Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethical Issues

Provide a definition of Information Technology/Information Communications Technology (APA reference required) Information Technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology

Consider the definition of IT you have provided. How is this form of technology prevalent in our society? How common place has it become? IT is a stable norm of our society as technology is forever increasing and ideas growing. IT has a common place with this as they are the brains behind fixing technological hinders and ensuring the smooth running of systems. Every school, business and institute has at least one person on their books with IT knowledge to install or fix any issues. In terms of software this is always being updated and has a huge market in society, whether it be of relevance for gamers or if its windows being updated and installed in places of learning and business. IT is also a popular subject to study at institutes and offers good career prospects.

What IT devices or system do you feel comfortable and competent using? I'm comfortable using basic computer systems, eg) windows and Microsoft office. I can usually work my way through these till i get the results i want, but getting a virus on my laptop and trying to remove this has me completely stumped. And again, changes to blackboard and emails requires me to have step by step instructions to figure it out. I'm competent using flash drives and external hard drives after 3 years of study so thats a plus. But overall i feel like i finally get a hang of systems and they go and change again due to living in such a technological word.

Thinking about your own fieldwork experiences consider how IT is being used in Occupational Therapy practice? On my first placement the use of IT wasn't really apparent apart from the computer being used to write reports and for research, however everything else was basically done by hand. On my fieldwork three placement I was part of a hospital that is slowly updating its systems and building, so when i spent a morning in fast stay i was able to see how IT is used in the writing of notes. All team notes were written straight up onto computers and patient files were also accessed on the hospital intranet system. As well as this any person who was admitted through ED had their presenting condition written up through computer use.

What ethical implications arise from the capturing, sharing and transferring of information via IT devices (e.g. mobile phones) or systems (e.g. internet) Using these systems to share information is not always secure, as people are able to hack into systems, therefore giving rise to privacy issues. This has ethical issues for hospitals and OT practice as client notes are to be kept confidential. It puts health professionals and individuals in a compromised situation because there is always that risk of someone else reading client notes.

Provide a definition of Computer Ethics (APA reference required) Computer ethics is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics

Provide a definition of Intellectual Property (APA reference required) Intellectual property (IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical, literary, and artistic works; inventions; and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and related rights. Under intellectual property law, the holder of one of these abstract "properties" has certain exclusive rights to the creative work, commercial symbol, or invention by which it is covered. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Provide a definition of Social Justice (APA reference required) Social justice refers to the concept of a society in which justice is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than merely the administration of law. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice

Provide a definition of Informed Consent (APA reference required) Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action. The individual needs to be in possession of relevant facts and also of his or her reasoning faculties, such as not being mentally retarded or mentally ill and without an impairment of judgment at the time of consenting. Such impairments might include illness, intoxication, insufficient sleep, and other health problems. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent

In your own words briefly summarise why (or why not) a great understanding of ITC and the ethical issues it encompasses will help us in our practice and daily lives. Having an understanding of ITC and the ethical issues it encompasses will help us in practice and in our daily lives because we do live in a technological world that is forever changing and updating. Knowing how to use different computer systems will come into the play in practice as slowly settings are being upgraded to writing all clinical notes straight onto computer systems. Knowing about ethical issues around the use of technologies will also be beneficial as we can be aware of this and what can go wrong and just making sure protocols are followed to protect ourselves and clients the best we can.

Tutorial Two: Digital Camera use and applications

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”. Briefly discuss this statement in relation to digital camera technology. What would you consider to be some of the pluses and minuses digital camera technology holds in relation to more traditional film based cameras? Positive You can see the photo taken immediately, able to delete unflattering/unwanted photos at no cost, photo's can be stored on pcs/external hard drives and memory sticks, as well as transposed onto CDs and are still able to be processed onto photo paper. The cost of digital prints is overall more cost effective than developing films. Digital cameras come with a variation of different settings eg) black and white, moving shots etc and the cameras are generally smaller. Negative Often don't get around to printing photos, loss of excitement associated with developing a film, digital cameras can be extremely complicated due to the vast amount of settings. Quality is sometimes not as good compared with film. Technology is always changing so the cameras are quick to be out of date.

List some of the ways that digital images can be stored transferred and manipulated using other communications technology. Digital images can be stored using PCs, external hard drives, CDs - making slide shows and adding music, DVDs, memory sticks, can be emailed to other people, cellphones, and can post them on many blog sites eg) flickr, bebo, facebook,

Given the prevalence of image capturing devices, and thinking about the issues discussed in tutorial one, consider what sort of ethical issues may arise with their use. It can raise issues about trustworthiness. People are now able to take photos more easily and discretely as devices such as cell phones contain photo taking options. When photo capable cell phones came out there was a discussion about this and how people would be able to use these to invade others privacy and take photos of others without them knowing.I think that since then this has become more relaxed but stories about inappropriate photos do pop up in the headlines every now and then.

Briefly discuss some of the ways that digital images could, or are, being used in occupational therapy practice. When I was on my fieldwork one placement I was shown how to work the hospitals very complicated digital camera in order to accompany one of the OTs on a home visit and take photos of the client using the specific equipment given so that this could be used as a visual prompt for her, as well as providing the team with some insight into how she was coping at home with using her equipment. Unfortunately we did not end up seeing her but this preparation shows how occupational therapist are using digital imaging to assist them in their practice.

Provide a brief summary of the services offered by Flickr.com Flickr is a site interested in the storage of photos. It offers users a place where they can organize their photos in a meaningful way, share photos and keep in touch with family and friends, form a group, and search other photos that have meaning to them.

Name one other photo storage website which offers a service similar to Flickr.com Facebook is another internet site that allows the storage of photos but it is different to flickr as it also has your personal blog attached to it and contains ways of interacting with friends and contacts.

Explain what the difference is between a digital and an optical zoom Optical zoom is like the lens on a film camera. The lens changes focal length and magnification as it is zoomed. When using optical zoom the image quality stays high throughout the zoom range. Digital zoom crops the image to a smaller size and then enlarges that cropped image to fill the frame again. With digital zoom the quality has significant loss as the image ends up with a blurred look.

Explain what is meant by the term mega pixel Mega pixels are how manufacturers categorize digital cameras by putting them in terms of pixel count. A pixel is in element that makes up the digital image, so 1 mega pixel (MP) means that 1 million pixels make up the image. Currently the most popular cameras have between 2 MP and 5 MP. The lower scale MPs are good if the purpose is to make 4"x6" and 5"x7" pictures. To produce larger prints such as 8"x10" 4 MP or 5 MP cameras would be a better choice.

Tutorial Three: Blog Creation Tasks

Task Four: Provide a brief summary of the services offered by Blogger (this will be your third posting. Information can be drawn from the attached hand out). In addition to this name one other Blog host. Blogger is a site where you make your own blog. This can be a place where you post your thoughts (as in a diary), connect with friends, post photos, create quiz's/questionnaires. Its basically a space in which you can publish your thoughts on anything thats got you thinking. And in this case its a place in which OT students can publish what they have learnt around technology and its place in occupation. Blogger is free and easy, and once you're past those initial stages you can change colours and layout, and customize it to suit who you are. Another blog host site is bebo.

Tutorial Four and Five: Video Production Sessions

Task One: Follow instructions and work in a small group to plan and produce and edit a 30 second short.

Task Two: Set up a U Tube account

Task Three: Follow instructions to posting your video on U Tube.

Task Four (Blog Posting): Provide a brief summary of the services offered by U Tube. Information can be drawn from the week five tutorial hand out. Youtube is a website where users can upload, view and share videos. Giving us all an opportunity to unleash our creative genius and empowering people to become "broadcasters of tomorrow". Being registered on youtube means that you can upload, watch and share all videos, whereas being unregistered limits users to only watching videos and this may be restricted depending on content. Youtube was purchased by google in 2006 and is a nonprofit website

Task Five (Blog Posting): Provide a brief account (1-2 paragraphs) on how the use of planning (storyboarding and scripting aided your groups short film. When we were told that we would be going out to make a 30 second film the first thing we did was brainstorm using our storyboard sheet. The benefit of having this as a tool was that it meant we were all able to get a good idea of what we wanted from our film and what we wanted collectively as a group. This in turn meant that when we started on our voyage to capture the changing weather and the autumn leaves we knew exactly what we wanted and exactly where to go to get the footage. Using the storyboard also meant that it wasn't set in stone and that we could change things around in editing, which was good because we soon found out that some of the shots we envisioned were not going to happen.

