Learning Log

Week Twelve log UPC0004

2008-05-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

Social & Ethical Issues

The lecture

In week twelve's lecture, the topic discussed was all about Protecting yourself and your PC on the World Wide Web.

The lecture discussed the problems you can encounter with the Internet and how it is so easy for people to breach, privacy, security, plagiarism, copyright and intellectual property, which is so easy to forget about, you may even do it without realising.

The lecture went on to discuss how to deal with copyright, plagiarism and intellectual property, which then showed a list of a few simple steps or rules to follow.

The diagram showing the security on the Internet and how multiple computers can transmit data, shows how easy it is for many other computers to transmit data at any time, before reaching the destination of the desired computer.

I found this quite astounding, as i never knew that something like that could actually be happening to my work.

The most important part of this lecture, was how to protect yourself, IE, installing a firewall, installing anti virus software, educating yourself and being aware of specific attachments.

What i found most important about this lecture, was the fact that i had no idea that i could be copyrighting something, without any idea, and also the simple things you can do to protect yourself, even as simple as not giving out personal information, which i have stopped doing as a result of this lecture.

The tutorial

The tutorial consisted of a workshop, and a couple of readings that related to this weeks topic of protecting your PC on the world wide web, which was discussed in the lecture. After carrying out this weeks workshop and doing further research on how to protect yourself and your identity on the world wide web, i began to see just how serious and issue it really is, and that alot needs to be done to protect myself.

Also the tutorial was an eye opener to see just how easy it is to plagiarise or copyright certain websites without even realising, but the consequences are very serious, and the utmost care should be taken when copying and pasting information off the internet.

The Workshop

1)Introductory Information: The following sheet contained information about exactly what copyrighting is, copyright in Australia, and what i found particularly interesting, was the section about moral rights and how they play a big part in copyright.

2)Education, Teaching: This sheet was helpful to me as an undergraduate at university, because it explained the educational use of copyright, and exactly what copyright protects, meaning permission needs to be gained if the work is to be reproduced.

3)Websites, Internet, Software: The best part about this sheet in particular, was that it contained information about copying and downloading Internet material, which is something that even I do without realising it, on a day to day basis. There was also some information about how to get copyright protection and what copyright protects on the Internet, which i found helpful and made me a lot more weary when just copying and pasting off the Internet.

4)Writing, Publishing: I chose to read this information sheet, because as an undergraduate basically everything i submit for marking contains writing and publishing, especially when i am writing an essay i will use quotes and extracts, so knowing as much information about that topic in particular is beneficial to me. The information sheet gave an overview of the special expectations to infringement, when permission is needed to use a quotation, and the moral rights that relate to the author of a particular piece of work.

5)Music, Performing arts: I chose this particular information sheet about copying Cd's because I myself have copied many Cd's over the years, without a second thought about what I have been doing. This information sheet outlined the legal issues involved with copying Cd's and other forms of recorded music, and the guidelines that make copying a CD acceptable and unacceptable.

Online Music Downloading & Music Copyright.

whenever music is downloaded or streamed over the Internet, there are a number of rights which are exploited. These include:
the reproduction of a musical work; and
the communication to the public of a musical work. A musical work is the underlying intellectual property contained in any song - i.e. the melody, chords and lyrics, as written by the composer.

Any use of copyright music requires the appropriate clearances to be obtained. Copyright owners in music have a number of rights in their work, including the right to reproduce their music and the right to communicate their work to the public. The reproduction and communication to the public of a sound recording is a separate right and may need a separate licence (usually from a record company) if an original sound recording is used.

My Plan to protect myself from attacks on privacy and Security.

1. Download an Anti Virus program for my Computer

2.Be aware of the attachment files NOT to open when receiving e-mail

3.Never Give away personal information over the Internet

4. Install a firewall

Week Twelve: Reading (URL) - EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy:

This piece of reading, was a website filled with headings that discussed the most efficient ways to protect your online privacy. Some of these headings were just common knowledge, for example, 'Do not reveal personal information', 'Don't reveal personal details to strangers or just-met "friends", and 'Remember that YOU decide what information about yourself to reveal, when, why, and to whom'.

Although this website had a few common knowledge instructions on how to protect your online privacy, there were also a number of things you could do to protect yourself, that i had no idea what they were, and what purpose they are used for, so reading about this really expanded my mind, and made me think out the box to a whole lot more things i could be doing to insure i have the most protection.

What i found most beneficial was the information about, keeping a clean e-mail address, and realising you may be monitored, which really applies to me, because my main form of communication and retrieval of information is via the Internet and by sending e-mails, so learning the consequences of what may happen when you are being monitored, i am now a lot more weary when searching the Internet, and making sure i am doing everything i can to obtain the best and most secure online privacy.

Week Twelve: Reading (URL) - Ethics in Computing - Social Justice Issues: Electronic Monitoring:

This particular website contained information all about Electronic Monitoring, Privacy Issues, Suggested Policies, and Privacy Resources. The website was mainly focused on monitoring in the Workplace, why people are monitored in the workplace, and how someone lost their job over blogging at work, and how there is no such thing as personal freedom, and privacy in the workplace.

Week Twelve: Reading (URL) - Brown & Michael's - Overview of Intellectual Property:

I found this website particularly useful as it contained a lot of information about copyright, Domain names, computer software, Trademarks and Patents. I found this website informative and useful to me, as i learnt more about trademarks, copyright, and found out what patents actually were and what the three main types of patents are.

I also found this website useful because it showed me how to protect my intellectual property through the use of copyrights, trademarks and patents.

Week Eleven log UPC0004

2008-05-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Data Information & Knowledge

The lecture

For week eleven's lecture, the topic of data information and knowledge was discussed in further detail, and answered a range of underlying questions I had when first introduced to the subject.

The lecture discussed the definitions of data, information and knowledge, the characteristics of each, and also the importance, which wasn't really all that surprising because its just common knowledge to know how important data information must be.

The lecture slides went on to show diagrams of the relationships between data, information and knowledge, which i found helpful be cause diagrams are a great visual aid and makes things a whole lot clearer to me, and i can absorb information much more beneficially.

