Digital Citizenship and Digital Access

The nine elements of digital citizenship

1. Digital Access – Full electronic participation in society. Digital exclusion of any kind does not improve the growth of users in an electronic society. All individuals should have fair access to technology no matter who they are. To become productive citizens, we need to be committed to equal digital access (Ribble, 2011).
2. Digital Commerce – Electronic buying and selling of goods. The mainstream availability of Internet purchases of things like clothing, cars and toys has become commonplace to many users. At the same time, equivalent amount of illegal/immoral goods and services are evolving, such as gambling and pornography (Ribble, 2011).
3.  Digital Communication – Electronic exchange of information. The growing digital communication options have changed everything because people are able to keep in constant communication with others.
4. Digital Literacy – Process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology. As new technologies arise, people need to learn how to use that technology quickly and appropriately. Digital citizenship involves educating people in a new way to develop their information literacy skills (Ribble, 2011).
5. Digital Etiquette – Electronic standards of conduct or procedure. Technology users often see this area as one of the most persistent problems when dealing with digital citizenship. Often rules and regulations are created or the technology is simply banned to stop inappropriate use (Ribble, 2011).
6.  Digital Law – Electronic responsibility for actions and deeds. Deals with the ethics of technology within a society. Users need to understand that stealing or causing damage to other people's work, identity or property online is a crime (Ribble, 2011).
7.  Digital Rights and Responsibilities – Those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world. There is a basic set of rights extended to every digital citizen, including the right to privacy and free speech. With these rights also come responsibilities (Ribble, 2011).
8. Digital Health and Wellness – Physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world.Eye safety, repetitive stress syndrome, and sound ergonomic practices are issues that need to be addressed in a new technological world. Users need to be taught about the inherent dangers of September/October 2011 31 technology, and how to protect themselves through education and training (Ribble, 2011).
9.  Digital Security (or Self-protection) - Digital security is basically protecting yourself in the digital world - protecting your identity, your data, your money, etc. While there are many publicized breaches of "secure" information featured regularly on the news, for most of us, a few simple steps can safeguard our cyber security. Backup data regularly (Ribble, 2011). 

The Five Fluencies

The Five Fluencys

Information Fluency: refers to the ability to unconsciously interpret information in all different forms and formats in order to extract necessary information that can and will be useful to us. The process involves the following steps.

• Ask
• Acquire
• Analyse
• Apply
• Assess

Solution fluency: The focal point of learning, so that we intuitively are able to adapt to new problems presented to us. This requires that the process be learnt and applied as often as possible until it becomes second nature, becoming an embedded skill. This means you need to know the process. These problems could be anything from learning a new skill, writing an essay, to creating artwork.

The process involves the following steps.

• Define
• Discover
• Design
• Deliver
• Debrief

Media Fluency: Involves both the communication aspect, as well as the literacy. We cannot produce something without knowing how to use the technology, but we cannot leverage the message without understanding this.

• Listening 
• Message 
• Verbalise
• Verify
• Medium
• Form
• Flow
• Alignment
• Leverage
• Message
• Content
• Outline
• Medium
• Audience
• ability
• Criteria

Collaboration Fluency: All over the world there are people who are communicating and working together…yet they may never meet face to face! The reality is with today’s technology, distance has become a concept that is relative.

An overview of the process:

• Establish
• Envision
• Engineer
• Execute
• Examine

Creative Fluency: Intelligence levels have traditionally only been measured in terms of math based thinking and linguistic skills. However, there are actually several levels of IQ. Gardner (1983) came up with the following:

• Visual-Spatial
• Linguistic - Verbal
• Logical – Mathematical
• Bodily – Kinaesthetic
• Musical
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal (often referred to as EQ – Emotional Quotient)
• Naturalistic

Digital Literacy and Information Fluency

Animal Planet Mermaids being discovered

Digital Footprints

A digital footprint is the data that is left behind by users on digital services. There are two main classifications for digital footprints: passive and active. A passive digital footprint is created when data is collected without the owner knowing, whereas active digital footprints are created when personal data is released deliberately by a user for the purpose of sharing information about oneself by means of websites or social media.

