Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Netiquette is the digital equivalent of the traditional etiquette. Netiquette  (net + etiquette) is the code of proper conduct applied to communication on virtual online spaces. This code is dictated by common sense rules (manners) and social conventions.  Every teacher using technology with their students should definitely craft what I call a 'netiquette manifesto' for their class. 

The Snooper's Charter will turn us all into security experts this year

Even as more people are logging onto popular video chat platforms to connect with colleagues, family and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford researchers have a warning for you: Those video calls are likely tiring you out.


Professor Jeremy Bailenson examined the psychological consequences of spending hours per day on Zoom and other popular video chat platforms. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Prompted by the recent boom in videoconferencing, communication Professor Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL), examined the psychological consequences of spending hours per day on these platforms. Just as “Googling” is something akin to any web search, the term “Zooming” has become ubiquitous and a generic verb to replace videoconferencing. Virtual meetings have skyrocketed, with hundreds of millions happening daily, as social distancing protocols have kept people apart physically.

 ‘Visitors and Residents’ is a continuum of modes of engagement which has been well established as a valuable way to understand how individuals engage online. This paper discusses how the original metaphor of Visitors and Residents has been developed into a mapping process which helps individuals to visualise, and reflect on, the digital tools and1 places they use or spend time in. The paper explores ways that the Visitors and Resident work has developed and proposes a method of analysing a body of maps through ‘engagement genres’ to discover broader trends in behaviour across groups.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Mapping ways of engaging with the Web in different contexts
3. Piloting the mapping process: A form of qualitative research
4. Discussion and conclusions

The web provides limitless opportunities for learning, creating, sharing, and exploring the depths of human knowledge. But it is also an unsafe arena where one needs to be equipped with the needed tools and know-how to better stay safe and browse the net securely. As parents and teachers, we need to teach our students about the basics of staying safe online and luckily there are several resources to help you do that. Google Safety Centre is one of the best of them.

I recently bashed Windows for being too darn snoopy, but you know what? It’s not just Windows. Ever since Yosemite came out, Apple’s macOS has been just as untrustworthy. As for Chrome OS, Android and iOS, come on! They’re all built around cloud services; by design, they share everything you do with third-party services. What’s the answer? Desktop Linux.