MEDIA & INFORMATION LITERACY (MIDTERM)

“HOW DOES INFORMATION BECOME KNOWLEDGE?”

 “Knowledge is an important aspect of human life that leads to activities that contribute to one gaining
wealth, influence, and power.”
 Knowledge is the appropriate collection of information through experience or education, which could be
useful in various situations.”

ETHICAL USE OF INFORMATION

Say: “ There are times when you need to share information that you have acquired from various sources
written by different authors. It is expected to directly quote their words in order to preserve their meaning.
However, quoting someone else's words without giving credit to the author essentially gives an impression that
you are claiming ownership of the words they have said.

This is called PLAGIARISM. ”

 PLAGIARISM: Using other people’s words and ideas without clearly acknowledging the source of the
information
 COMMON KNOWLEDGE: Facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be widely
known.
Example: John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960. This is generally
known information. You do not need to document this fact

 INTERPRETATION: You must document facts that are not generally known, or ideas that interpret
facts.
Example: Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever to have played the game. This idea is
not a fact but an interpretation or an opinion. You need to cite the source.
 QUOTATION: Using someone’s words directly. When you use a direct quote, place the passage
between quotation marks, and document the source according to a standard documenting style.
Example: According to John Smith in The New York Times, “37% of all children under the age of 10
live below the poverty line”. You need to cite the source.
 PARAPHRASE: Using someone’s ideas, but rephrasing them in your own words. Although you will
use your own words to paraphrase, you must still acknowledge and cite the source of the information.

PLAGIARISM HAS LEGAL IMPLICATIONS.

 Plagiarism has legal implications. While ideas themselves are not copyrightable, the artistic expression
of an idea automatically falls under copyright when it is created. Under fair use, small parts may be
copied without permission from the copyright holder.
 However, even under fair use - in which you can use some parts of the material for academic or non-
profit purposes - you must attribute the original source. What is considered fair use is rather subjective
and can vary from country to country.

STRATEGIES IN AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

 Submit your own work for publication. You need to cite even your own work.
 Put quotation marks around everything that comes directly from the text and cite the source.
 Paraphrase, but be sure that you are not simply rearranging or replacing a few words and cite the
source.
 Keep a source journal, a notepad, or note cards- annotated bibliographies can be especially beneficial
 Use the style manual in properly citing sources
 Get help from the writing center or library

1. MEDIA & INFORMATION SOURCES

THINGS TO CHECK IN GETTING INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT MEDIA & INFORMATION SOURCE
• RELIABILITY OF INFORMATION - Information is said to be reliable if it can be verified and evaluated.
Others refer to the trustworthiness of the source in evaluating the reliability of information.
• ACCURACY OF INFORMATION - Accuracy refers to the closeness of the report to the actual data.
• Measurement of accuracy varies, depending on the type of information being evaluated.
Forecasts are said to be accurate if the report is similar to the actual data. Financial information
is considered accurate if the values are correct, properly classified, and presented
 • VALUE OF INFORMATION - Information is said to be of value if it aids the user in making or improving
decisions.
• AUTHORITY OF THE SOURCE - Most of the information we gather daily do not come from a primary
source but are passed on through secondary sources such as writers, reporters, and the like.
• Sources with an established expertise on the subject matter are considered as having sound
authority on the subject.
• TIMELINESS - Reliability, accuracy, and value of information may vary based on the time it was
produced or acquired. While a piece of information may have been found accurate, reliable, and
valuable during the time it was produced, it may become irrelevant and inaccurate with the passing of
time (thus making it less valuable). Other information may be timeless, proven to be the same in
reliability, accuracy, and value throughout history.

