Assistive technology is referred to as a broad range of devices, services, strategies and practices which are available for people with disabilities. This can be any piece of equipment which increases or improves functional capacities for people living with disabilites. (Cook and Hussey, 2000)
Buddy button - A Buddy Button is a single switch. They can come in many different colours and styles. Most of all it is RELIABLE and DURABLE. Buddy Buttons are activated by pressing anywhere on the top surface: the force to activate around the edges is half the force required in the center. The buddy button can be used for anything from a mouse for a computer to a switch for a bell in hospital. There are 11 different colours or patterns available when ordering a buddy button!
The buuddy button also comes in two different sizes. The smaller one is:
Buddy Specifications:
Diameter - 6.3 cm
Height - 1.8 cm
Weight - 60 g
whereas the larger one is:
Diameter - 11.5 cm
Height - 2.5 cm
Weight - 123 g
Both sizes of the buddy button only cost $55 dollars. Therefore this is a very cost efficient device.
Buddy buttons can be used with patients who:
*people who need a sensitive switch - some patients may not have a lot of strength or control therefore may need a very sensitive switch with their abilities. For example spinal injury patients.
*people who need a durable switch - People want the switch to last and be able to withstand sudden forceful movement. For example if someone doesnt have much control over movement, they may forceful hit the switch. Buddy buttons will stand up to this.
*people who need colorful switches due to vision
requirements or for differentiating between switches - Buddy buttons come in many different colours and designs therefore the person can get one which appeals to them.
*people who need a switch that is simple to mount - Buddy button can sit evenly on a table or are able to be pinned onto things. For example for spinal injury buddy buttons were connected to the bell. They were then pinned to the pillow therefore guys who could not move their arms were able to use their heads to activate the bell.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Embedding a flickr badge onto blog - Tutorial 8
This is a youtube video which explains how to embed a flickr badge onto blogger
Embedding youtube videos onto Blogger - Tutorial 8
This is a video from youtube explaining how to embed a youtube video onto blogger
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tutorial Four and Five: Video Production Sessions 6th March and 8th May 2009
Tutorial Four and Five: Video Production Sessions
YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share video clips, and view them in the MPEG-4 format. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube) This allows people to upload videos to share with others.
During class time we were required in groups to make a short film about “overcoming adversity or a problem. We decided to film the runaway. This film was about me going to pay for some food and when i went to pay with cash the note blew away in the wind. To overcome the problem i chased the note till i caught it.
STORYBOARDING:
A storyboard is a sketch of how to organize a story and a list of its contents.
A storyboard helps you:
Define the parameters of a story within available resources and time
Organize and focus a story
Figure out what medium to use for each part of the story
(Retrieved 27th May 2009 from http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/starttofinish/storyboarding/)
We were given a storyboard to use to help aid our planning and implementation. This was useful as we could write and draw what we planned to do. Therefore we had to think about how it would work and what was needed in order for this to work. It saved a lot of time as we knew exactly what we were going to do and what was needed. However we didn’t really stick to our story board plan and tended to make it up on the spot as we had new and better ideas. The story board was good as a beginning to start thinking about the process and story line.
SCRIPTING:
A script is used to express the thoughts and ideas of the author to the audience. The script should be the basis for everything that is both heard and seen on screen. A good script should include the following:
moods and expressions
facial expressions
vocal expressions - words
movement
interaction with other characters
special effects
Our group mainly used a script for movement and words spoken. This was useful as it gave us a basis to work from. Our script helped to give us direction and ideas.
YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share video clips, and view them in the MPEG-4 format. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube) This allows people to upload videos to share with others.
During class time we were required in groups to make a short film about “overcoming adversity or a problem. We decided to film the runaway. This film was about me going to pay for some food and when i went to pay with cash the note blew away in the wind. To overcome the problem i chased the note till i caught it.
STORYBOARDING:
A storyboard is a sketch of how to organize a story and a list of its contents.
A storyboard helps you:
Define the parameters of a story within available resources and time
Organize and focus a story
Figure out what medium to use for each part of the story
(Retrieved 27th May 2009 from http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/starttofinish/storyboarding/)
We were given a storyboard to use to help aid our planning and implementation. This was useful as we could write and draw what we planned to do. Therefore we had to think about how it would work and what was needed in order for this to work. It saved a lot of time as we knew exactly what we were going to do and what was needed. However we didn’t really stick to our story board plan and tended to make it up on the spot as we had new and better ideas. The story board was good as a beginning to start thinking about the process and story line.
