What I've Learned About the Digital World

As my time and my classes here at University of Manchester come to an end, I would like to reflect on what I have learned, specifically in my Digital Society module. This class provided me with a very unique learning experience combined with information I believe can really help me to transition into a professional setting. Living in such a digital world, it is important to understand the importance of technology and learn how to use it to your best advantage and I really learned how to do that through this class. I also was able to get some real world experience, which was a unique experience and something I had never done in a class before. Overall I am very happy that when I was searching aimlessly through the modules available for me to enroll in, I scrolled across this one.

As I mentioned before I was able to work with an actual client on a brief. A group of other students and I worked on a project for Ragged University. Ragged University is a solely volunteer run organization that “provides a platform for the free exchange of knowledge and skills in social spaces. It is about getting people who love what they do to share what they have invested their time in an informal setting so we can all enjoy and learn from it” (Ragged Online). It was a different experience for me because I had never been in a fairly professional setting like this, where I had to meet with the client, find out what he wanted, work with the group (who were essentially like my co-workers), and get the job done. The main goal for our group was to find and post free events that were happening around Manchester. By becoming sort of a community message board, more people could discover and attend these events. Ragged is successful in other parts of the UK but through sharing these events knowledge of Ragged will hopefully spread in Manchester and make people more aware of the organization and what they stand for. This was truly an experience for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the other students in my class and Ragged. The organization basically uses solely media to get the word out there, through Facebook, twitter, and their blog. Technology is extremely important for the organization to share information and to successfully run, as it is for many organizations and businesses.

As technology plays a huge part in the success of Ragged University it also plays a huge part in other businesses as well, I learned a lot about the future of the professional world and how technology is changing the working world. It is true that the work force is becoming more computerized and more technology driven. Through learning about technology and how we can use it to benefit us we can successfully become part of this tech-driven working world. As one of our guest lecturers Paul Harrison preached, sites like LinkedIn can be hugely beneficial to those entering the professional world. If I learned anything from this class it is how important it is to utilize the tools we have available to us. LinkIn provides an entire network that without technology we would have no access to. In recent years LinkedIn has “emerged as one of the most powerful business tools on the planet” (Hempel). It is obvious that sites such as LinkedIn are a result of the changing industry and a but also are changing the industry themselves. “LinkedIn has already disrupted the traditional recruiting industry” and we can see that there is a more digital way to go about finding a job, sharing work that you have done, and gaining credibility (Hempel). Paul taught our class how exactly to create that perfect profile to gain attention, positive attention, from employers. Although my LinkedIn profile may not be up to Paul’s standards yet, I now have knowledge about how to change that and how to improve my professional digital footprint. As a college student that is looking to enter the professional workforce in the next few years, specifically in a media driven field, it is important to understand how workforce is changing. As a student that has taken this Digital Society class, I can say I believe I have the upper-hand, because I have become more aware of these changes to the industry and I have learned how to use these changes to benefit my career. From improving my online presence for a more professional viewer to understanding how to create a website and how to legally use copyrighted material, I have a greater knowledge of how all of these skills will benefit my future in this digital age.

All of the skills I have mentioned are important in our every day lives as well. One thing that I learned a lot about is copyrighted material and what exactly is allowed and what is not. Copyrighting is important because even just on this personal blog I could unintentionally violate copyright laws. We as consumers and creators on the internet are constantly posting and sharing and discovering new things on the web and I can almost guarantee that at some point in this flurry of internet activity, a copyright law has been violated. Because we live in such a technology driven world we have access to content that we have never had before and because of this “Technology and copyright have a complex relationship. New waves of technology have created novel expressive opportunities and dramatic improvements in the ability to distribute copyrighted works. But new technology rarely asks permission, and with each technical advance, we have seen new opportunities and new clashes” (Picker, 30). As I learned in lecture the copyright laws are a little old-fashioned and have not been thoroughly revised for the digital age we are living in. With so many outlets for content to be shared it is impossible for the outdated laws to catch all of the violations. But because the laws are outdated they also focus on things that are not major issues and don’t protect things that they should be protecting. There are new drafts to these laws that will hopefully bring them to a more modern and digital era. Until then steer clear of posting any content that you have any doubts about, no one wants to be fined for sharing a picture they didn't have the rights to.