Although i found parts of this lecture helpful, like the use of diagrams, i found most of the other parts just told me either common knowledge, or things that I already know and have learnt about before, but i guess this lecture helped me to remember these things and brush up on my data information and knowledge.

The tutorial

This weeks tutorial was simply an extension of what was discussed in the lecture, except this time, the workshop asked us to give examples of specific words that i were unsure of, which was helpful to me, because once i researched their meaning and wrote them out I could gain the best understanding of the word possible.

The workshop also asked to construct our own graph of how we interpret the connection between data, information, knowledge and wisdom, which was extremely helpful, because it again reinforced the subject we were learning, and because I constructed the diagram myself I could understand it the way i wanted to, and the way I see it, instead of how someone else does.

Workshop 11-Accessing and Organising Knowledge

a)Data:Is the representation of concepts or other entities, fixed in or on a medium in a form suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by human beings or by automated systems (Wellisch, 1996).

Information:Is related to meaning or human intention. In computational systems information is the contents of databases, the web etc. In human discourse systems information is the meaning of statements as they are intended by the speaker/writer and understood/misunderstood by the listener/reader.

Knowledge:Is knowing, familiarity gained by experience; person's range of information; a theoretical or practical understanding of; the sum of what is known.

Wisdom:Wisdom is the ability, developed through experience, insight and reflection, to discern truth and exercise good judgment. Wisdom is sometimes conceptualized as an especially well developed form of common sense.

By Understanding the relationship between Data, information, knowledge and wisdom, it is quite easy to see that you can't have one without the other, and each is as important as the other.

They all link in together, so to be able to have wisdom and knowledge it is essential to gain information from data, and from that, you can also have an added bonus of 'understanding'.

1-Organ Donor-It is essential to gain data from organ donor's so that it is ensured the organs being donated are suitable.

2-Australian Bureau of Statistics-The basis of this organisation is statistics and Data, so of course they would need to collect data from the public.

3-Voting polls-When having a vote for something in particular the only way is by using people and collecting their information.

4-Doctors-Without speaking to the patient, and gaining their information as to what is wrong with them, a doctor cannot help them or prescribe them the right medication.

5-Blood Donor-Much the same as the organ donor, there is a checklist to see that the person doning their blood are suitable candidates.

Readings

1.The First reading gave a more detailed explanation as to what was discussed in the lecture and what was need in the tutorial task.

I found this website very helpful, because not only does it contain a lot of useful information, but the person writing this speaks from their point of view, and what their understanding is of the relationship between data, information and knowledge, which helps me to understand it a lot more clearly, because it is as if they are telling it to me in person.

2.The second reading was a useful web page for uni students as it is like an online tutorial, but with the whole presentation of the page i found it a little bit confusing and hard to follow, but i did like how the page was a bit more user friendly and had quizzes, assignments and helpful handouts.

Week Ten log UPC0004

2008-05-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

The lecture

Week ten's lecture was all about how to manage information, and all the different types of information management that we could use, that was quick, effective and easy.
A few different ways of organising information included, text, documents, images, web pages, bookmarks presentations, assignments, citations and references.
The lecture then went on to describe the atom based types of information management and the pro's and cons that came with them, after reading the pro's and cons of books, reports etc, i found that there are easier ways than these forms to manage your information.
The lecturer described a few steps we could undertake for organising your 'bits', which i found very useful as some of the points i never even knew existed before.
The lecture was very good and very informative, i really liked the way that examples were shown on the PowerPoint of exactly what steps to take on your computer when you are organising your 'bits', and done in a way that was very straight forward, and non confusing, which helps me to retain the information being shown, as i am a visual learner, and only really absorb information if it is shown to me through the use of diagrams, pictures, or any form of imagery.

The tutorial

This weeks tutorial was a great example of how bookmarking can be used to its full potential, and how to use all different types of information management.
I found the workshop a great way for me to really understand this topic, because it wasn't completely clear to me in the lecture, or even reading about it, but when I can actually have first hand experience and carry out information management for myself, the topic not only becomes clearer and more understandable, but it becomes easier to use and gives me the confidence to use it whenever i need.

The Workshop

1. example of bookmark & favourites.

2. example two

The website was quite easy to follow and very straight forward, with diagrams that aided the learning progress. After practising over and over how to create favourites and bookmark websites, i have got the hang of it, and am able to do it all the time, with ease.

3. The website, 'Being Digital' was a website split into roughly 3 main parts, with information about topics to do with bits, interface, and digital life.
At the bottom of a page was timeline of archives and articles which are linked to the epilogue, 'an age of optimism', what i noticed about these dates, are that the most recent one is from 1997, and the latest one is from 1995, which leads me to ask whether these articles, archives, and reports are still legitimate in 2008.

4.After properly reading the articles dated from around 13 years ago, i realise that they are still relevant in today's society, as they discuss all about technology and information about bits and atoms, which are still appropriate and relevant in 2008. The article named, "The DNA of Information" reflects on the pro's and con's between bits and atoms, how they relate to the entertainment industry, and the information superhighway.

The main difference between bits and atoms is that one is more reliable than the other, but one is more efficient quick and easier than the other, personally i would rather use bits for researching information, and managing information because it is quick and easy, and also because i am from a society where quick and easy is regarded as being better than bulkier, and more reliable, IE a book, however if i was really interested in a subject and wanted to get as much reliable safe, and well authorised information as possible i would use atoms in my information management.

Reading: Phi Delta Kappan article September - 1998

The article presented in this weeks reading answering questions, the everything in the workshop and tutorial covers, which is all in relation to bits, atoms, the pro's and con's of both of these, and also the issues of reliability and adequacy. What I found helpful about this article was the diagram used that shows the following skills in order to have success in cyberspace. This information was useful to me, because I already knew all about bits, atoms, information superhighway, the pro's and con's etc, but what i really needed to learn, was how to use bits to their full potential and how to be able to to make sure what i am reading on the Internet is accountable information.

