Reflections...

I thought about writing a reflective post last week, but when I looked at the schedule I realized that it was due this week I decided to save my thoughts and put them here.


Self Directed Learning

I began the semester very interested in how the internet worked, hacktivism (where I did a lot of research, including compiling a large list of resources), comic books in the digital age, piracy, and after my mom was diagnosed I started focusing on how digital culture (which will forever be referred too--at least in this blog post--dc) can help families.

I became slightly obsessed with Goodreads, making humongous lists and taking the quizzes created by others.

I started contributing to Wikipedia by helping to edit their content when I saw problems. 

I did a ton of research on K9 Web Protection, and even offered feedback on their website.

While my group was working together on a project, each of us had our own topics to research and did a lot of research on our individual topics that we shared with the group. You can see those blog posts on my blog.

I contributed a lot of these ideas on Google+, but I'm not very tech-savvy so I don't know how to link to those comments.

Because I work 20 hours a week, and most of those hours are in front of a computer I have spent a lot of time consuming content (at least I have for the last three years), but for this last semester I have started being a lot smarter in how I handle my time in front of the screen. Instead of consuming, I have started creating things and connecting with others. This helped me feel a lot better about my time online because I felt like I was a contributing member of society, instead of watching what others were doing.

I've also realized how much dc can have a positive effect on a family. My family has been doing a blog for my mom as she's been going through treatments, and it has been a wonderful resource to not only let others know how she's doing, but so that she can get support from others in the community.

Collaboration

The nature of our group project was to give a fireside, and ultimately to do a YouTube playlist. This required each member to engage in self-directed research to present as part of a group. I did a lot of research in how to build trust between teenagers and their parents, as well as how to keep the internet safe. I also looked into  quotes from church leaders.

Along with creating part of the content of our fireside and YouTube playlist, I created a survey for our group, and did a lot of the group posts for the class (for example, I did our group final, and part of the case study).

I was there whenever we did a webinar to present, as well as when we presented to the class.

I also proposed a lot of ideas when we were formulating our group, and tried to help keep our group grounded when it came to deciding our project would be by asking questions like who our audience would be, how likely it was to happen, what the logistics would entail, among others.

I actually started out in the CCC group, but didn't feel like I was a good match. I decided to do something related to the family before I found out there was a Digital Sweet Home Group. I asked the group if I could join, and the graciously allowed me to help.

I volunteered to still help the CCC group during the semester, and tried to give them feedback on their website when it initially came out.

I did a blog post on the media fast (which I thought a group was working on), but it didn't seem that anyone used it.

I gave suggestions to other groups, for example I turned the Mormon Badges group onto organizations and sites such as the More Good Foundation and LDS's Mormonism In the News: Getting It Right blog, as well as proposing questions to different groups and giving feedback to them on Google+.  (again, I'm not sure how to link those posts to here). Another example is that I talked to the Menagerie group about making sure artists knew what type of license artists that posted on their magazine would be publishing their work under among others.  I also gave groups suggestions in class.

I also tried to post things on Google+ that the class would find interesting, whether directly or indirectly related to class. One example is I did this over Thanksgiving break because I had seen Wreck-It Ralph and remembered talking to the class about it.


Others' Assistance


I loved everyone in my group (Rebecca, Allie, Cami, and Audrey), they were great to work with. The other two people I enjoyed talking to were Katie Wilkie and Greg Williams. I have known Katie for a couple years, and could tell she was super excited about the class. I talked to her about the class and her project, and it helped get me excited about the class and my project. Greg was also really great, he helped us with our project and seemed to try to help everyone the best he could.


Digital Literacy


I discussed this a little under my first category, but I will go more in-depth here. As I mentioned, I spend around 20 hours a week on a computer because of work. In the past, I have spent most of that time consuming, and there are a couple of reasons for that. The first is that my work has a policy where we can't use Facebook until after 5 pm, and the second is because I don't use Facebook, or social media in general, very often. I have a hard time staying connected to people, not because I don't care about them, but because social interactions are hard for me; I'm not a natural "socialite."

