The Making of a Digital World


Book Description

This book offers a unique perspective on current changes. Describing globalization as a long-term process of intertwined technological, economic, political, and cultural changes, the author identifies distinct phases in the global system development, and concludes that the pattern of change continues even with the rise of new digital technologies.




Spark Change


Book Description

Discover the transformational work of student Olivia Van Ledtje, who exemplifies responsible online activism, inspiring both kids and adults in the global community. Kids are naturally curious about the world around them. They seek ways to understand and interact with their environment, often using digital tools to do so. Imagine a world where children’s curiosities are amplified -- helping them see the power of their thinking, perspective and voice. Spark Change examines the multitude of possibilities available when students are given the opportunity to amplify their learning online, centering on three ideas of citizenship: be a good person, be critical and be an advocate for something you care about in life. The book introduces readers to Liv, a young changemaker empowered to use digital tools to create and share content online. Liv’s story offers readers an opportunity to explore how students can use technology as a tool for empathy, equity and activism. Kids can’t become changemakers if they aren’t empowered to think beyond their own community. Liv’s online sense of agency serves as an example of maximizing opportunities, developing a powerful voice and making global connections that deepen her compassion for people and the world. This book: • Follows a model of gradual release of responsibility -- I do, we do, you do -- to show how to teach kids how to approach connected-learning experiences. • Draws on rich literacy and technology research on student identity and pairing literacy and thinking in a digital age. • Illustrates the value of creation and connected learning, weaving in the critical need for digital literacy for students. • Features young students as digital leaders, providing examples of digital activism and the power of authentic student voice and participation. Connected-learning opportunities help students develop key understandings about the world around them. This book shows how these understandings lead to social action, and how students develop a deeper sense of empathy and kindness from interacting with the world.




The Dark Side of Our Digital World


Book Description

An all-in-one guide to understanding and managing the dark side of our digital lives. It all started out so well: the online world began as an effective tool for communication that carried with it a great promise to level the playing field and eliminate borders. But it’s morphed into something totally unintended. We’ve all had to endure the troll that derails a generally benign conversation; or received that scam email from a wealthy Nigerian prince; or felt the strange feeling of being watched and tracked by advertising companies as we navigate the web. Welcome to the modern internet. These are but a few of the topics that The Dark Side of Our Digital World: And What You Can Do about It examines to get at the root causes of our current problems with information technology, social media, and problematic online behavior. The book explores the issues raised by the negative side of information technology, including surveillance and spying, declining privacy, information overload, surveillance capitalism and big data analytics, conspiracy theories and fake news, misinformation and disinformation, trolling and phishing. What’s ultimately at stake is how we are able to cope with increasingly invasive anti-social behaviors, the overall decline of privacy in the face of total surveillance technologies, and the lack of a quality online experience that doesn’t devolve into flame wars and insults. The future of the internet as well as our societies depends upon our ability to discern truth from lies and reality from propaganda. The book will therefore also examine the possible directions we could take to improve the situation, looking at solutions in the areas of psychology and behavioral conditioning, social engineering through nudging techniques, the development of e-democracy movements, and the implementation of public policy.




Education for a Digital World


Book Description

This is a comprehensive collection of proven strategies and tools for effective online teaching, based on the principles of learning as a social process. It offers practical, contemporary guidance to support e-learning decision-making, instructional choices, as well as program and course planning, and development.




New Digital Worlds


Book Description

The emergence of digital humanities has been heralded for its commitment to openness, access, and the democratizing of knowledge, but it raises a number of questions about omissions with respect to race, gender, sexuality, disability, and nation. Postcolonial digital humanities is one approach to uncovering and remedying inequalities in digital knowledge production, which is implicated in an information-age politics of knowledge. New Digital Worlds traces the formation of postcolonial studies and digital humanities as fields, identifying how they can intervene in knowledge production in the digital age. Roopika Risam examines the role of colonial violence in the development of digital archives and the possibilities of postcolonial digital archives for resisting this violence. Offering a reading of the colonialist dimensions of global organizations for digital humanities research, she explores efforts to decenter these institutions by emphasizing the local practices that subtend global formations and pedagogical approaches that support this decentering. Last, Risam attends to human futures in new digital worlds, evaluating both how algorithms and natural language processing software used in digital humanities projects produce universalist notions of the "human" and also how to resist this phenomenon.




