Grade 10-12 SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS (1)

1 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT SUMMARIES OF VIDEOS GRADE 10 - 12 SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS These short discussions deal with a few main topics relating to the social implications (including impact on society, health and ergonomics, and environmental issues) of computer use. They may be useful to obtain a view that you haven’t yet considered, or they could be used as an introduction to an idea, about which you could think/research further and debate in your family or class. 1. Some Reasons for Studying CAT What sorts of benefits do you think CAT learners have in their future studies? - Research - Presentation of work or report - Saving of time - Collect, manipulate and analyse data to draw conclusions - Network with and collaborate with others - Tap into the global network - Ability to communicate in various ways; to access online help - Submit work electronically How can CAT learners apply their CAT skills in their future careers? - Most jobs are moving towards the ‘knowledge’ economy - Productivity - Ability to learn new skills and processes 2. The Work and Career Benefits of Using a Computer In what ways do you think good computer skills can be used when trying to find work? - Presentation of CVs – make a good impression - Ability to research what careers are available - Connect and network with others, to put your name out there - Use sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to create a professional image How could one demonstrate computer and other skills before even getting a job? - Apart from the interview, companies often ask candidates to demonstrate their skills - Provide an online portfolio of work What kinds of skills do you think employers are looking for? - Flexibility and adaptability – constant updating of skills and knowledge - Online professional development – workplaces are changing very rapidly and will continue to do so What kinds of computer skills might be needed by about 2025 or 2030? - Most jobs that will be around in 10 to 15 years time h aven’t even been invented yet - Data management, data analysis and meaningful information from which special knowledge can be draw for companies to make strategic decisions - Programming of computers in fields like engineering, medicine and many other areas, to solve new problems

2 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT 3. The Overall Impact of ICTs What would you not be able to do if you weren’t able to use computers? - Very little! - Couldn’t do job , watch TV on computer, listen to music, communicate with family members in all parts of the world - Would be very unproductive - Can be tricky to get the balance right when computers impact on so many areas of life Do you think that access to a computer makes life easier and if so, how? - A llow one to do things that otherwise wouldn’t be possible - Enhanced education options are useful - When computers are on all the time, this could easily interrupt normal life too much - Human relationships and face-to-face time are also very important, in social, family and work situations - Make considered decisions about when to use electron applications Do you think that family life is hindered or helped by the presence of computing devices and other electronic devices? - Technology is a tool – decide if you want to use it to help or hinder your life - Decide how to deal with gadgets during key moments like meal times - Make sure that technology is serving your interests 4. The Impact of Computers in Homes, Offices and Education What sort of computing devices can be found in homes and do they make home life easier? - Phones and tablets - Smart TVs - Game consoles – play stations, Wii, etc - Media centres like - Appliances with computers inside (washing machines, for examples) - Can be helpful in terms of efficiency, convenience, time-saving, etc. - Apply balance and use these intelligently Do you think we can go as far as saying that teenage obesity can be attributed to the amount of physical inactivity they experience because of their almost constant ‘on - screen’ time? - Yes, to an extent - Also the responsibility of parents and teens themselves (all of us) - Over-eating is also an important reason - Need to do physical activity, preferably with other people – it helps us to keep that exercise appointment - Create a structure that allows for appropriate use and balance In what ways have computing devices changed the office? - Profound changes! Not only in the way we work but also in the type of work we do - Computers have allowed for large volumes of repetitive work to be completed - People are not needed as much to do this repetitive work anymore, so humans have been pushed ‘up the value chain’ – people design and programme the computing devices, so that the computers themselves can do the work that people did before - Allow us to work with a team of people in real time (at the same time) Will human beings still have a role to play in the workplace? - For many people the reality is that some jobs are being taken over by computers

