Education - pros and cons of online and face to face education

This is an interesting topic to me, one I have thought about many times. I got my first degree through traditional in class room learning. The degree that I am currently working on has been all online. So I have thought about the pros and cons of each many times.

Face to Face

Pro: You create more personable relationships with your peers and professors.

Pro: This could be a pro or con based on your attitude. But I found attending classes face to face made me study more and learn the material more. Most time in a classroom setting you can’t use notes or the book for tests. I’ll admit, I have taken some online classes, where I haven’t even read the book. I just use the book to take the test.

Con: Many times if you miss a class, you simply can’t log in online to get the lecture and notes.

Con: You’re limited to when you can take classes, which also may limit your choice of classes and or degree. You’re limited to the schools you attend.

Online

Pro: The biggest pro personally for me is being able to work on a degree yet still being able to work full time to support my family. Learning online means I do not have to actually attend class on campus. It allows for more flexibility.

Pro: With everything being online, you can attend class at midnight if you want! Basically it is anytime, anywhere! The flexibility of online classes really cannot be beat.

Con: It takes a lot of self-motivation to stay on track. Not having someone say you have to be in class on this day, you need to be driven to stay focused and meet deadlines.
Con: The biggest con for me is I really miss out on the peer and professor interaction. I have so many close friends that I met when I got my first degree. We still all talk and network about jobs and opportunities. It is a lot harder to reach out to someone online for help and advice about assignments and tests.

The great digital divide

Where I live, there is only one option for high speed internet. I think what I pay monthly for internet is very high. However, since there is no other option and no competition around, they can charge more, and I chose to pay it. I’m just happy that I at least have one option.

I live in a low income school district. I think the last statistic I saw was that 78% of our students get free lunch. Even though that is the case, our school is now trying to go paperless. So instead of sending home report cards, etc. – parents need to go online to see grades and teacher reports. It really got me thinking about how a lot of people in our district may not even be able to afford the internet, let alone a smart phone or computer. So if we want the parents to be more actively involved in their children’s educations – is going paperless such a good idea? 

I think that the Government’s National BroadBand plan is a good idea. According to the powerpoint – evidence suggests that some of the most significant resources that help people get out of financial dire straits are access to communication technology such as the Internet, cell phones, etc. Access to the internet allows people to complete on-line courses, job searches, submit resumes, and use LinkedIn. All things that can be used to find jobs, get education, and network – which can change someone’s financial situation.

I also think that the Government’s BroadBand plan is good because it aims at making broad band more affordable. One of the ways they plan on doing this is making sure there is robust competition in the area. Someone like me that only has the option of one provider, finds that very appealing. Also, someone can have access to broad band, but if they can’t afford to have it every month, it is not going to do them any good. 

One could argue that it is not the Government’s responsibility to make broad band available to people. However, I would disagree with that. According to the Government’s BroadBand plan – “broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. It is enabling entire new industries and unlocking vast new possibilities for existing ones. It is changing how we educate children, deliver health care, manage energy, ensure public safety, engage government, and access, organize and disseminate knowledge.”

Keeping your privacy and identity safe

In this day and age our information is everywhere online. It is crazy how much information you can find out about someone online. By doing a simple google search on my name, I found links to my Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages. But what was really shocking was the other information that is posted about me. My complete work history is listed on zoominfo.com. You can find my age, address and past addresses on whitepages.com. You can also find my grandparents’, my father’s and my daughter’s obituary. The amount of information just by one search is quite shocking.

I am an open book in most instances. I am not a private person by any means, and tend to share a lot of information about myself. I’m the kind of person that usually updates my Facebook status at least once a day. I used to use the app Foursquare quite a bit, but my husband actually requested that I stop using it for safety reasons. After I listened to his reasoning, it did make sense. When I was checking in at locations, I was basically telling anyone that wanted to know that I wasn’t home, and could make us an easy target for someone to break into our house. Also, if someone wanted to harm you – they easily could know where you were at any given time.

If our information gets into the wrong hands, it can be detrimental in many different ways.  According to (Milian, 2010) there are five easy things that people can do to help protect their identity on line. They are:

1.       Adjust social-network privacy settings

2.       Ensure personal data is sent over a secure connection

3.       Consider opting out of ad tracking

4.       Use private Web browsing features or install a VPN

5.       Think before you post

A person should be careful not to overshare on social networking sites.  Posting too much information about you can open yourself up to identity theft.  A potential identity thief can find information about your life, use it to answer ‘challenge’ questions on your accounts, and get access to your money and personal information. Never post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or account numbers in publicly accessible sites.