Reading/video: BBC program clicks - On knowledge management and the web

I found this website to be very informative and made gain a better grasp on what the topic was all about. Having the video as a source of reading was a refreshing change from just reading words on a screen, and when there are images and speaking with any form of information, i am able to retain the information much more efficiently.

The video basically summed up everything in the Tut, workshop, and the following reading, but with the use of a video, as i mentioned before, the topic was made a whole lot clearer, and i was able to understand all about web management so that in future i know exactly what sort of information management i should be using, and how to use it to its full potential.

Week Nine log UPC0004

2008-04-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

Communications

The lecture
In this weeks lecture, Helen discussed the topic of communications, and more specifically how to write a professional e-mail.
At the beginning of the lecture we were asked to get into groups and form a draft of an e-mail using the appropriate net etiquette.
The lecture showed us how communicated has progressed throughout the ages, who uses communication, what networks are in relation to communication IE chain network, wheel network, Circle network, and all channel network.
The lecture went on to describe the four different types of communication and examples of the sort of people who would use a particular type of communication, and also the upsides and the downsides to Synchronous and Asynchronous communication.
The lecturer then went on to describe and give examples of different forms of communication that we would find most common like MSN messenger for example and the positives and negatives of this communication network.
The rest of the lecture was spent giving examples of ICT use and how vast the communication world really is.
I found this lecture very interesting, because i had never really thought about communication, but when i did look at all the various types of communication used in today's day and age with today's technology i realised that without it, i wouldn't be able to get by in life, as i use around 4 or 5 forms of technology each day, and without it, it would make life a whole lot harder.

All of the benefits and disadvantages of particular forms of communication opened my eyes up, of how to not only be careful when using Internet communication, but what form of communication would be most appropriate, safe and efficient for someone in today's day and age.
The tutorial

Week Nine's tutorial summed up what was discussed in the lecture, and gave practical questions on how to construct an appropriate e-mail. The tutorial for me was second nature, as I have always known how to write e-mails and in the appropriate form, but what i found helpful was all the issues about spam that i had never even known about, and how excellent pod casting can be to aid a students learning experience.

The workshop

1. The topic I entered was 'Crystal Healing' and I found the following groups.

-Pranic Healing

-Crystal Energy fields

-Crystal Therapy

-Crystal and Reiki healing

2. When looking through the messages on the bulletin boards posted they were basically everything and everything to do with Crystal Healing, most of it was a for or against argument on whether it is a legitimate form of healing, some messages were from people who do Crystal Healing, have had Crystal healing, or show any form of interest in the concept of Crystal healing.

4. Pod casting is an excellent resource for not only uni students, but also for business people, teachers, educators of any sort, musicians, basically, pod casting is excellent for everyone, for people all walks of life, and for any sort of purpose.

Educators use pod casting to teach students in a much more active way of learning, that enables students to absorb information in a way that isn't just mind numbing words on a page. For a technology that only requires a computer, microphone, and Internet connection, pod casting has the capacity of advancing a student's education beyond the classroom, so that they can use pod casting as a form of learning even in their down time, which makes learning a lot more fun and useful, especially for younger students, and can make learning an experience that is enjoyable and much more effective.

Pod casting in University adds a new dimension to the way that students learn, and the way that tutors or lecturers can teach making it a 'cool' interactive communication between teachers and students.

Reading: Guide to using e-mail

The following readings give descriptive ways of how to make your e-mail messages more efficient and effective and what tips to use when writing an e-mail. The following set of instructions to follow or use as a checklist to write a professional e-mail include,

1.Make sure that email is the right communication tool for the job.

2.Get to the point right away.

3.When asking a question, be sure to ask the question.

4.Specify who should respond.

5.Be clear about when you need a response.

6.Provide context to frame your message.

7.Don't forget the rules of grammar and punctuation.

8.One message, one topic.

9.Provide a summary when you forward an "FYI" email.

The second article which was very beneficial to my learning experience of creating an e-mail is all about essential email etiquette, which should be followed for every professional type of email being sent.The article goes into detail about the basics of writing an e-mail, which could also be used for a letter, to make sure it is as professional as possible.

The few steps to follow for excellent etiquette when writing an e-mail are, Think of an appropriate subject, address recipients properly, select an appropriate tone, avoid irony and sarcasm, edit your message, Keep Messages Pithy, and most importantly, Never underestimate the power of a well-crafted email.

The following two articles were a great help, they have taught me exactly what steps and the expected etiquette to follow when writing an e-mail, so that in future when i write an e-mail i am able to produce the most professional one possible.

The You tube videos also helped present the information in the articles in a much more effective and active way, and made the steps being shown a lot clearer and informative.

Reading: The Problem with Spam

The reading article, 'The problem with Spam' answered all sorts of questions about what spam is, why its a problem and why it should be controlled.
I learnt from this article that spam is the scourge of electronic mail and news groups on the Internet and that Spammers are, in effect, taking resources away from users and service suppliers without compensation and without authorisation.
What i found most effective about this article after reading of the damage it is doing, is a solution that can help stop the Australian contribution to the problems of UBE, which is simple and direct legislation and what it can do, which includes, banning the practice of transmitting Unsolicited Bulk Email, covers offshore spamming by Australian interests, provides for attaching to the outgoing revenue stream of foreign interests which spam Australians for the benefit of the spammers' revenue stream, and much more.

Week Eight Log UPC0004

2008-04-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

Presentation Strategies

The lecture

This weeks lecture focused on the topic of PowerPoint presentations, how to achieve an excellent presentation, what a PowerPoint presentation should include, what the audience will remember when you present a PowerPoint presentation to them, how to structure and prepare for a presentation, and how to use PowerPoint effectively.

I found this lecture pretty straight forward, but also very helpful, because during primary school and high school i made many PowerPoint presentations, but wasn't really taught properly how to make a presentation up to ecu standards.

The tips i found very helpful in achieving an excellent presentation is how to get the audience involved, because no matter how excellent your information is, you can not pull off an interesting and attention grabbing presentation without some audience involvement.

