Privacy

Internet privacy is becoming a "hot button" issue lately, especially when it comes to privacy.  It seems people are trying to make their profiles private, but unfortunately there are ways to get around them. I'm on the fence about this issue. Part of me thinks that if you have the correct privacy settings in place you should be able to post whatever you want right? The other part of me thinks, "if you don't want people to see it, then don't post it."

The main problem I have is things that are done outside of school or work seem to carry a lot of weight. For example, even if you are 21 and just have a glass of wine with dinner, if a picture goes up on Facebook and a future employer sees it, you may be judged. I'm not sure if I believe that's fair. I am studying to be a teacher. I would never drink alcohol around students or do anything inappropriate, but if I'm having a glass of wine with my friends at dinner and a parent sees a picture posted, I may lose my job.

I think that Facebook is becoming more and more of an issue, and for the sake of argument, I think it is better to safe then sorry...when in doubt, don't post it. 

Cloud Computing

I really wasn't sure what "cloud computing" was at the beginning of this assignment. The article I read, "The Not So Obvious Problems With Cloud Computing", gave me a better understanding of the pros and cons. Cloud Computing sounds like a great idea in theory because it saves an individual from buying software, and saves companies even more money when they have a lot of employees doing most of their work on computers. The fact I failed to consider was, "what if the Internet stops working?" or "what happens when the server that stores all of your business information goes down". These are two very big negatives when it comes to cloud computing. 

I use g-mail as my mail email account, but I would never put my calendar on another server because if that went down, I would have no idea what I was doing with my life. It seems that most businesses use servers as a way to save money and store large amounts of data. Most of the time this is a very good idea, but if something was to go wrong with an outside source or their private information was leaked, it would definitely have been a better idea to stick to software on individual computers. 

Article: http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/the-not-so-obvious-problems-with-cloud-computing-805767.html

Technology Addiction?

"Addiction" is a very loaded word. Although some say it should not be used when referring to technology, I personally would agree that a lot of individuals in my generation are addicted. Every where you go you see people walking with their phones in their hand instead of in their pocket or no more than four feet away from their computer. Technology has become a way of survival, and I am no exception, but sometimes it can be taken to the extreme. There is a very big difference from checking your email to keep up with school or work, and refreshing the email on your phone every ten minutes.

I think that cellphones are the greatest "technological addiction". When observing other students in my class, over half of them have their phone sitting on the desk right next to them. Even if the professor clearing states texting is not allowed in class, there are still some who text underneath the desk or find other ways of hiding it. I know if I asked some of my friends if they could go a day without texting, they would answer no. Texting has become the main way of communication, minus computers, and most would feel lost if they did not have access to their phones for a day.

Although there are people who display the perfect balance between utilizing technology and being addicted, there are some who take it too far and who could be referred to as addicted to technology.

Information Fluency & Literacy

In my opinion, information literacy is becoming more and more important. Individuals have an overwhelming amount of technology in their everyday life, and sometimes it seems impossible to keep up. Technology is always changing, and it seems if one falls behind they will never catch up. 


Information literacy is defined as "a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."" I think that having an all encompassing definition like this is very important because there are so many different areas of technology. An individual must understand, or at least have a small grasp in media, collaboration, creativity, solution, and information fluency. In my opinion it is impossible to be an expert in all of these areas because there is so much to understand, but a little knowledge in each aspect is necessary. 


I think information fluency and literacy is extremely important for students especially because we have so much information coming at us at all times. The InfoWhelm video brought to my attention that we have data coming from classes, cellphones, the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and television. I know I sometimes feel personally tied to technology and it can be slightly overwhelming. I catch myself having my television on, while on the Internet, and checking my email on my cellphone. I think our society, especially my generation, has become so consumed with the instant gratification of information, because there's nothing we can't find out by looking it up on our phones. Although I think it is important that we understand how to use the technology properly as well as mentally organize all the information we are receiving, it is important to distinguish information fluency and literacy from unhealthy information overload.