User:Fantazya

1. Introductions:

[1] 15 Educational Search Engines College Students Should Know About (BEST of links)

This is a great article that details 15 different search engines that are verified and proven to have accurate information for research purposes. It is really crucial to have multiple sources of information to truly corroborate that what you are saying is true and have the sources to back that up. Using educational sources like the ones listed in this article will provide you with solid facts that can be trusted.

[2] Evaluating Internet Resources

This link is one that provides guidelines for how to determine if a site is trustworthy or not. It explains how to ask questions about the author to see if they are real and reliable, questions about the purpose of the page, questions about the objectivity of the page (is it fact or opinion), questions about the accuracy of the information presented, questions about the credibility and reliability of the information, and questions about the currency of the page to ensure the information is not outdated. After you have answered all of the questions listed you will know if the site is to be trusted as a resource of good information or not.

2. Privacy and Freedom of Speech:

[3] PRIVACY IN AMERICA: COMPUTERS, PHONES & PRIVACY (BEST of links)

This article is about the government being interested in the information you put out into the world through your electronics and the dangers of that. The government works hard to get around the encryption that your device uses so that they can find people that are potentially threatening. Does the government have the right to be watching the American people so closely at all times and without permission from its citizens?

[4] Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information

This article deals with the topic of data collection, personal information being less secure, and being tracked by our devices at all times. Is the information you put online safe from prying eyes whether they be the government of people trying to steal information? Can we trust the privacy policies we so regularly agree to without reading them?

3. Intellectual Property:

[5] AI-generated art: who owns the copyright? (BEST of links)

This article is about AI generated art and its right to be used by the public domain since it is nearly impossible to determine where the artwork originates. Because AI generates an output without any human input and AI is not a physical person you cannot give a copyright to it; this a grey area though since someone created the algorithm that made the artwork. This article goes on to say that the laws are behind the times and needs to catch up to AI generated work.

[6] How to Spot Fake News

This article offers several tips in spotting fake news; first check the date of the article or post you are reading to make sure it is recent, second is to check the source of the information to make sure they are credible and not a gossip outlet, third is to read past the headline to make sure that you get all of the information and not just a catchy title, fourth is to check the author which means to google the author and make sure they are real and not a made up name for the purpose of sounding real. The article also suggests going to link provided to fact check the claims they make and also checking to ensure it is not satire and meant to poke fun at something. The article details all of these steps and tips in more detail and is a good source.

4. Crime:

[7] Cyber Crime (BEST of links)

The FBI is undergoing a transformation that will allow them to better address the evolving cyber risks here in the United States. There isn't a certain type of person that makes cyber attacks, instead it could be a nerdy guy great with computers, a competing business, or a terrorist and no matter what it costs billions of dollars to repair the systems that have been attacked. Everyone is in danger of crimes on the internet and you need to be aware of how to not be a target or not fall into the trap when you are a target.

[8] What To Do After You've Been Hacked

This article has great tips on what to do if your computer is hacked and some good steps to take to make sure you get control back and keep it. Everyone could benefit from this article, it is general but also helpful and covers many bases.

5. Employment, Education, and Entertainment:

[9] Writing for Web Accessibility

This article provides some really useful tips on how to make online sites more accessible to people with disabilities but also just easier to follow for all people. Using things like headings and subheadings, how to make links in text meaningful and useful, how to make the text for an image meaningful and informative, and how to keep content clear and concise. This link is a wealth of information and incredibly useful to anyone trying to make internet content that is not only accessible, but easy to use and understand for everyone.

[10] Classroom Resources (BEST of links)

This is a link from the K-8 Engineering discussion post. This link is a list of various classroom resources that are recommended by the National Science Teacher Association. There is a link to each resource on the list and a discipline/subject matter that is being covered in the link as well as the age range/grades that this link and subject matter is designed for.

6. Midterm - Grand Challenges:

[11] Transforming One Million Lives Through Literacy (BEST of links)

The goal of this XPRIZE was to "TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF LOW-LITERACY ADULTS ON A LARGE SCALE. BY GETTING APPS INTO THE HANDS OF LEARNERS AROUND THE COUNTRY FOR FREE, COMPETITORS ARE DEMOCRATIZING ADULT EDUCATION, PROVIDING ANYTIME, ANYWHERE ACCESS TO LEARNING FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST." by making apps for your phone that are free and can teach you anywhere that you are. This was a spectacular XPRIZE that targeted the 1 in 6 adults in the United States that lacks basic English literacy. By enhancing the literacy skills of this group they would be empowered to find better work, advance their education, and help their children with their school work.