Overall this class has taught me a lot about how to deal with the digital age we live in today. I have a greater understanding of what it means to live in this digital world and what kind of digital footprint I am leaving behind. Every skill that I have learned can be applied to some aspect of my life, I can create a better LinkedIn profile for my professional life, I know how to create a simple website or blog, and how to avoid copyright violations when making these websites. We live in a time when technology is very important and gaining a greater understanding of what that means can help make the most of it.

Sources:

Picker, Randal C. "The Yin and Yang of Copyright and Technology." Communications of the ACM 1 Jan. 2012: 30-32.

"About Ragged…." The Ragged University Free Learning For All. Web. 17 May 2014.

Hempel, Jessi. "LinkedIn: How It's Changing Business (AND HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU)." Fortune 1 July 2013: 68. Web.

Harrison, Paul. "The Future of Work." The Digital Society. University of Manchester, Manchester. 25 Mar. 2014. Lecture.

My Semester as a British Wannabe: Viking Festival

Hello everybody! It's time to share another one of my adventures!

So a few weekends ago I decided last minute to take a trip to York with the International Society on campus. Some of the other U of I kids were going and I thought it would be fun to get out of Manchester for a day! The trip was taking place during the Jorvik Viking Festival, which added to the appeal, because how could a viking festival NOT be entertaining.

View from the bus!

The bus ride was about 2 hours long and I was definitely ready to stretch my legs when we got there. Once we got to York, my friend Jorge, his friend Pablo, and I made our way to the festival. We found an area with story telling, lessons about weapons and general viking-ness. We listened to some of the speakers and explored the area for a while. It was an interesting crowd to say the least. 

This little guy was helping his dad tell stories about Loki and Thor. He was pretty freaking cute!

We learned all about viking tools and various weapons from this guy. He was quite the expert and had an array of items to show us, including combs made with horn and bone, and cups made from horns as well. 

This man was telling us all about the history of the vikings and all of their myths and legends. It was really impressive how much all of these people knew about these topics since, I'm assuming, they do have lives outside of the Jorvich Viking Festival. 

We moved along to the viking market next. They had anything and everything you would need to become a full time viking.. Horns for drinking and stylish hats (as pictured below), swords and axes, full viking outfits and jewelry. As I said, just about anything viking related, they had it.

After the Viking Market we went to the York market, which was slightly more normal. There were food vendors, flower stands, and people selling various random things. There was a fudge stand that had more flavors of fudge than I even thought possible, and a woman selling teddy bears made out of alpaca fleece. They were SO SOFT. I actually think those teddy bears were the softest things I have ever felt. We stopped and got lunch at a German BBQ stand, I just got a bratwurst but it was probably the best brat I've ever eaten (so good that I ate one for dinner too..). The market was really cool and it was pretty much in the middle of York so it was surrounded by all the shops and cafes. 

Next up was the March on the Wall. All of the vikings gathered and marched across York to where the "battle" would take place later on in the day. There was a large group waiting to take pictures with people (because they had the best costumes), and I couldn't pass up that opportunity! How many chances do you get to take a picture with a viking?! 

All of the vikings lined up for their march. Some costumes were definitely better than others but these people were dedicated. The march was full of yelling and horn blowing (in true viking fashion, I would assume). 

After their march the vikings took to the battlefield. They reenacted a battle while the most dramatic announcer in the world gave us a play by play of what was going on (over the music from Lord of the Rings). The highlight of the battle for me was when these two guys were dueling it out and were so intense that one of them actually knocked over a metal barrier surrounding some electrical equipment. It was one of the funniest things I've seen… He took a while to get up and I thought it was hilarious, he however, probably did not. He was fine though and went on to die a warriors death in battle. 

After the intense battle was over, we headed to the gift shop to warm up a bit and meet up with one of our other friends. Her bus driver had gotten lost on the way so she had gotten their later than us, and it took us a while to meet up. After all of us were reunited, and I had made a few purchases for my niece and nephew in the gift shop, the group decided to go to the York Dungeon. The Dungeon was like an interactive tour of the bloody history of York. I tend to hate those kinds of things and it was too expensive for me, so I sat that one out and decided to go get some hot chocolate and do some people watching. I warmed up and explored some York's shops while I was waiting for them. I really liked York, it is smaller and more quaint than Manchester but still a fun place to be.

