question 6

How technology effects our society? Is technology boon or bane for the society? Read the article to know the impact of technology on our society.

The technological growth taking place in the world today is doing so very rapidly and there are new advancements being made with each passing day and this is possible owing to the large number of extensive programmes of technological research currently being done by  a large number of researchers working within non-profit research organizations, business and universities. The developments being made today are very strong and are very pervasive forces in the business environment today. Technology can easily be referred to as the scientific knowledge to the practical problems we are experiencing in the world today. There is no denying that the impact of technology in the world today is huge and can be categorized Into how it effects our society today and how it influences the business activities and operations.

Impact of technology on society:

Technology has without doubt an impact on society. As a matter of fact, we experience this effect in our daily lives. It has an effect on the growth of the economy, our culture and our living standards. It is however important to note that the benefits are a double-edged sword with some being detrimental and other being beneficial. One should be very careful and get to know how the effects on society get to effect the business activities and operations.

Positive impact of technology:

Technology impacts on our daily lives. Our environments are all so full of technology to the point that most of the time we take it for granted and never actually notice the level of impact that it has on us until when we have no telephone, transport, water or electricity. Advancements in technology have greatly increased our living standards. Despite the fact that we are currently experiencing very high inflation rates and the rates of unemployment are very high, generally, people are feeding better, are dressing better and are as a matter of fact living more comfortable lives.

Technology also has a great impact on all the fundamental aspects of all our cultures including laws and how they are enforced, language, art, health care, mobility, education and religion. For instance the great technological improvements in health care have given a chance to doctors to treat their patients in an environment that is virtual through the use of mediums such as video conferencing which has also greatly benefited the legal environment as it allows the judges to still listen to the cases of hard core criminals who cannot be allowed to get into the court rooms due to security reasons

Negative impacts of technology:

With every advancement that is made in the technological world, creative destruction results. For example, television impacts negatively on the movies and synthetic fibers impact the cotton fibers negatively. The coming in of new types of technology also results in a negative impact on the growth of the economy at times; television at times consumes all the productive hours that a man has in a day. Every new form of technology gets into the market together with long term consequences that are most of the time not foreseeable. For instance is there really a justification for nations coming up with bombs, nuclear weapons and missiles to maintain security

Conclusion:

Despite the fact that we cannot really ignore that there are a number of ways in which technology negatively impacts our society, for the better part it has greatly helped to make out lives better. Technology has greatly helped us to become more efficient thus increasing our productivity. It has also helped us a great deal to be able to save on many resources such as time and money and these are great benefits that cannot be ignored. It has also worked well in bringing unity into the world by turning it into a global village which has in turn helped people to more easily overcome their cultural, racial and continental barriers.

question 1.3

SLOGAN:YOUR FUTURE IS ENSURED.

NINE ELEMENT OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP.

Nine Elements

Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship

Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use. 

1.   Digital Access:   full electronic participation in society.

Technology users need to be aware that not everyone has the same opportunities when it comes to technology.  Working toward equal digital rights and supporting electronic access is the starting point of Digital Citizenship. Digital exclusion makes it difficult to grow as a society increasingly using these tools. Helping to provide and expand access to technology should be goal of all digital citizens.  Users need to keep in mind that there are some that may have limited access, so other resources may need to be provided.  To become productive citizens, we need to be committed to make sure that no one is denied digital access.

2.   Digital Commerce:   electronic buying and selling of goods.

Technology users need to understand that a large share of market economy is being done electronically. Legitimate and legal exchanges are occurring, but the buyer or seller needs to be aware of the issues associated with it. The mainstream availability of Internet purchases of toys, clothing, cars, food, etc. has become commonplace to many users. At the same time, an equal amount of goods and services which are in conflict with the laws or morals of some countries are surfacing (which might include activities such as illegal downloading, pornography, and gambling). Users need to learn about how to be effective consumers in a new digital economy. 

3.   Digital Communication:   electronic exchange of information.

One of the significant changes within the digital revolution is a person’s ability to communicate with other people. In the 19th century, forms of communication were limited. In the 21st century, communication options have exploded to offer a wide variety of choices (e.g., e-mail, cellular phones, instant messaging).  The expanding digital communication options have changed everything because people are able to keep in constant communication with anyone else. Now everyone has the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with anyone from anywhere and anytime. Unfortunately, many users have not been taught how to make appropriate decisions when faced with so many different digital communication options.

