Category Archives: Computers

Metaliteracy – Week 5 – Understanding How Information is Packaged and Shared

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

Week 5 of Coursera’s Metaliteracy course is entitled “Understanding How Information is Packaged and Shared”. I was initially skeptical of the week, as format is rarely something I have thought much about outside of the mainstream. For example, a blog post vs. a news article, and the likely credibility of the two by default. Kind of like peer-reviewed vs. non-peer-reviewed articles. But as I worked through the readings, and the assignments, I actually found that I liked the content more than I expected.

For example, it talks about it from a creation stand-point. An academic wanting to advance learning in a specific area is likely to follow a traditional route and publish in a peer-reviewed journal using technical language appropriate to the field. By contrast, the same academic might want to make a presentation to students that would make the same information available but tied to more fundamental principles. And equally, the same academic might try to reach out through blogs or popular press articles with infographics to encapsulate similar information.  » Read the rest

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Metaliteracy – Week 4 – Ethical Use of Information

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

Week 4 of Coursera’s Metaliteracy course is entitled “Ethical Use of Information”. The main materials for the week are a great series of videos called “Everything is a Remix”. It shows, in a multitude of examples, how ideas and even content are remixed and re-used, built upon, edited, etc., all as part of new creations. And for me, it leads to a kind of intellectual conundrum. If, in many spheres of life like science, the goal is to build off of the efforts of others and to advance learning, how do you do that while respecting the intellectual rights of others in an ethical way?

The remix videos are great, and worth watching even if you aren’t taking the course. The remastered version is below:

The other readings and the assignment for the week are a bit more mechanical, and not very well done. For example, the first assignment question is about whether or not you can scan or take a pic of a calendar you have on your wall that has a cool astronomy photo on it, and then share it online.  » Read the rest

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Fun with photos for blog posts

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

No, I’m not starting a Sheldon Cooper “Fun with flags” videocast rip-off. 🙂 I’m taking a Metaliteracy class, and of course it has a strong sub-element on being a good digital citizen, particularly when it comes to online content. Namely, not stealing it willy-nilly but instead respecting licensing.

One thing I don’t do a whole lot of in my blog is include photos. Every advice site on the ‘net will tell you that pix are where it’s at, and if you want your text to soar, add pictures. So, sure, if I’m writing about something that I have pictures of that I took, I usually include them. But if I’m just writing in general, maybe about publishing or reading, I don’t see why a picture of a book or a typewriter is going to help that prose. One of my favorite blogs, The Passive Voice, also doesn’t use much in the way of graphics, yet frequently shares links to sites that allow you to do simple photos for blogs etc.  » Read the rest

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Metaliteracy – Week 3 – Intellectual property aka Creative Commons

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

Week 3 of the Metaliteracy course is entitled “Becoming A Digital Citizen: Understanding Intellectual Property” and I confess I was disappointed in the week for two reasons. First and foremost, I was looking for a deeper dive into the issues around academic publishing and journals, and instead we were treated to a one-size-fits-all promotional video of how big academic journal publishers are pillaging the land of academic freedom. I learned far more from Michael Geist’s posts about the CRTC hearings back in December on potential reforms to the Copyright Act to address university usage of academic materials.

However, the second disappointment was more about the lack of nuancing of “free” vs. “open”. It is generally pushed by a group of online advocates that “free” is the wrong term, as it confuses free movement with free cost, and the much better term is open to everyone with no restrictions for access or cost.  » Read the rest

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Metaliteracy – Week 2 – Creating and sharing a social identity

The Writing Life of a Tadpole Posted on by  

Week 2 of the Metaliteracy course is entitled “Creating and Sharing a Social Identity” and after the enjoyable first week’s materials, I was looking forward to seeing what nuances would crop up this week. The video for the week was a short animated feature showing a young woman interviewing for a job, and while the interview went well, the hiring manager googled her after the interview to see what her online presence looked like. The hiring manager found no LinkedIn account, found a recent tweet she posted saying she “nailed the interview”, and some old tweets complaining about her job, and about hating people and her boss. So the hiring manager moved on. The “lesson learned”, as intended, is that people should think about the persona they project online and the impact it can have on your professional life.

And as I went through the week’s readings, and other materials, I seriously hoped that there was going to be more to the week’s offerings than a 1970s-style guidance counselor advising young girls to watch their image (don’t worry, there is more than that!).  » Read the rest

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