During the lecture, there was a part that really grabbed my attention, "Generate Energy, sell your image, and command respect". Those three words can not only be used in a PowerPoint presentation, but for any sort of oral presentation or even in everyday, which is beneficial to me as I'm going to be completing an oral presentation in week 10 about whaling.

Every lecture is really an example of how an oral presentation should be done, and in some cases shouldn't be done, i have found that i can absorb a lot more information if a lecturer is exciting and tries to sell what they are talking about, rather than other lecturers who speak in a monotone voice not really knowing what they are talking about.

The Tutorial:

This weeks tutorial has given me the confidence to go on with PowerPoint presentations, and how to execute an oral speech of any sort so that the audience is as excited about the topic as you are.
The tutorial focused all about delivering a power point presentation in the most professional and informative way possible.
I found this tutorial extremely helpful to me, not only because I have an upcoming oral speech, but also because it has refreshed my memory of using Microsoft PowerPoint, and also given me even more tips on how to deliver a perfect oral presentation with the aid of a PowerPoint, which is something I have not had a lot of practice at.

The Workshop

Top five strategies to deliver a top-notch presentation.

1.Firstly decide what you are presenting, read your headlines in slide view, do they tell your story?

2.Structure your presentation with an introduction, body and a conclusion.

3.Boil down your key messages, keep them clear, simple and memorable.

4.Use supporting text and graphics, and remember that how you say it is as important as what you say, you really have to try and sell the subject you are talking about.

5.Always bring back up copies of your presentation in case group members aren't there, projector breaks down, etc.

PowerPoint Presentation Slides

1.

2.

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5.

6.

Resource

I found this weeks lesson very helpful to me, because i needed to revisited my skills of PowerPoint presentation, as i haven't use it in so long, and need to polish my skills for my upcoming presentation about whaling.

The resource was very helpful, clear and informative, and gave me all the directions i needed or had forgotten about to complete these weeks workshop.

I also found the bad presentation links quite humorous, but also informative telling us NOT what to do during a PowerPoint presentation.

All over i really benefited from this weeks tutorial and am excited about using PowerPoint as a means of presentation in the future, and will have no worries or questions any more as i now know everything there is to know about PowerPoint presentations.

week seven log UPC0004

2008-04-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

The lecture

This weeks lecture discussed the topic of end notes, and started off with answering such questions as,

- what is an endnote?

-How does an endnote work?

-Why use an endnote?

-Examples of endnotes

The lecturer went on to discuss why referencing is so important in distinguishing our ideas from everyone elses, what citing and quoting referencing means, and what a bibliography is and when it should be used.

An endnote was described as a database that can be used as a reference manager, a bibliography maker, and can be used in two ways, which were as a standalone program or integrated into Microsoft word.

The lecture then went into detail about what sort of database an endnote is, how it appears on our computer screen and how to download the software off the ECU library.

We were then showed exactly how to use an endnote in vista and also how to open an endnote library, how to save a new endnote library, and how to enter refrences manually.

What i have learnt from this lecture is the importance of using an endnote, exactly how to use an endnote, what endnotes are, and how having an endnote can keep track of a growing number of references, displays a variety of recognised styles of referencing, handles a variety of types of references, and can be integrated with Microsoft word.

The Tutorial

For week sevens tutorial, we were asked to compile an endnote library, and as the tutorial progressed the once tricky task become simple, and the Importance of an endnote also become apparent. Using an endnote will take a little bit more practice for me, but once i can completely get the hang of it, I will use it whenever I need to reference, as it makes the task of referencing so much easier, a lot more accurate, and much more beneficial as I have the urge to undergo more research when i know the referencing is already being done for me.

Workshop Task

1.

a) David, L.(2003 August).Pentagon Report: China's Space Warfare Tactics Aimed at U.S. Supremacy. Retrieved April 8, 2008, from http://www.space.com/news/china_dod_030801.html

b)Department of Education, Science and Training 2003, The national report on higher education in Australia (2001), Department of Education, Science and Training, Canberra. retrieved 13 October, 2004, from http://www.dest.gov.au/highered/otherpub/national_report/default.htm

c)Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved May 2, 2006, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

d)Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating, 8(3). Retrieved February 20, 2003, from PsycARTICLES database.

e)Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of toylandia [Msg 25]. Message posted to http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html

-2. Creating an Endnote

My results:
I was very unsure about how to create an endote, and every time i attempted to try to create one i would get stuck, and accidentally close down my document, which as frustrating as it seemed at the time, was very good because i because more and more familiar with the steps I had to go through in creating an endnote, and it became second nature to me.
I found this exercise quite straight for and simple when there is a step by step guide with diagrams of directions, which were easy to follow, but i started encountering problems when the instructions weren't explained clearly enough and there were no images or diagrams to direct me.
When i got into this situation i asked for help, but even then i didn't completely understand until someone showed me exactly how to do it, which made this process seem much simpler and i could understand completely how to make an endnote.
I think endnotes are an excellent way to not only reference and store information, but going through the process of creating an endnote can help to learn more about Microsoft word.
In the future when i have to reference and use citations in certain assignments or research on the Internet, i will definitely use an end note library.

week six log UPC0004

2008-03-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Lecture: Searching and Finding quality information on the world wide web.

Today's lecture started off with a discussion about the quality of information from the world wide web and what exactly 'relative' and 'appropriate' information was.
We were then told about the open protocols of the world wide web and that it was a swift and convenient exchange of information.
With most websites we have to take the good with the bad, so of course there were downsides to using the world wide web and these were, no enforceable quality control, non-enforced classification, and errors.
The lecture also went on with the statistics of how many host computers that were around and how they have progressed over the ages adding to the way the world wide web has become so 'unruly'.
What I found most helpful about the lecture were the principles to consider when determining the quality of the content found on the world wide web, which will be extremely helpful when carrying out further research for my essay on Euthanasia, and for any other upcoming assignments.
What I have to consider when searching the world wide web is to look out for indicators of quality IE footnotes etc, and remember that anyone can write on the world wide web so it is essential to learn how to evaluate the IQ of a particular website on the world wide web.

The tutorial:
This tutorial was based all around the world wide web and how to find quality information by learning the appropriate methods to review a website.
I found this tutorial much like week fours tutorial, in the sense that both tutorials looked at validating websites, and how to determine if they are appropriate or not.
Although week fours tutorial was based around determining if a website was a spoof or not, this weeks tutorial is an extension on this subject, and looks at web pages in more detail, and in ways that are more beneficial to an undergraduate.
This tutorial was helpful to me, as I became aware of what to look for in an appropriate website, and how to tell whether the information is valid, and if it will be really useful for my research.
Finding quality information on the WWW is especially important to me as an undergraduate, so this tutorial was extremely helpful to me, and the steps to finding quality information over the Internet became more clear and easy to follow as the tutorial progressed.

Tutorial Workshop:

1. Review the ICYouSee critical thinking page:
To evaluate a website there are a few important steps that need to be used so that you can gain the most appropriate information as possible to support your research. These steps include,
-Authority: Who are the authors of the page?, and do they have the right authority to be writing information on this website?
-Accuracy: Are the facts and information on this page accurate?
-Objectivity: What is the purpose of this website?
-Coverage: Does this site cover the information you are after? and is the information substantial?
-Currency: Is the site up to date?
-Value: Does the site offer anything unique, informative, or insightful? was it worth visiting?

I found this website to be extremely helpful by showing the steps to evaluate a resource so that your research can be carried out as best as it can be, Using these simple steps can help turn an everyday boring assignment, into something that is interesting and information that will stay with you because it is unique and informative.

Compare what you found with 'INCO 48' Web page.

The website, http://www.taftcollege.edu/newTC/Academic/INCO48/sec6-4.htm i found offered a much more substantial account of how to evaluate a website in proper detail, by adding even more tips to evaluating a website and in even more detail than the previous website, so there are much more aspects to look out for to enhance the search of an appropriate and unique website such as:
-Comparability: Does the Internet resource have an identified comparable print or CD ROM data set or source? Does the Internet site contain comparable and complete information?
-Connectivity: If more than one user will need to access a site, consider each users' access and "functionality." How do users connect to the Internet and what kind of connection does the assigned resource require? Does access to the resource require a graphical user interface? If it is a popular (busy) resource, will it be accessible in the time frame needed? Is it accessible by more than one Internet tool?
-Censorship: Is your discussion list "moderated"? What does this mean? Does your search engine or index look for all words or are some words excluded? Is this censorship? Does your institution, based on its mission, parent organization or space limitations, apply some restrictions to Internet use? Consider censorship and privacy issues when using the Internet.
-Continuity:Will the Internet site be maintained and updated? Is it now and will it continue to be free? Can you rely on this source over time to provide up-to-date information? Some good .edu sites have moved to .com, with possible cost implications. Other sites offer partial use for free, and charge fees for continued or in-depth use.
-Citation: Internet resources should be cited to identify sources used, both to give credit to the author and to provide the reader with avenues for further research. Standard style manuals (print and online) provide some examples of how to cite Internet documents, although these standards are not uniform.
-Copyright:Even if the copyright notice does not appear prominently, someone wrote, or is responsible for, the creation of a document, graphic, sound or image, and the material falls under the copyright conventions. "Fair use" applies to short, cited excerpts, usually as an example for commentary or research. Materials are in the "public domain" if this is explicitly stated. Internet users, as users of print media, must respect copyright.

Using these steps as well as the previous ones obtained from the other website I am able to do the most complex and detailed evaluation of a website to obtain the most informative, up to date and appropriate information possible.

3.The psychedelic Sixties:

-Good information? Yes I thought this page had very good information, it covered events from the civil rights war, the Vietnam war, and protests at UVA, all the way from subjects such as Woodstock, hippies, illicit drugs and rock music, so we can see this site covered everything associated with the sixties.

-Page worth visiting? Yes, i think the page is definitely worth visiting, it is a unique and fun way to learn about the serious side of the sixties such as the wars and protests and some more of the lighter subjects such as music and Woodstock.

-Do you have good reason to believe that the information on the site is accurate? Are the facts documented? Yes the facts are all documented and I have good reason to believe that this site is accurate, because all of the dates, pictures and happenings of the sixties are there and are appropriate.

-Who are the authors and who is responsible for the site? What is their expertise? What is their bias? The authors are the Rector, and the visitors of the University of Virginia, so i believe that the information on this website is very accurate and unique, and also the website was reviewed in the Chronicle of Higher Education on July 2, 1998, was selected as an award-winner for August 1998 by Gray Areas Magazine, was awarded A#1 Quality Award for Excellence by Quality Search Engine, January, 1999, and was featured on CNN headline news.

-What is the site's purpose or point of view?
The sites purpose is to give the reader an overview of the 60's era, and everything that went with it, from illicit drugs to the Vietnam war, and everything in between. This site really is dedicated to teaching us about the sixties on all different levels and covers all the happenings of the time psychedelic sixties.

-Was this page designed for the Web, or is it something else, such as a government document or a journal article? This website is designed specifically for the web and for the benefit of those who chose to read it.
This Website was also recently updated in January 2008, so we know that the website is being kept up to date.

A Trip through the Sixties

-Good Information? Yes, I believe this site has very good information about anything and everything about the sixties, and also suggested reading books, and videos of certain events so the site isn't just to bombard you with pages and pages of words.

-Page worth visiting? Yes, i think this page is worth visiting, it is very informative, unique, discusses subjects that most other websites would not touch on, and also provides suggested books and videos to view for each topic. Although this page covers a lot of accurate information about a wide range or topics occurring in the sixties, some articles might have no information and just a suggested book, and some sites might have a lot of excellent information along with a suggested book, so I think that this website you have to really choose carefully for what topic you are after, otherwise it can become confusing, and seem like there is really no information there at all.

-Do you have good reason to believe that the information on the site is accurate? Are the facts documented? All of the information is accurate on the website, and all of the facts of each happening are documented with dates, quotes, important names in exquisite detail, yet some other pages just suggest books to read with a summary of the subject. Overall yes, the information on this website is accurate, informative and unique.