According to (Consumer information - keeping your personal informaiton secure, 2012), the things you need to do to protect your identity are:

• Keep your personal information secure offline
• Keep your personal information secure online
• Securing your social security number
• Keeping your devices secure

A few ways you can protect your identity offline is by never carrying your social security card with you. If your purse or wallet gets lost or stolen, your social security card could end up in the wrong hands.  Make sure to always shred receipts, credit card applications, insurance forms, bank statements, and any other kind of document that reveals personal information.

Securing your information online as well as keeping your devices secure is also very important.  Never open email attachments or files where you don’t know the sender. You should always have up to date anti-virus software installed to avoid infections that can compromise your data. Make sure to log out of your programs, especially on-line banking and bill pay, when you are done with the program. Never share your passwords with anyone, and make sure they are different for each application or program you use.

Often times you’ll be asked for your social security number. Whether it is online or in person, many places ask for your social security number. To protect yourself, you can always ask if you can use a different kind of identification. If that is not an option, ask them how your number will be used, and how they plan to protect it.

Works Cited

Consumer information - keeping your personal informaiton secure. (2012, July). Retrieved from Federal Trade Commission.

Milian, M. (2010, December 13). 5 tips for controlling your privacy online. Retrieved from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/12/13/5.online.privacy.tips/index.html

Piracy - good or bad?

This is a really hard topic for me to write about! I’ll be honest, I may have downloaded a few illegal songs and or a movie or two in my day.  I feel what I downloaded was completely harmless because it was only a few songs and I didn’t turn around and share it with hundreds of other people. Who doesn’t like to get something for free every now and then? 

With that being said, I am taking the position that piracy is heinous. Artists such as musicians, film makers and authors make money off of selling their songs, movies and books. If everyone were to download illegal copies, how would they make their money? By buying songs, movies, and books, we are essentially paying artists to do their jobs and for their creative property. If I was a musician and my song was getting downloaded illegally and I wasn’t making any money on it, I would be mad! I don’t work for free, and I guess we shouldn’t expect artists to either.

One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers' earnings, and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income and production taxes.

When you look at how much money global music piracy costs, it can definitely be viewed as heinous.

Happy Birthday is illegal - who knew?

Most people sing “Happy Birthday” without ever thinking twice about it. It’s sung at most birthday parties across America. Depending on where you sing the song, it can actually be a violation of Copyright law. What few people realize is that the song is owned by a private company, and that it is copyrighted. I for one was not aware that the song was copyrighted. I would have never second guessed about singing it or posting it somewhere until now.

Singing “Happy Birthday” to a friend and posting it on YouTube would be an infringement of U.S. Copyright law. The copyright to ‘Happy Birthday to You’ remains in full force under U.S. and international copyright law. (Siegel) According to www.copyright.gov,”Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship.” This includes literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.”

Posting the video on YouTube would be in direct violation of their terms. In section six of the You Tube terms and contract, it states: “You affirm, represent, and warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to publish Content you submit; and you license to YouTube all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to such Content for publication on the Service pursuant to these Terms of Service.”

“You further agree that Content you submit to the Service will not contain third party copyrighted material, or material that is subject to other third party proprietary rights, unless you have permission from the rightful owner of the material or you are otherwise legally entitled to post the material and to grant YouTube all of the license rights granted herein.”

Posting a video to YouTube singing “Happy Birthday” would be wrong. Since the song is owned by a private company, and is copyrighted, this would be an infringement. Before posting on YouTube, a person is obligated to know and agree to the terms and conditions. Posting a video while infringing on a copyright directly violates their terms and conditions.

In conclusion, singing “Happy Birthday” and posting it on YouTube would be both a violation of Copyright and against the YouTube terms and contract. It’s hard for some people to imagine that something as simple and innocent as singing “Happy Birthday” and posting it online could be wrong.  That doesn’t mean that when someone’s birthday rolls around, you’re not allowed to sing them the famous song. Singing the song at home among family is acceptable because it is considered a private performance (Siegel). Once you add the element of taping it and posting on-line, or singing for an audience – you are in violation of Copyright. It’s kind of funny that most people have no idea that one of the most famous songs in America is copyrighted. I had no idea that this was the case until writing this paper. Now I know!

Sources:

Siegel, J., & Cochran, J. (2008, July 21). Sing 'Happy Birthday' and It'll Cost You. Retrieved September 3, 2014.

YouTube Terms of Service. (2010, June 9). Retrieved September 3, 2014.