Living in a Digital World


Book Description

We are living through an information revolution that is radically changing all aspects of our lives. Living in a Digital World is designed for anyone who would like to build a better understanding of our increasingly digitally dominated world. With more than 140 diagrams and over 70 photographs, the book starts by examining what makes a digital device "digital" and how it functions as a data processor. A review of algorithms and software completes the foundations, before delving into a broad range of key technologies. These include: networks and the internet, flash memory, mobile communications, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies. With these topics and many more to explore, Living in a Digital World will help you to create a sturdy framework, to improve your understanding of digital technology. There are numerous self tests with answers, to allow readers to check and consolidate their learning, as well as suggested practical tasks, promoting further exploration. Each chapter closes with a summary of key learning points. The book includes a detailed table of contents, a comprehensive index, a list of sources and a glossary of technical terms. Author Mark C Baker spent 12 years as a classroom teacher and subject leader of ICT/computing before moving on to regional and national advisory roles in the UK. He now works as an independent consultant. Mark has an MSc in Computer Science (University of Birmingham), Post Graduate Certificate in Education with Distinction (University of Cambridge) and a Bachelor of Engineering, First Class (University of Bradford). 328 pages, 8.5 x 11"




Value in a Digital World


Book Description

An in-depth examination of the concept of value in a digital world, an analysis of a range of digital business models and a framework for assessing the value of digital businesses. Assessing the value of traditional business was easy. There are hard, well tested metrics and tangible, measurable assets you can literally kick the tyres of. But how do you measure the value of something that consists of little more than bits of information, brand awareness and a compelling idea? In the winner takes all digital world how do you know if this idea is one that will attract billions of dedicated users or a few thousand fleeting trialists? And, most importantly, how do you assess whether any given business model is robust enough to make billions or flawed in a way that will lose millions? Lopez Lubian and Esteves look at what economic value means in a digital world, and argue for a shift from traditional value metrics to digital value metrics. Through high profile case studies they examine the process of valuation in the digital world – examining the challenges of making objective judgments from subjective information and how to assess the value of data. Next they analyse in depth a number of different digital business models from the perspective of delivering value to investors, stakeholders and society at large. Finally they present a framework model for assessing value in digital business.




Raising Humans in a Digital World


Book Description

The Internet can be a scary, dangerous place especially for children. This book shows parents how to help digital kids navigate this environment. Sexting, cyberbullying, revenge porn, online predators…all of these potential threats can tempt parents to snatch the smartphone or tablet out of their children’s hands. While avoidance might eliminate the dangers, that approach also means your child misses out on technology’s many benefits and opportunities. In Raising Humans in a Digital World, digital literacy educator Diana Graber shows how children must learn to handle the digital space through: developing social-emotional skills balancing virtual and real life building safe and healthy relationships avoiding cyberbullies and online predators protecting personal information identifying and avoiding fake news and questionable content becoming positive role models and leaders Raising Humans in a Digital World is packed with at-home discussion topics and enjoyable activities that any busy family can slip into their daily routine. Full of practical tips grounded in academic research and hands-on experience, today’s parents finally have what they’ve been waiting for—a guide to raising digital kids who will become the positive and successful leaders our world desperately needs.







The Making of a Digital World


Book Description

This book offers a unique perspective on current changes. Describing globalization as a long-term process of intertwined technological, economic, political, and cultural changes, the author identifies distinct phases in the global system development, and concludes that the pattern of change continues even with the rise of new digital technologies.