Week 3 - Digital Literacy

Being literate a hundred years ago meant that you could read and write. Simple as that. Nowadays it is very different to be considered literate. Not only must you know how to read and write, but you also must be able to work with and understand technology to some point.

The basic form of literacy is, as mentioned above, reading and writing. To be able to understand technology you must have the basic "literacy", without it technology would be like a foreign language. Our times have evolved so much that in order to be successful you MUST use some type of technology at some point in life.

The TED talk by Doug Belshaw showed how messages and ideas are spread over the internet at such a rapid pace. Much of the communication happens over the internet. The digital world has taken over so much of the media that I can't even remember the last time I read an actual newspaper or magazine.


I found this week to be interesting because although I know that to be literate these days includes understanding technology, it was cool to learn about just how important it is. Not only are we learning from others ideas and creations WE can be the creators. The TED talk we watched inspired me to research "Memes". I came across tons of hilarious pictures! For the assignment this week I tried to mimic a "Meme":

Working with PicMonkey was fun. It allowed me to change every part of the picture to create exactly what I wanted. I didn't realize this was so easy. I think in the future I'll do a lot more photo editing!

Week 2 - What is Fair Use?

This week we learned about Fair Use and how to determine it.

Most media posted online (or elsewhere) has an original author who has copyrighted their work. The universal symbol for copyright is:

Having a copyright means that the author or owner has the sole right and opportunity to re-produce, copy or display the work. The owner may also give permission for others to do this. It is illegal for a person without permission to duplicate or use the media that has been copyrighted. 

An exception to this rule is if the way the media is being used is considered Fair Use. The factors that determine Fair Use are if the work is being used for:

1. An educational use such as research or news reporting
2. Criticism or commentary
3. Non-profit
4. A transformative use such as creating a new work with a new purpose or creating a parody. 

If the purpose you are using the media for can be classified under any of these categories, it is most likely fair use.

Factors that DO NOT constitute Fair use are:

1. Commercial use
2. Gaining a profit from the use
3. Using the media for non-critical, non-commentary reasons

The definition of Fair Use is very general on purpose. The lawmakers who created the law did not want to limit what is considered Fair Use and what is not. They wanted to leave it up for interpretation. 

Overall, this week has been very informative and helpful to me. I had no idea about Fair Use and often would use images or other media without giving a thought to the owner or author. Both of the images I provided in this blog were found on Google Images but I made sure that they were "labeled for reuse" so that I am within the Fair Use rights. 

Week 1 - What are Multimedia Apps?

When I think of Multimedia Apps I think of all the different types of media that are involved in presenting information. There is video, text, images, sounds and animations. I'm sure there are much more than that but that's my basic understanding. When presenting information it is believed that having more than one media source enhances the learning of the audience. It also keeps them interested and focused. This would be a pretty boring blog if I didn't have any videos or pictures, if it was just text. 

Here is an example of the different kinds of media available:

The next image describes the Quality of Experience. This chart describes what goes into a presentation of information and what will make the Quality of Experience rating high. This is a good guide when creating a presentation with multimedia. I believe this is why journalists from The New York Times and The Guardian News use multimedia applications, to enhance the experience of their audience. 

In this day in age we have so much technology available to us that I'm sure I'm only barely touching the surface of what Multimedia apps are. I'm anxious to learn more about what is available.