4.   Digital Literacy:   process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology.

While schools have made great progress in the area of technology infusion, much remains to be done. A renewed focus must be made on what technologies must be taught as well as how it should be used. New technologies are finding their way into the work place that are not being used in schools (e.g., Videoconferencing, online sharing spaces such as wikis). In addition, workers in many different occupations need immediate information (just-in-time information). This process requires sophisticated searching and processing skills (i.e., information literacy). Learners must be taught how to learn in a digital society. In other words, learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere.  Business, military, and medicine are excellent examples of how technology is being used differently in the 21st century. As new technologies emerge, learners need to learn how to use that technology quickly and appropriately. Digital Citizenship involves educating people in a new way— these individuals need a high degree of information literacy skills.

5. Digital Etiquette:   electronic standards of conduct or procedure.

Technology users often see this area as one of the most pressing problems when dealing with Digital Citizenship. We recognize inappropriate behavior when we see it, but before people use technology they do not learn digital etiquette (i.e., appropriate conduct).   Many people feel uncomfortable talking to others about their digital etiquette.  Often rules and regulations are created or the technology is simply banned to stop inappropriate use. It is not enough to create rules and policy, we must teach everyone to become responsible digital citizens in this new society.

6.   Digital Law:   electronic responsibility for actions and deeds

Digital law deals with the ethics of technology within a society. Unethical use manifests itself in form of theft and/or crime. Ethical use manifests itself in the form of abiding by the laws of society. Users need to understand that stealing or causing damage to other people’s work, identity, or property online is a crime. There are certain rules of society that users need to be aware in a ethical society. These laws apply to anyone who works or plays online. Hacking into others information, downloading illegal music, plagiarizing, creating destructive worms, viruses or creating Trojan Horses, sending spam, or stealing anyone’s identify or property is unethical.

7.   Digital Rights & Responsibilities:   those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world.

Just as in the American Constitution where there is a Bill of Rights, there is a basic set of rights extended to every digital citizen. Digital citizens have the right to privacy, free speech, etc. Basic digital rights must be addressed, discussed, and understood in the digital world.  With these rights also come responsibilities as well.  Users must help define how the technology is to be used in an appropriate manner.  In a digital society these two areas must work together for everyone to be productive.

8.   Digital Health & Wellness:   physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world.

Eye safety, repetitive stress syndrome, and sound ergonomic practices are issues that need to be addressed in a new technological world.  Beyond the physical issues are those of the psychological issues that are becoming more prevalent such as Internet addiction.  Users need to be taught that there are inherent dangers of technology. Digital Citizenship includes a culture where technology users are taught how to protect themselves through education and training.

9.   Digital Security (self-protection):   electronic precautions to guarantee safety.

In any society, there are individuals who steal, deface, or disrupt other people. The same is true for the digital community. It is not enough to trust other members in the community for our own safety. In our own homes, we put locks on our doors and fire alarms in our houses to provide some level of protection. The same must be true for the digital security. We need to have virus protection, backups of data, and surge control of our equipment. As responsible citizens, we must protect our information from outside forces th

The social economy: Unlocking value through social technologies

The social economy:unlocking value through social technologies.


There are many benefits and risks associated with using digital media, depending on who uses it, how it is used, why is is used and what it is used for.


Individuals in South Africa mainly use social technologies like Whatsapp, Mxit, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook in order to hear about the latest celebrity news, communicate with each other and post pictures of their whereabouts. Individuals are more vulnerable to the risks of social media because they are less likely to understand the consequences of posting online. They tend to post more personal items like phone numbers or location- this is the perfect target for criminals (rapists/murderers). Keeping our private information to ourselves is critical because putting it on the internet can cause stalking, fraud and illegal activity. Digital etiquette is important in order to have safe relationships online.

On the other hand, social technologies have changed the way we, as individuals, live, for the better. we are now able to communicate with distant relatives and friends over social media platforms like Facebook, twitter and whats app, we are able to access the latest news from around the world and to access information for assignments and homework online from our mobile devices. Social technologies have made our lives  lot easier. We no longer have to send out letters or smoke signals to get the attention we need. As time goes on, more and more people are able to access social media- In South Africa, the number of instagram users increased from 680000 in 2013 or 2.68 million in 2015. (Fn24tech, 2015)

Corporates have benefited largely from the use of social technologies in the sense that it has opened up a huge opportunity for advertising above the line platforms. For example, companies like apple are now able to use Facebook as a social site to advertise their latest product releases and specials and send them viral. Companies can use users information like age and sex to advertise to their selected target market for example, Ultra music festival can have sponsored pages that pop up on teenage Facebook users' news feeds because they have a target market of ages 18-24.

Although there are many advantages of having access to social media, in business, There are the risks of fraud and identity theft and it is therefore important that businesses  protect their private information. the fact that 90% of companies use technologies that benefit them shows that the benefits outweigh the risks. In South Africa, Corporates use LinkedIn as a main source of business activity, depending on the business of course, and their target market.

Finally, communities also benefit largely from social technologies too- mainly because social media is the most simple and real time way of communicating. For example, a neighbourhood or complex could have a Whatsapp group to alert the people around them if there are any strange people roaming around, like a neighbourhood watch. This could save a lot of robberies and theft from occurring.

In conclusion, If the digital citizenship is practised, the internet can be a relatively safe place- with millions of people benefiting from all the blogs, social networks, wikis etc.
26.8 people in South Africa have got access to the internet and this number continue to grow every month (htxt.africa, 2016).

Digital Security

Beware: ransomware:

Ransomware -- a type of malware which restricts access to the computer system that it infects –will become increasingly sophisticated in its methods and targets, experts at McAfee Labs warned.

"We predict ransomware variants that manage to evade security software installed on a system will specifically target endpoints that subscribe to cloud-based storage solutions such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Once the endpoint has been infected, the ransomware will attempt to exploit the logged-on user's stored credentials to also infect backed-up cloud storage data," McAfee's report on 2015 cyber risks noted.

Ransomware encrypts data and McAfee thought attacks on mobile devices and cloud-backed data would increase.

"Ransomware victims will be in for a rude shock when they attempt to access their cloud storage to restore data—only to find their backups have also been encrypted by the ransomware," the experts said.

The Internet of Things.

The Internet of Things – the connection of physical devices such as home appliances and cars to the internet -- will still be the "Internet of Vulnerabilities," according to cyber experts.

Jamison Nesbitt, founder of Cyber Senate, a community of global cybersecurity business leaders, echoed experts' beliefs who said that the IoT is "the main cybersecurity risk for 2015." "The IoT presents unique security challenges in terms of the number of connected devices present."

"The IoT will be integrated into every market you can think of – from healthcare to the energy industry and transport network but it hasn't been designed with security in mind. There are millions of hackers out there that could compromise these interconnected systems. We have sacrificed security for efficiency.

Cyber-espionage:

yber espionage is becoming the weapon of choice for many national governments – no matter how tight-lipped they may be about any involvement in such activities to undermine their enemies.

As Nesbitt said, "the next world war will be fought on a keyboard," and we should expect cyber espionage attacks to increase in frequency in 2015, McAfee's "2015 Threat Predictions" report warned.

"Long-term players will become stealthier information gatherers, while newcomers will look for ways to steal money and disrupt their adversaries," McAfee Labs report states, predicting that more small nation states and terror groups will use cyber warfare.

Cyber theft increases.

The stealing of financial information is nothing new, with stolen credit or debit card data on the black market a well-established and lucrative business for cyber criminals.

But as new ways of paying for goods, such as contactless and mobile payments, become the norm for European consumers, there's a new opportunity for hackers – particularly if retailers don't store payment data securely, Symantec told CNBC.

"Although this would require cyber criminals to target individual cards and wouldn't result in large scale breaches or theft like we have seen in the U.S.,the payment technology used won't protect against retailers who aren't storing payment card data securely, and they will still need to be vigilant in protecting stored data," Candid Wüest, threat researcher at Symantec Security Response, said.

question 1 presentetion

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwi151olmT1RTXQwb0MzX3h3eWs/view?usp=sharing

question 2 Digital Literacy and information fluency

Ask:
Who was Homo Naledi?
What is significant about the discovery?
Acquire:
Information was acquired at the following website:
Analyse:
A team of archaeologists led by Professor Lee Berger undertook the Rising Star Expedition and they had made history by discovering and salvaging fossils of at least 15 individuals from the Dinaledi Chamber. This was an evolutionary discovery since a new species of hominines called Homo Naledi was found in the dark , remote chamber.
Homo Naledi have distinct physical features that are astonishingly similar to that of a human being such as:

1. Curved fingers
2. Small skulls
3. Slender bodies
4. Ape-like shoulders

The fascinating facts include:

1. None of the fossils bear any marks that could suggest that the individuals were killed or that their bodies were scavenged.
2. There was no evidence that indicated that the bodies were carried into the chamber by anything other than their fellow hominines.
3. Archaeological evidence also suggests that they didn’t all attend the chamber at the same time.
4. And out of more than 1,550 fossil elements unearthed in the chamber, only a handful belong to animals (such as mice and birds) other than hominines.

Apply:
According to the findings highlighted in the analysis Homo Naledi could be a our common ancestor therefore this suggests that it could have had human characteristics both physical and mental as well as similar behavioural traits
The Dinaledi chamber could have been used as a burial ground where the newfound species could have performed burial rituals since none of the fossils had marks nor did they attend the chamber at the same time.
Assess:
Research was conducted thoroughly and the information was extracted from a good source.
Bibliography:
EWN Online (2016). Who was Homo Naledi? Accessed 09 April 2016: