Joe Waski's DU Masters Program Blog

 CIPA/COPPA Protecting Children Online Source: Online Danger  Opening Thoughts:  Protecting children online is a topic that is very relevant and personal to me.  Being a father of a 6 year old girl I take this topic very serious.  My daughter has access to a tablet and enjoys watching videos or playing games online.  I constantly monitor what she is doing and often find myself having to block videos and games that pop up on her device.  As a parent it makes me feel better knowing that there are laws out there such as CIPA and COPPA to protect children.   Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA): The primary purpose of COPPA is to place parents in control over what information is collected online from their young children.  This law was enacted to protect children under the age of 13.   Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA):  The Federal Communications Commission enacted CIPA to address concerns about childre...

Digital Tattoo  Data Analysis  source: Jaeylns School Site     For this data analysis I choose to analyze my last 25 posts on my Facebook account.  I typically use my Facebook account for personal use.  Before looking back at my last 25 posts I chose to do a self-reflection on what I expect to see.  I expect to see a lot of posts about my family, family adventures such as vacations or going out to eat, and food.  I expect to see an overall positive tone.  I try to keep my Facebook account clean and free of drama.       Below is a data analysis of my last 25 posts on Facebook.  This data analysis was eye opening as I thought I projected a different tone on Facebook.  Yes, I do have food and family posts while I do stay away from drama.  However, I was surprised how many political posts I made, how many jokes I made, and my use of humor.  My overall tone was positive but with a bit of complaining.  ...

  Acceptable Use Policy Source: Lime Academy Hornbeam What are AUPs?  AUP stands for Acceptable Use Policy.  Many businesses and schools have AUPs in place to keep    their customers, clients, workers, staff, or students safe.  Thomas Murray's article, Acceptable or Responsible? What's Your Use Policy? , speaks to AUPs in schools.  He states that high quality acceptable use policies lay the foundation for digital citizenship and personal accountability.  Murray also mentions that high quality AUPs includes information about a variety of areas such as internet, software access, email and account user information, filtering and monitoring, privacy expectations, and more.  AUPs lay out how district technology should be used and the expectations of its use.  My District's AUP:  Through my research and help from a colleague also enrolled in the same graduate level technology course at Dominican University, I was able to find tw...

  Algorithms  Source: Geeks for Geeks This week I chose to dive into and investigate algorithms.  The topic of algorithms is very broad and almost impossible to fully cover all topics and usage of algorithms.  I will keep this in general terms and focus more on social media algorithms.  Overview of Algorithms: According to the article, Algorithmic Awareness , by Media Smarts, algorithms are defined as a set of step-by-step instructions for solving a problem or completing a mathematical or computational task. Algorithms sort data to find patterns and make predictions or recommendations. The term is often used to refer specifically to computer programs trained to make predictions.  This definition is the overall definition of algorithms.  Brent Barnhart defines social media algorithms in his article, Everything You Need to Know about Social Media Algorithms as   a way of sorting posts in a users’ feed based on relevancy instead of publish tim...

Professional Learning Networks source: Creating and Curating your PLN-HLS What is a PLN?  A PLN is a professional Learning Network.  PLN's can consist of people, groups, communities, or systems.  PLN's can change over time as well as one's involvement within a PLN.  PLN's are any group that engages in collaborative learning with others outside their everyday learning community (Brown & Poortman, 2018).  The ultimate goal of a PLN is to benefit children.   My PLNs?  When taking a look at my professional life, I find that I belong to many PLNs.  My current and past colleagues, my past networks from different colleges that I've attended, the wrestling community, and networks I've made online.  When I gauge where I find myself on the spectrum of the Seven Degrees of Connectedness Infographic provided by Rod Lucifer, engagement within those professional communities differ.  I mostly find that I am at Stage 7 Confidant in PLNs that a...

 Introduction Blog  Contact:   jwaski@jsmorton.com    Hi all.  My name is Joe Waski, I look forward to learning about social media with everyone while taking this course.   This is my 17 year teaching.  I have certifications to teach high school math with an LBS1 and an ELL endorsement. I'm contemplating going for a Technology Specialist endorsement as well.   Here is some professional information about myself.  I spent my first year substitute teaching at District 207 this is where I made networks that lead to my first job working for one of alternative schools that served the district.  My first full time teaching job was at North Cook Young Adult Academy in Palatine.  NCYAA had a total of 3 campus and was classified as a Regional Safe School Program that served at risk youth outplaced by their homeschools for behavior infractions.  I worked at NCYAA for 5 years, unfortunately the campus I worked at ended ...