TYPES OF LIBRARIES
Libraries are often classified in 4 groups, namely:
• ACADEMIC LIBRARIES serve colleges and universities, their students, staff and faculty. Larger
institutions may have several libraries on their campuses dedicated to serving particular schools such
as law and science libraries. Many academic librarians become specialists in an area of knowledge and
can have faculty status. 
• Serve colleges and universities
• PUBLIC LIBRARIES serve communities of all sizes and types. Wherever you live, there's bound to be
a local public library nearby! As the name implies, public libraries serve the general public, "from cradle
to grave" as more than one public librarian has been heard to say. Public libraries often have
departments that focus on areas of service, such as youth, teens and adults. 
• Serve cities and towns of all types
• SCHOOL LIBRARIES are usually part of a school system, and serve students between Kindergarten
and grade 12. Many are called media centers, and librarians are often required to have a second
degree in education or a certificate in school media. 
• Serve students from Kindergarten to grade 12
• SPECIAL LIBRARIES offer unique opportunities to work in a specialized environment of interest, such
as corporations, hospitals, the military, museums, private businesses, and the government. Special
libraries can serve particular populations, such as the blind and physically handicapped, while others
are dedicated to special collections, such as the Library of Congress or a presidential library. 
• Are in specialized environments, such as hospitals, corporations, museums, the military, private
business, and the government
Skills in accessing information from libraries - Due to the wealth of information in a library, it is important to
know the following:
• The access tool to use
• How the information being accessed may be classified
• The depth of details required--some libraries provide only an abstract of the topic
• More detailed information might require membership or some conformity to set rules of the source (ex
databases).

INFORMATION FOUND ON THE INTERNET

• Characteristics of Internet information in terms of reliability, accuracy, value, timeliness, and authority of
the source
REALITIES OF THE INTERNET
• Information found on the Internet may be quite varied in form and content. Thus, it is more difficult to
determine its reliability and accuracy. Accessing information on the Internet is easy, but requires more
discipline to check and validate. Factual and false data are often merged together. Sources always
have to be validated

HOW TO DETERMINE THE RELIABILITY OF INFORMATION?

• CHECK THE AUTHOR.
• The author’s willingness to be identified is a good indication of reliability.
• CHECK THE DATE OF PUBLICATION OR OF UPDATE .
• While the information may be true, it may not be reliable if it is outdated and may have lost
relevance.
• CHECK FOR CITATIONS.
• Reliable authors have the discipline of citing sources of their information.
• CHECK THE DOMAIN OR OWNER OF THE SITE OR PAGE.
• The domains .edu and .gov are reserved for academic institutions and the government
respectively. Information from such sites are presented with caution and are usually well-
 grounded. Site owners may have an agenda that affects the manner by which information is
presented.
• Check the site design and the writing style.
• Credible sources take time to make their information accessible and easy to comprehend
HOW TO DETERMINE THE ACCURACY OF INFORMATION?
• Look for facts.
• Cross-reference with other sources to check for consistency.
• Determine the reason for writing and publishing the information. Check if the author is objective or
leaning heavily on a certain point of view.
• Check for advertising. Advertisers may use related information to market their product.
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
• Current popular alternative media
• Rise of alternative media and information.
• Other alternative forms of communication and distribution have become popular. These include social
media, blogs, and flash mob performances. These alternative forms provide greater freedom and power
to ordinary individuals and are a quicker way of distributing information. The downside is that a lot of
the information being passed around is biased and inaccurate.

EXAMPLES OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

• SOCIAL MEDIA is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based
input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration
• BLOGS (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in
the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even
a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.
• YOUTUBE TUTORIALS
• WIKIHOW the world's most popular how-to website. Easy, step-by-step, illustrated instructions for
everything.
• DIGITAL NEWSPAPER is a newspaper created digitally and available online via the Internet.
• INFOGRAPHICS (information graphic) is a representation of information in a graphic format designed
to make the data easily understandable at a glance
• EDUCATIONAL WEBSITES (Tutorialspoint, W3schools, learnerstv)

EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

GOOD EFFECTS
• These alternative forms provide greater freedom and power to ordinary individuals and are a
quicker way of distributing information.
BAD EFFECTS
• The downside is that a lot of the information being passed around is biased and inaccurate.

LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND SOCIETAL ISSUES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?
- A legal device that gives the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, or other creative work the sole
right to publish and sell that work.
- Copyright owners have the right to control the reproduction of their work, including the right to
receive payment for that reproduction.
- An author may grant or sell those rights to others, including publishers or recording companies.
 - Violation of a copyright is called infringement .
- Is a form of protection provided by the law to the authors of “original works of authorship.”
- By virtue of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, works are protected
in all 160 countries that are party to the Convention, as well as various other laws such as the US
copyright act.
• A work of authorship includes literary, written, dramatic, artistic, musical and certain other types of
works.
• Copyright attaches as soon as the original work is created, and applies to both published and
unpublished works. As soon as you type words, click the shutter on your camera (or, for many of you,
hit the home button on your iPhone), apply paint to canvas or paper or lay down tracks for your next hit,
you’ve got a copyright (with some exceptions).
• Copyright is an automatic right and does not require the author to file special paperwork
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
- An act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without
authorization;
- The representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author.
WHAT IS CYBER BULLYING?
- Bullying that takes place online, or using electronic technology such as cell phones, computers, and
tablets over communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.
Examples of cyber bullying:
- text messages or emails composed to insult or degrade; rumors or false statements spread by email or
posted on social networking sites; and humiliating photos, videos, websites, or fake profiles deliberately
shared across social media.
FORMS OF CYBER BULLYING?
1. EXCLUSION
Exclusion is the deliberate act of leaving you out. It is the deliberate act of leaving someone out.
Exclusion can happen in a number of ways:

 Your child might be excluded from friends’ parties or activities.

 Your child’s friends are having online conversations and tagging other friends but not them.
 Your child isn’t using social networking sites or doesn’t have a smartphone and is deliberately excluded
from conversations by others because of this.
2. HARASSMENT
Harassment is a sustained, constant and intentional form of bullying comprising abusive or threatening
messages sent to your child or to a group.
This is a very dangerous form of cyberbullying. It can have serious implications for your child’s wellbeing. The
messages are generally unkind or malicious, can impact their self-esteem and confidence, and can make them
fearful. The constant messaging means that there is no respite from the cyberbully. The cyberbully makes
extreme effort to cause fear and pain.
3. OUTING
Outing is a deliberate act to embarrass or publicly humiliate your child or a group through the online posting of
sensitive, private or embarrassing information without their consent.
Outing can happen in a variety of ways and the information revealed can be serious or trivial. Even reading out
your child’s saved messages on their mobile phone can be considered a form of outing. Personal information
should not be shared and if someone reveals private information deliberately be sure your child knows to
report it as cyberbullying
4. CYBERSTALKING
This form of cyberbullying can extend to the cyberbully making real threats to your child’s physical wellbeing
and/or safety. Cyberstalking can also refer to the practice of adults using the Internet to contact and attempt
to meet with young people for sexual purposes. It is a very dangerous form of cyberbullying and can have
serious consequences if something isn’t done immediately to stop it.
5. FRAPING
Fraping is when somebody logs into your social networking account and impersonates your child by posting
inappropriate content in their name.
Fraping is a very serious offence, which many people believe to be funny and entertaining, but it’s not.
Impersonating somebody online and ruining their reputation can have serious consequences. Remember
Google never forgets so everything rude or otherwise posted online will never be fully gone, even if deleted.
6. FAKE PROFILES
Fake profiles can be created in order for a person to hide their real identity with the intention of cyberbullying
your child.
The cyberbully might also use someone else’s email or mobile phone to cyberbully them. This would make it
appear as if someone else has sent the threats. The cyberbully is afraid in case their identity is revealed,
therefore they choose to use fake accounts. This usually means that the cyberbully is someone that your child
knows very well, because if they didn’t know them, the perpetrator wouldn’t have to hide their identity.
7. DISSING
Dissing is the act of sending or posting cruel information about your child online, to damage their reputation or
friendships with others.
It can also include posting material online such as photos, screenshots or videos. The cyberbully wants to put
your child down, so draws attention to what they are saying about them to make other people think they’re not
cool. The cyberbully is usually someone your child knows. This can make it really upsetting.
8. TRICKERY
Trickery is the act of gaining your child’s trust so that they reveal secrets or embarrassing information that the
cyberbully then shares publicly online.
The cyberbully will ‘befriend’ your child and lead them into a false sense of security before breaking their trust
and sending their private information to a third party.
9. TROLLING
Tolling is the deliberate act of provoking a response through the use of insults or bad language on online
forums and social networking sites.
The troll will personally attack your child and put them down. Their main aim is to make them angry enough to
act in the same way. Trolls spend their time looking for vulnerable people to put down. Usually they are looking
to make themselves feel good by making others feel bad.
10. CATFISHING
Catfishing is when another person steals your child’s online identity, usually photos, and re-creates social
networking profiles for deceptive purposes.
A catfish is someone who wants to hide who they are. They will look at your child’s social networking profile
and take any information they want to create a fake persona. Sometimes they will only take your child’s photos
and use fake names and information; at other times they could take their name and personal information. It can
be hard to understand why a catfish does this but it is important to know that they are potentially damaging
your child’s online reputation.
EFFECTS OF CYBER BULLYING?
Like all forms of bullying, cyberbullying causes psychological, emotional and physical stress.
Each person’s response to being bullied is unique, but research has shown some general tendencies.
StopBullying.gov reports that youth who are bullied have a higher risk of depression and anxiety. Symptoms
may include:

 increased feelings of sadness and loneliness

 changes in sleep and eating patterns
 loss of interest in activities
 more health complaints
Youth who are bullied are more likely to struggle personally and at school. They may:

 miss, skip or drop out of school

 receive poor grades
 have lower self-esteem
 use alcohol and drugs
Bullying can lead to thoughts about suicide, sometimes persisting into adulthood. In one study, adults who
were bullied as youth were three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts or inclinations.
Youth who are bullied may retaliate through violent measures. In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990s,
the shooters had a history of being bullied.
WHAT IS COMPUTER ADDICTION?
- This addiction is characterized by an excessive desire and subsequent use of the internet or the
computer that results in negative consequences socially, financially, physically, emotionally or
otherwise for the user. A preoccupation with computers can lead to problems with relationships,
problems with productivity or problems with self-care and hygiene.
- It’s important to recognize that not all people who spend hours each day on the computer are
considered addicted. There are many uses for computers and the internet and in many cases, an
individual may spend 6 or more hours in a day on the computer but still not be considered an addict.
Each individual situation is different and therefore, there is no set number of hours that is (or is not)
considered a potential for computer addiction.
TYPES OF COMPUTER ADDICTION

 PROGRAMMING ADDICTIONS – these addictions result from an individual’s desire to reprogram

