Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Posting You Tube Videos and Flickr Badges to Blogs: Explaining the Process

How to embed You Tube videos into your Blog.

Well firstly you need to find a video clip that takes your fancy, and one that you would like to be on your blog.
Once deciding which clip to use, look on the bottom right of the clip under the information box, where there should be a button/ word saying "embed".
Highlight the information within this box, which should turn blue.
Now right click with your mouse and scroll down to where it says "Copy", right click again on this.

Now go to your blog and sign in.
Once signed in, click on the words that say "New Post". This will open to a new posting page.
Firstly write in the title that you want your clip under.
Where you can begin writing your post, right click on this. Scroll down to the words "Paste" and right click on this.
The code for your clip will now be on the page. Go to the bottom of your post and click on "Publish Now".
Congratulations you have now embed a You Tube clip onto your blog

How to embed a Flickr badge into your Blog.
To embed a Flickr badge onto your blog you firstly need to sign into your blog. Once signed in look for the word 'Customise' which is in the top right hand corner of the page. Left click on this.
Then Left click on the words 'Add Gadget' which can be found towards the middle left of this page. After clicking on this a new window/ page will open up. Now click on the word 'Featured' which is at the top on the left side, under 'Basics'. Now scroll down until you come to the words 'Flickr Photo stream'. Now click on the blue '+' button.

Step 1- Choosing either a HTML or Flash Badge
There are 2 types of Flickr badges that you can choose for your photos, which are HTML or a Flash badge. An HTML will show the photos in the original format in which they were posted. While a flash format will allow you to show more than one photo as well as show them in more than one format. eg- colour/ black-white.

Step 2- Choose your Photos
Now that you have selected a format that your photos will be shown as click on the button 'Next: Choose Content'. This button will take you to another page where you can select the photos that you want on your badge. Here you can either select individual photos or videos, or content that has been posted by other users, or specific contents.
Once selecting the pictures or videos that you want on your badge, click on the button 'Next: Layout'

Step 3- Select your Layout
Now you can select the layout for your badge. Your can choose from things like screen name, size, orientation and which items the badge will show. Once you have chosen the layout now you can click on the button 'Next: Colours'. This will open up a page where you can choose the colours for your badge. After selecting the colours you want click on the button 'Next: Preview and Get Code'

Step 4- Your Badge
Your badge will now be displayed on the page. Also a information box will be opened showing the HTML code with other information about the badges set-up. Now copy and paste the the HTML code into your new post page on your blog, and click on 'publish now'

Your now have a Flickr badge on you Blog

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology refers to a broad range of devices, services, strategies, and practises that are concerned and applied to decrease and overcome the problems faced by individuals with disabilities.

The definition of Assistive Technology is
"Any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities".

Reference
Cook, A., & Hussey, S. (2000). Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practise.
Sacramento, California: Mosby.

An exciting and useful assistive device is the WOBBLE Switch!!!
The wooble switch is a switch that has been designed to aid any individual who has difficulty with fine motor skills, and/or has limited hand movement or motor control. The wooble switch has a wand that can be activated by pressing against the wand in any direction. The wooble switch costs approximately three hundred dollars, though it is well worth every cent if it can increase ones Independence.
The wooble switch is relatively small (palm size), though it is large enough for individuals who lack function and control of the hands. The wooble switch can be attached to most surfaces making it a very beneficial product.

The wooble switch increases function and Independence as it gives the user more control of their surroundings such as turning on or off the radio or television, as they may not have been able to do this without the assistance of the wooble switch. This device also aids individuals to participate in be involved in new activities that they may not have been able to do previously. Overall the wooble switch promotes increased Independence and increased participation and increase meaning to life.

Wi-hab clip

Wii Gaming

1. Why do you think Wii gaming has appealed to people who are not traditionally video game players?

Wii gives the older generation in the movie clip an alternative to the normal exercise that they would have to do during rehabilititation, after their surgery. Wii has a great appeal as it is interactive, physical and you can do it anytime.
Wii allows them to gain a new experience and allows them the opportunity to engage in different sport and activites like tennis, boxing, athletics and many more. Using the Wii is also exciting and fun for all involved.

2. What is the relevance to OT?
Wiis are an excellant OT tool to use with clients as it aids in encourageing meaningful and fun occupation, which will assists with increasing balance, physical abilities and executive cognition functions. Wii can be used with a range of people, ages and abilites which increases its use as a intervention technique. Wii also allows socialization and communication among clients, family and therapists.

