Granny Gets A Stick ... Again?

This is the second attempt to upload last week's movie .. lovely, good old technology decided it didn't want to work last week, so I couldn't actually put the movie onto my blog. Fingers crossed this time ...

OK, so my theory is that at 189MB the video is too big for the blog to upload, so I've now just created a youtube account; uploaded the video to that to get a link. Here's the link to view the video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRTEnZsMbFI

Enjoy!

Here's the info about the video (for technogeeks):

Format:

MOV

Dimensions:

960 x 540 px

Video codec:

H264

Audio codec:

PCM

You uploaded a wide-screen (16:9) video. In case your original was 720p or greater (i.e. 1080x720 or greater) we encourage you to submit your video at original resolution to enable better quality playback

Granny Gets a Stick - Movie

This a movie my team and I made. The theme: over coming adversity. The task: to create a movie, edit it and publish it on our blogs.

Online Communites Pros and Cons

Just as a follow on from the last post. I wanted to discuss online communities (aka social networking sites): Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, Youtube, Myspace, MSN, chat rooms etc

Squido.com explores some pros and cons of social networking:
 http://www.squidoo.com/pros-and-cons-of-social-networking-sites 

Hub Pages also has an article:
: http://hubpages.com/hub/Pros-and-Cons-of-Social-Networking-Sites

I found some good youtube clips too, the information on them is crazy!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaZw8EJ2hvw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XhzYGoBif8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ5zJvA0NYY&feature=related

Humerous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSnXE2791yg&feature=related

How much is all this technology changing people?

When I think of an answer to that question, I always refer to social networking experiences either myself or my friends have had.

I still haven't deleted my Facebook, because at the moment it allows me to have constant and updated info and communication with all of my family and friends that are overseas (the benefits of this obly JUST out-weigh everything else).

I find it interesting to observe people's behaviours on social networking sites, because sometimes my own friends are very different on the internet than they are in "real" life ... whatever is real anymore. A classic example: the shy, conservative type usually feels more comfortable expressing themselves more confidently via the internet because they are not physically having to behave in that way infront of people.

And its important to remember that everyone expresses themselves in different ways; and for a lot of people social networking is a form of expressing the "real" them. Hmmmm, complex issues. Its' similar to online gaming.

Like I've said though, bad things can happen; it's important that people remember this and be careful online.

"If its online, everyone can see it" - Anon

What are Blogs ...

I sort of skipped ahead with last week's tutorial and activities (posting content, playing with design of blog, uploading photos and flickr photos); I quite enjoy the aspect of creativeness these blogs allow.

Just a quick post today to explain what a Blog is (more so for myself, than for anybody else). I am somewhat of a journal-writer, so the idea of a blog being a public journal is quite suited to me.

However, a blog can be many things to many people:

A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.
Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.
In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.
Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others.

A blog gives you your own voice on the web. It's a place to collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it's your political commentary, a personal diary, or links to web sites you want to remember.
Many people use a blog just to organize their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while personal journalers reveal inner thoughts.

(Course content, 2011)

I like the idea of a blog, I find it really interesting accessing other people's thoughts and opinions on any given topic; other people's ideas can be insightful, informative, challenging, and inspirational. In a way, blogs are like the essence of a person's mind: in technological form.

The End.

Digital Cameras = Digital Images

Tutorial two was focused on digital cameras and the many uses they provide for people. Specifically the tutorial highlighted: ethical considerations, using cameras in OT practice and capturing photos using a digital camera.

I am a photography fanatic, and digital photography is a common ground I play in from time to time (although, surprise, surprise I prefer the old school dark room photography). I don't understand all the components in a digital camera, but I know enough about megapixels, optical zoom  and several other functions to purchase a decent camera should I need another, and use it to take a good photo.

Anyway! Let's look at how digital cameras are used by people ...

My interpretation of digital camera use, is that they are tools for recording and sharing life events, moments and experiences. But they also offer more than that: they are tools for storage and transferring images (data). 

Nearly all images, videos and audio recordings stored on a digital camera can also be transferred to and from various software programmes: social network sites, Google, email, virtual gaming etc. It is the same with hardware: laptops, desktops, external hardrives, cellphones, MP3, gaming consoles, USB, CDs, DVDs, and TVs .... so many ways to store, share and access the images, videos and audio.

Where are Digital Cameras used?

Work: housing/building modifications, buy & sell advertisements, commercial advertisements, education and schools, design and fashion industry, and loads more that I can't think of!

Play: creative passions, personal life record


Sport: record players in their element, record the venue and crowd, sporting acheivements


Family: record special occasions, memories and experiences


Daily Activity: helps people to show one another something they found interesting/funny/sad etc, can help to remind people of what something looks like that they need to find (e.g taking a photo on your mobile phone of something you want to remember for later), social networking sights (think of Facebook and how many thousands of photos are uploaded, tagged and accessed each day).