Purpose of the site and series

• Mermaids: The Body Found is a story about evolutionary possibility grounded in a radical scientific theory - the Aquatic Ape Theory, which claims that humans had an aquatic stage in our evolutionary past. Animal Planet brings viewers into the world where the legend is real. The film blends real-life events and phenomena with the story of two scientists who testify they found the remains of a never-before-identified sea creature.

The process

• MERMAIDS: THE BODY FOUND makes a strong case for the existence of the mermaid, a creature with a surprisingly human evolutionary history, whose ancestral branch splits off from a shared human root. The film is science fiction, using science as a springboard into imagination and centering the story on the following real-world events

The public’s response

• The people believe that Animal Planet has lost *all* credibility. Animal Planet aired two fake documentaries claiming to show scientific evidence of mermaids. The “scientists” interviewed in the show are actors, and there’s a brief disclaimer during the end credits.

The veracity of the series

• The show's executive producer Charlie Foley said they wanted people to think it was real and made it into a documentary-style program.
  

 My opinion of the success or lack thereof of Animal Planet’s campaign

• I think that people are taking this too seriously. I at first thought this was a true documentary with real scientists and authentic video footage. I was very excited and was firmly convinced that mermaids were real. I still believe that it could be a possibility.

How did Animal Planet use the information fluency process?

Ask - animal planet asks questions that make us doubt our knowledge and ask further questions about certain topics in this case doubting what we know about the oceans and the survival of 'mermaids'.

Acquire - Animal planet choose videos to portray their videos to the public in the clearest possible way.

Analyse - This is where animal planet formulate the information in order to motivate viewers to continue viewing the series and even consider trusting the information they are providing you with.

Apply - This is simply using the information that you have gained in a constructive manner in order to create a new leg for society to stand on and generate new forms of information.

Assess - This step is needed to gain a clear view of what you did wrong, take feedback from the target audience and apply it to make the site better.

Digital Communication

Clash Of Clans

1. Over view of the game
   Clash of Clans is an online multiplayer game in which players build a community, train troops, and attack other players to earn gold and elixir, and Dark Elixir, which can be used to build defenses that protect the player from other players' attacks, and to train and upgrade troops. The game also features a pseudo-single player campaign in which the player must attack a series of fortified goblin villages.
   The Logistics
   
   The Strategies
   There are various strategies in Clash of Clans which include the following:
   Beginning from the Beginning
   When you first start on Clash of Clans, you are given a tutorial. Note that you don't have to spend the gems it recommends and you do not need an army of wizards to take out the goblins.
   Your First Raid
   Attacking involves three fundamental parts covered in depth here; they will be explored later in terms of applying them at higher levels.
   Part 1 - Army composition
   Before you begin your battle, it is a good idea to train troops in your barracks. By the time you have finished raiding, they will be done.
   Part 2 - Picking the perfect base
   Look for badly deployed or nonexistent walls with an exposed Town Hall and weak defenses. At an early level, also try finding bases with open, exposed mortars that you can easily wipe.
   Part 3 - Strategy
   Strategy is a pretty endless subject - there are countless variations on attack techniques. However, there is one beginner strategy that always works.
   Defensive Strategies
   Part 1 - Defensive Units
   Once you get your first few defense results, see if you won or lost. If you lost, consider trying a different layout. If you won, you are ready to rock the leader-boards.
   Part 2 - Hit-pointsAs higher level players may have noticed, upgrading your buildings will increase the number of times a building can be hit before it's destroyed.
   Part 3 - Clan Castle  Troops
   If you are in a clan, the rest of your clan can donate troops to you. These troops will defend your base if you are attacked.
   Base Design
   Are you farming or hunting trophies?
   Wall Positioning - Your Walls should be positioned properly to avoid archers shooting over it, and wall breakers will have to be deployed in 2 waves.
   Farming
   Pick and choose your targets. You're farming, not trophy hunting. You're looking for targets with lots of available resources and defenses weak against your army.
   Trophy HuntingPick and choose your targets. You're trophy hunting, not farming. You're looking for targets with exposed Town Halls that you can easily pick off with a few archers.
   Balancing your Base
   You should always try to max out everything for your town hall level so that you get the best advantage when you upgrade the town hall.
   Raids
   An all out goblin raid.
2. The collaborative process within the clan you joined
   The clan i joined is a steady decent clan where they wage wars weekly on Mondays. The clan's name is the  Hybrid clan that requires 1100 trophies. Patience is a key in this game since waiting for building to be built, warriors to train and buildings to be upgraded will take your time. Learn how to be patient and save your gems by not spending it to fast forward time.
3. Communication used and examples of inappropriate communication as well as inappropriate behaviour.
   You can report foul language in the Global chat and get people temporarily booted from the servers, but there's no reporting function when chatting within your own clan. This makes the clan your child is in the real deciding factor in whether or not they should be playing the game. Fortunately, lots of clans have filled this need and you'll find plenty of "clean" clans full of fathers and sons, clans which advertise "No cursing allowed" (and offenders are quickly given the boot), clans of school chums, etc... If your kid joins up with a clan of college-age gamers, though, look out! Keep an eye on the chat thread in your child's clan (there's a buffer of the last 100 messages) until you're satisfied the members don't curse like sailors, and this game will provide many hours of enjoyment for you both.
4. The issue of how, if at all, this game could be used to educate the younger generation about digital citizenship.
   The young generation can learn to strategize and learn from their mistakes. Defeating enemies is not simply a matter of having the most troops. They must be deployed smartly, or you will lose. Similarly, watching footage of enemies storming your village can instruct players on how to deploy resources to win battles. It's similar to a football player watching game film to better his performance. Clash of Clans doesn't offer a deep learning experience, but players will be able to practice strategy and reflect on their decisions.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/clash-of-clans

