Collaboration and Communication Applications: Opportunities and Threats
Collaboration
and Communication Applications: Opportunities and Threats
Bruce B. Mize
App # 1 for Personal,
Pedagogical, or Professional Use-Zoom
As a result of the COVID-19
Pandemic of 2020, many collaborative/communication applications have been
instrumental in the transistion to “online” learning for students and for
teachers. The application “Zoom” has become essential in this new environment
for collaboration between factulty, students, and professional development.
Zoom was first utilized by my school district as a means to communicate with
faculty/staff and as a means to instruct students during this time. The application
has allowed vast amounts of individuals to engage in learning all at once and
for the host to share his/her screen all while recording it for future use.
Here we can see evidence
of my use on the role of slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s home of Monticello
through their Monticello Digital Learning initiative.
App # 2 for Personal,
Pedagogical, or Professional Use-Facebook
Live
The great thing about
Facebook Live is that you can broadcast live events even if those events are being
brought to you through differeing apps. Facebook Live allows for the
interactions between participants but with not as much functionality as applications
such as Zoom or GoToWebinar. All-in-all it is still a great application, especially
if you want to focus only on a particular group from a private Facebook
group/page.
Here we can see evidence of
use of Facebook Live as we discuss the Normandy landings of D-Day on June 6,
1944 with an actual Navy veteran who served.
In this assignment you were also to
identify 5 or more apps that are of particular concern for educators and
parents, revealing both the perceived benefits and the possible or likely risks
when used by school age students. Examples of apps your will consider are Snapchat,
Whisper, Blendr, and WhatsApp, however, do not limit your work to these
apps. Search for others that may have
recently come on the scene. You may include the 2 apps you selected for
personal, pedagogical, or professional use.
For each
of the five apps, provide a brief description. Then, using knowledge gleaned
from experience (at least one personal observation), at least 1 article from
current professional literature, and from at least 1 current scholarly article
(published within the last 5 years), discuss warnings and safeguards that
should be put in place when using the app for teaching and/or learning purposes.
List the apps reviewed and discuss each.
App
# 1-TikTok
Description. TikTok is a
video sharing application that allows individuals to express their creativity and
build a following in the same manner as YouTube and Facebook. It has been used
recently in the schools/classroom settings as an opportunity for students to
show off their creativity, especially for those who are more visually inclined.
Warnings. One of
the biggest concerns with applications such as TikTok is the “viral challenges.”
These challenges include things such as the “penny challenge” where you are
required to drop a penny between your phone charger and the outlet causing damage
and fire. Other concerns are political censorship. In November of 2019 a
17-year-old New Jersey girl posted a political video disguised as a makeup tutorial.
Additionally is the security concerns with the collection of personal data from
kids under 13. Lastly is what is referred to as “stranger danger.” Though it has
become safer, it still opens itself up to individuals who stalk and prey on
children (CBS KIDS NEWS, 2020).
Safeguards. The main
issue is that parents have to take safeguards for their child’s safety at all
times by knowing what apps and social media their child is using. First, don’t
be afraid to check your child's phone/computer. Make sure that you and your
child are educated on the dangers of social media. If an app is age
restrictive, then follow those guidelines and don’t allow your child to
subscribe to them. Lastly, double check all security features in your devices
and insure they are set to the maximum level (Raising Children Network Australia,
2019).
App
# 2-Kik
Description. Kik is a
messaging application that will allow a user to send a group and/or private
message. The application only saves messages for specific number of hours
before being deleted. It has become very popular with teens and sexual
predators.
Warnings. Due to
the fact that Kik does not save messages for an extended amount of time, it makes
it very difficult for parents to monitor their child’s activities. It has also
allowed sexual predators the ability to send explicit messages to underage kids
which has made national headlines since April of 2019 (Nulsen, 2020). In addition,
applications such as Kik has open the door to more cyber bullying as the
evidence, unless screenshot, is deleted after a specific number of hours
(Mendez at el., 2019).
Safeguards. Again,
with any application, make sure that your child is aware of the issues and are
educated on how to use the application properly. More importantly, it is the
parent’s position to insure the safety of their child by checking on what
applications they are using. As with all applications, there are age
restrictions and specific privacy guidelines. Make sure that you are following
those guidelines in addition to setting all security settings to their maximum
level.
App
# 3-Ask.fm
Description. Ask.fm is a
social networking platform that uses a Q & A framework. This allows teens
to learn more about a topic with their friends, peers, and individuals from around
the world. All-in-all the platform is more like the discussion board of old,
but has become more useful than a typical discussion board.
Warnings. The
application has been used by teens to abuse and bully their classmates and
others. The system has no filtration or moderation of the content and/or
questions. The issue has created such an issue with cyber bullying that U.K.
Prime Minster David Cameron urged parents not to allow their kids to even use
the application. Ask.fm has been linked to teen suicides around the world and
has become a real concern for many educators and parents (ABC Action News,
2019).
Safeguards. The application
has become center stage since to the point that Ask.fm has put together a “Ask.fm
Safety Center” site on their website for parents and students to educate
themselves in the uses of the application, security concerns, and reporting abuse.
App
# 4-Facebook Live
Description. Facebook Live
is a platform developed my Mark Zcukerburg as a means for people on social media
to share their experiences live with others around the world in real time. It
has become one of the premier platforms for sharing everything from educational
content to humor.
Warnings. The
biggest issue with Facebook Live is the lack of filtration as the live even is
happening. As recently as the first part of June 2020 during riots in St. Louis
a retired police officer was gun down on Facebook Live as the world watched. Not
only is content has horrific as this is being played out for all to see worldwide,
including our children, but images of sexual assault and pornography are also
being broadcast (Crystal, 2020).
Safeguards. With all
applications, there has to be awareness of their potential negative uses. Facebook
claims there are not responsible for the content their subscribers post and are
not liable to those posts, yet there has been a move by parent and political entities
to force social media outlets to do more in regards to content (Dennis, 2018).
As with all social media, it is up to the parents to educate themselves and
their children to know the good and bad uses of these platforms. Just because “everyone”
else is doing it, doesn’t mean that we have to allow our children to do it as
well.
https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/solutions/facebook-live
App
# 5-Discord
Description. Discord-Chat
for Gamers has become the new application on the market that has been tailored
to the “gamer” such as teens. The interface is very colorful like that of
Snapchat and Instagram. Its purpose is to allow gamers to talk to each other
while playing video games online. Like other social media applications, it has
changed to allow anyone to explore their interests by looking for specific
groups. Currently it has over 100 million subscribers.
Warnings. With all online
social networking applications, there will be those who will take advantage of
that, especially on our youth. Discord has been the center of attention
recently on issues such as human -trafficking rings and has allowed cyber criminals
an outlet to come together to communicate (Ucciferri, 2020). Lastly, cyber bullying
can also be an issue with applications such as Discord (Darren, 2019).
Safeguards. With Discord,
parents need to insure that the privacy and safety settings in the application
are set to “Safe Direct Messaging” that will scan and delete any messages with
explicit content. Also, make sure that the application is set that it does “not”
collect and use data from the user.
References
ABC
Action News. (2019). Dangerous social media apps kids are using that parents
need to know about. Retrieved from https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/political/national/dangerous-social-media-apps-kids-are-using-that-parents-need-to-know-about
CBC
KIDS NEWS. (2020). 5 not-so-great things about TikTok. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/5-not-so-great-things-about-tiktok-dangerous-challenges-censorship-security
Crystal Bonvillian, Cox Media Group National Content Desk.
(2020). Retired police captain killed on Facebook Live while protecting
friend’s pawn shop. Retrieved from
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/retired-police-captain-killed-facebook-live-while-protecting-friends-pawn-shop/AI3DM5AH7FE25AKZ7A6WVLFVFY/Dennis,
T. (2018). The Real Dangers of Facebook Live. Retrieved from https://miscmagazine.com/real-dangers-facebook-live/
Darren
L. Linvill (2019) Addressing social media dangers within and beyond the college
campus, Communication Education, 68:3, 371-380, DOI:
10.1080/03634523.2019.1607885
Lee,
J. Y., Kwon, Y., Yang, S., Park, S., Kim, E., & Na, E. (2017). Differences
in friendship networks and experiences of cyberbullying among korean and
australian adolescents. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Cyberbullying in
Diverse Contexts, 178(1), 44-57. doi:10.1080/00221325.2016.1242475
Méndez,
I., Jorquera, A. B., Ruiz-Esteban, C., Martínez-Ramón, J. P., &
Fernández-Sogorb, A. (2019). Emotional intelligence, bullying, and
cyberbullying in adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research
and Public Health, 16(23), 4837. doi:10.3390/ijerph16234837
Nulsen,
C. R. (2020). A Complete Guide to Potentially Dangerous Apps All Parents Should
Be Aware Of. Retrieved from https://www.familyeducation.com/mobile-apps/a-complete-guide-to-potentially-dangerous-apps-all-parents-should-be-aware-of
Raising
Children Network Australia . (2019). Social media benefits and risks: children
and teenagers. Retrieved from https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/entertainment-technology/digital-life/social-media
Robinson,
J. (2016). After school: mobile SM APP for high schoolers offers potential
headaches for educators. Tech & Learning, 36(6), 20. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A440715341/AONE?u=vic_liberty&sid=AONE&xid=bba19e13
Tőrők-Ágoston,
R. (2017). Education and social media. Journal of Media Research, 10(2),
166-183. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.24193/jmr.28.12
Ucciferri,
F. (2020, May 21). Parents’ Ultimate Guide to TikTok. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/parents-ultimate-guide-to-tiktok
Ucciferri,
F. (2020, March 3). Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Discord. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/parents-ultimate-guide-to-discord
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