Thursday, August 28, 2014

Understanding Type

Standard 1:  Research recent developments in information technology affecting the supply/demand characteristics of the job market, including career pathways and occupational outlooks for occupations in business and finance that require information technology expertise.  Synthesize findings into a presentation highlighting the typical roles and responsibilities of professional in high growth occupations.


Understanding Type


Ever thought about the important role that type plays in our everyday lives? Listen to Apple founder, the late Steve Jobs, describe the influence of type on the design of Apple products.





Discuss: What role did type play in making the Macintosh a success? How did the Macintosh influence all personal computers? Why is type important?

Read the main page on this site for a good introduction to type and the history of type.

Watch this video on a brief history of type.



Type has even led to a political scandal which led to the downfall of a once famous news anchorman. You can read about the controversy here.

Assignment:

You'll be creating an information sheet on "sexting" laws in the state of Tennessee. You'll create 3 versions of the sheet and save them to a folder on your Google Drive. Carefully follow the instructions below.

Step 1. Create 3 documents in Google Docs. Label the documents Serif, Sans Serif and Display. Copy the text below into each document. (Highlight and use Cntrl+C for copy, and Cntrl+V for paste).

Laws Pertaining to Sexting in the State of Tennessee
Currently, in Tennessee anyone - regardless of age - who creates, distributes or possesses an image of a minor engaged in a sexually explicit act may be prosecuted under the State’s child pornography laws and if convicted, will generally be required to register as a sex offender.


Legislative Summary
Tennessee has not created a separate statute for sexting crimes. Therefore, a minor who is caught creating, distributing, or possessing a sexually explicit image of another minor could be charged under the State’s child pornography statutes. If the minor is convicted of a felony they will generally be required to register as a sex offender.


Law and Punishment
In general, under Tennessee law it is a felony to either:
Knowingly possess any material of a minor engaged in a sexual act.
Anyone caught can be charged separately for each item found that contains a minor engaged in a sexual activity.
If convicted, an individual could face up to 12 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000. The penalty increases if a person is caught with more than 50 items and increases again if caught with more than 100 items.
Knowingly promote, sell, distribute, transport, purchase or exchange material, or possess with the intent to promote, sell or distribute any material that contains a minor engaged in a sexually explicit activity.
Anyone caught can be charged separately for each item found that contains a minor engaged in a sexual activity.
If convicted, an individual could face up to 15 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. The penalty increases to a possible 30 years in prison and/or $25,000 fine, if a person is caught with more than 25 items.
Knowingly use a minor in creating or participate in material that contains a minor engaged in a sexually explicit activity.
Anyone caught can be charged separately for each item found that contains a minor engaged in a sexual activity.
If convicted, an individual could face up to 30 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $25,000.
If convicted of a felony an individual would generally be required to register as a sex offender.

Format each file in the following manner:

Serif - Use 14 point Droid Serif Bold for the headers. Use 11 point Droid Serif for the text. Format the list with numbers.

Sans Serif - Use 14 Point Verdana Bold for the headers. Use 11 point Verdana for the text. Format the list with bullets.

Display - Use 14 point Impact for the headers (no bold). Use 11 point Arial for the text. Format the list with diamonds.

Step 2. Save your 3 documents in a Google Drive folder labeled "Type Exercise" and share it with your instructor (julie6davis@gmail.com). To share a folder, right click on the folder and click "sharing." enter the e-mail address of the person you wish to share the folder with at the bottom of the page. Click "done."

You're done!

Analyze: Which of the three do you think is the most readable? How do you think you could improve on these three styles?


Wednesday, August 27, 2014

KLOUT vs KRED vs PEERINDEX

Standard 24:    Research, summarize, and deliver a summary of the various perspectives and ramifications surrounding an ethical issue related to modern-day electronic communications.


For this exercise, we'll be working in groups of 2-4 students. Our goal for this session is to understand social media measurement and how it might influence the future of social media.




Watch this video on Klout.




Read these articles on Kred, Klout and PeerIndex. Take your time and read these carefully.


http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Klout-and-Kred-Scores-Critical-or-Meaningless.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottlevy/2013/03/04/klout-vs-kred-which-if-any-is-better-for-your-business/

http://themediaonline.co.za/2014/08/winning-friends-and-influencing-them/



Discuss your impressions with a group of 2 to 3 fellow students. Express your opinions and listen to others' point of view.  Have one person in your group write answers on your own paper.  Be prepared to share answers with class.  Heading: List all group participants, date, period, Assignment title: Klout Score

Discussion Starters -

1. Do you think social influence measurement is a good idea or is it a "cancer on social media"?
2. If you knew your conversations were being rated, would it change your behavior?
3. Does social media measurement change the way people behave online?
4. What would you think if a friend recommended a product for you on social media, then you found out that they had received a free sample as a perk?
5. What if you were offered a perk? How would you deal with it?

Assignment:

Individual Work:  Type a one page paper answering the following questions:

1. What are these companies attempting to do and why?
2. Why are companies interested in their work?
3. What are these companies attempting to understand?
4. How could this data be used by employers?
5. What do you think? Is this good for social media?


Remember, write in complete sentences. Use well written sentences with good punctuation.. Don't use sentence fragments. Don't just present facts. I'd like your opinion as well.  Email your paper to me at julie6davis@gmail.com

Place the papers in the tray on my desk.

Kred.com
Klout.com 

Saturday, August 23, 2014

What is Digital Citizenship?

Watch this short video on digital citizenship.


Think and discuss in class... How would you define digital citizenship? Is is different from other types of citizenship? If you were around when automobiles were becoming popular, do you think you might have discussed "automobile citizenship"?


Assignments: 

Part 1: Get with a partner and answer the following questions on your own sheet of paper.  Use complete sentences.  Heading:  name, date, period, assignment title: Digital Citizenship.  Each partner will turn in their own copy of these assignments.

1. What does it mean to be a citizen of this country?

2. Do people who operate automobiles or computers need to have a basic knowledge of how these machines work in order to drive on public roads or use a public Internet? What should be expected of computer/automobile users and why?

3. How are automobiles and computers similar in regards to citizenship? How are they different?

Part 2:  Independent work - 

1.  Study the Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship here.  Under the above answers write "Nine Themes".   List each of the Nine Themes and define each in your own words using one or two sentences.

2.  Finally, state which of the themes do you feel are the most in need of being taught and why. Take your time and give a thoughtful and well written answer. Back up your answer with facts or personal observations.

Do your best writing and good luck!