Autumn leaves for winter

Student OT video that we made as part of our participation for occupation class

Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities

Either search online for a community which interest you or choose one of the provided online communities to investigate. Make sure your selected a community that comprises some form of online forum, discussion page or chat room. You may also wish to see if your community has a Wikipedia entry.

Provide the web address and the name of the community you are investigating The community I decided to investigate is called disabled online. The web address is: http://www.disabledonline.com

What is the brief or focus of this community This community focuses on providing a place for people to interact, learn and grow using resources provided by the website. Its primary purpose is to offer barrier free opportunities for individuals who face physical and mental obstacles on a daily basis.

What services are provided? How interactive is this site? How can people contribute? Disabled online offer an extensive directory of related sites listed in specific categories under the Menu section. These categories are specifically aimed to benefit people with disabilities. Some of these include: Employment opportunities, Recreational programs, and Travel destinations. Disabled Online also provides a variety of interactive tools. Access to our chat rooms and forums are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking? People choose to get involved and contribute with this community because it is a means of interacting with others. From this they are seeking information about how others cope with their disabilities and equipment. An example on the forum showed someone who was seeking input into how she could work form home and earn some more money. It is a way for individuals to throw ideas around and form online friendships globe wide.

Cut and paste an example of the type of topics being discussed (you may have to provide a context to your excerpt). Hmm, yes, coveralls - how gross can you get! My research so far has uncovered the following: I tried to buy adapted clothes online in October 07, and found that very few stores sold skirts or pants, for instance, that were cut low in front (to stop bunching) and high at back (to stop gaps), with side or front-opening fasteners and comfortable waist-lines. Of these, even fewer sold what I would call clothes that were both functional and stylish, and the cheapest garment on one of these sites cost over US$150! My intention is to give visitors to my (eventual) website the option to buy and download fashionable pattern prints for garments that, using CAD technology, are made to suit individual wheelchair-users. A print-delivery service could maybe also be offered for those who don't wish to go to the trouble of self-assembly. I am yet to nail down who might be interested in these patterns. Perhaps wheelchair-users who can sew or who are willing and able to use private tailors or dressmakers, and/or their friends and relatives who can sew. As I see it, there are many advantages to making at least some of your clothes in this way - e.g. they are made to fit each individual (=no.1 if you want to look your best); you can choose the fabric, fabric-suppliers and sewers; you can re-use the patterns; and it's more eco-friendly than shipping single items of clothing all over the globe. Certainly, such a system should be cheaper if the clothes are home-made. What do you think? And so, this year, I embark on the serious research and development phase. I already have rudimentary website design and construction skills, and in the second semester (August or so) I will do a small business management course. Hopefully by that time one or two local design schools will have come on board to help me to really get this project up and running in 09. Well, there you have it. Should keep me off the streets for a while. Oh, by the way, what sort of garments might you be interested in, lilnatz (and any others who might like to reply)? Men's/women's, jackets, suits, skirts, pants, dresses, tops, blouses, shirts, vests?? Any special concerns with functionality that you'd like addressed? I might copy this and post it and under the clothing topic. Thanks so much for your interest, it's a real motivator. All the best, monkey

Considering material presented during the course and make comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community e.g. lack of identity and accountability. As this is a public website anyone can make an account and access information - ethically for personal safety this is why user names are used and it is suggested not to make personal information public. Those who are contributing to this community are also facing a lack of identity and accountability. This is also due to not providing personal information.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on the benefits this community holds over traditional notions of community e.g. communities reliant on geographic proximity The benefit that this community holds for those accessing it is that individuals are able to interact and connect with others of similar interests, needs and concerns. It can compliment a real life community and provide large amounts of information. It is a way of silent observation and anonymous input and does not cost money.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment what this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can. - The opportunity to meet most of the people that you form online relationships with. - The option to limit who accesses the forum/chat rooms. Anyone can see what you write and the conversations you have with others. -Limited communication tools -The management of the site is just through one person. -Different peoples technology may not be compatible, therefore limiting them form communication.