User:Vtaylor/Computers and Society/CIS2 Winter 2019/CIS2 Group Projects/Group A 2016 Summer

Individual Lists

Summer's Resources
Jill's Resources
Kevin L's Resources
Angel's Resources
Stephanie's Resources
Andrea's Resources
Mackenzie's Resources
Kevin S's Resources

1. Introductions

10 Lists to Keep If You Want to Be Successful

1. List of Goals

2. List of Tasks

3. List of Contacts

4. List of Expenses

5.List of Useful Tools

6. List of Self Improvements

7. List of Creative Ideas

8. List of Future Plans

9. List of Contingency Plans

10. Bucket List

This is important because it helps one to stay motivated to do the work that needs to be done. There are a lot of people that try to keep up the work without a list, and this could potentially slow down their productivity. Having a list would keep to keep track of where one is at and their progress.

The Importance of Computers in Our Daily Lives

This article is important because it speaks of the importance of computers in our daily lives. In the place that we live in, it would be considered weird if we live without a computer. For most people of all group and age, computer is an essential way of live in our everyday lives. Computers can help many type of different groups from businesses, media, to the entertainment industries.

2. Privacy and Freedom of Speech

People Battle to Regain Online Privacy 

This is an interesting article also from the discussion of privacy and personal information. People nowadays are realising that everything they do online is going to be tracked and that it can never go away even if they think they deleted something. People need to take more precautions and learn how to keep their own business to themselves. For example if some website asks for your credit card information, you need to learn how to protect yourself by not giving it away.

6 Terrifying User Agreements You've Probably Accepted

This article is important because there are many out there who does not read agreements simply because it is too long. This article speaks of the importance of how almost every single people out there in this world right signs off on thousands of agreement without reading the details. Throughout this article, there are certainly consequences to the agreement that users approve and they should be more aware of what they are actually agreeing upon.

3. Intellectual Property

When Computers become creative

This article talks about how artists and computer scientists are using artificial intelligence to create works of art. This will be a helpful, not hurtful, tool for artists all around the world as they can get robots to automate their drawings and designs. The piece of software to create paintings, AARON, is one developed by an artist to create art uses visual feedback loops to constantly check the effects of its paint strokes. Artists can pre-program AARON to make specific designs they like and this will further speed up the speed for artists to get their art out to market and sell for money. This article is important because it also promotes awareness about artistic copyrighting and duplication. It's important to respect an artist's intellectual property by asking for permission to use their art and also use many different licenses in order to display it publicly.   

The Ethics of Intellectual Property

This article talked about the importance of intellectual property in the digital age. Many companies and businesses are using special digital licenses/copyrights/trademarks to protect their information and other valuable resources from being infringed on. It also talks about the history of intellectual property law and how it started off in the United States. Interestingly enough, the first patent laws were passed by Congress in 1790. This article gets into more complicated fields such as trade secrets and users rights to trade secrets. As more and more forms of intellectual property come about, congress and law makers will have to adjust accordingly in order to keep up with different forms of intellectual resources/property.

4. Crime

What should I do if I've been hacked?

Anyone can benefit from this resource. It gives us the basic tips and guidelines to protect our online accounts such as enabling 2 factor authentication practices. This guide is helpful because it will help internet users practice better security habits which will help protect them against hackers. It brought up many different strategies we can utilize to keep ourselves and our friends safe from hackers around the world. Such tips include changing passwords every few months to make it harder for hackers to crack.    

 Top Five Computer Crimes & How to Protect Yourself From Them

Crimes include cyber stalking and child pornography. This is crime is an endangerment to others because potential pedophiles and rapists can harm them when they are able to gain more content and information about individuals they are interested in. Using Facebook can be an easy way to cyber stalk people especially when they share on their wall about what they usually do and where they are usually at. These criminals/potential criminals can use this information to possibly commit a crime. How much has computers and the internet contributed to cyber stalking and child pornography?  

5. Employment, Education and Entertainment

After-school robotics clubs compete in annual event 

This link is about an eighth grade robotics competition between middle schools. Learning robotics is also part of STEM, and it really helps with thinking outside of the box. The students started learning robotics in sixth grade and designing projects for the competition.

Flipped Classroom

The future of education will change drastically with the incorporation of technology in the mix, students will no longer learn at school but rather do activities and learn at home through MOOCs. This is what's called a flipped classroom and will likely be the future of education worldwide. By having a flipped classroom, more students have a better success rate through life and college while also giving those who aren't fortunate enough to attend a classroom a chance to learn the education at the same level as someone who would be in the classroom.

6. Midterm - Grand Challenges

The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace

A major priority for the US government has been to keep America safe, especially after 9/11. Because of the extreme amounts of activity going on in cyber space it can be very hard to narrow anything down. The site does a great job of explaining what the government does to help protect its citizens. In order for this to happen, many different parts of the government are sharing information with each other and working together. Allowing all the information to be used in a cohesive manor allows a safer environment. People can use this site to gain information about how their government is protecting its country in cyber space.

Water Environment Solutions

This link was a great example of the grand challenge of finding access to clean water for everyone. Providing clean water for everyone is such an important thing. Not only is it important for the environment, but its crucial for the human population to have. The site has many solutions to problems regarding the shortage of drinking water. For example, monitoring the distribution and the purification of water are necessities when obtaining water. This site is directly related to the the grand challenges project of providing clean access to water.