Digital Etiquette

Digital Code of Conduct for education institutes
The etiquette guidelines that govern behavior when communicating on the Internet have become known as netiquette. Netiquette covers not only rules of behavior during discussions but also guidelines that reflect the unique electronic nature of the medium (Anderson, 2006). Digital Citizenship is having the knowledge, skills and attitudes need to demonstrate responsible, respectful and safe behaviour when using technology or participating in digital environments.

Acting Responsibly

• I will demonstrate ethical behaviour in the digital world just as I would in the real world
• I will use technology in an appropriate manner
• I will make appropriate digital decisions by committing myself to a high standard of conduct and procedure
• I will NOT break any laws or rules dealing with the use of technology
• I will follow the established rules surrounding technology and take responsibility for my actions

Acting Respectfully

• I will respect myself and others through my actionsI will demonstrate respectful digital etiquette
• I will not use technology in a harmful, degrading, or inappropriate manner
• I will demonstrate consideration of, and respect for, school and peer technological resources and use them appropriately
• I will model good digital behaviour

Acting Safely

• I will act safely in the digital world to prevent disruption or harm to myself and others
• I will work to have a balanced, healthy lifestyle relationship with technology
• I will protect myself and others by reporting digital abuse of people and property
• I will ensure the privacy of my own information

The penalty component of a code of conduct lets employees know in advance what to expect if they violate a code. Discipline procedures and policies should be clearly laid out in the code of conduct so there is gray area regarding penalties (Kokemuller, 2007). This is especially important in avoiding discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuits. Conduct code and penalty systems are typically established by human resources staff and share with supervisors and employees (Weckerle, 2013).

