An 8th grader's digital literacy requirement

Did you know there is an 8th-grade digital technology requirement to use digital technology to demonstrate achievement in analytic, production and communication skills? Teachers and administrators can use an online tool to gauge their students’ progress towards the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 8th-grade technology-literacy requirement. The assessment includes 30‐minute activities. Students are expected to use a variety of Microsoft Office applications - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Access and Expression Web to complete real-world tasks such as writing a business-oriented letter or constructing a slide presentation on current events. The assessments attempt to offer formative information about students’ skills. They have been strongly recommended as an instrument for high school exit proficiency. What is your opinion?

CompTIA - Upgrade Wanted

Computing Industry Association (CompTIA) is known for its technology certification called CompTIA A+ certification. This assessment falls into the IT category and proves a candidate has a broad base entry‐level knowledge and competency in core hardware and operating system technologies, including installation, configuration, diagnosing, preventive maintenance and basic networking.

Internationally, two leading companies have dominated the work force for basic digital literacy assessment areas - Certiport with its Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) and International Computer Driver’s License (ICDL). Both companies reference multiple countries using their assessment areas for both standardized benchmarking and regional and national levels, and for individual digital literacy work force assessments. When preparing the human population for the inevitable biological and technological convergence, candidates are seeking leadership for assessment content Upgrade. Are are you interested in the Upgrade?

A futurist, psychic, thought-leader, or fortune teller?

Marshall McLuhan: One of the best who ever did it!

For more than 20 years, my information communication technology (ICT) career has been fueled by the writings of Marshall McLuhan. Yet his material seems like it was written yesterday. He had a gift to write and speak in the moment (i.e. past, present and future). "We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies." Imagine being haunted by your enemy which is a digital equivalent of yourself. His material challenges whether humans have evolved beyond Darwin's limited concept of biological evolution, and whether our digital technology will utilmately evolve beyond us. (Read More)

The Seven Standards (TSS)

1. Determines the nature and extent of the information needed.
2. Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
3. Evaluates information and its sources critically.
4. Incorporates verified information into knowledge base and value system.
5. Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
6. Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information.
7. Accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Dangerous clouds: Why critical digital literacy matters

OK, here’s the situation. I was watching TV the other night, and heard about a new danger: Hydrofluoric acid (HF). Hydrofluoric acid can travel swiftly in huge clouds, and cause horrible death to anyone in its path, according to a report by The Center for Public Integrity. With 50 oil refineries in the US still using HF, more than 16 million people are in the potential path of HF – most of them unaware of the danger they face. The friendly and concerned TV anchorperson advised checking the map on The Center for Public Integrity Web site for more details.

I don’t usually follow up on such things. But noticing two oil refinery plants that appeared to be very near where I live in the center of the country, I decided to check it out. I couldn’t find a map on the Web site. But I did find an Excel spreadsheet of the 50 oil refineries. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the headings on the Excel spreadsheet to appear, or get the scroll bar to show up, so I couldn’t make sense of – I assume – valuable and free information. I never did like Excel, and I forget everything I learn about it. But I shouldn’t. Excel is apparently here to stay, at least for awhile.

I still don’t know if I’m in the path of HF. But maybe you can figure out if you are.

Using GPS to track truant students

The Anaheim Union High School District in California is using GPS units to track truant students, according to the Orange Country Register. Students who have more than three unexcused absences from school are being given the GPS units, developed by AIM Truancy Solutions.

"Every school day, the participants receive an automated phone call reminding them to get to school on time. They are then required to enter a code that tracks their location during their departure for school, arrival at school, lunch period, departure from school and at 8 p.m.,' according to a recap of the article by PCWorld.

"The devices cost between $300 and $400 apiece. All together, the six-week program costs about $8 per day for each student, or $18,000. It's estimated that schools lose $35 per day for each absent student, so AIM Truancy Solution's program is a cost savings."

The threaded discussion that follows the story in PCWorld is interesting. Most of it focuses on the accuracy of the math, with a couple of comments about the threat of "juvie" and the poor quality of schools. Interesting in itself, and an example of how smart, technocratic thinking can quickly dominate educational issues. But what about the social aspect of having schools track students from first thing in the morning to night? Is this an example of schools and parents working together to ensure better futures for their children? Or is technology being used in too controlling a fashion?

Is the term 'False Positive' a critical digital literacy?

A false positive is another way of saying ‘error’. As applied to the field of digital  programs, a false positive occurs when the program mistakenly flags an innocent file as being malicious or infected. This may seem harmless enough, but false positives can be a real nuisance and sometimes major problems if you are at a critical digital literacy disadvantage.

For example, from a digital computing perspective  a) you waste even more time and resources in futile attempts to disinfect ‘infected’ files b) you waste productivity due to user down-time.
c) you may take e-mail offline, as a security precaution, thus causing a backlog and more lost productivity.

In short, digital false positives can be costly nuisances.

Unfortunately, the term is not confined. It also applies, for example, to anti-spam protection, where it refers to the misidentification of a legitimate e-mail message as spam.  Since the undelivered e-mail may be a business critical message, this too could be very costly,

It can also apply to health and medical issues. For example, in a highly reported interview titled "Christina Applegate: MRI 'saved my life'" the following exchanged occured on the false positives in life threathening circumstances.

GUPTA: Most women, as you said, don’t know about MRIs with respect to screening for breast cancer.

APPLEGATE: Well it’s not talked about and I also think that you know, there’s also been a lot of talk that there’s all these false positives with MRIs but there are false positives with any kind of screening. Same with mammography – there is also a lot of false positives. They are not perfect science, unfortunately. But they’re learning more and more now that it’s, it’s an incredible way to screen for early detection.

GUPTA: One of the things I hear all the time as a doctor is that you doctors order too many tests – you’re ordering tests for everything. What do you say to people who say look we’re a culture of over-testing as it is? (Click here for the full interview)

What are your experiences with false positives? Do you agree its a critical digital literacy term to understand?

For some  interesting literture on the subject, please consider purchasing the following;

Cyber..Virtual..Digital-Crime

Diffusion and Effects of Cyber-Crime in Developing Economies : NIR KSHETRI

ABSTRACT: Cyber-crime’s footprints across the developing world are getting bigger. The aim of this article is to examine the structure of cyber-crimes in developing economies. Its central idea is that economic and institutional factors facing cyber-criminals and potential victims in the developing world are different from those in the developed world. In economies characterised by low internet penetration rates and few resources devoted to fighting cyber-crimes, formal institutions related to such crimes tend to be thin and dysfunctional. A cyber-criminal is less likely to be stigmatised in such economies. Moreover, organisations’ and individuals’ technological and behavioural defence mechanisms are likely to be weaker. Many people in developing economies are also attracted into cyber-crime because of high unemployment and low wages.

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After reviewing the aforementioned report and considering the latest media reporting about cyber crimes, I'm  reminded to continue to stress the importance of critical digital literacy. With over 100 books at my disposal that deals with information security, communication systems design, criminal investigations, penetration testing (hacking), and computer crime investigation (digital forensics) I can confirm that the aforementioned report has valid and accurate information. Several for my friends are working in digital forensics at the local/state/federal levels in law enforcement have collaborated about similar incidents reported in the material. The books below are good because they collectively covers what REALLY happens out in the field during a digital computer crime investigation (including entire chapters on what to bring, how to plan, who to work with, etc). Also included are entire chapters dedicated to various tools and step by step instructions on how to use them. Some of the authors are still outstanding writers, speakers and investigator in the digital forensics world, working with corporations, government agencies, law enforcement, and global military. I recommend the aforementioned report and the following books for both novices and those with experience.

Critical Digital Literacy: Use in Crime

Digital literacy can prevent individuals from believing hoaxes that are spread Online or are the result of photo manipulation. E-mail frauds and phishing often taking advantage of the digitally illiterate, costing victims’ money and making them vulnerable to identity theft.

For less than $15.00, you can purchase any of the following books and prevent losing over $1,500 due to identity theft schemes.

A dose of Digital Factoids (1 of 1,000,000)

To stop wasting revenue storing your documents or paying to retrieve documents from storage facilities then you must digitize. To minimize delays on projects because of missing or unavailable documents then you must digitize. To store over 10,000 pages or the contents of a five-drawer file cabinet onto one CD-ROM so there is no need for boxes piling up in your office or off-site storage facility you must digitize. Basically,  

• The average cost to search and retrieve d a misfiled document is $100.00*
• The average cost to reproduce a professional documention is $200.00*
• The average document is reproduced 10 times*
• 55.5% of all documents get stolen, lost or corrupted,  over 25% of the get misfiled*
• A typical worker spends thirty minutes to two hours a day searching for documents*

 *Source:METARAZZI - A division of METAMORF Technologies