Thursday, December 5, 2013

Learning Journal 6

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Learning Journal 5

In learning module 5, I learned some valuable things to know when it comes to image optimization, digital imaging, and file sharing.

There are two different types of images. They are bit-mapped, and vector. Bit-mapped means the image is made up of very small dots. The larger you make the bit-mapped image, the worse the quality gets. Vector images, however, do not lose quality if you enlarge it. Unlike bit-mapped, vector images are based off of points and mathematical equations.

File sharing means transferring files over the internet to one another. There are a lot of programs and websites that allow you to do this. One way you can file share is through a P2P network. A P2P network means peer to peer. It allows one peon to send another person a file (depending on the size). P2P allows for a fast and easy way to share files, however, it is also considered very illegal. I learned about many cases where someone used an illegal p2p sharing site and was caught, resulting in heavy fines and even jail.

As I said before, I also learned about image optimization. I learned what is the appropriate size for images to be put on the web. If an image is too large of a file, it can cause someone to have to wait long time to upload an image. Optimizing an image means you are compressing it, making it smaller. However, compressing too much can cause factors.
For example, here are two images:

           ORIGINAL                                                               OPTIMIZED

The first image is 38.75KB, while the second image is 14.42KB .

















LM5 Vocab:
Image Optimization - Process of image slicing and resolution reduction
Digital Imaging - the creation of digital images (compressing, processing, displaying, etc)
Bit-Mapped Image - image made up of small dots valued zero to one
Vector Image - image made up of geometrical points, lines, curves, and shapes
P2P - Peer-to-Peer

Monday, November 4, 2013

Learning Journal 4

Throughout this unit I learned about different ways people communicate with one another through using the internet. I learned very important ways of communicating to people for business too. LinkedIn is one way of communicating through social media. It recommends people that are in the same field of study and helps you learn and get to know more people in your field of study. Many businesses use many different ways of communicating. Another big way that businesses connect to their employees is through online meetings. Software like Skype or GoToMetting are very commonly used among different businesses. It allows people to almost sit side by side with each other in a virtual conference room. You can use webcams to see each other or just use a microphone to talk. Some software can be costly, while others can be used for free.

Another topic we discussed in Learning Module 4 was something called Document Sharing. Like social media websites like LinkedIn and Facebook, document sharing can be very beneficial in the workplace. Document sharing allows you to edit a document and work on it as much as you would like, but at the same time allow anyone else that is part of the group to edit it. You can have multiple people working on one project at the same time. I feel like this video is an easy way to explain Document Sharing using a web 2.0 technology, Google Docs.



Learning Module 4 Wordle:


Social Media - Websites and applications used for social networking
Microblogging - The posting of very short entries or updates on a blog or social networking site
Document Sharing - Document and file collaboration are the tools or systems set up to help multiple people work together on a single document or file to achieve a single final version
Social Networking - The use of dedicated websites and applications to communicate informally with other users
Web Conference - Refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Learning Journal 3

Learning Journal 3 taught me a lot about 21st Century Skills and Information Fluency.
infofluency.gif
This picture shows an easy way to understand how information fluency can be communicated. Information Fluency is the ability to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information.
I enjoyed watching this video about Information Fluency. It really gave you a good idea about how many people, college students in particular, knew very little about information fluency.
The camera crew asked the college students about what "IF" stands for, what information fluency means, and what reliable websites they use to find information. Almost every single person answered incorrectly. The only one they understood or had similar answers on was the reliable search question. They all felt Wikipedia and Google had the best results for finding information.

We also learned about 21st Century Skills. These skills include ways of thinking, like critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and creativity. Another skill is ways of working through communication and collaboration.These skills also include having the ability to evaluate the quality of information presented.

Throughout Learning Module 3, I found out what the "deep web" is and why it was so important. This picture displays a very easy way to understand how the deep web works.
Invisible_Web
I learned about search strategies and how to find better results for the things that I research. When searching using search engines, often leave out words like "what, how, a, if, etc.". Information Literacy plays an important role when researching or using a search engine.

Throughout Learning Module 3, a very common topic that came up was "digital reputation". Your digital reputation is extremely important and plays a huge role in your life today during this technological era. You want to keep a very good digital reputation clean. For example, if you are going to apply for a job, they will be checking up on your social and personal life. They will most likely look up your facebook or twitter profile and see what you post. If you post inappropriate pictures or you doing illegal things, it's almost a guarantee you will not be hired. It is very important to keep those pictures or videos or posts off of profiles or accounts on websites that anyone can see.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Learning Journal 1

I learned a lot about how the internet developed in this lesson. The class power point project we did taught me about the Arpanet. The Arpanet was created in 1966. Without the Arpanet, we would not have the internet or world wide web today, since it was the very first form of internet. Arpanet wasn't for the public, though. It was used by the U.S. Government to be able to have fast and immediate contact, and allowed the ability to transfer files throughout the country. It was used during the Cold War, around the time that there was talk of nuclear warfare. Along with Arpanet, I also learned about the history of the internet. This video gives a very easy way to understand the internet's history. It discusses why the internet is what it is today, talks about the internet's usage of a "packet-system" and much more.
 
Internet - a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols for data exchange
Arpanet - The world's first 'network'.
NCP - Network Control protocol. It was later replaced by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
Packet - one unit of binary data capable of being routed through a computer network.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Learning Journal 2

Learning journal two taught me a lot about the internet and internet security, how to prevent threats to your computer, viruses, and malware. Through quizzes and power points, I learned about how to find out if something is Phished or Legitimate. Phished means that someone is trying to get a hold of your personal information such as usernames or passwords by tricking you. They can send you false e-mails pretending to be well known companies, such as PayPal or your bank account. They will ask you to reset your password or re-enter your personal information, such as credit card numbers or even your social security number. However, it can be very easy to avoid this. You can avoid this by not answering those e-mails, and either delete them or send them to spam@uce.gov. You can also avoid and tell if they are phished by looking at the website that sent the e-mail. If you hover your cursor over the window it will show you the site at the bottom of the window.
For example, the bottom of this window, notice instead of PAYPAL.COM it is PAYAPL.COM:


As I said before, we learned a lot about viruses and malware. We watched a TED Talk, that discussed why, how, and where the very first computer virus originated from. There are many, many viruses on the internet. Some include Trojan Horses, Worms, Spyware, and Malware. Trojan Horses pretend to be a "helpful" or "useful" software but instead badly damage on your computer. Worms almost have a mind of their own. They spread from computer to computer and are able to travel without any human interaction due to the ability to take over already installed computer files. Firewalls can help prevent getting any viruses. Not only firewalls, but if you download and install legitimate anti-virus software, you don't have to worry about being unsafe.
I also learned the way sending things over the internet works. In class, we watched "The Dawn of the Net". It explained how the internet can be compared to a very high speed highway. Information constantly passes through firewalls and routers, and all across the web, and then gets sent directly back to where it originated from at extreme speeds.
My Wordle:

Phish- The act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details.
Legitimate- Conforming to the law or to rules
Malware- software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems
Trojan Horse- a program designed to breach the security of a computer system while ostensibly performing some innocuous function.
Worm- a self-replicating program able to propagate itself across a network, typically having a detrimental affect.
URL- uniform resource locator. It is the standard address format for websites.
HTTP- Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, the standard protocol to display information via the web.
HTTPS- Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure
Terminal Emulation- Also known as the Telnet Protocol. Used for connecting to remote computers and is known as the Telnet protocol.