http://go.vsb.bc.ca/schools/johnoliver/About/Pages/Digital-Code-of-Conduct.aspx

Digital Rights and Responsibilities

Acceptable Use Policy For Education Institutes 

• Purpose
• This policy guides users of the CommunityNet (CNET) Learning VPN (LRNVPN) Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. It balances the user's ability to benefit fully from information technology with CNET's need for secure and effectively allocated and utilized IT resources (Government of Saskatchewan, 2012).
• Policy
• The CNET Learning Infrastructure Committee of the LSCAC has the responsibility of developing and implementing the CNET LRNVPN Acceptable Use Policy.
• Participating entities will follow guidelines and policies to enable reasonable and appropriate usage of information systems, and to perform their roles in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and policies. The LSCAC will periodically redefine and enhance these guidelines and policies (Government of Saskatchewan, 2012).
• This policy addresses circumstances that are new and evolving, or at least unfamiliar. It augments existing user group and the Ministry of Education policies. Users who are found in non-compliance of this policy will be subject to a range of actions up to and including the disconnection of CNET services.
• It is the responsibility of the user group Director, CEO and/or Director of Education to ensure that any local Acceptable Use Policies do not contravene this policy. There are three usage types for the LRNVPN infrastructure:
• Acceptable 
• Acceptable uses are activities required to conduct the businesses of education and libraries. They help fulfill the mandates set forth by School Divisions, Post Secondary Institutions, Libraries, First Nation education authorities and the Ministry of Education.
• Incidental
• Incidental uses are those that are neither explicitly permitted nor explicitly denied.  Incidental usage that becomes an imposition on others or burdens systems is no longer incidental, but unacceptable, and is not permitted.
• Unacceptable
• Unacceptable use impedes the work of others and may unintentionally damage the infrastructure. Unacceptable usage may generate extra costs for CNET and/or its CNET partners. It is unacceptable to:
• Use, copy, or otherwise access anyone else's files without authorization.
• Permit unauthorized access.
• Create or propagate computer viruses.
• Damage files, equipment, software, or data belonging to others.
•  Basic rights and responsibilities of students
1. You will only have access to computers that you have authorization over
2. You may not attempt to copy or assume another users’ password to gain access to their account
3. You are responsible for all resources allocated to you which include hardware and software
4. One is expected to adhere to agreements that are set out by third parties in connection to resources
5. You should be responsible for protecting your credentials in order to limit unauthorized access
6. Do not try access restricted portions of the network without permission
7. You are to adhere to policies and guidelines set out by the university/college at all times

The site I chose is from the Brown University which clearly states their AUP which can be viewed on the link above. This site is a prime example of what information and resources are available to its students. By reading the web page, one is able to gauge that the students at the university are privileged enough to have access to the internet. This means that they have digital access (EDC, 2015) (Institute of International Education, 2015) (Brown University, 2015).

Within their AUP, it explains all the information necessary for users of their network i.e. the students. The webpage starts off by out lining the importance of the AUP under the heading of “Purpose of the AUP” (Brown University, 2015). It then moves on to explain the “Scope of the Policy” which means that it outlines all the resources allocated to you and what your responsibility is in relation to Brown University. The next section covered is the “Policy” itself(Brown University, 2015). There are a number of subsections that link back the policy in which it explains what the policy will cover (Brown University, 2015). It also includes the penalties that may occur if one does not adhere to the AUP (Brown University, 2015).

Digital Security

Digital Security

Digital security is the protection of your digital identity - the network or Internet equivalent of your physical identity (Mitra, 2010). Digital security includes the tools you use to secure your identity, assets and technology in the online and mobile world.

The issues surrounding security

Security is one of the main issues of contemporary societies, and so are transparency and the preservation of civil rights.

Identity spoofing is a fairly common problem on social networks. Teens need to know how to make strong passwords and have to be taught not to share their passwords with others.

Social networks, and other online environments that encourage users to share information about themselves, can expose teens to identity theft.

Teach teens not to give out their full name and full birth date (just the day and month are fine) and to never give out their Social Insurance Number online.

Aside from the ethical concerns about downloading pirated music and videos, this also greatly increases the risk of downloading viruses or other malware.

Talk to teens about the risks associated with downloading software and visiting sketchy websites, and make sure any computers or mobile devices they use are equipped with good security software.

Teach teens to always check out strange offers or requests on a good anti-hoax site such aswww.snopes.com.

The Risk of T&C's

Electronic Transaction
Some federal, state and territory governments encourage the adoption of electronic commerce by enacting and enabling legalisation (Mitra, 2010). In Australia many bills and acts have been passed to resolve legal issues and make electronic transaction more authenticated, such as the Electronic Transaction Act (ETA).  

Privacy & Security
While shopping on the Internet, most people typically do not think about what is happening in the background (Mitra, 2010). Web shopping is generally very easy. We click on a related site, go into that site, buy the required merchandise by adding it to our cart, enter our credit card details and then expect delivery within a couple of days. This entire process looks very simple but a developer or businessmen knows exactly how many hurdles need to be jumped to complete the order (Mitra, 2010). Customer information has to pass through several hands so security and privacy of the information are a major concern. 

Copyright & Trademark
Many attempts have been made to address the issues related to copyrights on digital content. E-commerce has a tremendous impact on copyright and related issues, and the scope of copyrights is affecting how e-commerce evolves. It is essential that legal rules are set and applied appropriately to ensure that digital technology does not undermine the basic doctrine of copyright and related rights. From one perspective, the Internet has been described as "the world's biggest copy machine". 

Online Terms, Conditions, Policies and Laws
At the moment, most online privacy policies are produced by private businesses for individual companies. Governments are developing legislation to support and strengthen the privacy protection measures of many businesses (Mitra, 2010). These initiatives are aimed at regulating the storage, use and disclosure by businesses of personal information.Privacy legislation is designed to protect a person's personal information. The privacy laws of their host country affect overseas companies.

Different types of cyber-crime

• Hacking
  
• This is a type of crime wherein a person’s computer is broken into so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. In the United States, hacking is classified as a felony and punishable as such. In hacking, the criminal uses a variety of software to enter a person’s computer and the person may not be aware that his computer is being accessed from a remote location.
• Theft
• This crime occurs when a person violates copyrights and downloads music, movies, games and software. There are even peer sharing websites which encourage software piracy and many of these websites are now being targeted by the FBI. Today, the justice system is addressing this cyber crime and there are laws that prevent people from illegal downloading.
• Cyber Stalking
  
• his is a kind of online harassment wherein the victim is subjected to a barrage of online messages and emails. Typically, these stalkers know their victims and instead of resorting to offline stalking, they use the Internet to stalk. However, if they notice that cyber stalking is not having the desired effect, they begin offline stalking along with cyber stalking to make the victims’ lives more miserable.
• Identity Theft
  
• This has become a major problem with people using the Internet for cash transactions and banking services. In this cyber crime, a criminal accesses data about a person’s bank account, credit cards, Social Security, debit card and other sensitive information to siphon money or to buy things online in the victim’s name. It can result in major financial losses for the victim and even spoil the victim’s credit history.
• Malicious Software
  
• These are Internet-based software or programs that are used to disrupt a network. The software is used to gain access to a system to steal sensitive information or data or causing damage to software present in the system.
• Child soliciting and Abuse
• This is also a type of cyber crime wherein criminals solicit minors via chat rooms for the purpose of child pornography. The FBI has been spending a lot of time monitoring chat rooms frequented by children with the hopes of reducing and preventing child abuse and soliciting.

Causes of Cyber Crime

Wherever the rate of return on investment is high and the risk is low, you are bound to find people willing to take advantage of the situation (Knapton, 2009). This is exactly what happens in cyber crime. Accessing sensitive information and data and using it means a rich harvest of returns and catching such criminals is difficult. Hence, this has led to a rise in cyber crime across the world.

How to Tackle Cyber Crime

It has been seen that most cyber criminals have a loose network wherein they collaborate and cooperate with one another(Knapton, 2009). Unlike the real world, these criminals do not fight one another for supremacy or control. Instead they work together to improve their skills and even help out each other with new opportunities. Hence, the usual methods of fighting crime cannot be used against cyber criminals. While law enforcement agencies are trying to keep pace with cyber criminals, it is proving to be a Herculean task (Knapton, 2009). This is primarily because the methods used by cyber criminals and technology keeps changing too quickly for law enforcement agencies to be effective. That is why commercial institutions and government organizations need to look at other methods of safeguarding themselves.

The best way to go about is using the solutions provided by Cross-Domain Solutions.Cross Domain Solution offers a way to keep all information confidential by using safe and secure domains that cannot be tracked or accessed (Knapton, 2009). This security solution can be used by commercial and governmental organization to ensure an impenetrable network while still making sure that users can get access to the required information easily.