4 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT 6. Consider the Environment Why do we need to dispose of computers and computer peripherals wisely? - Toxic metals in computers, which will leak into the ground when decomposed - Take these sorts of things so that parts can be disassembled, to dispose of everything properly - Cost-wise, money can be recovered through recycling of many computer parts Where can one do this kind of computer recycling? - There are companies that collect and recycle computers, although they usually do this for large companies - Recycling companies often sell old computers to other smaller companies or pass them on to organisations that might need them, like schools - Pick n Pay and other supermarkets sometimes offers bins for these kinds of components - We need to be more pro-active and ask companies, like computer sellers, to make this service available - Sometimes returning an old computer can bring in Do computers is a lot of energy, and if they do, what sort of energy management should we apply? - Yes, they do use a surprising amount of energy - Many new computers will come with software that will inform you of how much energy is being used,, often in terms of energy used by light bulbs - Mobile phones and similar computing devices use less energy - Decide what kind of performance you need – this affects how much power is used. If you are carrying out complex tasks, like with video editing or very large spreadsheets doing powerful calculations, set your processor to be on maximum, but if doing a simple Word document or surfing the web, power settings can be turned down. This won’t really be noticed. - The screen takes a lot of power – if in a brightly lit room, bring down the brightness of the screen. This is also better to reduce eye strain. Some research shows that just to build a single computer requires about 1,8 tons of different chemical and fossil fuels and water. It’s also said that every year about 35 million tons of CO 2 is poured into the atmosphere from the collective number of computers on earth. One study also said that collectively computer users cause about around 300 million tons of CO 2 to enter the atmosphere just from surfing the Internet. Do you know of any ways that we can reduce CO 2 emissions? - Reduce or limit the energy requirements of our computing activities - Look at how we are generating the electricity we use – this requires global efforts to change the ways we use fossil fuels, switching to other forms of electrical generation, possibly ‘carbon sequestration’ to store fossil fuels produced - Offset the CO 2 we produce, by doing things like planting trees and conserving the trees we have already - Limit CO 2 producing behaviour in other areas – cars produce far more CO 2 emissions than computers, for example 7. Looking after a Computer Tell us about the physical care of computers and other computing devices - Computers are not as strong as they might appear. - Handle with care – keep them away from water and don’t spill any liquids on them - Keep devices in a protective cover - Screens need extra care – use a screen cover - Don’t throw them or drop them...treat all computing devices with great care

5 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT What are some special things to consider about the hard drive? - The hard drive is a series of discs with a reader; the disk is spinning so movement while the hard drive is moving when damage it and possibly also damage the data stored on it - If moving your laptop, first put it into sleep mode Why are passwords important and what is a good password? - Use passwords to protect what’s “behind the front door” - Need to use a good, strong password - ‘password’ and ‘1234’ are not good as passwords - Use a combination of characters, like letters, numbers, exclamation marks or similar - Make passwords long – say 10 to 15 characters - Don’t follow language conventions i.e. not something logical like a word or 2 words joined - However, the longer the password, the more difficult it is to remember – get the balance between getting a strong password and being able to remember it - There are lots of new software applications where passwords can be stored – various passwords go into one place behind one password, so you only have to remember one password - Biometrics can also be used – like a fingerprint or a scan of the iris in the eye 8. Treating Data with Care Data quality is important. How can this be achieved? - The better the quality of the data, the better the analysis that can be done of the data - The principle is “Garbage in, garbage out” - Be sure data is clean – it is not corrupted, all records are accurate and complete, well- described (can someone else also understand it?), well-organised. - Must be useable with others and by others How does data encryption work? - It works with a key – a string of numbers and letters, often quite long - A random key is generated by a piece of software; then every byte of data is changed in some way by putting it through a mathematical formula that incorporates the random key - The end result is data that makes no sense - To make sense of it, the encryption needs to be reversed, and the only way to do this is if you know the key - Encryption can be applied to a file on your hard drive, to e-commerce transactions, - Use encryption to keep your own data safe and to keep data safe when sending it to someone else - Look out for websites that start with https:// - this shows a secure website So what is backup and how do you do that? - This is simply a copy of data that is stored somewhere safe, either as a hard copy or in the cloud – a safe or vault, a local server, a cloud application like Skydrive, Google Drive and Apple iDrive. Flickr, Picasa, YouTube and even Facebook store media and other files in these services’ servers. - Cloud backup is usually very secure and is often free; a new device could be used to access backed up data, with an internet connection - Theoretically cloud services can be damaged, but stat in the cloud is mostly stored in many locations and the services have built in ways of being strong - Hard copies can be made on DVDs or in external hard drives, but store these separately from your laptop or computer and preferably in another building

