MLIS768 Spring 2024

 Digital Media Literacy I have spent a lot of time discussing the pros and cons of social media usage and how to stay safe when using social media. I have also briefly focused on keeping children safe on social media. Parents and teachers need to be vigilant when children are using the internet. It is also imperative to teach children how to safely navigate the internet and use social media when they are on their own and how to discern if what they see online is real or not. This is where the topic of media literacy comes into play.  What is Media Literacy?  Media literacy refers to our ability to navigate media. How do we access, analyze, or evaluate the types of media we see every day? Media literacy is especially important for children to know. They are growing up in a world saturated with various forms of media. This includes movies, television, the internet, video games, and social media. Media literacy for kids involves teaching them how to critically engage with ...

  CIPA & COPPA Laws Ever wonder why the standard age for signing up for a social media account begins at the age of thirteen?  Acts such as the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) were created to protect the personal information and privacy of children younger than thirteen years old.                                                  Image provided by wikiHow COPPA and CIPA The Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act  (COPPA) is a federal law developed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). COPPA grants parents control over information collection concerning children under 13 on websites and online services, requiring websites to abstain from gathering personal data such as names or email addresses.  The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)  was enacted by Cong...

 Privacy in Social Media Privacy and Safety Recap Over the last two weeks, I have written about privacy and safety. I discussed Acceptable Use Policies in Technology implemented by public libraries to keep their computers and those using them safe. The previous week, I discussed how websites and applications we use daily on computers or devices track our information and sometimes sell it to third parties to create targeted advertising. Privacy Settings in Social Media This week I am focusing again on Privacy but not how to protect your password or prevent companies from tracking your information but on the information we provide that can be used to stalk, steal our identities, snoop, and even prevent us from getting a job.  I read the article 'Hands off my data! 15 default privacy settings you should change right now' by the Washington Post, which provided a guide on navigating the privacy settings of Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. Since the article's c...

 Acceptable Use Policies for Technology (AUP) AUPs in Schools Acceptable use policies (AUP) play a crucial role in promoting responsible, secure, and productive use of technology resources provided by an institution. I remember the acceptable use policies for technology when I was teaching, and they were student-centric. The policy focused on what students could not access and how they should behave when using school technology. It also did not include anything about using AI tools, as they were not as popular or developed when I was teaching. Teachers and administrators had access to a monitoring tool called Go Guardian, which allowed them to monitor the websites students accessed in the classroom. The tool permitted teachers to block certain websites, send messages or video call students, close tabs, open websites for students and set alerts when students attempted to access blocked websites. This tool prevented students from accessing unsafe websites, but it was not a substitute...

 Social Media and Privacy Is there such a thing? Amazon Browsing History As I was scrolling through Facebook I noticed an advertisement for shoes. I thought to myself "how did Facebook know I wanted new shoes?" Is someone listening to the conversation that I had with my husband about wanting a new pair of shoes? I then went to Amazon to look for the pair of shoes I saw on the advertisement and before I typed the name of the brand the homepage also had the similar shoes from the brand on its front page. I figured out that my husband was browsing for shoes on our shared Amazon account. This led me to a quick Google search and learned that Facebook Ads utilize cookies or the browsing history of users who have visited Amazon's website. These cookies communicate with Facebook about what you searched for and then generate adds for the same or similar items.  You can learn more about it by reading this Market Plus Article and this Business Insider Article.    Image p...

Professional Learning Networks Professional Learning Network (PLN) Four areas contribute to the effectiveness of Professional Learning Networks (PLN): affective (emotional support and motivation), social (building professional relationships), cognitive (engaging new ideas), and identity (offering opportunities for self-reflection, goal-setting, and professional growth). I identify with the cognitive aspect the most. I benefit from sharing ideas with peers and implementing their suggestions.  Wishing for a PLN While I was teaching, during our lunch break, we were informed that due to the spread of the Coronavirus, schools would be closed the following day and remain closed for the foreseeable future. I remember rushing back to my classroom without a plan in place, scrambling to come up with some sort of idea on how to best educate my students when I wasn't with them. I taught at a high-needs, low-income school, which meant that we did not have the resources to send students home wit...