These technologies have allowed people to distribute and display images, record events and keep memories, manipulate images and  express themselves through digital imaging systems. You can delete "ugly" photos, take (literally) thousands of photos, zoom in and out, change the image quality and size, snap away carelessly, and print out images in no time at all.


" New technologies are never totally superior to the older technologies they attempt to replace" 

We are asked to discuss the above quote. I agree with it. People have become so reliant on technology ... what if one day it all crashed? We would not cope with the loss of it in our lives. The very thought of trying to imagine life without technology, proves that it really has become a way of life as we know it.

Technology is brilliant, but it is not perfect. That is what I understand from the above quote.
Hard-drives can malfunction (people lose everything they had stored: personal information, photos, movies, music, legal information, educational information etc). Batteries die in cameras etc, they are often expensive to replace if you don't have the charger with you. USB or transfer cords are not universal, information is easy to delete should someone press the wrong button (I accidently deleted about 500 photos of a family holiday in Stuart Island - our first and last time there ... was very, very angry and upset!).


Ethical issues and digital images:


The problem with digital images, is that they can be distributed almost anywhere the person wants, given the right tools ... meaning they can expose others without realizing OR expose others against their own will; unethical.

Depending on where and how the images will be displayed, one needs to take into account: informed consent from people involved, how securely the images will be stored, who will have access to them and who does the image keeper have responsibility to? These are invaluable questions.

I'll mention facebook again: no need to explain the unethics there.


In other settings, though? Education? Government? Health? Institution? The above questions would need to be considered with high regard.


Ways in which digital cameras are used in OT:

Use of digital cameras in OT is completely context dependent.
 
In my fieldwork experience within the school setting, digital cameras were used to record group outings with clients and then later presented to parents/care-givers in the form of a newsletter. Cameras were used by clients to experience some different technology and take their own photos as a group project. Photos were displayed in the corridor's of the unit to reflect on past experiences.

I know that in other settings, cameras are used to record a client prior-to and after a given intervention. This enables the therapist to keep a record of the clients' progress, and also show the client too (if appropriate).


The End.





 

ICT and Ethics ... considerations and consequences Continued!

Following on from the definitions of ethics and ICT, it now makes sense to look at how much ICT has become an integral part of the majority of people's lives. Here are some youtube videos exploring ICT and society today, they particularly highlight the human and technology relationship, the ever changing new technologies we are expected to adopt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyFpFQNk_-c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcSzqm5Whwc&feature=related

I am undecided on how I feel about ICT ... there are so many benefits, but there are also many, many flaws. I find it all quite overwhelming: the endless possibilites (ethical or not). I find it hard to comprehend the enormity of the range of information that people can access through information technologies ... is it ethical that we can find, store and use SO much information? I also don't like that people seem to have forgotten the 'old' days, where one went to a library to research information, sent a letter to communicate, used to interact face to face everyday etc ... now everything is so fast, so accessible, getting smaller and supposedly better.

I only feel comfortable using basic mobile phones, telephones, basic computer programmes, Facebook, emailing systems, Moodle, Google search engine, TV, digital photography (Photoshop), video cameras. I think I feel comfortable using these because I have use for them in my daily life; therefore I have had to adapt/gain knowledge on how to use them; thus becoming familiar and comfortable.

I feel uncomfortable using ipods (even though I have one), iphones and ipads, complex computer programmes and complex computer systems. I have no use for these in my life; I am fairly ignorant about ICT, opting for simpler, basic styles over the ‘better, faster, newer’ styles that keep coming.

Am I a slight ‘technophobe’?; I realise that there is no escaping ICT, it will be the future way of life. I embrace the benefits and opportunities it gives me and others. I know it will be essential in my future practice,  which is why I will continue to keep up with what I can. ICT will be an effecient and practicle tool for communicating, storing data, processing data, recording as well as several other aspects within the OT practice. 


http://ajot.aotapress.net/content/59/6/626.full.pdf this website links to a PDF. article (from Chiu, T., Henderson, J. (2005). Developing Internet-based occupational therapy services. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59, 626–630), talking about developing OT services over the internet.

 

In my first placement, ICT was used to engage clients with educational games on the computer, it was used to process, store and manage clientele data, the internet was used to source information and communicate with other facilities regarding the clients and mobile phones were used to ensure direct communication between staff (especially on community outings). ICT provided many opportunities for both staff and clients to work together responsibly, but also have fun.

 

In my second placement, there was much of the same interaction with ICT. Computers were used by clients to access games and educational software. Staff used computers to store, send and retrieve information, as well as for communication purposes (emailing etc). Telephones were the preferable form of contact, and recording devices enabled both staff and clients to record information, stored for future purpose.