Some chocolate eggs from a VERY crowded tea room

Once they were done with their creepy tour we all met up again, had some dinner, and made our way back to the buses. After getting lost and having to ask for directions a few times.. we found our way back to our bus. Getting kind of lost seems to be a common trend in the life of a study abroad student. But we always find our way eventually!

I had a really good time on this little excursion and I am really glad I decided to go last minute. It was my first day trip to somewhere else in England and it made me really excited to get to explore more of the country. I also got to connect with my viking roots, haha!

Until my next adventure,

Hannah

My Digital Footprint in this Digital World

As someone that has grown up in a mostly digital age, I consider technology to be an important and useful part of my every day life. Marc Prensky, in his article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1”, would refer to me as a Digital Native, someone that has grown and learned with technology for all of or the majority of their life. According to Prensky, Digital Natives are “native speakers of the digital language of computer, video games and the Internet”. As a result of technology being such a large part of my life, I would consider myself to leave a fairly large digital footprint. This means that, similar to real life footprints, I leave behind traces of where I have been within this digital world.

The reason I believe I leave a fairly large digital footprint is because I have a hand in many, many things across technology. I use various social media outlets including, twitter, Facebook, instagram, as well as this blog. Along with social media, I also use sites and apps like pinterest, vine, YouTube and Bloglovin to observe and share things that interest me. Through these various digital outlets I perform daily activities that have become part of my daily routine. I believe the constant flow of content that is shared and consumed by myself is what creates my digital footprint. Now, if my digital footprint depended on how influential I was in the digital world, it would be a much smaller footprint, but I believe it has more to do with how involved you are in what you do online.

This involvement online creates an online identity, which is part of this digital footprint that is left by your activity online, it is a collection of information based on what you share and consume on the Internet. To get a better idea of what your online identity is you can do what we did in my Digital Society class and Google yourself, see what comes up. Is it what you expected? Were you happy with what you saw? Through the Shakespeare quotation, “All the world’s a stage”, Bernie Hogan discusses the idea of social media giving people a view of the “backstage” of  our lives. Hogan also points out the fact that “Some people very carefully select which tastes to show”, and through this selective sharing you create an ideal identity. You may have a completely different identity in real life than what your Facebook suggests, based on what sorts of information you choose to share. I myself am quite selective about what I choose to post on my varying pages and sites. Depending on what site I’m using or who my audience is, I choose to divulge different information. I am generally careful about what I post on major social media because of the effect that information may have in the future. We all know that prospective employers like to take a peek at our Facebook before hiring, so maybe keep the compromising Facebook photos to a minimum.

Going along with the idea of being selective of what you share via social media, or online in general, privacy is a huge topic of concern when discussing the digital world. Most people like to keep certain aspects of their lives private from followers, viewers, friends, or whoever can see your profiles. There is the social side of privacy, not wanting to share certain information, not feeling comfortable sharing certain aspects of your self with all 700 of your friends on Facebook or twitter. But there is also this fear of “Big Brother”  and their surveillance of our online activities, as Palen and Dourish discuss in their article. In such a digital society it is common knowledge that information that we put out into the digital world is picked up by companies and organizations to benefit them in some way, whether it be personalized advertisements so we are more likely to purchase their product, or some sort of ownership over content that we send out (as it says in Facebook’s new terms and conditions). An important part about being part of the digital society is knowing the risks and concerns that come with this territory.

           

All in all I believe that I am a digital native, and that I am digitally literate, for the most part. I use the Internet and technology in many things I do and have learned to use them effectively for both personal and educational or professional reasons.

A Digital Native in her Natural Habitat

Resources:

Facebook Terms and Conditions.

http://www.facebook.com/legal/terms

Hogan, Bernie. "The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online." Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.6 (2010): 377-86. Web.

Palen, Leysia, and Paul Dourish. "Unpackin "Privacy" for a Networked World." Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2003)

Prensky, Marc. "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1." On the Horizon 9.5 (2001): 1-6.

My Semester as a British Wannabe: London

This past weekend I was able to take my first trip to London! Some friends I know from U of I were going to be there for the weekend so I decided it would be fun to go explore the city for the first time together.

So, basically nothing about this trip went as I had planned, but it was still an amazing experience to be in this city I have been dreaming about visiting for so long. Even the planning started off a bit bumpy because I wasn't able to stay in the same hostel as the people I know. I did A LOT of research on hostels in London and eventually found one that was available, in a good area, and didn't give me the creeps. Then I booked my bus ticket and I was ready to go. Ideally I would like to take a 2 hour train ride every time I go to London but the bus is ridiculously cheap in comparison so I settle for a 4 and a half hour bus ride. 

My bus was at 11am on Friday so with my packed duffle I caught a public bus to the Manchester city centre and waited for my bus. Let it be known that I am an anxious traveler, I am in constant fear of missing my transportation or getting on the wrong bus.  So of course, I rushed to the bus station not bothering to eat breakfast and arrived way too early. Luckily I had stopped to get a muffin at a cafe on the way, which saved my life on this longer-than-expected journey. 

Evidence of the muffin that saved my life.

The bus departed the station right on time and I was no longer starving, so I was optimistic about the journey. Then we hit the traffic. I'm talking bumper to bumper for 2 hours straight kinda traffic. Needless to say my optimism had deteriorated. So after about two hours and an approximate distance traveled of 2 inches, we were finally free. Good news: I finished my book in this time. Bad news: My other book was in the luggage compartment under the bus. After about 5 more hours of travel, an empty stomach, and two new bus drivers (they had to switch because we were so behind schedule they were missing the busses they were supposed to be driving back), we finally made it to London. 

Some views from the bus.

As someone who has never been to London before, I was a little disoriented and had no idea where in the world I was. Having a phone that only works with WiFi can be a little stressful at times. After finding the nearest Starbucks, ordering a panini, and using the wifi to figure out where I was and get in touch with my friends, I caught a cab to my hostel. The driver thought Chicago was in California, but he pointed out all the London landmarks to me on the way, and warned me against ever going to Philadelphia and eating a philly cheesesteak, so all in all the ride was pretty interesting. We got to the hostel, which was above a pub, and I made my way through the groups of drunk old people to check in. This was my first time staying in a hostel so I didn't really know what to expect, but the people were friendly and the place was nice. What more can you really ask for in a hostel.

My room in the hostel

After somewhat settling in, I went to meet my friends at Big Ben which was about a 5 minute walk from where I was staying. It was so beautiful to see the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye at night. When I met up with my friends we just walked around a little bit and found a bar where we could go sit and chat! We went to a place called Bar One, and let me tell you, it was a GOOD place to people watch. There are some really bad dancers in London.. We figured out our plans for the next day and headed back to our hostels.

 Surprisingly my bed in the hostel was very comfortable and I slept really well. Also surprising, I got out of bed at 8:30 on a saturday morning. The hostel had a free breakfast so I went and got myself some toast and cereal, it was a very lavish selection… The guy at the bar gave me directions for Victoria Coach station, where I was meeting my friends (also where my bus had gotten in the night before) and I was off! I had no idea how the bus system or the tube works in London so I decided to walk, which was definitely worth it. The walk wasn't too far, and I saw a lot of stuff on the way including Buckingham Palace, changing of the guards, and a RAINBOW. The weather was the only bad element of the walk, they aren't kidding about how awful London weather is. At one point the wind was so strong against me that I could barely walk, I could physically barely move. It was ridiculous. Not to mention the cold temperatures (nothing compared to Polar Vortex weather, but still unpleasant), and the rain. 

We finally met up and made or way to Chelsea, a more wealthy and ritzy area of London. My friend Steven watches a show called Made In Chelsea that takes place there and he wanted to go to the cafe they visit on the show. We passed more nice cars than I've ever seen in my life, a Tiffany's, several other high end brand stores, and finally made it to the cafe! We all ordered a Bloody Mary like they do on the show and enjoyed Chelsea. Although we sat outside for some reason so the freezing temperature  took away from the charm a bit. When we were chilled to the core, and had finished our drinks, we set off to see Buckingham Palace. 

Shops in Chelsea!

Tiniest car I've ever seen.

My first Bloody Mary. Not as terrible as I expected, still not a fave.

One of several flower stands around Chelsea.

