Overview of On-line Community - Beth's Brain Injury Blog - http://blog.brain-injury-online.com/
This blog was set up in July 2008 by Beth Jameson and her husband Larry. The focus of this blog is to provide information on brain injury. The posts are chatty musings by Beth on her life as a brain injury survivor together with helpful hints and references to her book 'The Survivors Guide to Brain Injury'. Other services provided are links to web sites on Brain Injury information, attorneys, associations, resources, veterans information, news and events and memory improvement games plus a few advertisments by Google. Each post allows for comments from readers which Beth replies to as can any one else if they wich. There are numerous links to other relevant sites and also provision for uses to publish their own brain injury stories.
People who choose to access this blog generally do so because they have some connection with brain injury - this could be that they are survivors themselves or their family members. Others could be like myself, looking for increased understanding of the impact of brain injury; issues faced, rehabiliation ideas and living with brain injury.
The following is an example from Beth's Blog where she reminises her life:
I’m about to have a birthday so I’ve been reminiscing a bit and thinking about how my life has played out so far. I sometimes play the “what if” game. Have you ever done that? If you do, you’ll probably find some irony in a number of the circumstances.
What if I had gone to college?
What if I had been rich?
What if I had been born into a family that didn’t show their love?
What if I had not sustained a brain injury?
Of course I can’t go backward and I can’t change what my circumstances were years ago. I can only learn from my mistakes and go forward no matter what my current stage is in life. In most instances I would not want to change my past. I think of all the people who would not be in my life today if things had gone a different direction and it makes me so thankful. I definitely would not change that part of my life.<
Potential eithcal issues are that names or images of people could be published without their consent. Another issue is that Beth is discussing infomation that she has written about in a book. This is ethically sound but other people may use the infomation she publishes and pass it off as their own. Another concern is that may use the blog rather than seek porfessional help.
In the past support for people with brain injury (or any other affliction)has been restricted by geographigical distance to local community but blogs like Beth's and other online formats have provided world wide access to information and support for individuals with and their families. Instead of being local, communities can be world wide because of the internet.
Like all communities whether it be large like United Nations or the local scout group there are benefits and drawbacks. Some benefits of world wide communities are that they can compliment and enhance 'real-life' communites and provide large amounts of information in many different formats covering a huge range of topics. Individuals are able to just look at this information or they can choose to participate more fully. There is no great cost to most of these communities and all individuals regardless of age / ethnicity / education etc have equality.
There are also some drawbacks - on-line communities are only available to those with access to the internet and have the right technolgy. It is open to misuse (virus / pornograhy etc) and can be a way of avoilding interacting in the 'real world'. There has been a phenominal growth in on-line communities and this can lead to problems of administration and also that there is more and more out dated infomation 'out there'.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tutroials Four & Five: YouTube & Making a Short Film
YouTube is a webite owned by Google Inc.that allows registered users to upload and share a wide variety of user generated videos, movie clips, TV clips, music videos and amateur video blogs and videos. Unregistered users are able to watch the videos. While the content is predominantly uploaded by individuals some media organisations also have material available on the site. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users over the age of 18 and YouTube prohibits videos containing defamation, pornography, copyright violations, and material encouraging criminal conduct.
Having had a tutorial on using video cameras and a chance to take some shots and editing them helped with becoming familiar with the technical equipment. Although I ended up using a different camera and a bit of practice would have been helpful.
Getting an idea for the film took some mulling over - trying to keep the idea simple and clear seemed to be key elements. A sequential list of shots was written down and then thought put into camera position and shot type (wide, medium, close-up)for each step in the sequence. Next was schooling up the 'stars' as to facial expressions and actions they would need to portray. Then it was out there to do it..... After a few hicupps we had it 'in the bag' and it was back to the computer lab for the next step - how to work the movie editing software and actually put the film together.
Having had a tutorial on using video cameras and a chance to take some shots and editing them helped with becoming familiar with the technical equipment. Although I ended up using a different camera and a bit of practice would have been helpful.
Getting an idea for the film took some mulling over - trying to keep the idea simple and clear seemed to be key elements. A sequential list of shots was written down and then thought put into camera position and shot type (wide, medium, close-up)for each step in the sequence. Next was schooling up the 'stars' as to facial expressions and actions they would need to portray. Then it was out there to do it..... After a few hicupps we had it 'in the bag' and it was back to the computer lab for the next step - how to work the movie editing software and actually put the film together.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Turorial Three: Blog Creation
During this tutorial we were able to create our own blog on Blogger.com. Blogger.com was a small company purchased by Google in 2003 and it has since grown enormously in popularity. Essentially it is a website which provides a free user friendly service for creating and hosting blogs. Blogger allows individuals to add written posts, pictures, video clips and links to other web based media to the blog they have created. Adjustable templates are provided enabling personalisation of the blog. View video to see how to create your own blog by clicking on the following link - http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp
Tutorial Two: Digital Cameras
The content of this post comes from our Digial Camera Tutorial
“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”. I think this statement is probably true to a large extent. Some of the positives, in relation to digital camera technology over conventional cameras, include: reduced cost of processing; instant viewing; the ability to delete ‘dud’ photos; the ability to share easily with others and future improvement of features possible. Negatives include; the quality of the photos is reduced, the cost of keeping up with new technology can he high; storage issues (size, organisation, security and durability of storage systems); breaches of personal privacy and confidentiality and people are less likely to print photos and place in albums leading to limited access to those without computer technology (digital divide).