3. Investigate the other applications offered by the Wii gaming console, how else could it be used as an OT tool?
The developers of Wii are continuously creating new games and activites that for its users. Some Wii games that are currently available help enhance fitness, endurance, concentration, co-ordination and memory. As they games range from physical/ sporting activities to cognitive activites such as problem solving, puzzles and maths. These games could be used to increase cognitive abilites.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Online Communities

"Facebook"
www.facebook. com

What is the focus of the community?
Facebook is an online network that has been designed to link friends and families to one another, throughout the world. Facebook encourages participation and socialization. Facebook is privately owned by Facebook, Inc

What services are provided? How interactive is this site? How can people contribute?
Facebook allows you to design and create your own profile page. You can add personal information, photo's and comments ab our yourself. You can also be tagged in other peoples photos, join fan clubs and groups, add videos, play games and do quizzes.

Facebook is a very interactive site. You can talk to other members of facebook live through facebook chat, which is like an instant message that is only between the two members. You can also place comments on both your own page and on other peoples pages, or you can send a private message.

Facebook allows you to choose who views your profile, by letting you control who you accept to be your facebook friends, and allows you to delete and block other users. Abuse can also be reported.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking?
Facebook users choose to join the facebook network to increase their social interactions, to gain a sense of identity and belonging. Users feel they can truly express themselves as an individual and communicate their opinions and everyday thought freely. Through the acceptance of facebook friends it gives a sense of community. Also through the joining of fan clubs and groups they can form a sense of belonging and be able to communicate with other users that have similar beliefs and religious/cultural characteristics as them.

Cut and paste an example of the types of topics being discussed
The following page has been designed to make people aware of the unnecessary slaughter of horses and the abuse that they are subjected to. Page is called STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000371830014&v=info&ref=profile#!/pages/Dubai/STOP-Horse-Slaughter/36593282409

Considering material presented during the course and make comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community, eg. lack of identity and accountability
There has been a large amount of criticism in regards to facebook and its usage, especially in relation to the privacy of its users, use of advertising, child safety, inappropriate pages and photos and the inability to deleting content before terminating the account. Identity theft is another major issue that surrounds facebook, as users disclose personal information, and attach photos. Facebook users may also fake who they really are when setting up a profile, this subjects other users to false of identity. There is also ethical issues with groups that are promoting concepts/issues such as anorexia, i hate...., disrespecting individuals with disabilities, and discrimination of races and cultures. The people that create these pages can not be held accountable for setting up these pages and do not face punishment. Though facebook.Inc does have the power to delete pages and users can report pages that are offensive.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on the benefits of this community holds over traditional notion of communities ,eg. communities reliant on geographic proximity. Facebook can influence users lives in many ways and holds great benefits for them. Facebook's benefits include allowing users to keep in touch with family/ friends that they would otherwise not be able to contact due to geographical issues- eg, overseas, isolated areas. Facebook connections are instant, the information they would view is up to date. Facebook allows connections and relationships to be formed and as it is a free service is an accessible service throughout the world.

Consider material presented during lecture and make comment what this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can.
Facebook is an online community and therefore does not have the same personal aspect as traditional communities. Traditional communities involve face to face, personal contact which allows people to interact on a deeper level. This aids them to communicate more fully through their body language, facial expression and tone. While facebook only allows the users to communicate through written messages, which are often mis-interrupted and not understood, which can change relationships.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Friday, March 19, 2010

Video Production Sessions

" Youtube"
Youtube is a popular video hosting and sharing service. The service lets users view and upload video files. It also lets users rate videos, add comments, and subscribe to their favourite producer.

Googleabout. (2010). Youtube. Retrieved March 19, 2010 from
http://www.google.about.com/od/moreaboutgoogleleaps/p/youtube.profile.htm

The importance of planning when making a short film
Planning is an important aspect of making a short film. This can be done through the use of storyboards and scripting which allows the producer to have a clear view of how the film will turn out after being completed. This also allows the other members of the crew to understand the overall result that the producer is aiming for, and what hey should be doing and saying when they are filming.

Storyboarding aided my group in making short film as we all knew the outcome that we were aiming for. It also allowed filming to be aliot smoother as we all knew what was happening and what needed to be done.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Digital Camera use and Application

"A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature"

This statement states that though technology has advanced the changes are not always superior than the old devices. Newer technologies are different, and they will not totally replace the old technology as not every individual has the assess to computers ect or they are not willing to change or advance with society.

Digital technology is immediate as you can view the picture on the screen before it is developed. It is flexible as you can crop, delete and photoshop the picture to suit the needs of the user and also it is cost effective as the unwanted pictures can be deleted. Also digital technologies can have a larger memory and storage system allowing the increase the amount of data they can store.

Digital images can be stored, transferred and manipulated using communication technologies in many ways. They can be transfered to computers and uploaded to sites, blogs or emailed. The images can be printed at home and viewed using a computer. Digital images can be stored on disks, pen drives and in computers allowing a large data collection. Computers allow images to be manipulated through photoshop such as cropping, reduceing colour, red eye and the quality of the image.

Some ethical issues that arise with the use of image capturing devices is privacy issues, with others viewing the image without consent. Also consent of those captured in the image needs to be considered, including those in the background. Individuals need to take care in diclosing the location of individuals through images due to saftey. Another issue is identity thieft or the misuse of pictures by other users.

Digital images are being used in occupational therapy practise in many forms which include..

- Pictures of home visits- layout
- Progress pictures
- Instructional pictures- how to use equipment ect
- Cognitive assessments
- Memory activites
- Assessments

Flickr is a stite that allows the users to upload their images/ photos inorder to share them with others. Images can also be downloaded, swaped and viewed by other members. Anpther photo storage website which offers similar serivces to Flikr.com is google images.

Digital zoom simply crops the image to a smaller size, them enlarges the cropped portion to fill the frame again. Digital zoom results in a significant loss of quailty. Optical zoom works just like a zoom lens on a film camera. The lens changes focal length and magnification as it is zoomed. Image quality stays high throughout the zoom range.

A megapixel is one million pixels. Individual pixels go into making each image.

The Services Available by Blogger

The services available by blooger are numerous. Blogger allows individuals to...
- interact with others around the world
- research opinions
- learn about other societies and cultures
- voice opinions
- enhance education
- is an occupation
- social aspects
- store information

Information Technology and Ethical Issues

" Information technology is the use of computers, telecommunications, electronic processing, storing, retrieveing, and sedging information" (Allen, 2004)

Inforamtion technology is now relevant in current society. Technologies such as computers, playstations and ipods are now commonplace and used for everyday activites such as self care, lesiure and work.

I personally feel confortable using most forms of information technmology as from a young age schools and other activites used computers ect to aid education. The devices I feel comfortable using iunclude computers, memory sticks, telephones, ipods ect

Information technology is being used in Occupational Therapy to
- Gain inforamtion for research
- write reports, notes, assessments and floor plans
- tecnologies can be used in assessments, rehab or as occupations for clients as they are now commonplace and activites that are commonly participated in.
- aid development

Some ethical implications that arise from capturing, sharing and transferring information via information technologies are privacy, stolen identities, and miss use of the information.

"Computer Ethics is set moral principles that regulate the use of computers" (Tech Terms Computer Dictionary, 2010)

"Social Justice is the concept in whioch a subjective notion of justice and/ or equability is achieved in every aspect of society " (Social Justice, 2010)

"Informed consent is a legal procedure to ensure that a patien/ client knows all of the results and costs involved in a treatment. The elements of informed consent include informing the client of the nature of the treatment, possible alternative treatments, and potential risks and benafits. In order for informed consent to be considered valid, the client must be competent and should be given voluntarily" (Tech terms technology, 2010)

A great understanding of ITC and ethical issues will help in Occupational Therapy practise and daily lives as one has to be aware of the risks using information technologies and users are required to be aware of the use of data and privacy. As information technology is now common place among society it is important to have an understanding of the occupation and the ethical issues surrounding it to enhance the useability.

References

Allen, R. (consultant editor). (2004). The penguin english dictionary. London:Penguin Books

Social Justice. (2010). Social Justice. Retrieved march 2, 2010 from
http://www.enwikapedia.com/

Tech Terms Computer Dictionary. (2010). Computer Ethics. Retrieved Febuary 22, 2010, from
http://www.investorwords.com/

Tech Terms Computer Dictionary. (2010). Informed Consent. Retrieved Febuary 22, 2010,
from http://www.investorwords.com/



The Beginning

As a second year Occupational Therapy student I am required to make a blog for my class Participation in Occupation, to demonstrate my capabilites with technology as such. As the first blog I have created (aside from facebook) I am stuck on what to type for my first entry. Hope you enjoy :)