SCRIPTING:
A script is used to express the thoughts and ideas of the author to the audience. The script should be the basis for everything that is both heard and seen on screen. A good script should include the following:
moods and expressions
facial expressions
vocal expressions - words
movement
interaction with other characters
special effects
Our group mainly used a script for movement and words spoken. This was useful as it gave us a basis to work from. Our script helped to give us direction and ideas.
Tutorial Three: Blog Creation task
Blogger is Google’s free tool for creating blogs. It can be found on the web at http://www.blogger.com.
Blogs, short for web-logs, are a form of online journal.
You can use blogs for everything from updating your friends and family about your life, giving your own advice column, discussing your political views, or relating your experience in a topic of interest. (Retrieved 27th May 2009 from http://google.about.com/od/googleblogging/fr/bloggerreview.html)
Blogger gives people the opportunity to comment on other peoples blogs. However the blogger has the ability to make their blog private or public therefore they can decide who reads it. On blogger you can also find people who show similar interests.
Blogger is very easy to set up. You can customise every aspect of your blog. For example the template of the page. You can also add links on your page. For example when we made a video and added it on youtube, we could then add this video to your blog making it avaliable for others to view. The same can also be done with photos on flickr. This is done by adding a flickr photo badge. This is a quick link to your photos on flickr.
For first time users blogger is easy to use. Instructions will help you along every step!!
Blogs, short for web-logs, are a form of online journal.
You can use blogs for everything from updating your friends and family about your life, giving your own advice column, discussing your political views, or relating your experience in a topic of interest. (Retrieved 27th May 2009 from http://google.about.com/od/googleblogging/fr/bloggerreview.html)
Blogger gives people the opportunity to comment on other peoples blogs. However the blogger has the ability to make their blog private or public therefore they can decide who reads it. On blogger you can also find people who show similar interests.
Blogger is very easy to set up. You can customise every aspect of your blog. For example the template of the page. You can also add links on your page. For example when we made a video and added it on youtube, we could then add this video to your blog making it avaliable for others to view. The same can also be done with photos on flickr. This is done by adding a flickr photo badge. This is a quick link to your photos on flickr.
For first time users blogger is easy to use. Instructions will help you along every step!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Tutorial Two: Digital Camera use and application – 20th February 2009
“New technologies are never totally superior to the older technologies they attempt to replace.”
This concept can be seen with digital cameras. A digital camera is an electronic device used to capture and store photographs electronically in a digital format – instead of using photographic film like conventional cameras. There are many pluses and minuses about digital cameras compared to the more conventional film camera. With a digital camera people are able to see their photos as they take them therefore if the photo hasn’t worked out they have the opportunity to re take the photo, whereas with film you cannot preview therefore never know how the photos will turn out. Digital photos can be distributed easily as they can be loaded onto a computer. Therefore they can be emailed, added to disk or put on a USB. Film photos can only be developed as a photo on paper. Once digital photos are loaded onto the computer they can then be manipulated or changed. For example cropped or red eyes removed. This is once again efficient in making sure you have a good photo. With a film photo, once taken they cannot be changed.
A minus of using a digital camera is people tend to leave photos on the camera or saved on the computer and never actually get them printed out. Therefore if technology failed they may lose all their photos. With film photos you must get them printed to actually see the photos. This is great as you then have a hard copy of the photo. A minus of the film photo is that once printed you only have the copy of the negatives, therefore if this is lost you are unable to get these photos printed again.
Digital photos can be stored, transferred and manipulated using other communication technologies for example computer, memory stick, compact disk and USB. There are also many computer programs available to manipulate and save photos for example photoshop and flickr.
As digital photos are easy to transfer and such like this can cause ethical issues. For example photos can be added to or emailed on the internet without the consent of the person in the photos. The person in the photos has no control over photos taken by someone else. This is an ethical issue as the person in the photos or videos has no control over the situation. For this to be ethically correct the person would have to gain permission from the person to add them to the internet. This would ensure the person agreed to having their picture on the internet.
Digital imaging is being used in practice every day. Whether it’s showing clients pictures taken of equipment or staff using them in presentation, it’s becoming more common. This is because the technology to do so is more readily available and staff are now getting educated on how to use it. It is also a lot cheaper to purchase and access.
Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. Therefore people add photos and videos on here for other people to view and comment on. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr)
Other photo storages available on the internet include
• Webshots - provides a stage for members to upload and share their personal videos and pictures in albums in a variety of areas. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from www.webshots.com)
• fotop.net - provide easy to use and feature rich online photo sharing service. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from www.fotop.net)
Digital zoom is a method of decreasing (narrowing) the apparent angle of view of a digital photographic or video image. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping an image down to a centered area with the same aspect ratio as the original, and usually also interpolating the result back up to the pixel dimensions of the original. It is accomplished electronically, without any adjustment of the camera's optics, and no optical resolution is gained in the process. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_zoom)
Optical zoom uses the camcorder's lens to magnify part of the image without losing any image quality. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://img.shopping.com/cctool/WhatsIs/1/410_1151.epi.html)
The difference between the two is optical zoom can enlarge an image without losing the quality of the image whereas the quality is lessened with digital zoom.
Digital cameras capture images as pixel elements, known as pixels. Simply put, a megapixel is equal to one million pixels.
Digital images are made up of thousands of these tiny, tile-like picture elements. The more pixels, the higher the image resolution. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-parts/megapixels/)
This concept can be seen with digital cameras. A digital camera is an electronic device used to capture and store photographs electronically in a digital format – instead of using photographic film like conventional cameras. There are many pluses and minuses about digital cameras compared to the more conventional film camera. With a digital camera people are able to see their photos as they take them therefore if the photo hasn’t worked out they have the opportunity to re take the photo, whereas with film you cannot preview therefore never know how the photos will turn out. Digital photos can be distributed easily as they can be loaded onto a computer. Therefore they can be emailed, added to disk or put on a USB. Film photos can only be developed as a photo on paper. Once digital photos are loaded onto the computer they can then be manipulated or changed. For example cropped or red eyes removed. This is once again efficient in making sure you have a good photo. With a film photo, once taken they cannot be changed.
A minus of using a digital camera is people tend to leave photos on the camera or saved on the computer and never actually get them printed out. Therefore if technology failed they may lose all their photos. With film photos you must get them printed to actually see the photos. This is great as you then have a hard copy of the photo. A minus of the film photo is that once printed you only have the copy of the negatives, therefore if this is lost you are unable to get these photos printed again.
Digital photos can be stored, transferred and manipulated using other communication technologies for example computer, memory stick, compact disk and USB. There are also many computer programs available to manipulate and save photos for example photoshop and flickr.
As digital photos are easy to transfer and such like this can cause ethical issues. For example photos can be added to or emailed on the internet without the consent of the person in the photos. The person in the photos has no control over photos taken by someone else. This is an ethical issue as the person in the photos or videos has no control over the situation. For this to be ethically correct the person would have to gain permission from the person to add them to the internet. This would ensure the person agreed to having their picture on the internet.
Digital imaging is being used in practice every day. Whether it’s showing clients pictures taken of equipment or staff using them in presentation, it’s becoming more common. This is because the technology to do so is more readily available and staff are now getting educated on how to use it. It is also a lot cheaper to purchase and access.
Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. Therefore people add photos and videos on here for other people to view and comment on. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr)
Other photo storages available on the internet include
• Webshots - provides a stage for members to upload and share their personal videos and pictures in albums in a variety of areas. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from www.webshots.com)
• fotop.net - provide easy to use and feature rich online photo sharing service. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from www.fotop.net)
Digital zoom is a method of decreasing (narrowing) the apparent angle of view of a digital photographic or video image. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping an image down to a centered area with the same aspect ratio as the original, and usually also interpolating the result back up to the pixel dimensions of the original. It is accomplished electronically, without any adjustment of the camera's optics, and no optical resolution is gained in the process. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_zoom)
Optical zoom uses the camcorder's lens to magnify part of the image without losing any image quality. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://img.shopping.com/cctool/WhatsIs/1/410_1151.epi.html)
The difference between the two is optical zoom can enlarge an image without losing the quality of the image whereas the quality is lessened with digital zoom.
Digital cameras capture images as pixel elements, known as pixels. Simply put, a megapixel is equal to one million pixels.
Digital images are made up of thousands of these tiny, tile-like picture elements. The more pixels, the higher the image resolution. (Retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-parts/megapixels/)
Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethical Issues: 13th February 2009
Information technology is also known as information and communication(s) technology (ICT). It is concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information, especially in large organisations. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007, from http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/information_technology.)
Technology is very prevalent in today’s society because people have become reliant on it both for home and work. Technology has changed the way people work and communicate. Instead of going to visit a friend or ringing them, people tend to use the internet to email, Skype or face book each other to talk. At work instead of hand writing a report people now tend to type it. This is a faster and neater way of carrying this out. Computers also give you the ability to change and edit whereas if you hand wrote something you would have to use twink to fix mistakes.
As I have grown up I have become more and more comfortable and competent with telephones, mobile phones, fax, computer – email, search engines, download’s, social networking, television, GPS, MP3 players, I-pods and pagers. I think this confidence has come with experience. Our generation has been brought up with all sorts of technology. These have been readily available to us during school and at home.
On my fieldwork experiences as an Occupational Therapist many IT devices have been used. Computers were used to write notes, email, research and filling out equipment request forms. Pagers, mobile phones, telephones and faxes were used for communication between team members, MDT and other services. This made it easier and quicker for staff to communicate. The photocopier was also used to copy worksheets and information for the team and for clients who attended groups.
These IT devices can benefit a practice as it can help the team be more organised, notes are easier to read, easier to keep track off and also the team can research more efficiently and quickly. IT may also be stopped in a practice as it may not be needed for example a rest home. Residents may not understand or comprehend how the technology works. Staff may lack knowledge and confidence and therefore may not be able to use the technology efficiently. This could lead to a service being obsolete. IT may require more money and training spent therefore may be disregarded due to extra time and money the service may not have.
Many ethical implications arise from the capturing, sharing and transferring of information via IT devices. This can occur from the misuse of internet for example giving out personal information to strangers. The internet has no privacy as there is no base for the internet therefore you must be careful especially when using internet banking or your credit card on the internet. On social networking programs such as face book there are no ethical considerations put in place to protect people. For example anyone can load photos and videos on without others approval.
Computer ethics is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/computer_ethics)
Intellectual property is various legal entitlements which attach certain types of information, ideas or other intangibles in their expressed form. The holder of this legal entitlement is generally entitled to exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the subject matter of the IP. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/intellectual_property)
Social justice is the fairness and equality for society we live in. Mostly refers to an ideal society, where justice refers to economic status rather than to the administration of laws (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_justice)
Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/informed_consent)
In summary an understanding of information technology and ethical issues is important as technology can be both a good and bad thing. In the wrong hands technology can be misused. It is important to understand how people are using the internet and what they can do. in our practice and daily lives
Technology is very prevalent in today’s society because people have become reliant on it both for home and work. Technology has changed the way people work and communicate. Instead of going to visit a friend or ringing them, people tend to use the internet to email, Skype or face book each other to talk. At work instead of hand writing a report people now tend to type it. This is a faster and neater way of carrying this out. Computers also give you the ability to change and edit whereas if you hand wrote something you would have to use twink to fix mistakes.
As I have grown up I have become more and more comfortable and competent with telephones, mobile phones, fax, computer – email, search engines, download’s, social networking, television, GPS, MP3 players, I-pods and pagers. I think this confidence has come with experience. Our generation has been brought up with all sorts of technology. These have been readily available to us during school and at home.
On my fieldwork experiences as an Occupational Therapist many IT devices have been used. Computers were used to write notes, email, research and filling out equipment request forms. Pagers, mobile phones, telephones and faxes were used for communication between team members, MDT and other services. This made it easier and quicker for staff to communicate. The photocopier was also used to copy worksheets and information for the team and for clients who attended groups.
These IT devices can benefit a practice as it can help the team be more organised, notes are easier to read, easier to keep track off and also the team can research more efficiently and quickly. IT may also be stopped in a practice as it may not be needed for example a rest home. Residents may not understand or comprehend how the technology works. Staff may lack knowledge and confidence and therefore may not be able to use the technology efficiently. This could lead to a service being obsolete. IT may require more money and training spent therefore may be disregarded due to extra time and money the service may not have.
Many ethical implications arise from the capturing, sharing and transferring of information via IT devices. This can occur from the misuse of internet for example giving out personal information to strangers. The internet has no privacy as there is no base for the internet therefore you must be careful especially when using internet banking or your credit card on the internet. On social networking programs such as face book there are no ethical considerations put in place to protect people. For example anyone can load photos and videos on without others approval.
Computer ethics is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/computer_ethics)
Intellectual property is various legal entitlements which attach certain types of information, ideas or other intangibles in their expressed form. The holder of this legal entitlement is generally entitled to exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the subject matter of the IP. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/intellectual_property)
Social justice is the fairness and equality for society we live in. Mostly refers to an ideal society, where justice refers to economic status rather than to the administration of laws (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_justice)
Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action. (Retrieved February 14th, 2007 from http//:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/informed_consent)
In summary an understanding of information technology and ethical issues is important as technology can be both a good and bad thing. In the wrong hands technology can be misused. It is important to understand how people are using the internet and what they can do. in our practice and daily lives
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tutorial Six - The internet and online communities 15th May 2009
In todays Tutorial number six, we were looking at the internet and online communities. To expand on this i have decided to use facebook as an example.
www.facebook.com
Facebook is a free-access social networking website. People can sign up and connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Photo's and videos can be uploaded onto the person's personal profile also. (retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook)
Face book itself offers many services. These include things like the abilvity to share content and information. For example photos, videos and personal information. On face book members have the ability to email a friend privately or to post a public message on their personal page. If posting on their own personal page all friends are able to read and see this message whereas if done privately only this person can read it.
Face book also offers instant messaging. Therefore if you and a friend are online at the same time then you can talk to each other instantly. This is great when trying to communicate quickly and briefly or to people overseas.
These three dmethods of communcating make face book a very interactive site. People have face book to stay in connect and chat with friends.
Facebook also has many groups you can become a member of. For example i am a part of groups such as Craighead leavers 09 (my school year) and A.R.E.A 9 which was a concert i went to this year. People join groups which they have been a part of or which they are intrested in or believe in.
On your personal page theres a box that allows you to write "whats on your mind". People use this to let other friends know whats happening. Anything can be written in this space.
There are also games avaliable to play on face book for example farm town and 20/20. Farm town is game where you set up your own farm with animals and crops whereas 20/20 is a cricket game. These games are interactive with friends. For example on farm town you can go and work on other peoples farms etc.
Facebook also has quizes which people can do and also make. These are something fun and interesting to do.
Facebook gives you the ability to search for friends. Therefore if you are trying to find a long lost friend you can simply search there name and see if they come up. The person then has to add you and for them to be your friend you must first accept them. If you have friends in common with this person this will come up. This allows you to have a certain amount of privacy as you can only add and accept the people you want. Therefore people you dont know cant look at your page.
Peole can contribute to facebook by firstly setting up their own page. From here they can add friends, write to friends, join groups and play games. If you want to contribute to facebook itself you can make quizes, games and groups which people can join and play.
I personally think that people contribute to this community to keep in contact with friends, add and look at photos and to find long lost friends. Myself personally am a member of facebook to keep in contact with friends, look at photos and generally to find out what people are up to.
The types of topics discussed on facebook are mainly around whats happening in the person's life. For example what they have been up to lately or the upcoming weekend. This can be seen through conversation with friends and photos loaded. As peoples lives change they tend to change their profile. For example if they move they will change their address or if they get a new phone number they will also change this. This ensures all friends know what they are up to.
In relation to facebook a number of ethical issues arise, these include:
*Uploading photos and videos of people. This is a ethical issue as any person can load photos and videos without the consent of the person within these. Therefore any content can be added. This may be alarming in some cases with the content added as it may be unappropriate.
*Anyone can add you. This may be an ethical problem if you accept people you do not know. There have been measures put in place to stop this. For example you have to add and accept a person to be their friend.
*Users giving out personal information. This is an issue as giving out address and phone numbers could be a potiental threat to you
*People creating fake profiles. This is another potiental threat as a person could pretend to be someone else
A tradition communtiy is a local community, which has practices, beliefs, kinship systems, and other cultural and economic attributes passed down through generations, in the same form or in modified forms. A community is defined as a socially and geographically defined group of people living near, and/or dependent on, biodiversity or biological resources. This differs to an online community as an online community such as facebook is defined as online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as newsletters, telephone, email, internet social network service or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes. (retrieved 25th may 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_community)
A lot of people do not define facebook as a community and instead are asking the question, is Facebook helping us to stay in touch with our community or is it making our relationships more shallow and voyeuristic?
Instead of talking to someone face to face people are now tending to just send an email or instant message. This is a lot easier and quicker than meeting someone. So is this improving our relationships or making us socially isolated.
www.facebook.com
Facebook is a free-access social networking website. People can sign up and connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Photo's and videos can be uploaded onto the person's personal profile also. (retrieved 25th May 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook)
Face book itself offers many services. These include things like the abilvity to share content and information. For example photos, videos and personal information. On face book members have the ability to email a friend privately or to post a public message on their personal page. If posting on their own personal page all friends are able to read and see this message whereas if done privately only this person can read it.
Face book also offers instant messaging. Therefore if you and a friend are online at the same time then you can talk to each other instantly. This is great when trying to communicate quickly and briefly or to people overseas.
These three dmethods of communcating make face book a very interactive site. People have face book to stay in connect and chat with friends.
Facebook also has many groups you can become a member of. For example i am a part of groups such as Craighead leavers 09 (my school year) and A.R.E.A 9 which was a concert i went to this year. People join groups which they have been a part of or which they are intrested in or believe in.
On your personal page theres a box that allows you to write "whats on your mind". People use this to let other friends know whats happening. Anything can be written in this space.
There are also games avaliable to play on face book for example farm town and 20/20. Farm town is game where you set up your own farm with animals and crops whereas 20/20 is a cricket game. These games are interactive with friends. For example on farm town you can go and work on other peoples farms etc.
Facebook also has quizes which people can do and also make. These are something fun and interesting to do.
Facebook gives you the ability to search for friends. Therefore if you are trying to find a long lost friend you can simply search there name and see if they come up. The person then has to add you and for them to be your friend you must first accept them. If you have friends in common with this person this will come up. This allows you to have a certain amount of privacy as you can only add and accept the people you want. Therefore people you dont know cant look at your page.
Peole can contribute to facebook by firstly setting up their own page. From here they can add friends, write to friends, join groups and play games. If you want to contribute to facebook itself you can make quizes, games and groups which people can join and play.
I personally think that people contribute to this community to keep in contact with friends, add and look at photos and to find long lost friends. Myself personally am a member of facebook to keep in contact with friends, look at photos and generally to find out what people are up to.
The types of topics discussed on facebook are mainly around whats happening in the person's life. For example what they have been up to lately or the upcoming weekend. This can be seen through conversation with friends and photos loaded. As peoples lives change they tend to change their profile. For example if they move they will change their address or if they get a new phone number they will also change this. This ensures all friends know what they are up to.
In relation to facebook a number of ethical issues arise, these include:
*Uploading photos and videos of people. This is a ethical issue as any person can load photos and videos without the consent of the person within these. Therefore any content can be added. This may be alarming in some cases with the content added as it may be unappropriate.
*Anyone can add you. This may be an ethical problem if you accept people you do not know. There have been measures put in place to stop this. For example you have to add and accept a person to be their friend.
*Users giving out personal information. This is an issue as giving out address and phone numbers could be a potiental threat to you
*People creating fake profiles. This is another potiental threat as a person could pretend to be someone else
A tradition communtiy is a local community, which has practices, beliefs, kinship systems, and other cultural and economic attributes passed down through generations, in the same form or in modified forms. A community is defined as a socially and geographically defined group of people living near, and/or dependent on, biodiversity or biological resources. This differs to an online community as an online community such as facebook is defined as online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as newsletters, telephone, email, internet social network service or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes. (retrieved 25th may 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_community)
A lot of people do not define facebook as a community and instead are asking the question, is Facebook helping us to stay in touch with our community or is it making our relationships more shallow and voyeuristic?
Instead of talking to someone face to face people are now tending to just send an email or instant message. This is a lot easier and quicker than meeting someone. So is this improving our relationships or making us socially isolated.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
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