Being in this class has helped me balance my internet and media usage into a more healthy and positive form. I didn't have a negative perception of digital media at all before I took this class, in fact quite the opposite. I know the power of digital media when it comes to marketing, and have had experience marketing products through social media. I simply don't enjoy using the social part of digital media for myself, and unfortunately for me I thought that social media was synonymous with digital media. I didn't realize that when I did things like make massive lists of movies online made me part of a niche community interested in the same things. Instead of browsing through iwastesomuchtime.com,I have instead focused my efforts in tasks that connect me to others and allow me to create.

I have also realized how connected everything is now. I am not an early adapter, I like letting others figure things out and using the new technology once it has been tested and proven. (I am grateful that there are early adapters though) As I've been in a class with early adapters and online "socialites" (I use that phrase carefully), it's helped me realize that things are moving more and more online, which has helped me to learn some of the issues to watch out for. One issue in my life this class has helped me already with is the idea of tiered service. I am moving to North Carolina, and have already helped pick out the type of internet I will be using. Time Warner was really our only option for internet service, and as I learned about the tiered models that are a potential threat I feel like I'm armed with the tools to be able to fight those types of issues. (Time Warner already has a model that makes users pay for more data.)

This class has been really hard, because it has forced me to do so manythings that are unfamiliar to me. While I will use some of the skills I have gained, and keep some stored in my head for some probably unforeseen use in the future, I have learned how to use digital media to my advantage in a safe, positive, and healthy way.

Evaluation of Our Project as a Whole

We have all enjoyed our project, but it's not over yet. Our group (excluding me unfortunately because I'm moving to North Carolina) will be doing a fireside sometime in January or February about the on we have been researching and wanting to present.

This has been a very positive experience for all of us. We each had a common interest in the family and digital culture, and were able to do our own research in the niche we were interested in. I think I speak for all of us when I say that the most important contribution we have made has been to ourselves. We have come to a greater appreciation of how digital media can have a positive effect on the family.

It took a while to get the project started because we each had different ideas and we weren't sure what direction we wanted go. Some of the ideas we thought about included starting a blog, a YouTube playlist/videos, creating a brochure of sorts, doing a fireside, doing webinars, among others. Because it took a while to decide we felt like we were behind all the other groups, but when we decided upon doing a fireside we got excited.

Finding a venue to do a fireside proved to be a greater challenge than we anticipated. One thing none of us realized was that the leadership we talked to wanted to know more than simply what our topic was; they wanted to know specifics. If we were to do it again we would have done our research much earlier, and focused on that as soon as we started looking for a venue. That way we would have the information to give leadership when we were asked what we wanted to present.

We also decided to do webinars as practice runs for the fireside. We tried a couple different programs, and liked GoToMeeting best. The first two webinars we did among ourselves to try and become familiar with the program. The third webinar we had family and friends watching as we presented our program. While we felt like it was successful, we had some unanticipated technical problems.

When it became apparent that we wouldn't be able to schedule a fireside we decided to do a YouTube playlist, which means we went full circle because a YouTube playlist was floated around at the beginning of the semester. We even found a Google+ comment that mentioned doing a YouTube playlist recently that was from a couple months ago. We all got a chuckle out of that.

One of the major pitfalls of our project that we wished we had realized early on is how long it takes to organize a fireside. The chances that we would have been able to do one would have greatly gone up had we decided we wanted to do one at the beginning of our project, instead of a couple weeks in.

We also wish we would have done a group blog. Because we talked about doing a blog, but decided against it, we didn't think to do a group blog to post our research to. We feel like it would have been much better to have everything in a centralized location instead of each of us using our personal blogs for our research. It also could have helped us be more motivated because we could have seen what everyone else was doing.

While we didn't make our goal to do a fireside, it was still a valuable experience. We learned a lot from our individual research, as well as from each other. We also became friends. We have been able to use our resources to help each other out, not only with our project but with other aspects of our lives. We hope that the YouTube playlist we created will benefit others.

