Embedded Files
Cyberliteracy Narrative
Cyberliteracy Narrative
September 15, 2024
New technologies are shaping how individuals experience and view the world around them, making it important that individuals are aware of changes in technology. However, people must not just be aware but must be cyberliterate—entailing that it is necessary to be able to critique these changes in technology when they become a danger to the lives of individuals and their privacy. Experts say that in order to be cyberliterate it is of the utmost necessity “to understand the relationship between our communication technologies and ourselves, our communities, and our cultures” (Gurak 16). Since the cyberspace is a world of constant change, it is imperative that citizens are cyberliterate for their personal and professional lives.
My earliest encounters with computers and cyberliteracy truly started in kindergarten at my school. Before kindergarten, I had only ever used a computer to do “paint,” and the computer in question was an extremely outdated Packard Bell computer from the 1980s at my house. However, once I stared going to school, I attended a technology class twice a week for the entirety of elementary school. The class was held in the computer lab where we mostly learned how to type and navigate the Microsoft Office suite, most frequently Word. In order to learn to type, we had a program that we used outside of the technology lab called “Type to Learn 4” and then in class, we used methods such as covering the letters on the keyboard with orange keyboard covers to practice typing by feel and memory, instead of by sight (Fig. 1). Overall, my earliest experience with computers was for educational purposes and encompassed a large amount of repetition. It was not until I was in junior high school that I ever clearly remember learning about cyberliteracy by taking a course called “digital citizenship,” which we had to complete in order to receive our school-issued MacBooks.
Fig. 1 “Speed Skin Keyboard Cover”
While my initial knowledge in regard to computers and cyberliteracy has grown since I was a child, my knowledge is still mostly educationally based. When I was an engineering major at TCU, I was taught and later became proficient in two coding languages, MatLab and Python. Additionally, I learned how to use CAD, or computer aided design through the platform, Autodesk Inventor. I also am familiar with the Adobe Creative Cloud, where I have the most experience and proficiency with illustrator, InDesign, and photoshop, though my preference for graphic design projects is Canva. On a daily basis, I use typing skills with both the Microsoft Office Suite, and Google Suite, as well as skills in internet browsing. Aside my specific program-based skills, I am proficient in using email, spreadsheets, presentations, and word processing software. I have been briefly introduced to web design through both Weebly and Wix. I also have experience with social media management with the Meta Platform, with relation to Instagram and Facebook. One of my most used technological skills is the ability to complete digital, quality academic research.
While I am proficient in many technological skills, I have clear strengths and weaknesses. My strengths involve typing, completing academic research, and using the Microsoft Office Suite, as these are skills I use on a frequent basis and have the most experience using. My worst skills are coding and graphic design, simply because they are not skills I use often. My professional graphic design experience is the result of only a few formal classes in high school, as well as some social media design for my sorority; there is a lot of room for improvement from my high school projects (Fig. 2). I have a similar experience with coding in the sense that I have taken a few separate classes but am not planning on going into a field where those skills are necessary.
Fig. 2 “The Girl Who Made Me”
In the future, I would love to gain skills in other graphic design programs, preferably whatever my future company has a subscription towards. Also, while I have done web design through established programs, it would be interesting to learn how to completely code and create a website from scratch. I want to learn both skills to widen my repertoire of knowledge and marketability in the workforce. Once I join a company, I would learn these skills by observing other colleagues or attending professional development that focuses on new trends and emerging technology programs. Additionally, I would be interested in learning more about artificial intelligence and database management as these are both hot topics in society right now, and it is always better to be prepared and ahead of the curve in a changing environment like technology.
It is necessary for individuals to be cyberliterate to protect themselves personally and to experience advancement in their professional careers, which entails having knowledge about technical practices and the ability to be critical over new developments. Everything I have learned about computers and cyberliteracy has been taught to me through the education system by teachers and professors who want me to be equipped within the digital world. Furthermore, cyberliteracy takes practice; the skills that I succeed the most with are the skills that I use on a regular basis, where I keep up with the frequent trends. Overall, cyberliteracy cannot be learned in a day, but rather involves a lifetime of learning and growth.