There are many forms of communications technology which can either capture, store, transfer or manipulate digital images these include; digital cameras, cell phones, web cams, digital video cameras, CCTV, iPods and computers.
Computer technology and lack of internet security means that others have easy access to images making privacy and confidentiality major considerations. This in turn raises issues around ownership, responsibility and consent to use, safety of individuals may also be compromised, for example the photographing of SAS troops in Afghanistan.
Occupational Therapy use of digital images could include: videoing of assessments plus before and after comparisons of interventions. Digital imagery can also provide teaching and learning applications for occupational therapy students, (http://www.uea.ac.uk/foh/news/creativity-chanllenge) and also for teaching and learning opportunities with clients - with digital images therapists are able to show clients what they are actually doing and also what they could be doing. Digital imagery can also provide occupation for clients – both work and leisure. It can be used as a means of recording images as a memory aid eg photo albums, as visual aids to intellectually impaired (especially those who are unable to read), for long distance consultations and as a connection to peers via blogs ( http://otegypt.blogspot.com/); or for advertising of OT services.
Flickr.com is a web site that provides a means of uploading, organising and sharing digital images (including videos) on the internet. It also provides a platform for an on-line community. There is limited access is free to users – unlimited access is available at a cost. Websites similar to Flickr.com include: Photobucket; Image Shack, Kodak Easy Share Gallery and Fotolog.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr
Digital Image terminology explained:
Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera to enlarge the image – the same as a conventional camera. Digital zoom simply enlarges the pixels electronically in the middle of the picture and deletes the outer pixels – therefore you immediately get reduced quality as the pixel count for the picture is reduced.
http://pcworld.about.com/news/Feb222005id119519.htm
A pixel is shorthand for ‘picture element’ or little picture dot. Mega is shorthand for ‘million’ – therefore one megapixel (mp) means one million picture elements. Generally speaking the more pixels the better the quality. A camera with 8mp is sufficient to provide resolution to produce good quality 8” x 10” photos. http://www.photography101.org/basics/megapixels_explained.html
“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”. I think this statement is probably true to a large extent. Some of the positives, in relation to digital camera technology over conventional cameras, include: reduced cost of processing; instant viewing; the ability to delete ‘dud’ photos; the ability to share easily with others and future improvement of features possible. Negatives include; the quality of the photos is reduced, the cost of keeping up with new technology can he high; storage issues (size, organisation, security and durability of storage systems); breaches of personal privacy and confidentiality and people are less likely to print photos and place in albums leading to limited access to those without computer technology (digital divide).
There are many forms of communications technology which can either capture, store, transfer or manipulate digital images these include; digital cameras, cell phones, web cams, digital video cameras, CCTV, iPods and computers.
Computer technology and lack of internet security means that others have easy access to images making privacy and confidentiality major considerations. This in turn raises issues around ownership, responsibility and consent to use, safety of individuals may also be compromised, for example the photographing of SAS troops in Afghanistan.
Occupational Therapy use of digital images could include: videoing of assessments plus before and after comparisons of interventions. Digital imagery can also provide teaching and learning applications for occupational therapy students, (http://www.uea.ac.uk/foh/news/creativity-chanllenge) and also for teaching and learning opportunities with clients - with digital images therapists are able to show clients what they are actually doing and also what they could be doing. Digital imagery can also provide occupation for clients – both work and leisure. It can be used as a means of recording images as a memory aid eg photo albums, as visual aids to intellectually impaired (especially those who are unable to read), for long distance consultations and as a connection to peers via blogs ( http://otegypt.blogspot.com/); or for advertising of OT services.