-Who are the authors and who is responsible for the site? What is their expertise? What is their bias? The website consists of many different articles branching off from different subjects about the 60's, so there are many articles on the website written by many authors, most of these authors have written novels before, or written by writing groups.

-What is the site's purpose or point of view? The sites purpose is to provide articles, and suggested books and videos to watch for people interested in learning more about the 60's, or even to take a journey throughout the happenings of the 60's in great detail.

-Was this page designed for the Web, or is it something else, such as a government document or a journal article? This website was designed for the web, but it contains articles, books, videos, and information from other sources so that the person viewing this website can not only just read the information of the website as their only source of information, but they can expand their way of thinking and read about a certain subject or watch it on TV.

Week Five log UPC0004

2008-03-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

Using search Engines.

The lecture.

Today's lecture was dedicated to the use of search engines, the advantages and disadvantages of a search engine, problems you can encounter from using a search engine, how to overcome these problems, and how to use a search engine to benefit your studies.
The lecture also discussed such information as the three types of categories of information on the web, what exactly what a search engine was and a few of the main categories of search engines, one being Google which was what i use everyday on a personal and business level.

Some of the problems of search engines that were discussed in the lecture is that there are too many results, most of them irrelevant and of poor quality, but I learnt to overcome this problem in week 2, by narrowing down my search or using the advanced search option on Google.
The lecturer also discussed the benefits of directories, especially human directories which have now come into place for Wikipedia.

From this lecture i was able to gain a better understanding of search engines, exactly what they are, and how to overcome the problems that may arise when using a search engine.
What i found particularly beneficial from today's lecture was the list of search tips.
I thought this lecture was a great help to really be able to specify my search and be able to narrow down my results so that I was obtaining relevant and good quality websites.

The tutorial.

The tutorial was an extensions of the lecture and was based around practical work testing our knowledge of what we have learnt during the lecture.
I thought this tutorial was pretty straight forward and basic, but I didn't know i could learn so much from it, and how important it was to structure a good search.
I found that a good research all comes down to how good you structure a search, which can mean the difference between finding the information you need, or not finding it at all.
The quiz was a great way to put to test the search strategies I had come up with, because the questions asked were very precise, and if one phrase or word was incorrect or out of place, the answer you were looking for was either not there, or had so many alternate web pages that were completely irrelevant.

1. Four strategies to help you structure a good search.
1. Narrow down your search by using key words or phrases.
2. If using Google use the advanced search button.
3. Be sure of exactly what your looking for and take your time, maybe some links you weren't looking for could be exactly what you need.
4.Use the right search engine for the topic of search you have chosen.

2.

3.Strategies i used to locate my answers.
1. Keyword and phrases only
2. Google as a search engine
3. clicked on the best quality and most relevant sites which usually are shown in the first few pages.
4. carried out a broader search if i couldn't find an answer just using keywords.

Summarise.
From carrying out these exercises and learning about search engines through my tutorial, i know feel completely confident about using search engines and gaining excellent websites and fast.
I also have come to realise that sometimes it is hard to search for a keyword or phrase, and searching a broader topic can actually benefit your learning.
This tutorial has definitely helped me and will continue to help me for my future studies and to when i need to obtain specific information.

1.Reading:(URL) - Robert Harris: "Web Search Strategies"
The following website gives us search tips and strategies that can easily let us answer the following questions when researching, How can i find what i want?, and how to i know that what i find is any good?
The website is divided into subheadings, and under each subheading is information, descriptions and examples for that topic.
From this website we are give information under the following subheadings,
-Categories of information from the web
-Search tool types
-Quick guide to choosing a starting place
-Word searches with search engines

2.Reading:(URL) - The History of the Internet: (Chap 4 - Search Engines)
From this website we are able to get a better understanding of how a search engine works, and introduction to the world wide web and how it came about in the beginning and how its progressed through the years, How we find information on the net, what to do and what NOT to do to insure a good quality search, What a virtual library is, Databases and search engine sizes, and a list of popular search engines, and their progression through the years IE:
-Yahoo
-Google
-Alta Vista
-Northern Light

3.Reading:Search Engine Optimisation for Companies
This website determines if your small business website is ready for search engine optimization, because the majority of small business web sites that are analyzed, use design components that are incompatible with search engine spider robots, lack sufficient descriptive text or have navigation problems.
The website gives a list of tips when searching a topic on a search engine. These tips are discussed in further detail, and also discuss why they need to be used.
To insure search engine optimisation, the following list needs to be remembered and taken into account,

-Keyword Analysis:
-Setting your benchmark:.
-Search Engine Optimisation:
-Link Popularity:
-Measuring your Progress

Week four log UPC0004

2008-03-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

The Lecture.

In today's lecture, we learnt specifically about the World Wide web and every subject, questions and queries with anything to do with the WWW were answered.

The lecture consisted of everything from the historical side of the World Wide Web, the difference between the Internet and the web, the definition of the WWW and also, Web browsers.

I found Today's lecture extremely useful in helping my studies, because i had previously not known anything about the WWW and never even knew what it was, or how i could use it, but after today's lecture i now know exactly what the WWW is, how to recognise resources from the WWW, and most importantly how to use it.

Even though I know have a much better understanding of exactly what the world wide web is, I still feel more comfortable with using the Internet, only because of the fact that I am more use to it and have known no other way, but from know on and in future assignments I will definitely consider using the World Wide web, and be able to gain even more of an understanding of how it actually works and benefits me as a student.

The Tutorial.
In This weeks tutorial, we were given a range of website and were made to provide reasons as to why we thought this website was a spoof or wether we thought it was legitimate, and all the tell tale signs of why we thought it was whatever it was.
This tutorial was not only enjoyable, but it taught me exactly what to look out for, when a website is not designed to be taken to seriously, and after reviewing a few websites that were spoofs it become more clear that the signs of a joke website are obvious. What i found to be the most obvious tell tale sign of a spoof website was the colour and font, these two attributes to a website really play a big role in wether the website is to be taken seriously or not.

