On a Tweet and a Prayer...

Over the past few years, there has been much discussion about how to get our youth more involved in the life of our Church.  Our last Pope, Pope Benedict XVI began his own twitter account to reach out to the younger members of the Catholic faith.  Take a look at the following video clip to learn more about this:

The above video discusses that Pope Benedict was even encouraging people to send him questions about our faith.  In the few months that Pope Benedict XVI was a member of twitter, he made 39 tweets and gained 1.6 million followers.  Our new leader, Pope Francis, also started has a twitter account and has been tweeting regularly.  Read the following short article that talks about Pope Francis’ popularity on twitter:

http://vator.tv/news/2013-03-13-papal-twitter-account-revived-to-announce-new-pope

How do you feel about these attempts to reach out our youth?

In a blog of 300 words, please respond to the following questions:

1. Do you think that having twitter accounts will help attract youth to take a greater role in the life of the Church?
2. What are the benefits of having our Church leader tweet?  Are there any disadvantages?
3. Does your parish take part in the social media world?  If so, please explain.
4. Are there any other ways that the Church can encourage our youth to get more involved?  Do you have any personal experiences related to this?

Social Media – The Good, The Bad and the 'Not-So-Private'

Ah the wonderful world of social media!  It provides us with amazing opportunities to keep in touch with friends and family both near and far.  However, as members of social networking websites, our information is readily accessible and our privacy may be at stake.  Have you ever sat down to think about the types of information you are allowing others to have simply by being a member of a social media website like Facebook or Twitter?  What kinds of things do you post about in your blogs?  Do you post pictures of yourself?  What kinds of images are you allowing others to see? 

Take a look at the following video:

  In a blog of 300 words, reply to the following questions:

1. Are you a member of a social networking website?  Why or why not?
2. Have you checked your privacy settings lately?  Who can see the information that you put out there?
3. What kind of information are you allowing others to have access to?  Have you thought about this before?
4. What kinds of things are safe to post?  Unsafe?  List some unsafe information that you should keep to yourself and not allow others to see online.
5. How can we become more responsible users of social network websites?  Why is this so important?

Twitter Trouble

A couple of months ago, a group of Brampton high school students were suspended for Twitter comments made about teachers after school hours.  The school board deemed the comments as “malicious, explicitly sexual and violent in nature”. 

Some of the suspended students felt that being suspended was an unfair punishment as they felt they should be able to express their opinions freely.

Take a few minutes to watch the following video that was aired on CTV news on Thurs. Nov. 22:

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/brampton-students-suspended-over-twitter-comments-about-teachers-1.1049070

In a blog of 300 words, respond to the following questions:

1. Do you think that Khadijah’s comments about her teacher, that he “lives at home with his mom, eats fish sticks for dinner, and all he talks about is Star Wars” were appropriate?  Explain.
   
   
2. What is your opinion on the suspension of these students?  Was it reasonable for the school board to enforce such a punishment?  Why or why not?
   
   
3. How do you feel about the reaction of the students – that they should be able to share their opinions freely?  Is it okay to post this sort of thing on social media websites like Twitter?

Paparazzi : Scandalous?

We have all seen a number of paparazzi scandals in the media in the past.  From Princess Diana to Britney Spears, many celebrities have been greatly affected by the media in regards to their personal lives. 

It is evident that the paparazzi have used media and the internet to its advantage in order to invade peoples’ privacy.  For example, the paparazzi have been sure to capture and publish arguments that have occurred between new American Idol judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj recently.  These personal affairs have been shared with the world via social networking and news websites. 

Here is an interesting article about paparazzi.

Based on the information above, respond to the following questions in your second blog. 

1. Do you agree or disagree with the way celebrities are treated by the paparazzi?
2. How far is too far? 
3. Why would the paparazzi use media networks to their advantage to post personal news about famous individuals?  Is this right?

Now, conduct some research of your own:

4. Research an appropriate paparazzi scandal that has occurred within the past few years.  Do you agree or disagree with the way the celebrity was treated?  Why or why not?
5. How would you feel if someone invaded your privacy (cell phone, laptop, etc)?  Explain.

iPhone Crazy..... or not?

The old saying goes, “how did we ever get by without cell phones?”  My question, however, is “how did we ever get by without the iPhone?”  It goes without saying that the iPhone is a pretty popular electronic right now.  No matter where you go or which street you cross, you notice that people everywhere are using their iPhones.  Whether it be for music, text, pictures, or heaven forbid – calling – the iPhone has proven itself time and time again.

Apple’s latest product just so happens to be the iPhone 5 and has gained tremendous popularity in its short lifespan thus far. Read this article written on Sept. 17 before the iPhone 5 was even launched.

Isn’t it pretty amazing that a product that had yet to come out was in such high demand?  Watch this video and look at how the iPhone has evolved!

It has been said that there is a bank of material locked up by Apple that will be released slowly over the next few years.  Some of this material was made/invented by Apple’s own Steve Jobs.  Thus, despite the fact that he has passed away, his legacy lives on through his inventive and world-renowned products.  Some rumours suggest that the iPhone 6 will be launched next year at around this time. 

Considering all of the above information, answer the questions below in your first blog post:

1)      Are you the type of person that wants/needs top of the line  

      electronics?  Why or why not?

2)      How do you feel about Apple’s bank of material that will be

      released over time?

3)      How do you think the iPhone might change in the years to 

      come?  What other applications/functions would you like to see 

      incorporated into new versions?

Blogging Safety!

Here is a list of blogging safety tips adapted from Microsoft's Online Safety tips:

- Don't divulge personal information: use your FIRST NAME ONLY, don't give any details with regards to contact information, home address, phone numbers, last names of friends or relatives, instant messaging names, age, or birth date.

- No questionable photos of you or anything else: If you wouldn't show it to your grandma, don't post it on the web! Avoid posting photos of yourself.

- Remember the internet is permanent! Anyone on the Internet can easily print out a blog or save it to a computer.

- Use blogging provider sites with clearly stated terms of use, and make sure they can protect the actual blogs, not just the user accounts, with password protection. (Even so, it's better to assume anyone can see it.)

- Avoid trying to "out-do" or compete with other bloggers.

- Keep it clean and positive: Our blogs are reflective of our Catholic values. Sexist, racist, homophobic, or any type of oppressive and offensive language will not be tolerated!

Welcome to 2012-2013

Hello all you media and comm. tech students! Welcome back to another wonderful year here at Mary Ward! I am already excited about this upcoming year! I am certain that it is going to be a great one! We have lots of exciting days to look forward to and I am sure that you will be as excited as I am!

As part of your media arts / communications technology course you will be required to create and maintain your own media arts / communications blog. Blogging has quickly become a very popular form of communication and online journaling.

Through this course your will be required to reply to reply to six different media / technology issues or topics that will be posted here for you to respond to on your own blog. Each response must be no less than 300 words and should have discussions relevant to media arts and communication technology. You will also be required to respond to 6 other people's blogs with thoughtful ideas and comments. The evaluation for this unit is found in your unit guide. Once you have completed all tasks (which will take you several months) you will submit your unit guide, with a list of the six blogs that you responded to, for evaluation.

Happy Blogging!
Ms. P.