Digital Citizenship Reflection

Over these past 16 weeks we have learned a lot about being a citizen in this online society. We made an about.me page (you can view mine here) and everything you see on this blog is work that I have done for this class. In the video below I will be talking about what I have learned about being a digital citizen.

The Friend

The first few weeks of Digital Citizenship we were asked to make a superhero. My superhero name was The Friend and below I have a link to my manifesto and my comic that shows my origin story.

My Manifesto

The Digital Divide - A Reflection

Here in the United States, we don’t really think about people not being on the internet. We’re really privileged in that we are a rich country. It seems like even the poorest of people have the internet. I grew up in a small town an hour outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. I had dial-up internet for as long as I could remember. The whole wifi and high speed internet had taken over but in my town, if you were lucky to have it in the first place, didn’t get to see that stuff until later than most people. There’s also the fact that signals around my area are nonexistent. You go about 5-10 minutes outside my town and you have no service for miles. When you grow up around poor people and harder access to good internet you see how big the digital divide can be.

Pew Research did a survey this year and found out that 11% of US adults don’t use or have the internet. That’s a considerable drop from 48% in 2000 but 11% is still a large amount of Americans. There are many reasons as to why these people don’t use the internet and they range from just not having and interest in it to it being too difficult to use. But in 2013 they found that 19% of people didn’t go online because it was too expensive to own a computer or internet. While the US certainly doesn’t have the most expensive internet in the world, it can still be hard for some people to pay the price for internet.

So what can we do to make the internet and computers cheaper? No doubt in my mind that it will become cheaper over time. Things like laptops are certainly becoming cheaper. I bought mine for 99 dollars at a computer store. And it’s so easy to find computers and laptops online that people are selling second hand for cheap. The internet will probably be harder to make cheaper as demand goes up. But there are internet providers that have cheap internet plans (usually if you bundle things such as tv or phone). Cheaper internet is out there and hopefully the digital divide does become smaller.

Below is my video discussing the Digital Divide

Anonymity in the Online World

For our Digital Citizenship class we were asked to do a research paper on a one of the nine elements of digital citizenship. I chose digital communication and more specifically, anonymity in online communication.

Click here to read and view the paper.

Let's Talk About Facebook and Media Literacy

A pretty straight forward video. Just be more conscious when viewing content on facebook and other social media platforms.

Let's Make Our Voice Heard!

Four Be With You

Today I'm talking about four movies, books, photos, and albums that have changed my life! :)

Me and My Issue

Today I'm going to talk about something that hits home for me. It's suicide and I'm going to tell you ways I try to help prevent it and ways we can work together to prevent it.

Inspirations, Aspirations, Apprehensions

A Bit About Me

1. Your favorite SM handle?

Deadcrxsh it is a reference to my favorite alt-J song, Deadcrush.

2. Neighborhood where you grew up?

I grew up in a small town an hour outside Cincinnati, Ohio called Georgetown. It’s a very boring place to live.

3. What I do (in 140 characters exactly)

I’m studying art therapy here at Avila. I also listen to music, read, write, paint, and do photography when I have any moment of free time!!

4. What’s your addiction?

Buying vinyl records. I can’t go into a record store without buying a record. My record collection is at 80 right now.

5. What’s your game?

Caring for the people around me.

6. What’s your drink?

Icelandic water. It’s the purest water in the world that can bought at 7/11. Beat that Fiji water!

7. Favorite place to have dinner?

My brother’s house! My sister-in-law studied in culinary school so she is an amazing cook.

8. Finish these…
9. I got it right when….

I moved out here. The town I grew up in held me back so much and it actually depressed me. Going here I learned I can be free to be myself and do things I’ve always wanted to do.

1. I need ……

Music. It’s the thing that got me through so much and I would die without it.

9. As a kid I wanted to be?

A teacher! It was my dream job and then I grew up and realized it just wasn’t the right fit for me.

10. In five years, I’ll be…

Studying for my master’s degree.

11. I always laugh at….

Everything! No joke I always find time to giggle. In fact in 7th grade one of my teacher’s told me that laughing at least once a day can add 7 years to your life I would live forever because I laugh all the time.

12. I’ve been known to binge watch…

Concert videos. I’m always on youtube watching clips or whole concerts from my favorite artists.

13. I can’t stop listening to…

Radiohead! They have been my favorite artist for years. If I have my earbuds in, chances are I’m listening to Radiohead.

14. My dream concert line-up is…

The opening act would be alt-J. The main event, if you couldn’t guess, would be Radiohead.

15. I just read…

My social media feeds.

16. What’s your hidden talent?

I can play flute really well. It’s not something I talk about often.

17. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?

I don’t believe in guilty pleasures! If I like it I’m going to enjoy it I don’t care what people think.

18. The best advice I ever got was…

Just Keep Swimming. Thanks Dory!

19. Worst advice???

Apply at Little Caesar’s! It was the worst job I had.

20. My sidekick is…

My girlfriend, Haley

21. What is your spiritual animal?

A Unicorn!

22. Who (or what) is your main nemesis?

People who are only in this world for themselves and no one else

23. What’s your greatest struggle right now?

Confidence in my artwork.

24. My favorite toy as a child was….

My barbie dolls. I had those until i was 16 years old!