A)a.In your Learning Log explain how have these websites attempted to appear authentic? List at least 4 clues that gives each site away as a spoof (i.e. a website not designed to be taken too seriously).

1.The website with the Haggis had done a good job at attempting to be authentic because it looks like a real website and has its own member centre, haggis Cams, special features, rules, prize winners and even a Haggis shop.

The way the website is written also seems very formal, even though as a reader it is obvious that this page isn't to be taken seriously, but if it was someone reading that didn't know anything about a haggis, the way the page was written makes what is being said almost believable.

The website also provides facts about Haggis hunting which again, to someone who knew nothing about haggis, information such as this could come across as very believable, also another sign that the makers of this website have tried to make it as authentic as possible is the way they have written real peoples names and where they are located in the section of 'Grand Prize Winners'.

Another way of making this website look Authentic is the description of the Gleneagles hotel and all of the features that make it sound very believable and would be suitable for a grand prize.

4 signs that this Website is a spoof.

1. The haggisclopedia states that haggis have one leg shorter than the other. Any apparent difference in length could be due to the haggis’s habit of standing in a bog to confuse predators.

2. The pictures of the different types of haggis show a haggis in its 'cooked' state.

3. The website shows how to make a whisky with a Haggis chaser, Bloody Haggis, Haggis Sunrise, Haggis on the beach, Russian Haggis, Haggis Margarita, and a personal favourite, Sloe comfortable haggis against the wall.

4. Another Haggis Fact also states: Some say the spider watched by Robert the Bruce was escaping from a Haggis foraging for food.

2. The first sign of authenticity the makers of this website had used, was stating on the web page 'official Website' so as a viewer of this website not knowing that it was bogus i could quite easily click on the button that said enter, believing that this website was the real deal official website of the republic of a place called Mollosia.

Like the previous Haggis Website, this one also looks very professional and believable with a tool bar down the side giving links to click on like Media, Shop, Special links, Culture, Government agencies, Government information, History and General information.

The website also has the republics logo or national emblem at the top of the page, and there is another language be it real or not above the special links, which make the page also seem very authentic to its Mollosian Culture.

At the bottom of the page there is a small box showing the date and time In Mollosian standard time and even the weather in Mollosia, despite the fact that the way the weather is written it still looks quite believable and authentic for a website.

4 signs that this website is a spoof.

1. The president is referred to as 'His excellency'

2. The pictures on the website when clicking on the link to receive a message from 'His Excellency' show very random pictures supposedly representing the great republic of Mollosia, for example a dry dead bush, a water fountain, and a tall steel structure, with coloured material hanging off it.

3. In the Message from 'His excellency' he says, "I hope that this site will serve as an invaluable information resource on Molossia, in its unique place in the international world of today."

4. The 'Dead Dog War' and the picture of the battlefield and war monument.

2. The martin Luther King Website.

a) Before even viewing this website, i basically believe that it will be a dedication to martin Luther King with information and a bibliography about his life and death.

3. First Impressions of the Website.

I thought at First that this website was exactly what i expected, it covers the history etc about Martin Luther King Jr, and it had a big picture of him on the front page, but when i actually looked closely and read the links for rap lyrics, and the so called 'True historical Examination' It became clear to me that this Website was a spoof, but on first inspection the website appears to be authentic, because the boldness of the main links IE the historical side the civil rights library etc is what stands out first and catches our eye, and even then the colours of the website and pencil drawing look authentic and believable, but when our eyes wander to the other links and really read the page it becomes quite clear it is just a spoof.

4. If i knew nothing about Martin Luther king this website would seem like an authentic recollection of his life, but i do know about him even before searching facts about him on Google and know that most of the information is made up and entertaining material, but done in such a way that it appears to be authentic and extremely believable.

1.Reading: A brief history of the Internet
This website covers all aspects of the Internet, by providing many subheadings, and a detailed explanation of each of these subheading.
The website contains such information as,

-The origins of the Internet
-The initial inter netting
-Concepts proving the ideas
-Transition to widespread infrastructure
-The role of documentation
-Formation of the broad community
-Commercialization of the technology
-History of the future

2.Reading: History of the World Wide Web
The following website covers the development of computers till the 1960's, History of Electronic Mail, Search engines and basic net data.
More specifically information for this topic, the website contains information about the Internet and the world wide web, and how it has progressed throughout the years.
We are given the differences of what the Internet and the World wide web is, and how both their advantages and disadvantages should be taken into account when researching a topic.

Week three log UPC0004

2008-03-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

The lecture
Today's lecture was only a very short lecture, which included information about online libraries and databases.
We were asked by the lecturer to name a list of databases and online libraries that we can remember, and to list all the advantages and disadvantages to using a library online, and how important it is to reference online articles accurately.
Having learnt that marks can be deducted if referencing is incorrect was particularly vital to me, because for part of one of my upcoming assignments about euthanasia, i have to include 9 references so learning how to reference properly will be beneficial to me.

On the other hand, this lecture didn't really provide me with all that much information, as i knew most of what i was being taught, and anything extra for example learning about the advantages and disadvantages of a database or an online library was irrelevant to me, because i usually only use Google to reference or find websites, and I have found that this has been my most reliable source of information through the years.
The lecturer did however bring to my attention that to make my research even more constructive by using Google i could use the advanced search to narrow down my search topic and provide me with more specific information on my particular subject.

The Tutorial
This weeks Tutorial was an extension of what was introduced in the lecture, so all of the tasks were related to the lecture and the topic of research.
I found this tutorial helpful to me, as it was mainly just refreshing and polishing up what I had already learnt, except i found the tips about how to research beneficial, as I am always having trouble collecting data on the Internet, mainly due to poor search techniques.
After this weeks tutorial, i can now research my topics for upcoming assignments with ease, by following the simple research tips.