items or databases or to create new software excessively
 GENERAL COMPUTER ADDICTIONS – this the result of an individual’s desire to play games such as
solitaire or other games on the computer and does not generally include internet usage
 INTERNET ADDICTION – internet addiction is the result of an individual’s desire to spend time online
performing any one of a number of tasks in excessive. Internet addiction has sub-categories that
include:
 INTERNET COMPULSIONS – these may include compulsive shopping online, compulsive gaming
online, compulsive gambling online or compulsive stock trading online
 CYBERSEX – this is a compulsive use of the internet to participate in internet sex through chat rooms,
adult websites, fantasy role playing online or watching pornography
 SOCIAL NETWORKING ADDICTIONS – this is the addiction that results when an individual spends
more time socializing online than they do socializing with people in real life. These addicts will often find
online relationships to be more meaningful than offline relationships.
WHAT IS DIGITAL DIVIDE?
- An economic inequality between groups in terms of access to, use of, or knowledge of ICT.
- The divide within countries (such as the digital divide in the United States) can refer to inequalities
between individuals, households, businesses, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic (and
other demographic) levels.
- The Global digital divide designates countries as the units of analysis, and examines the divide
between developing and developed countries on an international scale.
WHAT IS NETIQUETTE?
 NETIQUETTE, or net etiquette, refers to etiquette on the Internet.
 Good netiquette involves respecting others' privacy and not doing anything online that will annoy or
frustrate other people.
 Three areas where good netiquette is highly stressed are e-mail, online chat, and newsgroups.
 ALWAYS THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE. In other words without the use of
nonverbal with your message, your message can be misinterpreted. So please
think twice before you hit submit.
 KEEP IT RELEVANT. There are places to chat and post for fun everyday stuff.
Do not stray from the discussion in the assigned questions.
 NEVER USE ALL CAPS. This is the equivalent of yelling in the online world. It is
not fun to read. Only use capital letters when appropriate.
 MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE USING APPROPRIATE GRAMMAR
AND STRUCTURE. In other words I don’t want to see anyone writing “R
U” instead of “are you”. There are people in the class that may not
understand this type of abbreviation, not to mention it does nothing to
help expand your writing and vocabulary skills. Emoticons are fine as
long as they are appropriate.
 TREAT PEOPLE THE SAME AS YOU WOULD FACE-TO-FACE. In
other words it is easy to hide behind the computer.

DO’S AND DON’TS WHEN USING SOCIAL NETWORK

 Don’t publish important information that identifies you

 Choose sensible, strong and hard to guess passwords
 Don’t upload inappropriate pictures or post inappropriate post
 Know privacy settings
 Don’t give apps permission before verifying
 Be selective in adding or following friends
 Don’t use inappropriate words or languages
 Stop and think before you click
 Don’t make online presence all about you
 Don’t mix wall post and personal messages
 Use fully protected computers

CURRENT & FUTURE TRENDS IN MEDIA & INFORMATION

Many of the technological advances we are seeing today will shape our daily life in the future – the way we relax,
interact, communicate and conduct business. From virtual worlds, avatar emotions, artificial intelligence, computer
generated storytelling and narrative, interactive 360 holographic images, mixed reality, stress disorder virtual therapies
and so much more. ICT will continue to advance, empower and transform every aspect of our life.

WHAT IS UBIQUITOUS LEARNING?

“Ubiquitous learning is often simply defined as learning anywhere, anytime and is therefore closely associated with
mobile technologies”. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF UBIQUITOUS LEARNING?

• PERMANENCY
- Learning materials are always available unless purposely deleted
• ACCESSIBILITY
- Access from everywhere as personally required
• IMMEDIACY
- Wherever a student is, heshe can immediately access the learning materials
• INTERACTIVITY
- Online collaboration with teachers and / or peers (chat, blogs, forums)
• SITUATED INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Learning in context (on-site)
• ADAPTABILITY
- Getting the right information at the right place for the right student
WHAT IS MOOC?
 Massive open online course (MOOC) is a free Web-based distance learning program that is designed for the
participation of large numbers of geographically dispersed students.

A MOOC may be patterned on a college or university course or may be less structured. Although MOOCs don't
always offer academic credits, they provide education that may enable certification, employment or further studies.

The word MOOC was coined in 2008 by Dave Cormier, from the University of Prince Edward Island for a course
offered by the University of Manitoba, "Connectivism and Connective Knowledge." There were 25 tuition-paying
students from university and 2,300 non-paying students from the general public who took the course online. There
were RSS feeds for material and participation was facilitated through a variety of venues including Moodle (a
learning management system), blog posts, Second Life and real-time online meetings.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS

1. HAPTICS TECHNOLOGY -- Is a feedback technology (using computer applications) that takes

advantage of the user’s sense of touch by applying force, vibrations and/or motions to the User. Simple
haptics is used in game controllers, joysticks and steering wheels and is becoming more common in
Smartphones. Haptics is gaining widespread acceptance as a key part of virtual reality systems (i.e.
computer simulated environments) - adding the sense of touch to previously visual-only solutions. It is
also used in virtual arts, such as sound synthesis, graphic design and animation. There are many
possibilities for Haptics to be applied to gaming, movies, manufacturing, medical, and other industries.
Imagine your doctor operating on your local hospital from his computer in Australia.
2. CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS -- By combining ‘hard sensor’ information such as where you are and
the conditions around you, combined with ‘soft sensors’ such as your calendar, your social network and
past preferences - future devices will constantly learn about who you are and how you live, work and
play. As your devices learn about your life, they can begin to anticipate your needs. Imagine your PC
advising you to leave home 15 minutes early or take a different route to avoid a traffic jam on your way
to work. Consider a “context aware” remote control that instantly determines who is holding it and
automatically selects the Smart TV preferences for that person.
3. VOICE AND TONE RECOGNITION - Not only can voice and tone recognition be used to confirm a
person’s identity but tone recognition can be used to detect a person’s health or emotional state. This
technology will open new opportunities in security and healthcare – with mobile applications.
4. INTELLIGENT ROUTING TO DEVICES - This future technology will be useful to, for example, local
councils. While on the move, staff will be able to provide the precise description and location of a
street-based issue using Smartphones and mobile devices that can take photos and have GPS (global
positioning system) support. Intelligent routing will then alert the responsible team to action.
5. FLASHNOTES is an online marketplace that allows college students to buy and sell course specific
notes, study guides, flashcards and other items to help students study and/or earn money throughout
their college years. It allows students to upload their lecture notes and sell them to other students who
need more help or resources. The rating system allows the best note takers to get more business and
the general pool of knowledge expands as students continue to share their work with one another.
6. PAPERTAB Developed by Plastic Logic, PaperTab has a flexible touchscreen that lets users send files
and emails and navigate through pages of documents using hand gestures. One can also combine
several PaperTabs into one larger surface by placing them side by side, or share files by touching one
tablet to another. PaperTab is powered by an Intel i5 processor, which seems to be separate from the
actual display and connected to the PaperTab with a thin data cable.
7. GOOGLE’S CHROMEBOOK is a laptop of a different breed. Instead of Windows 10 or macOS,
Chromebooks run Google's Chrome OS. These machines are designed to be used primarily while
connected to the Internet, with most applications and documents living in the cloud. Chromebooks
have done quite well in the education market, but their appeal has broadened.

-They are less expensive

-One-button-push easy setup
-Easy to control settings and restrictions
-Offers the traditional keyboard for fast typing and note taking
-Hardware fixes are easier and less costly

8. EYE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY- Eye tracking technology measures eye positions and movements
which are analysed through computer applications. Future laptops, smartphones and tablets could
 contain thousands of tiny imaging sensors built into the display screen. Eye tracking technology could
have many possible applications, including:
o Law enforcement – lie detection
o Airport security – identifying suspicious behaviour, e.g. to catch terrorists before they strike
o Retail – recording, monitoring and analysing consumer behaviour to ‘tailor’ marketing to
individuals
o Safety - alerting and awakening a drowsy or distracted driver would save many lives
o Health care – assisting people with disabilities or paralysis to communicate (laptop) and
improve mobility (electric wheelchair)
o Human-computer interaction – using screen icons and a blink here or a gaze there. Say
goodbye to the mouse and keyboard.
9. INTERNET GLASSES- Technology that can display images directly onto our retinas while not blocking
our sight is being developed. This technology can be used in eyeglasses and have uses ranging from
e-Gaming to military defense. In the next 10-20 years experts predict that Internet glasses will replace
Smartphones. Imagine these viewing experiences:
a. Seeing building schematics and locations of others (especially useful for security or fire fighters)
b. Giving a speech while information is streamed to your eyeglasses in real time
c. Receiving turn by turn directions as you walk toward your destination
d. Viewing virtual recipes while cooking without losing your rhythm
e. Walking down the street, seeing one of your friends show up "on screen" 2 blocks and 1 cafe
away