Works Cited
Brewer, Suzie. “The Girl Who Made Me.” 2021. PSD file.
Gurak, Lauren. “Cyberliteracy: Toward a New Internet Consciousness.” Cyberliteracy. Ebook, JSTOR, 2001.
“Speed Skin Keyboard Cover.” Crazy 4 Computers, 2021, http://www.crazy4computers.net/information-on-keyboard-covers.html
Influencer Identification & Evaluation
Influencer Identification & Evaluation
October 6, 2024
The influencers I will be discussing today are the twins from Texas, Brooklyn and Bailey McKnight. Brooklyn and Bailey create beauty and lifestyle content, and their YouTube channel was first created in 2010. However, the girls were first introduced into content creation as featured models for their mom—Mindy McKnight—on her YouTube Channel: Cute Girls Hairstyles. Many of Brooklyn and Bailey’s followers have grown up with them, through their hairstyle, teenage, college, business, wedding, and now pregnancy lifestyle vlogs. Their channel is relatable, trendy, and promotes a family brand image. Overall, Brooklyn and Bailey have a general audience of young, female adults.
While Brooklyn and Bailey are individuals with their own lives, they share all their social media platforms. Brooklyn and Bailey originally started on Youtube and have been posting consistently on there for over ten years. It was a familiar platform for their family, due to their mom’s channel and the format allows for longer length vlogs and videos. Also, it is easy to have sponsorships on YouTube videos, without the whole video having to be directed toward the advertisement. The twins are also consistent on Instagram, as it is the best way to see into their life; they showcase a “Pinterest-worthy” life and set a standard of what is trendy. Also, they can post reels on here as well. Brooklyn and Bailey also post on TikTok daily, following the trends in the short-video format. While Instagram gives a snapshot into their life, TikTok offers a more genuine and authentic feel to the content. TikTok is very trendy right now and is a great way for influencers to market their own products or team up with sponsors. The twins also have accounts on X, Facebook, and Snapchat, but do not use these frequently and stick to more video-based platforms.
Brooklyn and Bailey have millions of followers across their platforms. They have 7.25 million subscribers on YouTube, 9.5 million followers on Instagram, 7 million followers on TikTok, 303.9 thousand followers on X, 725 thousand followers on Facebook, and 464.7 thousand followers on Snapchat. Most of their followers are young, middle-class, college-educated female adults under the age of 30, around the same age and demographic as Brooklyn and Bailey. Many of their followers are interested in the latest trends in clothing, makeup, skincare, and accessories, as well as “lifehacks” and experience in the realms of college, marriage, adulthood and pregnancy.
Brooklyn and Bailey mostly advertise for their own brands. The duo owns itk—a skincare line—and Sip City—a soda restaurant. The most versatile brand that Brooklyn and Bailey own is Lash Next Door, which started as a mascara line and has now transformed into a company that sells beauty products, apparel, accessories, jewelry, home décor, and lifestyle/digital products. Aside from their own brands, Brooklyn and Bailey advertise for lifestyle products, or products that they already use in their life. In the past, this has included makeup brands, household cleaning items, trendy accessories, as well as health and wellness items. These industries fit right into the beauty and lifestyle content that Brooklyn and Bailey have solidified with their brand image.
The most common places that Brooklyn and Bailey place their advertisements are on TikTok, Instagram reels, and YouTube videos. For the shorter format videos on TikTok and Instagram, the whole post is relating to the ad, but the ad does not take up every moment of the post; for instance, one of the twins may be putting on her whole face of makeup for the day, but the post specifically highlights the foundation brand that is sponsoring them. For the longer format videos on YouTube, the sponsorship is just a small segment, usually not more than 1-2 minutes over the course of a 10–15-minute video. However, on each platform, the ads are unintrusive and match the beauty and lifestyle brand that the twins have created.
Overall, Brooklyn and Bailey are trustworthy influencers who have created a brand built on authenticity and real life. While I have been to Brooklyn and Bailey’s soda shop, Sip City, I have not patronized any of their other products; although, many of their products are easily accessible through Target, Amazon, and their own websites. The most notable thing about Brooklyn and Bailey’s influencer journey is that their content has grown up alongside them; they share appropriate content for the age group that follows them, transition from teenage to adult content as they grew up themselves.
(Discriminatory) Algorithms:
(Discriminatory) Algorithms:
October 20, 2024
Algorithms are changing the landscape for many business and helping organizations increase their efficiency, output, and results. Simply put, algorithms are sets of rules that complete tasks for programs, platforms, and organizations; algorithms automate decisions. While there are many benefits for organizations using algorithms, algorithms can also be discriminatory and based in biased practices. For instance, algorithms may automatically intake information about a person’s gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class to then produce results that negatively impact the individual, based in stereotypes.
Spotify, an audio streaming subscription service, that serves over 600 million people utilizes algorithms to best support their users, both paid and unpaid subscribers. Three of the algorithms that Spotify uses are collaborative filtering, natural language processing, and audio analysis (“Spotify Algorithms”). On Spotify, collaborative filtering is used to observe the behavior of each listener by analyzing saved artists, self-organized playlists, and listening history; then, the algorithm suggests songs, artists, and makes playlists based on users’ interest who have similar preferences or history. Spotify also utilizes natural language processing which identifies musical trends by researching online articles and helps complete correct and modern recommendations to listeners. A third algorithm that Spotify uses is audio analysis which analyzes the musical components of a particular song, such as key, tempo, and vibe to suggest similar songs with the preferred components.
Overall, these three algorithms dramatically increase the user experience on Spotify by creating personalized playlists and recommendations for each individual listener. Not only are listeners happy because they are listening to genres that they already like or are socially trendy, but listeners are also engaged because they are getting introduced to new songs, artists, and even up-and-coming genres and styles of music. Also, the personalization makes users feel like they—as an induvial—are a personal priority of Spotify and their management; it makes users feel valued, like the Spotify corporation has a personal stake in an individual’s life, experience, and wellbeing. By introducing users to new content, listeners get to explore more about themselves and their music tastes. The combination of familiar and new music excites users and makes them intrigued for what music they will be recommended each week. On the actual Spotify platform, advertising only really impacts non-subscribers, so the on-platform advertising algorithm is not very comprehensive to the whole application.
While there are many positive benefits to algorithms use for Spotify, there are also some possible ethical implications. For instance, many of the algorithms rely on analyzing the individual user’s listening history and preferred artists, songs, and playlist. The potential concern arises in the fact that all this data is being stored by Spotify, but could potentially be leaked, causing data privacy issues. The well-known saying goes, “if you aren’t paying for a product, you are the product,” and two thirds of regular Spotify users are not paid subscribers, begging the question of if Spotify is unethically selling user data to an unknown third-party source. Additionally, these algorithms could potentially recommend songs, or podcasts on Spotify that spread misinformation or disinformation. Furthermore, the algorithms have the possibility of being rooted in bias and could be discriminatory, potentially not recommended specific artists or songs to listeners based on stereotypes or other discriminatory factors.
Regarding similar music streaming platforms, Spotify utilizes many of the same algorithms as their competitors. Many platforms use collaborative filtering and track the listening behavior and history of the users to generate personalized suggestions. However, Spotify also has differences from its competitors and uses natural language processing to stand out and track internet trends, while other competitors create algorithms that mimic radio-style. Truly, Spotify seems to be effective by combining algorithms that research both the behavior of the listener and social trends.
To improve the algorithms on Spotify, it could be beneficial to check in with current users and listeners—both paid and unpaid subscribers—to see what they are interested in Spotify utilizing on the platform. For instance, as a Spotify listener myself, I wish that there were ways to permanently hide some of my listening history from the algorithms that create playlists for me, particularly the musical soundtracks that I obsessively spent thousands of hours listening to in middle school. This does not reflect my current music taste, as over the last decade I have expanded my music pallet and started listening to new genres, artists, and songs; however, I do not spend the same amount of time listening to music now as compared to junior high, so my history almost unbalanced and unporportionate to my current preferences. To conclude, algorithms are beneficial, but a technology that is constantly changing.
Works Cited
“Spotify Algorithms” prompt. ChatGPT, OpenAI, chat.openai.com/chat.
