designed context so that each adjustment served as a type of experimentation that allowed the researchers to test and generate theory in naturalistic contexts."

Designed-based Research versus Formative Evaluation:

Barab and Squire point out that, "At first glance, design-based research closely resembles formative evaluation methodologies. Both are naturalistic, process-oriented, iterative, and involve creating a tangible design that works in complex social settings. The process of conducting a formative evaluation—articulating goals, operationalizing measures, examining a phenomena and understanding the consequences of its use (both intended and unintended)—is quite similar to many design-based research studies. Indeed, design-based research has been justifiably criticized for being little more than formative evaluation, even ignoring some of the recent advances made in formative evaluation. What separates design-based research in the learning sciences from formative evaluation is (a) a constant impulse toward connecting design interventions with existing theory, (b) the fact that design-based research may generate new theories (not simply testing existing theories), and (c) that for some research questions the context in which the design-based research is being carried out is the minimal ontology for which the variables can be adequately investigated (implying that we cannot return to the laboratory to further test the theoretical claims). The goal of Barab and Squire, as applied researchers engaged in doing design work, is to directly impact practice while advancing theory that will be of use to others."

They go on to discuss that, "Design-based research involves more than simply describing the design and the conditions under which it changed. Cobb et al. (2003, p. 10) suggests that “design experiments are conducted to develop theories, not merely to empirically tune ‘what works.’” diSessa and Cobb (this issue), along similar lines, argue that design-based research should involve theory work, treating the design platforms as contexts through which theory may be advanced. This type of work is iterative in nature, with the long-term commitment being to continually refine theoretical claims so as to produce what diSessa and Cobb refer to as “ontological innovations.” They suggest that design-based research allows for the production and testing of theory that can be used to generate, select, and validate specific design alternatives; revealing how various designs predicated on different theoretical assumptions are differentially consequential for learning. In this way, the validation of a particular design framework is not simply intended to show the value of a particular curriculum but results in the advancement of a particular set of theoretical constructs. Another core challenge in carrying out design-based research arises given the oint role of the researchers as designer and researcher. Design-based researchers are not simply observing interactions but are actually “causing” the very same interactions they are making claims about. Barab and Kirshner (2001) wrote: The goal of these researchers/educators/designers moves beyond offering explanations of, to designing interventions for. In fact, and consistent with pragmatists such as Dewey, Pierce, and James, to some degree it is the latter functional constraint that constitutes what is a useful explanation of. (p. 4)"

I found this to be interesting and a good point to consider that, "Researchers working in schools often face difficult ethical choices. Do they stand idly by and watch a teacher struggle to use their curricula, or do they intervene providing additional support? Do researchers share stories of struggling students with teachers and allow them to change instruction accordingly, or do they play a “hands-off” role, minimizing their impact on classroom practices?" So the point being is should you observe the natural occurrences or intervene occasionally when needed.

Digital Native ?

Afya Project

Link:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/847/756

Abstract:
This paper presents initiatives taken in the Afya project towards bridging the digital divide through social and digital literacy, equitable access, training, and content initiatives at the community level. As a participatory action research project, Afya (Swahili for "health") is designed to engage African American women in assessing and increasing their access to quality health information and services. Based on principles of social justice, the project is geared towards redefining relationships and achieving constructive social change at a community-wide level.

Purpose:
Bridging the digital divide through social and digital literacy.

Problem:
Black women are not getting quality health information and services that address their specific needs.

Collaborators:
SisterNet is a local network of Afican-American women who promote better health by exploring the meanings of physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual health from a Black women's perspective.

Afya is about relationships and bridging the digital divide by marrying health activism to technology activism. They invited SisterNet to collaborate with them for change in the local community.

Prairienet (www.prairienet.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to contribute to community development by offering local digital content, Internet access, public access computers, and user training and support. Providing Kiosks

Project Goals (Community Action Plan):
Their approach to this work has three criteria to meet. It must be:
1. Community-wide, including SisterNet women, university affiliates, and local health information and service providers;
2. Committed to redefining relationships, especially as they relate to the balance of power between Black women and community-based institutions; and
3. Action/change oriented. This involves inquiry, not for inquiry's sake but toward some end such as resolving a problem, creating a new opportunity, or expanding a relationship.

