For week 8, we explored another online platform also known as Wiki. A wiki is a website that allows collaborative editing of it private content and structure by its users. One main wiki is called Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free online platform created through collaborative effort of a community of users known as Wikipedians. Users are allowed to register and create articles for publication. Throughout my high school career, Wikipedia was a site I would always refer to when it came to school assignments, projects, papers, presentations, etc. However; I was told through various teachers, that wikipedia wasn't a liable source to collect information. The information from Wikipedia is published by random users, therefore the information that is being published isn't 100% accurate. Now you may ask, if the information of Wikipedia isn't liable, what the use of the site now? Well, the site is great to understand something quickly in a time efficient manner. But when you're doing in depth research, you cannot cite the site. You can not rely on wiki as it is not fully reliable; it is important to always cite your work and make sure the information is accurate.
Wiki's are very alike to Google Docs and Evernote. All these tools are platform of information that are published by a community of users. These online platforms have similar concepts which is working and sharing information to the public. I personally prefer Google Docs as it can be created by a simple gmail account instead of registering and making accounts for Evernote and Wiki. This makes more reliable and trustworthy when sharing to others. Furthermore, Google Docs is great for academic purposes as it can be used to work on various assignments and presentations.
There are various rights and responsibilities that we as digital citizens must know as they are very important to a positive digital world. The three important right and responsibilities in my person opinion are: the right to privacy, reporting cyber bullying and avoiding plagiarism. Firstly, the right to privacy is very important as everything starting from personal information can be accessed online. Starting from email, phone number, email, banking information and much more. This information then can lead to possible identity theft; and even ending someones life. You must always be careful with what you share online and must always double check. Secondly, cyber bullying affects many people and this has become a huge issue within our society. This is currently a huge issue because there are many bystanders watching this happen. So it is currently up to digital users like us to stop this disrespectful act by reporting any sort of harassing and bullying online. Being another bystander will result in serious outcomes. Lastly, avoiding plagarism; with all this information that provided to us through the online web, we must be careful with what information we are using and whether or not this information is correct or false. Plagirisim is a huge no, for the one obvious reason, it is someone elses work and they should be given credit for that work accordingly. Plagiarism can also lead to serious consequences such as possibly getting kicked out of University. Always keep in mind that who ever's work you are using, make sure you always give them the credit by citing.
In addition to our exploration in digital rights and responsibilities, I came across an article on feedly reader (Teacher's Guide to Digital Citizenship) that had more information on why digital citizenship matters. I would recommend everyone to educate themselves about their rights and responsibilities in the digital world as every one of us can make a positive difference.
Suwattzen Nithiananthan
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