Creating with AI Project
Creating with AI Project
November 3, 2024
November 3, 2024
AI Generated Song: Texas Blues
Verse 1:
In the heart of Texas, oh, the oil rigs rise,
Fortunes come and go beneath those wide blue skies.
Booming cities grow, the dusty plains collide,
Jobs are shifting fast, but we won't lose our pride.
Chorus:
Oh, Texas, land of wide-open skies,
With grit and grace, we’ll rise and rise.
Through storms and struggles, we stand our ground,
In this wild frontier, our spirits abound.
In the soul of Texas, we’re glory-bound!
Verse 2:
From the Hill Country to the ocean’s shore,
Nature gives us gifts that we can’t ignore.
Droughts and wildfires burn, the floods come and go,
Yet we cherish stars and the nights all aglow.
Chorus:
Oh, Texas, land of wide-open skies,
With grit and grace, we’ll rise and rise.
Through storms and struggles, we stand our ground,
In this wild frontier, our spirits abound.
In the soul of Texas, we’re glory-bound!
Verse 3:
In the political fight, our voices ignite,
Seeking out the truth in the heat of the night.
Voter turnout's strong, we are standing tall,
Together we can weave a story for all.
Chorus:
Oh, Texas, land of wide-open skies,
With grit and grace, we’ll rise and rise.
Through storms and struggles, we stand our ground,
In this wild frontier, our spirits abound.
In the soul of Texas, we’re glory-bound!
Bridge:
Through the hardships faced, we will find our way,
United we stand, come what may.
From the cities bright to the rural lanes,
Sharing laughter and all our pains.
Chorus:
Oh, Texas, land of wide-open skies,
With grit and grace, we’ll rise and rise.
Through storms and struggles, we stand our ground,
In this wild frontier, our spirits abound.
In the soul of Texas, we’re glory-bound!
Outro:
So here’s to Texas, through joy and through strife,
A vibrant tapestry, a spirited life.
Facing the future, we’ll thrive hand in hand,
In this great state, united we stand.
AI Generated Image: "Texas Blues"
Memo
For this project, I set out to create a song and an accompanying image about the current economic, physical, and political state of Texas. For the song, I wanted it to be between four and six minutes in length where each stanza was between average and long in length. Since I have limited experience writing songs or lyrics, I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to utilize generative AI resources to enhance the process. I chose the theme of Texas to communicate valuable information about this state through song to the many new residents.
To create this song, I immediately turned to ChatGPT. This is the generative AI platform that I have the most experience with (while still limited), and I knew that it would be able to help capture my lyrical ideas in a proper songwriting format. After a few revisions and clarifying prompts, the song was created. The next part was creating the image. I first attempted to create an image with Claude, but did not receive the results that I desired. Eventually, I created my final image on the Deep AI Image generator using a series of carefully curated prompts.
As previously mentioned, I had some issues with creating my image. When I originally attempted with Claude, I was met with a rudimentary image formed with geometric shapes. As my original desire was a realistic image, I redirected my prompt to include this stipulation. However, the platform informed me that it could not achieve realistic designs and pointed me in the direction of other AI platforms, like DALL-E and Deep AI. I then tried to use DALL-E but was met with an error message that conveyed the fact that they were no longer allowing new users to utilize the platform. Finally, I turned to Deep AI as the platform to create a representative image of the song. To achieve maximum success, I turned back to Claude to help me create descriptive prompts to engineer the desired realistic style. Then, I was able to enter these prompt phrases into Deep AI to receive a pleasing image.