Individual Questions

1) According to the Cluetrain Manifesto, the internet is

          A)  a conversation

          B)  bad for business

          C)  a tool for businesses to control markets

          D)  a passing fad

http://cannonjake326.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-09-12T20:53:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=9&by-date=false

2) The mission of Goodreads is to "help people find and share books they love." What does Goodreads wish to help improve in the world "along the way?"

http://www.goodreads.com/about/us

3) How does Rebecca Graham's blog post reflect the concept of "release early release often?"

http://youcangrowideas.blogspot.com/2012/10/proposing-our-home-page.html

4) When it comes to digital media we often get caught up in consuming content, whether it be watching a video online, spending  time surfing the internet, online shopping, etc... This creates an unbalanced and unhealthy usage of digital media. An easy reaction to spending too much time consuming digital media would be to limit time spent consuming. A more effective approach would be to take a step back and find ways to help create positive environments and content, and connecting with other. This creates a much more balanced usage of digital media instead of wasting time.

http://cannonjake326.blogspot.com/2012/10/family-togetherness.html

http://cannonjake326.blogspot.com/2012/11/shifting-thoughts-on-digital-media.html

http://cannonjake326.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-parents-balance.html

5) In Rachel Mahrt's blog post she gives an overview, as well as examples of transmedia. She does not touch on the subject, but it is apparent from her examples of transmedia that it has become an effective way to advertise.

http://mahrtrachel326.blogspot.com/2012/09/transmedia-storytelling.html

Group Final

Project Overview

Our group formed because we were interested in helping families gain digital literacy and see digital culture in a positive light. We also wanted to help unify families by helping to bridge the gap between children and parents. We set out to accomplish this by holding a fireside for parents, but because of scheduling difficulties we ended up doing webinars for our families and putting a YouTube playlist together. Here is a link to a Prezi we made that goes more in detail: http://prezi.com/ipylfn4efmvt/the-story-of-digital-sweet-home/

Digital Civics

One aspect of our project was to help parents learn how to use modern technologies and websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Part of the reason we did this was to help parents see digital culture in a positive light, but another was to help parents learn how to help their children. We recommended that parents teach their children how to interact and be a good citizen online.

Beta

We were planning a big event at the end of the semester, but Dr. Burton encouraged us to do more of a preliminary event. He helped us realize that we needed to do "beta testing" of our product early, and follow the "release early release often" model instead of waiting for a finished product. We did multiple webinars, starting with only our group and expanding to do a webinar with our families.

Social Capital

We viewed ourselves as a bridge between parents and their children because we were teenagers recently and grew up with the digital age. We wanted to portray digital media in a positive light, which means we give a lot of stock to online currency (not using credit cards to pay for things online). In a way, we were helping to teach others to give credence to online social currency.

K9 & YouTube

I've been searching for a good YouTube video to explain K9 Web Protection. I've been all through the K9 website and been on YouTube while looking. I've come across a couple decent videos and a lot of bad ones.

The main problem I have with the decent ones is that they are usually pretty long. Another problem I have is that when you are watching a video to explain how to use K9 there are several videos explaining how to get around the program. That's one thing I worry about when using these types of software, whether we're protecting people or teaching them how to get around things. I like the idea of a safety net, but I worry about sharing a video that might help others find a way to get around K9.

When I was on K9's website I found that they provide other ways to share their services. However, I don't feel that it's very effective. They provide the files to download the files to burn to a cd, as well as use of their banner to share with others. They also provide links to where others have talked about their website. I wish they would have created their own video on how to use their services instead of leaving it to other people.

My Parents & Balance

As I've been continuing to do research for my presentation, one thing I've done lots of pondering upon without coming up with any brilliant solutions of my own is how to create trust between parents and children, specifically teenagers, when it comes to internet and media use. 

I haven't been a teenager for a while, but even so I still remember wanting my autonomy from my parents when it came to how I used a computer or my cell phone. It's hard because teens want freedom from their parents, but they aren't old enough to be adults. Cell phones and computers have also become integrated with school, which has complicated how parents can monitor their children's media usage.

I started visiting parenting websites and other reports to come up with a solution for my presentation. I looked up more than just how to monitor teen's digital media use, I looked up how to build trust between parents and teenagers. A lot of what was recommended was for parents to set up clear boundaries, and not to enforce rules sometimes and not others or only when parents feel like it so that teens understand what's expected. It was also recommended that teens be involved in the rule-making process; and that when they are involved not only are they more apt to follow the rules, but that teens have more success in other areas of their life too because they learn how to deal with rules and regulations and how to follow them and succeed.

This is the approach my parents took. They set up the rules, but if I felt like a rule was unfair or I felt like it was being unjustly enforced I could have a discussion about it and we would come up with a solution. That doesn't mean that just because I didn't like a rule or thought it was unfair my parents did away with it, but I did feel like my parents valued my opinion and it gave me ownership over those rules.

This last part was missing from my presentation. I know I wanted to cover it, but now I have a much better idea in how to present it.

While I looked at many, many websites (and lots of them gave similar advice), this is the best one I found:

http://teenbrain.drugfree.org/tools/underconstruction/boundaries.html

Shifting Thoughts on Digital Media

When I was growing up my parents limited the amount of time we could spend watching television, surfing the internet, or playing video games. As I became a teenager the amount of time I spent on the computer increased drastically, and it became hard for my parents to enforce a limit on "screen time" because I needed to do homework. Things also were a little more complicated during this time not everyone had a cell phone, so I spent a lot of time on the computer to communicate with my friends.

My parents and I had disagreements about what constituted "screen time," and how much time I should spend on the computer. I am well past those days, but I still remember them. In our fireside I am discussing balance. I thought about how to ensure that children, and especially teenagers, can find balance between digital content and everything else. As I turned to the internet and other resources to research how to find balance with digital media I realized that the best way to find balance when it comes to teenagers is not to put a simple time limit on screen time, but to use it as a teaching mechanism.

Instead of creating time limits, create places and times when digital media is off limits. For example, have a bowl everyone puts their phones in during dinner and make sure the tv is off, or have everyone turn their phones in at a certain time each night before they go to bed. It's still a great idea to limit time vegging in front of the tv, but it might also be a good idea to create time when teenagers and kids can read and/or exercise.

Another good idea is to help children and teenagers learn how to interact with others online. It's a good teaching opportunity, and instead of sending the message that spending time online is bad teach them how to combat cyber-bullying or learn something new or any other number of great activities.

Taking a different approach from limiting screen time really opened my eyes to the opportunities available via digital media.

Here's one link I found that was very helpful:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/parenting-tips/recommended-screen-time-for-children

V for Vendetta Character List

I know there are a couple V for Vendetta fans out there who may be interested in this post.

This is completely speculative and informal research, but it's something I am interested in. When Alan Moore first created the character, he said that it was going to be a character in the story that was V. Much like Batman has a hidden identity, but instead of Gotham not knowing the identity it's the reader. Moore has made comments and hinted at it but never come out and said who it was (at least as far as I have seen, he very well may have and I just missed it).

There are others that I've found that are interested, but a lot of people say that knowing the identity doesn't matter and might even detract from the story. I don't think knowing the identity would detract from the story, I am merely interested.

Here's the brief research I've done into who the possible suspects are. (I did it without rereading the graphic novel, but I'm planning on going back and revising the list when I have more time)

K9 Web Protection & Balance

For our fireside my focus is "balance." There are many directions to take this, but I think I'm going to talk a little bit about how to control digital media in the home. I plan on talking about time spent using digital media, but I also want to discuss programs that we can use to help us balance.

One thing I decided to look into was filters that can be used and I came across K9 Web Protection. It has a great list of features. Here's the list from the website:

• Web site blocking by category, including pornography, illegal drugs, personals/dating, violence/hate/racism
• Easy pre-set levels to choose from depending on the age of your children
• SafeSearch enabled on all search engines to show cleaner search results
• Time restrictions, including NightGuard(tm), to disallow internet access during designated times
• Custom “always allow” and “always block” lists for your personal preferences
• Ability to override a block with the parent password
• Tamper resistant for more savvy kids
• Reports showing activity to categories of web sites
• Real-time categorization of new web sites
• Compatible with Windows or Mac machines

As far as the features go, it seems to work pretty well. The biggest perk (to me at least) is that it's free and it does a good job.

I did find the settings to be a bit clunky. For example, I've tried resetting the password multiple times and I haven't been able to create one that I want. Instead, I have used the temporary password that they emailed me. 

For their levels of protection they do have pre-set levels to choose from, but I wanted something in-between their settings and didn't see an easy way to customize it.

Also, the reports showing activity on the computer is also a little hard to understand.

In spite of these criticisms I do think this is a good product if you are in the market for one, it just may take time to learn how to use it.

Digital Media in the News

My family and I watched BYUtv's rebroadcast of the BYU Georgia Tech game last night. During the game I talked about Hurricane Sandy with my mom, and she wanted to watch the news to learn more about it. There was a segment on KSL called "Growing up in a digitally connected world." It surprised me, but it was fun to see that the news was discussing the topic my group is working on. It also made me wonder if my group is timely, or a little behind the curve (because of early adapters).

The report covered two families that are very digitally savvy. It was interesting to see, but I didn't feel like the two families they showed were truly indicative of a normal family that deals with these issues. I know while I was growing up it was much different. We didn't have a computer or the internet for many, many years. And when we did have internet the time we were allowed to be on was quite limited.

I did like that they were casting a positive light on digital media. I also realized that the best way to make a decision on how digital media will be used in a home is to take a holistic approach, looking at expert advice,  personal experiences, religious suggestions, pros & cons, etc...

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=22759000&nid=148&title=growing-up-social-in-a-digitally-connected-world

I have long loved the talks of President Eyring. He preaches patience and a way to be humbly confident. I have also viewed him as having very sound judgement as well as being incredibly competent and patient.

In my group we are portraying the positive effects of digital media in our day. One quote by President Eyring that has been running through my head when I think about this topic is as follows:

"The warning not to judge what is of God as evil nor what is from the devil to be good is a helpful caution to those of us who would help the young learn to choose the right. They will see some choices as good, or at least neutral, that we may see at first as evil. Before we begin to force a choice with what authority we may have, it will be wise to apply the test in Moroni ourselves. More than once I have been restrained and more than once I have been energized to action by those practical rules. What I at first thought was evil came clear to me as being neutral. And what I had thought was neutral was revealed to me as inviting to do evil. And by the teenager knowing that I would apply the test myself in humility, I could make it more likely that they would try the test for themselves." 

                   "A Life Founded In Truth" August 15, 2000 BYU Speeches

                    http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=305

I think that we often view digital media in a negative way. There are obvious reasons for that because there is so much filth out there. While we may not be able to do much about the filth being produced, we can filter it and use digital media for positive things. 

Digital Sweet Home Survey

Here is a quick view of our survey. One note, the last question about topics being discussed will only be shown if people mark "yes" or "maybe" on the previous question.

Default Question Block

What is your gender?

  Male

  Fem ale

What is your age?

  Under 12   13-17

  18-29   30-44   45-59   60+

Do you have

  Children

  Grandchildren

Of the following list, what types of digital media do you use?

  Em ail

  Ins tant m es s aging

  Social m edia (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc...)   Blogs

  Webcam

  Gam ing (Such as com puter, internet, video cons oles , etc...)   Video webs ites s uch as YouTube or Hulu

  Brows ing the internet

  Other

  None

How often do you use digital media? (For examples of some types of digital media see the previous question)

  Never

  Rarely

  Som etim es

  Often

  All of the Tim e

Why do you use digital media?

  To connect with fam ily

  To connect with friends / acquantances

  Entertainm ent   Work / s chool   Other

I don't us e digital m edia

What concerns do you have regarding digital media?

Please share some of your experiences with digital media.

Would you be interesting in attending a meeting discussing digital media and the positive effects it has?

  Yes

  Maybe

  No

What topics would you be interested in hearing discussed?