7. Evaluating and Controlling Technology

Positive, Negative or Neutral? Crucial Conversations on Digital Citizenship

Such an important topic, people don't even realize that some of the apps that they are on track what where they are and what they are doing. Digital footprints, we all leave them behind knowingly and not so knowingly. Since everyone now a days has a phone, tablet, and or computer this is so important to keep people informed about the consequences that can happen to them from leaving digital footprints behind.

Guidelines for Evaluating New Technologies for Infection Control

This is a great website that gives guidelines in which to follow for evaluating new technologies. Guidelines that help sell the company on making, or not making the new product: how it will work, how it will help, how much it costs and so much more.

8. Risks, Failures and Responsibilities

Using Your Computer Responsibly

This is a user guide on “how to use the computer responsibly”. We need to monitor our time on our computers, being careful of what computer activities and or games that we are playing, and that we are not on them for too long. The tips on how you could manage the time accordingly were helpful, keeping a log, making sure your daily tasks were done before using your computer, and having a family member monitoring that you are not using it for too long as well. It also mentioned how to be safe online: with your online spending, touched base on CD’s and DVDs, upgrades and what we should download on our computers. What a great user guide to show us how to be more responsible with our computers!

The Unintended Consequences of Technology

We don't even really think of the consequences of using our phones, computers, and tablets have done, but in reality people walk and text, they have a law no texting and driving because so many people were doing it. This was the best article to show some of the unintended consequences of using technology so much: things we don't even think of like your work, employers wanted you to be available 24/7, emotional insecurities, paying to much attention to what others are doing and posting online, and feeling guilty when being away from your phone. It's as if people have to go everywhere with their phones.

9. Anytime, Anywhere

The Year of the MOOC

As technology in society evolves and becomes more fluid, more instantaneous, academia has had to keep up with the demand. The idea of MOOC's, or massive open online courses, blends traditional academic courses with the technological abilities we have today: tuning into a source anytime from practically any place. The improvements and normalization of the general public having access to the Internet from not only computers, but laptops, phones, and tablets, has opened up a huge avenue that educational facilities have taken advantage of. This specific article details the how free online courses could have a positive impact on users' lives: providing quality information at a speed the student feels comfortable, to all corners of the globe, creating channels of education to those who might not be as fortunate to live in a modern, liberal society. There are difficulties with MOOCs, such as complications with the 'grading' system of assignments, what kind of credit a course could count for in traditional academia, as well as if there are any "prerequisites" necessary for fully understanding the course content, however, the benefits of being able to learn about essentially any topic imaginable from anywhere Internet access is available at one's leisure is an incredible, and useful, advancement in technology.

The Future of Medicine Is in Your Smartphone

This article is really eye-opening to how smartphones are pushing their way into every aspect of our lives, including the medical field. Patients can now use their smartphones to log on to patient portals to make appointments, change their protected health information (PHI), schedule an appointment, check test results, even review the doctor's notes from an exam. However, smartphones are now being turned into useful medical devices with the tap of a finger, or simple attachment of a small device. According to this article, devices can be attached/applications can downloaded to a smartphone, which can turn it into an otoscope, a heart monitor, an ophthalmoscope, turning your smartphone into a diagnosing machine. The creation of these new technologies allow for more accessible medical care to poverty stricken areas of the world or quicker diagnoses in disaster situations.

10. Technology Advances, Social Trends

Computer Science: The Future of Education

This article begins by stressing the commonality of student usage of technology, how cellphones are replacing alarm clocks, computers and laptops are substitutes for textbooks. The constant use of technology, along with the value society places on it is disproportionate to the number of those who understand it on a technical level of how it all actually works. Teaching computer science to younger audiences is extremely vital to the continuity and expansion of the field; however, as this article explains, academic institutions are falling short of making computer science and engineering topics available to lower grade students. Failing to show students that the stereotypes of being a programmer/engineer (eg; being boring positions, exclusively male, etc.) are untrue, only further promotes those beliefs, and cements them in society. These factors ultimately limit student interest in computing areas and have the potential to inhibit students from learning computer literacy skills that are becoming increasingly necessary to future careers. To kick-start the conversation, the author, Alison Miller, presents educators, parents, and academic institutions with a 5-step plan to begin the securing the integration of computer science studies in schools: promoting professional development in teachers with continuing education courses, educating students on the career options in the computer science field, extra credit assignments displaying computer science skills, mentoring opportunities, and introducing games and applications that teach coding in a fun way.

10 ways virtual reality is revolutionizing medicine and healthcare

Virtual reality, especially in the medical field, is a new technological advancement. It can be used for training purposes in trauma centers, giving medical professionals experience in dealing with treatment during extreme situations like natural disasters, during diagnosis for better visualization, rehabilitation for patients, as well as psychological care, like PTSD and phobia treatment, even training for intern surgeons without the added pressure of a patient's life in their hands. As virtual reality programs become more mainstream and commonplace in medical facilities, it will provide more training and preparation opportunities for emergency departments, substantially more precision training for surgeons which in turn, will advance the kinds of surgeries that can be performed on more fragile organ systems like the neurological, cardiovascular, and cardiopulmonary systems, and even provide an alternative to anxiety medications given to patients who have extreme phobias or debilitating PTSD by allowing them to confront their issues virtually. While the fear that virtual reality will cause users to become stagnant, it can provide just the opposite for those who are home-bound: the experience of walking, bicycling riding, or any other activity that they couldn't achieve otherwise.