I had passed Buckingham Palace on my way to meet Steven and Lorielle so I knew exactly where to go, which was a nice change, since I had no idea where I was going the rest of the weekend. Thankfully the rain had stopped for the majority of our walk and that made it much more pleasant than it could have been. We made it to Buckingham Palace and guess what we saw, A DOUBLE RAINBOW. This was almost the highlight of my whole trip, it was so pretty! And I swear I actually saw the end of the rainbow, I unfortunately did NOT see a pot of gold there. 

Buckingham Palace was beautiful, and it's hard to believe I actually saw it. It's hard to believe I've actually seen any of London. It makes me want to rematch every movie or TV show I have watched that takes place there just to see if I recognize any places I went to. Once we had seen enough of Buckingham Palace, we started out long trek to the only Chipotle in the UK. The Chipotle was all the way in SOHO which was pretty far from where we were, but we got to see a lot of London on the way!

We saw the changing of the guards up close

 We saw beautiful buildings and architecture

 We saw Trafalgar Square (where I got gipped out of 5 pounds by a guy who made me a bracelet)

This is seriously a mystery.. I don't know how he was floating. I have a few theories though...

He posed specially for me

 AND WE MADE IT TO CHIPOTLE. 

A burrito has never tasted so good!

After our hour long stay at Chipotle (don't ask me why we were there so long) we walked a block or so over to Oxford Street, the big shopping area in London. We stopped in a few souvenir shops and shoe stores before we decided it was just too cold to be wandering around when none of us had extra money to spend anyway. So we made our trek ALL the way back to Big Ben before we split up to go to our separate hostels. Because of technical difficulties and WiFi troubles, we weren't able to meet back up that night, which was a bummer. But I was exhausted and cold and kind of glad I didn't have to go back out into that London weather. I chitchatted with a study abroad student from New York that was staying in my hostel, attempted to shower (didn't work out so well, icy and boiling seemed to be the only temperature options), and read my book (The Fault In Our Stars, SOO GOOD), before turning in for the night. 

The next day I once again woke up before 9 am, it's a miracle. After getting some breakfast downstairs in the pub, I started the long walk to the Tower of London. Because it was so difficult to coordinate with our wifi-only phones and our hostels being so far from each other, I wasn't able to meet up with my friends today. I hadn't planned on spending the day by myself, but it was actually a cool experience. I walked along the river from my hostel to the Tower of London and got to see a lot of things I would not have seen otherwise. 

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!

Southwark Cathedral 

View from the London Bridge (the bridge itself did not live up to the infamous name..)

View of the Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

Tower of London

The Shard

I am actually really proud of myself for navigating my way around this HUGE city by myself. And although I gained some blisters from this long walk (tip: do not spend all day walking around in chuck taylor converse), I feel like I saw so much and learned my way around the city. I stopped in a Starbucks to charge my phone and grab some lunch before starting the walk back. 

I walked back through a different part of the city, and that walk was much quicker but not nearly a scenic. On my way back I walked over by Big Ben and the London Eye again so I could get some better pictures in the day and also to explore the Westminster area a little more.

Some signs of the London weather. Those clouds were actually pouring down hail, not rain, HAIL. 

Only for about 3 minutes, but it was still not fun.

Westminster Abbey

After my little sidetracked adventure, I grabbed my bag from the hostel and made my way to the bus station. At this point I was ready to just be on the bus so I could have an excuse to sit and relax for 4 house. I once again got to the bus station WAY too early, so I had time to read my book and get something to eat because I was not going to go through the whole bus ride starving like I did on the way there. I almost got to sit in a row of seats by myself but at the LAST possible second, someone sat there. Bummer. I also had the most annoying people sitting behind me. Overall, I'm not excited to take another 4 hour bus ride next time I go to London. 

The trip was a lot of fun, and I loved London (well, all of it except the weather). Even though the weekend didn't go exactly as planned, it was still the experience of a lifetime to be able to explore London. I get to go back in two weeks for "London Weekend" for all of the U of I students currently studying in the UK. I'm excited to go with a big group and have some fun planned activities and to ride the London Eye! 

London was just as amazing as I had hoped it would be and I can't wait to go back!

Stay tuned for my next adventure!

Love,

Hannah