The project goals for Afya's second year:
1. increase computer access and literacy among Black women;
2. improve the quantity and quality of health information from local providers;
3. establish and institutionalize ongoing information provision from Black women, in both digital and print formats;
4. improve relationships between providers and Black women; and
5.facilitate the further development of a strong social network - for the exchange of support and information related to both health and computing - among SisterNet women.

Actions Taken:
SisterNet Resource Centers (SRC) are community-wide in that host sites will exist in Black hair salons and, later, libraries and health clinics. Each SRC respresents a collaboration among various community partners. The host sites are contributing their facilities. SisterNet women are designing the SRCs and will serve as onsite volunteers for them. Prairienet and Parkland are contributing the expertise and computer technology needed to establish and maintain the public access computing stations at each SRC. Libraries and health services will also supply expertise and materials associated with the SRCs, such as recommendations for health books and videos, and equipment such as the models used to demonstrate self breast exams.

Through the Afya project, they offered computer training to SisterNet women (two cohorts have already completed the four workshops that precede acquiring their own computers). The computer training is community-wide, held at computer labs in the local Urban League, Workforce Prep Center, and Prairienet labs. The curriculum was designed and implemented by Prairienet staff, with input from SisterNet and University of Illinois students.

The SisterNet Health Fair will be devoted to Afya goals related to improving both health and technology capacities through its focus on alternative/complementary health and how to find and use information in that arena. The Health Fair will be held in a local public library and comprise booths and activities set up by a wide range of health and information providers across our community, and include SisterNet women as presenters. For example, the University of Illinois health sciences librarian will set up a booth that provides information on how to access and use their resources, such as an instruction sheet for searching the PubMed (Medline for the general public) database of medical literature. SisterNet women will present material from the SisterNet technology/Internet guide they helped develop.

Conclusion:
The digital divide is really a socioeconomic, cultural, and power divide that exists at both local and global levels. If we don't deal with the mistrust and inequities at their roots, we run the risk that technology access and use will simply perpetuate age-old patterns. Through the Afya project we are experimenting with ideas about how to close the digital divide through digital literacy, access, training, and content initiatives at the community level.

But modeling and practicing social justice and community engagement related to Black women's health is a much more difficult nut to crack. How do we bridge the social aspects of the digital divide? As members of diverse communities, we all must look to change in our social literacy, access, training, and content efforts. In terms of social literacy, we must learn how to read each other, how to grant respect and validity to diverse funds of knowledge and social capital. We need to be socially accessible, opening ourselves to new relationships. Social training must occur as stakeholders throughout a community model and practice a shared vision of social justice. And finally, we need new social content in the form of artifacts and structures - both online and offline - that embody constructive social change.

My Reflections:
I like the idea of finding an interest or need for information as a motivator for those on one side of the digital divide to be motivated to pursue the digital access. For some there is a need to have a “reason” to use a tool or resource and if they have that reason then they are more likely to use the tool or resource. I see this all the time with digital immigrants and those that are not really interested in computers or the Internet. Once they see that they can access information that helps them or entertains them, they are likely to return for other information needs. Others of us may be curious or like the technology and then look for “excuses” to use it.

I like the way the Afya project married the SisterNet network that was focused on health issues with the Prairienet organization that provides Internet access and training. I felt like this was a good example of combining resources to achieve the goal of bridging the digital divide while contributing to the common good of society.

The Google Generation

Researcher of the future

This study was commissioned by the British Library and JISC to identify how the specialist researchers of the future, currently in their school or pre-school years, are likely to access and interact with digital resources in five to ten years’ time. This is to help library and information
services to anticipate and react to any new or emerging behaviours in the most effective way. In this report, we define the `Google generation’ as those born after 1993 and explore the world of a cohort of young people with little or no recollection of life before the web.

Facebook

A colleague shared this with me. If you haven't read this article, check it out and see what you think.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/24/social-networking-site-changing-childrens-brains

Cherohala 2007