[12] Creating Water From Thin Air

This XPRIZE was designed to use 100% renewable energy to affordable and decentralized access to clean water everywhere and at all times for anyone that needs it. The leader of this XPRIZE stated "OVER 780 MILLION PEOPLE IN 43 COUNTRIES ARE FACING WATER SCARCITY DUE TO LACK OF AVAILABILITY, UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION AND ACCESS, AND CONTAMINATION". There have been methods for purifying water in the past but these methods have been destructive and incredibly expensive; this XPRIZE was able to accomplish the task by extracting a minimum of 2,000 liters of water per day from the atmosphere, having a combined cost of operation and capital being less that $0.02 per liter, and using only renewable energy.

7. Evaluating and Controlling Technology:

[13] Internet of Things

This link also provides a good list of the pros and cons of The Internet of Things (IoT) as well as how it benefits organizations and people. The standards and frameworks of IoT are also included in this link to give a really solid overview of IoT as a whole. As people and computers get smarter and systems continue to be hacked and information stolen, does IoT seem like something good or something to be nervous about?

[14] Talk Nerdy To Me (BEST of links)

Melissa Marshall gave a Ted Talk on scientists and engineers sharing their information in a way that the general population understands because they want to know and understand. She offers four ways of the making the information accessible to the average person. A wonderful four minute video explaining how making things simple is not the same thing as dumbing it down and is beneficial to the general population.

8. Risks, Failures, and Responsibilities:

[15] 10 Ways Computers Are Used in Medicine (BEST of links)

This article is about 10 ways that computers are used in the medical field. This article does a good job of illustrating how computers have made taking care of patients and working on patients easier than it has been in the past. The use of computers allows for assistance in surgery, the ability to video chat with our doctors from the comfort of our homes and get advice that way, easier access to medical databases and more.

[16] Polymaps

This is a link for Polymaps which is a free JavaScript library that allows you to make dynamic maps that are interactive in web browsers. The visual display is helpful because you can see countries, states, cities, street view basically any map view to get whatever you need out of the map. When you look at the examples on the site they give descriptions of what the map does and also gives the code so you can understand how it was made to be able to make your own version.

9. Anytime, Anywhere:

[17] The Ultimate MOOC Handbook (BEST of links)

This link does a pretty great job of explaining what MOOC's are, what the benefits are, where to find them, and some advice from students that have taken MOOC's before. The benefits of MOOC's is that they are available to everyone with access to the internet and a device that can support the site as well as being free generally unless you are trying to get a certificate of some sort in which case you pay a small fee. This provides a concise explanation of MOOC's and why they are worth taking a look at.

[18] The Difference Between Healthy and Unhealthy Love

This video is from an assignment where we were assigned the task of find a Ted Talk that piqued our interests. This is a Ted Talk by Katie Hood on the difference between healthy and unhealthy love. She says that 100% of us will on the receiving end of unhealthy love and that 100% will also do some unhealthy things. Relationship abuse is something that one in three women and one in four men will experience in their lifetime, which is a massive amount of people and needs to be discussed more and openly to combat the huge number.

10. Technology Advances, Social Trends:

[19] Technology Adoption (BEST of links)

This is a link for charts on the adoption and diffusion of technology around the world. This is very interesting because while we are so advanced here in the United States as far as technology goes, there are some huge areas around the world that are significantly behind us, and this provides a breakdown of what that looks like. This is a really cool representation using a variety of visuals that shows that breakdown around the world.

[20] Zipline: Vital, On-Demand Delivery for the World

This link has a little blurb saying that they want to "Deliver life-saving medicine to women during childbirth in Rwanda and Ghana" and they are trying to deliver medicine quickly and safely all over the globe. Their goal is to provide equal access to on-demand deliveries of medical supplies; which is severely lacking in many parts of the world. They also hire and train people in the areas they are working in, so they provide jobs for people as well as life saving medical supplies.