7 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT - Use good tables of contents - Lay the document out well and see that it flows well - Write clear, simple English - Watch grammar and spelling (whether UK or US English is needed) and use the review tools to see to this - Also use tools to set styles, automatic numbering What sort of things should we consider when making a website, to make it user friendly - Many of the things applicable to documents apply to websites too - Watch out that the colour scheme is easy to look at for quite a while - Don’t use blinking - Structure the website well – look at the information architecture (how do bits of information relate to each other?) and navigation structure (is it easy to find important information?) How can we take end users’ needs into account when preparing presentations? - Remember the saying “death by PowerPoint” - Don’t read from a slide! - The presentation should only highlight what you want to say - Keep the number of words on a slide to a minimum - Use images that say what you want to say without adding words - Use colours that are easy to look at; certain colours don’t go well together and some people can’t read certain colour combination - Practice the presentation so that you are confident with it - Check websites to see what colours go well with others (for presentations and websites) 11. Health Issues when Using Computers We use small print on screens and those screens are emitting light; what can we do to minimise eye strain? - Enlarge the font (available in word processors and other Office documents, as well as browsers) - Remember to blink - Use the 20-20-20 rule – every 20 minutes, look about 20 metres away for about 20 seconds; t his gives the eyes a chance to exercise a bit, reduce strain - Position your screen so that your looking slightly down - Be aware of screen brightness – try to get it as bright as a white piece of paper is in the same amount of light - Use the biggest monitor you can, if using a desktop computer, of the highest possible quality and with the most optimum screen resolution (neither too high nor too low, as this causes minute flickering). Monitor settings tell you what is the optimum setting. Could you talk to us about repetitive strain injuries? - One of the commonest ones is called carpal tunnel syndrome – an inflammation of ligaments in the wrist from moving the mouse a lot. This can be prevented and/or reduced. Loosen up with wrist by exercising it, support the wrist on a special mouse pad or on the desk What can do to avoid posture problems? - Look slightly down at the screen - Sit as tall as possible, and avoid hunching - Place feet squarely and firmly on the floor, with the chair not too high or too low - Don’t sit for hours in the same position – get up and move around, about once every 40

8 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT minutes 12. Computer User Rights Is Internet access a human right or not? - Increasingly it is – as much of a right as health care, education, water and sanitation, electricity - Some countries, particularly Scandinavian countries, have written into their constitutions that Internet access is a right of every citizen - South Africa is not anywhere near this - The trend is towards Internet access is towards Internet access for all - This will enable contribution to the economy; people without access will likely fall further and further behind - There is digital divide – it’s not only about a divide between those with computer and those without, but also a divide between those with access to the Internet and those without it - Those without access to the Internet are at a huge disadvantage, which means that it does become a human right. Everybody needs to have access to the same tools and same opportunities. How do we get Internet access to impoverished areas and very remote, rural areas? - South Africa is getting closer to being able to provide Internet access to everyone – the issues relating to this access are almost identical to the issues related to providing access to water, housing, electricity and so on - Technologically South Africa is in a stronger position to do this – using mobile phones and mobile Internet access Do you think that Internet users should be able to view anything and everything, just what they want? - South Africa is a democratic country so we have rights to do what we want, but that right must be seen against the rights of others. - One’s right to view something if and when another person’s rights would be negatively impacted - Access to information has been challenged lately – for example, using Bitcoin , a virtual currency. Bitcoin use can be tracked, but software is also available to hide this trading activity. Some people feel that this lack of transparency should not be allowed. - The important question is, do we want to live in a co untry where everyone’s choices are restricted? This needs an ongoing discussion. Do computer users have privacy rights and what can be done when privacy rights are misused? - One’s life on the Internet should have the same safeguards to privacy as in every day life. - However, an online profile makes it very easy to give away private information, and we often don’t know what kind of private information we are giving away - Check whether companies have the right to track our online behaviour – is the data they keep (like a browsing pattern) anonymous or does it include my name? - Think of spending with a credit card – it’s alright to have this spending tracked, as long as this information cannot be made available to others - Nobody has the right to check my computer usage or data, unless there is some real evidence that something has been done to arouse suspicion Can we please talk about plagiarism, piracy and copyright? - Plagiarism is pretending that someone else’s work is your own – it’s a form of stealing of ideas and effort

10 MINDSET LEARN GRADE 10-12 CAT Do you think that users of social media know enough about setting access controls and ensuring control of their privacy needs? - Probably not - Some privacy control settings are quite complex - Go and find out as much as you can about privacy settings of various social media - Google+ offers good control What are some of the positive aspects of being socially connected? - We can connect online more widely than ever; not only socially but also by networking with peers and colleagues - Geographical boundaries so not apply - Collaboration provides excellent opportunities for learning new things or working with people who are elsewhere - LinkedIn can be used like an online CV, only more than this. It also reflects connections and experience, while also showcasing endorsements from other people. This can be a useful personal selling tool in the job space. - Use certain social media for different things, some personal and some professional The negative aspects of using social media? - Apart from privacy issues... - Social media can also be a big time waster - Can take the place of real relationships - Keep the balance, be safe, be careful, while having fun Note: there are no interactive multimedia lessons and no How To’s fo r the series on Social Implications.