Flickr.com is a web site that provides a means of uploading, organising and sharing digital images (including videos) on the internet. It also provides a platform for an on-line community. There is limited access is free to users – unlimited access is available at a cost. Websites similar to Flickr.com include: Photobucket; Image Shack, Kodak Easy Share Gallery and Fotolog.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr
Digital Image terminology explained:
Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera to enlarge the image – the same as a conventional camera. Digital zoom simply enlarges the pixels electronically in the middle of the picture and deletes the outer pixels – therefore you immediately get reduced quality as the pixel count for the picture is reduced.
http://pcworld.about.com/news/Feb222005id119519.htm
A pixel is shorthand for ‘picture element’ or little picture dot. Mega is shorthand for ‘million’ – therefore one megapixel (mp) means one million picture elements. Generally speaking the more pixels the better the quality. A camera with 8mp is sufficient to provide resolution to produce good quality 8” x 10” photos. http://www.photography101.org/basics/megapixels_explained.html
Tutorial One - Information Technology and Ethical Issues
This content of this post is taken from Tutorial One Worksheet -
Information Technology (IT) / Information Communications Technology (ICT) refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/it
We now live in what has been termed the ‘information age’ and regard IT as part of our everyday lives. Even in very poor countries IT is emerging as a recognised communication system – when I was in Madagascar 5 years ago I travelled 3 hours from the nearest town along dirt roads to find a single building at the road end which had a computer installed and internet access!
I’m comfortable using my cellphone, computer, the internet, e-mail, Otago Polytechnic on-line learning (although get frustrated with all systems at times). I’ve just set up skype to talk ‘free’ to my son while he is studying but I am not so keen on chat rooms, message boards, social networking etc. and prefer to get out and about for my social interaction rather than be tied to my computer.
Very little IT was used in my fieldwork experience. My supervisor was a very reluctant IT user although other OT’s in the setting were proficient with the vehicle bookings, enable requests, internal e-mail etc. Patient notes were still hand written but could be computerised. Community OT’s used cellphones to check with clients. There is potential for much greater use – prior to study I worked with a child who was non-verbal – she had a computer that enabled her to formulate sentences and speak words.
Ethically there are potential problems with consent, privacy, safe storage of information, keeping information free from corruption & copy write.
Computer Ethics
This is a set of moral principles that regulate the use of computers. Some common issues of computer ethics include intellectual property rights (such as copyrighted electronic content), privacy concerns, and how computers affect society.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/computerethics
Intellectual property
This refers to the ownership of intangible and non-physical goods. This includes ideas, names, designs, symbols, artwork, writings, and other creations. It also refers to digital media, such as audio and video clips that can be downloaded online. Since intellectual property is intangible, it is more difficult to protect than other types of property.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/intellectualproperty
Social Justice
This is the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens
http://www.sociologyguide.com/weaker-section-and-minorities/Social-Justice.php
In IT terms this could relate to the disadvantage of students who are unable to afford computers and should society – to be fair – provide these students with computers.
Informed Consent
This is consent given with full knowledge of the risks involved, probable consequences and the risks involved.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/informed-consent.html
Information Technology (IT) / Information Communications Technology (ICT) refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/it
We now live in what has been termed the ‘information age’ and regard IT as part of our everyday lives. Even in very poor countries IT is emerging as a recognised communication system – when I was in Madagascar 5 years ago I travelled 3 hours from the nearest town along dirt roads to find a single building at the road end which had a computer installed and internet access!
I’m comfortable using my cellphone, computer, the internet, e-mail, Otago Polytechnic on-line learning (although get frustrated with all systems at times). I’ve just set up skype to talk ‘free’ to my son while he is studying but I am not so keen on chat rooms, message boards, social networking etc. and prefer to get out and about for my social interaction rather than be tied to my computer.
Very little IT was used in my fieldwork experience. My supervisor was a very reluctant IT user although other OT’s in the setting were proficient with the vehicle bookings, enable requests, internal e-mail etc. Patient notes were still hand written but could be computerised. Community OT’s used cellphones to check with clients. There is potential for much greater use – prior to study I worked with a child who was non-verbal – she had a computer that enabled her to formulate sentences and speak words.
Ethically there are potential problems with consent, privacy, safe storage of information, keeping information free from corruption & copy write.
Computer Ethics
This is a set of moral principles that regulate the use of computers. Some common issues of computer ethics include intellectual property rights (such as copyrighted electronic content), privacy concerns, and how computers affect society.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/computerethics
Intellectual property
This refers to the ownership of intangible and non-physical goods. This includes ideas, names, designs, symbols, artwork, writings, and other creations. It also refers to digital media, such as audio and video clips that can be downloaded online. Since intellectual property is intangible, it is more difficult to protect than other types of property.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/intellectualproperty
Social Justice
This is the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens
http://www.sociologyguide.com/weaker-section-and-minorities/Social-Justice.php
In IT terms this could relate to the disadvantage of students who are unable to afford computers and should society – to be fair – provide these students with computers.
Informed Consent
This is consent given with full knowledge of the risks involved, probable consequences and the risks involved.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/informed-consent.html
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
First Posting
This is my first time using a Blog so it is all a bit confusing - hopefully all will become clear.
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