 

But ICT (in health services, especially) will always touch on big ethical implications ... privacy issues, social justice issues, too much access to too much information, sharing too much information about yourself or someone else, losing information, sending information to the wrong place, even hackers. It is vital for the therapist to ensure the above does not happen.

I still want to remain semi-detached, I don’t want to be consumed by gadgets and fastness and newness of the ever-changing ICT world ... and intend to hand write letters as a means of communication at times; the process of taking time to write a letter, seal it in an envelope and posting the letter a way, is a small gesture of appreciation towards that person whom you're writing to. Lately I have been seriously considering deleting my facebook profile; I am sick of how life consuming it has become for many young people today and concerned with how much information people can access about someone by simply "stalking" that person's profile.Where are the ethics in that?

It was all fun and games to begin with, but I'm starting to really not like how these social, mobile or communicative networks are replacing basic human interaction on a daily basis. Or am I being too naiive? It's just how I feel.

Here are some videos exploring aspects of ICT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_HRxQ46fqI a professor from Oxford University

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Ndh2y0m8E&feature=related an ordinary person's view on facebook

http://www.youtube.com/embed/6a_KF7TYKVc social networking in plain english

 

Define Intellectual Property:

Basically, some people have exclusive rights to have use of/own/access a given asset. Obviously there is a significant link between an individuals exclusive rights to an asset and ICT (storage of asset data, management of data, who has access to data etc) but what does this term mean in OT practice? Here is an article from "Occupational Therapy Now" journal exploring these factors: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7683/is_200705/ai_n32232270/

Define Social Justice:

"Social justice encompasses economic justice. Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development." - Center for Economic and Social Justice (retrieved from  http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/economicjustice-defined.htm).

Social justice promotes equality, human rights, ethics and fairness. To me, social justice is a holistic set of quidelines for living, much like the holistic therapeutic and communication tools OT's use to guide their own practice. Again, ICT plays a part in social justice and OT (probably more so than I will ever comprehend), but it is not a holistic tool. It can be an enabler and a disabler, and I think therapists should always remain aware of the ethics and implications surrounding ICT when involving it with their frameworks for practice.

Define Informed Consent:

This site links to a PDF. outlining the laws in which informed consent applies with: http://www.eqs.co.nz/pictures/Informed%20consent%20.pdf

Informed consent is an essential aspect of health-care providing services (including OT), without informed consent from the required person issues regarding law, ethics, social justice, policy and procedure arise. With reference to ICT here is a fantastic article by Lawrence O. Gostin, an American law professor who specializes in public health law:
http://www.thehastingscenter.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/Primers/privacy_gostin.pdf

PS. This video is awsome! It's a rap about OTs! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDP1-gcDcAI

ICT and Ethics ... considerations and consequences

This post is meant to be my second posting!!! For some reason it never made it onto the blog until now.

Our first tutorial touched on the fragile topic of ethics and ICT. Let's define these terms to make sense of everything!

ICT:

The British Journal of Occupational Therapy (June 2008) states that information and communication technology is ‘online shopping, instant messaging, digital photography, computer games and mobile phones.

The Tech Terms Computer Dictionary (retrieved from http://www.techterms.com/definition/it) regards Information Technology as ‘anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies’. Furthermore, the website states that:

‘Many companies now have IT departments for managing the computers, networks, and other technical areas of their businesses. IT jobs include computer programming, network administration, computer engineering, Web development, technical support, and many other related occupations. Since we live in the "information age," information technology has become a part of our everyday lives’

‘ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning. ICTs are often spoken of in a particular context, such as ICTs in education, health care, or libraries’ - http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci928405,00.html

Definitions of Communication Technology on the Web:

Information and Communication Technology or ICTs allow users to participate in a rapidly changing world in which work and other activities are increasingly transformed by access to varied and developing technologies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_Technology

It is a process to store or deliver information using electronic and graphic means; Processes include encoding, transmitting, receiving, storing, retrieving and decoding
doe.sd.gov/contentstandards/nclb/documents/Glossary_000.doc

Here is my definition:

I particularly like the web definition highlighting that information communication technologies (ICT) allow people to ‘participate in a rapidly changing world’ in which ICT has become a dominant feature in most nations.

ICT as truly become a part of everyday life; offering and allowing many, many opportunities to those that use ICT.

But more importantly I think I should have a closer look at ethics and how they exist in the world of ICT.

According to good old wikipedia online dictionary ethics are:

" ... also known as moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc."

I retrieved the following article from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html  :
 
What then, is ethics? Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.
Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.
 
This article appeared originally in Issues in Ethics IIE V1 N1 (Fall 1987) .

The following link provides a detailed review on ethics and ICT ... quite interesting! http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/ethic_in_asia_pacific/239_325ETHICS.PDF

OK ... so my thoughts?

I'll carry on in a second post, this one is big! (you can tell I like to write stuff!)