2.
The following are 10 useful research tips.
-Use synonyms when searching
-The keyword research has to be specific and focusing on 3-5 key phrases each page.
-utilize grammatical differences of the key words such as abbreviations, merged, separated and hyphened key phrases.
-Use quotations wherever possible.
-Take into account what website you may be searching and the nationality, so keywords should be written accordingly.
-On Google use the advanced search
-Use more precise search engines for example the ecu library online if looking for something in the Ecu library.
-Be sure of what you are searching
-Develop a great search strategy
-Think to yourself what type of data are you aiming to collect?

who do you think would use online journals and how would it help them?
Online journals could be used by absolutely anyone of any age with access to a computer.
Journals are a good idea to keep track of business information, lecture and tutorial information for students at university's or students at high school, or every day people wanting to keep a journal so they can vent their thoughts for other people to see.
Not only do you have to use a journal to write, but you can also set up a blog simply to browse what other people have written to inspire you or maybe to teach you and get a better insight into particular subjects.
This could help people to gain an understanding of a subject from all different people perspectives and open their mind to a different way of thinking. Or a blog could help someone to retain their information or to simply just write whatever may be on that persons mind to reflect on later.

3. Screen shots

I found this article by using Google and searching for 'global warming articles'.
This article mainly goes into Detail about how global warming is affecting the arctic climate, and what that will mean for the future of our world and the arctic.

Medline Search Results: Global Warming.

1.Summary

Basically this article discusses the affects of global warming on the arctic and how it is increasing at a deadly rate.
The article tells us the effects of global warming on the arctic and what that means not only for the world, but also the sea life, and the effects of the declining number of krill and how that will impact most of the wildlife in the arctic, as krill is the main source of food for whales, seals, fish and penguins.
The article also discusses the decline of the temperature in some places, and the increase of the temperature in other places, and also the research being put into global warming in the Antarctic.

1.Reading: Finding what you want on the web
The Article 'Finding what you want on the web', discusses good searching and how it is hard at first to break away from the Google search cycle, because most of the subjects you want to research haven't come out in books yet.
The article then goes on to discuss wide ranging web indices and also how searching well can be difficult and confusing if not done properly, partly because the web is too big, and just getting bigger.

2.Reading 2 bare bones lesson 7: basic search tips
The Website gives the reader some basic search tips and examples of how to use these search tips in order to make a more definitive and better quality search, and can be used on most search engines in their basic search option.
Some of these examples include,

-Put your most important keywords first in the string, IE: dog breed family pet choose

-Use double quotation marks (" ") around phrases to ensure they are searched exactly as is, with the words side by side in the same order, IE: "bye bye miss American pie"

-Type keywords and phrases in lower case to find both lower and upper case versions. Typing capital letters will usually return only an exact match, IE: president retrieves both president and President

-When searching within a document for the location of your keyword(s), use the "find" command on that page.

Week two log UPC0004

2008-03-06T17:55:00.000-08:00

The Lecture
In this weeks lecture, the second week of my university learning experience, i was given information about everything to do with application skills.

I was taught mainly how to use microsoft word effectively, and this was explained in detail, from how to create spreadsheets, powerpoint slideshows, accessing the internet and also specific browser statistics from January 2008, common PC tasks, and how to gain a better and more in depth understanding of internet navigation, and how to bookmark and add wep pages into my favourties.

The Tutorial

When this particular tutorial was introduced to me, i had a bit of a carefree attitude and wasnt prepared to take down many notes, because i thought i knew how to do most of these activites, such as creating a spreadsheet before.
As the tutorial progressed I started to tune in and gain more of an understanding of how every specific detail of microsoft word and how the internet could be used more efficiently, which was beneficial to me, and expanded my knowledge of this subject.

More Specifically this tutorial was beneficial to me, as i gained an understanding of how to create a spreadsheet, which is something i have had difficulty with in the past, and i wanted to learn more about it, so that in future i can create a spreadsheet for any subject, with ease.

The Tutorial: Microsoft Word

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Microsoft Excel:

Pie Chart:

Bar Graph:

1.Reading: Using MS Word for APA Tasks
This document is an extremely useful tool to accomplish any task using Microsoft word for APA tasks.
Each page has two major headings or instructions of what it is going to explain, and underneath each heading is a step by step instruction of how to carry out this task, and done in such a way that is straight forward, easy to use, informative and very useful in completing any task there is to complete on Microsoft word.

2.Reading: Graphic File Formats
The document for Adobe photo shop gives information, definitions and instructions on any type of graphic file.
This website runs through the steps of what a bitmap is and how to use a bitmap to create a wallpaper, why there are such things as a compressed format, what interlacing is, information about the Jpeg format, the tagged image file format, and a photo shop Document.

Week one log UPC0004

2008-03-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

The lecture:
The first lecture of the university preparation course, was mainly an introduction to university life, computing, rules and regulations about plagiarism, late assignments, what to do if we need extensions on assignments and our duties and expectations as students at the university I found this lecture beneficial to me as it introduced me into university life, and made me aware of what was expected of me in all areas, as an undergraduate at ECU.

The tutorial:
The first Tutorial of my university preparation course gave me a better understanding and put my mind at ease about any questions or doubts i once had in my head, which inhabited me to perform or enjoy this learning experience to my full potential.
I learnt all of the essential information to achieve having a smooth and inspirational learning experience at the campus, and where to go or what to do if i need any help with any general queries.
In this particular tutorial, i also became aware of the standards of work to be expected, what guidelines i would have to meet to pass the course, and the learning outcomes of the course, which i found very helpful, so i could already plan for the future, to set goals, and prioritise my time effectively.

The Tutorial.

1.Done

2.Done

3.Done

4.Done

5.Done

6.Done

7.

1.Reading: Welcome to PC Lube and Tune

The first reading of week one was basically a website that discussed the basic essentials from your PC online.
The website contained many subheadings that can be found and brought up on the Internet, and under each sub heading was a definition of what the term meant, so this website was basically like a dictionary for the Internet.

2.Reading: How stuff works

Similar to the previous website, this one offers information and definitions for how your PC works, but in much more detail and with even more subheadings.
The website offers such information as, Hardware basics, networking, memory, other hardware, power supplies, and also definitions for anything from what a hard disk is, to what a motherboard is.
The website is aimed at teaching us about using our PCs, the definitions of some of the lingo used in relation to computers, their definitions, and how to properly use these functions on our own PCs.