For my text, my first prompt stated, “create an accurate song about the current economic, physical, and political state of Texas that is 4-6 minutes long, with each stanza being between 15 and 85 words.” I was not happy by how dense the content was, so I updated my prompt to say, “Re-format the lyrics to match the melody of "Fishin' in the Dark" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.” Once again, I was disappointed by the results, so I prompted ChatGPT to “analyze the song & reformat the lyrics to the melody and syllable structure of "Deep in the Heart of Texas" followed by a prompt to “add a catch phrase similar to "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and implement into the whole song” to make the lyrics catchier. Finally, pleased by the result, I switched to creating prompts for the image. On Claude, I prompted the platform to “create an image based on this song” and then duplicated the lyrics. After receiving a geometric image, I prompted “use more realistic techniques, in the style of Gustave Courbet.” When I realized Claude could not meet my needs, I sent one final prompt, “explain more about using effective prompts to achieve Courbet-style realism with another tool” to help engineer my prompts for Deep AI. With the assistance of Claude, I sent the following prompt to Deep AI: “Create 2560×1600 pixels image that describes Texas with "oil painting texture" "dramatic lighting" "rich impasto technique" "muted earth tones" "strong contrast" "atmospheric perspective" "hyper-realistic details" based off this song” where I then replicated the lyrics to the song to receive a pleasing image.
Based off my experience, I would state that generative AI can be an effective tool for composition given the correct prompts, revisions, and multi-platform use. Once I understood how to effectively prompt an image generator, I received results that were far greater than my expectations. Additionally, for the composition of the song, generative AI was able to incorporate musical structures and techniques that I would be unable to include on my own accord, as I do not have a background in lyrical composition.
Cyberliteracy Research Project
Cyberliteracy Research Project
November 17, 2024
November 17, 2024
The Urgent Need of Digital Citizenship in Elementary Schools:
The Long-Lasting Impacts of Cyber-Education
“Don’t become a slave to technology – manage your phone, don’t let it manage you” (@richardbranson). This legendary 2013 tweet from Richard Branson still reigns true today. With the steady increase of technology in the workforce as well as schools, there needs to be a major increase in education for users on safe use—making sure that technology is not managing the lives of the next generation. Everyone in America who owns a digital smart device is affected either by the sufficiency or lack of media literacy they have as well as understanding of digital citizenship. Media literacy in essential for everyone, but especially for children with the purpose of protecting them from the potential digital dangers. Therefore, there is an urgent need for comprehensive digital citizenship education to be implemented into elementary schools to set children up for success.
Digital citizenship is an “umbrella term for describing a dynamic set of competences and skills children and young adults need to acquire in order to successfully participate in today’s digital world” (Becker 1). Underneath this umbrella are media literacy and information literacy which are two different and important parts to becoming a strong digital citizen, yet something that many people lack. Media literacy includes being able to “decode, evaluate, analyze and produce both print and electronic media” (Koltay 212). In fact, for adults and children alike, “the fundamental objective of media literacy is a critical autonomy relationship to all media” (212). Media literacy includes interpreting messages by recognizing the bias and privilege that the communicator may have, and a “baseline of media literacy [helps] to understand and evaluate the information that you are receiving” (Williams). Information literacy differs as “information literate people are able to recognize when information is needed… [and the field] emphasizes critical thinking, meta-cognitive, and procedural knowledge used to locate information in specific domains, fields, and contexts” (Koltay 215). Information literacy deals with the credibility and reliability of a source.
Currently, digital citizenship in general education includes rudimentary programs designed to educate students in a minority of schools across the county. However, many of those programs focus on “teachers [becoming] model users” of technology and encouraging teachers to view technology as a “neutral tool” that they can implement to expand “a child’s knowledge of the world” (Becker 173). This basic teaching of a modern relationship with technology is not complete and ignores many current implications of societal technological use that students would experience outside of the classroom. Because of this, there are a few core principles of digital citizenship that are important that student learn early in their school years: netiquette, digital literacy, security, as well as health and wellness. These principles teach children to “develop a sense of responsibility for their actions” online, examine the “perspective and validity of online resources and social media content,” maintain safety from malicious threats, and understand the “importance of maintaining a balance between the online world” and reality (“Digital Citizenship & Ethics”).
There are many potential consequences of children not understanding the concept of digital citizenship as well as risks of not teaching digital citizenship to young children. Without media literacy, individuals are more vulnerable to misinformation, manipulation, and biased narratives. Parts of children’s brains do not reach “peak maturity” until the preteen years, so any information they experience before then is vital to the rest of their brain development (Klingberg 18). Elementary school is a time where children are beginning to develop their critical thinking skills and are beginning to explore the world for the first time. However, with the increase of technology as a tool in schools, it is essential that digital citizenship skills are taught to ensure that children remain safe and responsible online.
Digital citizenship education also helps teach children online safety and responsible internet use. These programs teach respectful online communication through the use of kindness and empathy while also teaching children to avoid dangerous threats and online harassment; these programs show children that their words carry an impact on other people and encourage students to be intentional with their online words and actions. By instructing the youth on appropriate and inappropriate online behavior, digital citizenship education also helps prevent cyberbullying by teaching children to recognize and report any inappropriate behavior; this type of education also helps ensure that students learn the consequences of using “technology in unethical ways,” so that they do not take advantage of these systems (“Digital Citizenship & Ethics). Students are also taught safe cyber habits like how to recognize scams and keep their own online activities secure through use of strong passwords, two-factor authentication, not publicly sharing private information online. The entire act of teaching responsible internet use to children directly impacts and increases the level of online safety.
While digital citizenship may be a new idea for younger students’ classrooms, there are many ways that these lessons can be integrated into existing curriculum or programs. Elementary school curriculums already cover topics like etiquette, physical safety, and how to use respectful language with classmates; therefore, there could also be conversations in those same lessons that cover topics like netiquette (online etiquette), online safety and security, and kind internet language. Also, digital citizenship lessons can be incorporated whenever a new piece of technology is introduced into a classroom. In addition to explaining the instructions on how to use the new tool, educators can also explain guidelines to help keep students safe online and introduce concepts about responsible internet use and maintaining “their health and wellness in the digital world” (Digital Citizenship & Ethics).
There are many benefits to teaching digital citizenship to children early. First, this allows students to create and build upon healthy online habits for their entire technology-filled academic careers and to understand the “expectations” associated with being a “digital citizen” (Digital Citizenship & Ethics). By establishing these healthy online habits as a social norm, children will be able to detect and report unhealthy behaviors faster, potentially saving themselves from a dangerous online predator. Also, digital citizenship lessons help students develop critical thinking skills that will help them determine the safety of an online situation, and also transition to critical thinking for other academic classes or social situations. Teaching these lessons early also help prevent children from being in negative—potentially harmful—situations online. When technology is getting introduced to younger and younger students, it is imperative that these students are still prepared to navigate the many dangers of cyberspace.
Since there are long-lasting, positive, and tangible impacts of cyber education, there is an imminent need to implement digital citizenship lessons in classrooms as early as elementary school. By teaching these necessary skills, children are learning how to protect themselves from any malicious people creating dangerous online environments. If there is a rush to use state of the art educational technologies in classrooms to ensure students have the best opportunities, then there also needs to be a rush to educate these children how to be responsible digital citizens.
Digital citizenship needs to be implemented in elementary school classrooms due to the increase of technology in the workforce, academia, and society. These policies help teach children how to respond to the digital world in a way that is healthy, safe, and productive. If these concepts are not introduced early, there could be problems with malicious threats, as many children have access to technology outside the classroom. The digital citizenship lessons in responsible internet use are easily implemented into classrooms and have long-lasting benefits for the children who learn these concepts early in elementary school.
Works Cited
Becker, Daniel. “The Digital Citizen 2.0: Reconsidering Issues of Digital Citizenship Education.” AAA: Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, vol. 44, no. 2, 2019, pp. 167–94. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26926436.
“Digital Citizenship & Ethics.” let’s talk science, 5 October 2020, https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/backgrounders/digital-citizenship- ethics.
Klingberg, Torkel. The Learning Brain : Memory and Brain Development in Children. Oxford University Press, 2013.
Koltay, Tibor. The Media and the literacies: media literacy, information literacy, digital literacy. Media, Culture & Society, 2011.
@richardbranson. “Don’t become a slave to technology – manage your phone, don’t let it manage you virg.in/myf.” X, 26 Aug. 2013, 7:17 am., https://x.com/richardbranson/status/371969755797676032?lang=en.
Williams, L. Joy. Media Literacy Podcast. Podcast, 2024
FrogGPT Podcast
FrogGPT Podcast
December 1, 2024
December 1, 2024
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse