The Explorers News

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

COME JOIN US!

OCTOBER 9, 2014

Fair Use & Copyright

Special points of interest:
Limit your use of borrowed material.

Why Should I Care About

special to you? Well, all these

Copyright?

are your creations and you'd

probably be pretty upset if

When you create something,

someone just copied any of them

Remember: How would

you feel if you were
bullied?

aren't you proud of your work

without your permission. That's

when you spend a lot of time

where copyright comes in. Cop-

and energy creating it? How

yright law gives you a set of

Always inform an adult.

about that social studies report

rights that prevents other people

you finally finished, that poem

from copying your work and

for your Mom that made her

doing other things with your

smile, that cool logo you came

work that you may not like.

up with for your soccer team,

Did you know:

the great song you wrote for the

Copyrighting can only be

used on original work, has
to be paid for.

An idea cant be copyrighted, but the form can be:

school play, or even your journal that you don't "have" to do

but you enjoy it so much and it's

Inside this issue:

Copyright & Fair
use

The Cloud

Walking On A Cloud

Cyberbullying

How Cloud Computing

Works:

Email Etiquette

-Let's say you're an executive at a large

corporation. Your particular responsibilities include making sure that all of
your employees have the right hardware and software they need to do
their jobs. Buying computers for everyone isn't enough -- you also have to
purchase software or software licenses
to give employees the tools they re-

Digital Citizenship 3

quire. Whenever you have a new hire,

you have to buy more software or
make sure your current software license allows another user. It's so stressful that you find it difficult to go to
sleep on your huge pile of money every
night.
Soon, there may be an alternative for
you. Instead of installing a suite of
software for each computer, you'd only

books, plays, movies,

dance, & so on.

Under fair use, you can

borrow a small amount of
copyright material, but it
cant change the original
works value.

have to load one application. That

application would allow workers to log
into a Web-based service which hosts
all the programs the user would need
for his or her job. Remote machines
owned by another company would run
everything from e-mail to word processing to complex data analysis programs. It's called cloud computing, and
it could change the entire computer
industry.

THE EXPLORERS NEWS

C y b e r b u l ly i n g
What is cyberbullying , exactly?
"Cyberbullying" is when a child,
preteen or teen is tormented,
threatened, harassed, humiliated,
embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or
teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or
mobile phones. It has to have a
minor on both sides, or at least
have been instigated by a minor
against another minor. Once
adults become involved, it is plain
and simple cyber-harassment or

programs are one option for mon-

cyberstalking. Adult cyberharassment or cyberstalking is

NEVER called cyberbullying.

Know the sites your kids visit

and their online activities.
Ask where theyre going,
what theyre doing, and who
theyre doing it with.

Parents and kids can prevent

cyberbullying. Together, they can

Tell your kids that as a responsible parent you may

review their online communications if you think there is
reason for concern. Installing
parental control filtering
software or monitoring

lem they are having.

What is the effect of cyberbullying?

Children have killed each other
and committed suicide after having been involved in a cyberbullying incident.
How can cyberbullying be
prevented/stopped?

itoring your childs online behavior, but do not rely solely on these
tools.

Have a sense of what they do

online and in texts. Learn
about the sites they like. Try
out the devices they use.

Ask for their passwords, but

tell them youll only use them
in case of emergency.

explore safe ways to use technology.

Ask to friend or follow

your kids on social media sites
or ask another trusted adult
to do so.

If we work together, this can

be stopped.

Encourage your kids to tell

you immediately if they, or
someone they know, is being
cyberbullied. Explain that you
will not take away their computers or cell phones if they
confide in you about a prob-

Email Etiquette

PAGE 2

Email etiquette refers to the

principles of behavior that one
should use when writing or answering email messages. Because email is less personal than
a phone or in-person conversation but quicker to send than a
letter, it is possible for serious
breaches of manners to take
place. The rules below comprise

an overview of the most common principles of email behavior. One important principle is
to write messages in sentence
case. In other words, it is only
necessary to capitalize the first
word in each sentence, unless
there are proper nouns. Capitalizing all of the letters makes a
message look as though the writ-

er is shouting every word, but if

the writer never capitalizes any
letters, the messages look lazy.
Writers who want to emphasize
a word ought to use bold or
italics to help it stand out. Messages that are brief and to the
point are welcomed by everyone
with an inbox. If there is more
to say than a few paragraphs, the

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

Continued. . . .
better idea is to make a phone
call. That keeps any misunderstandings from taking place as a
result of the exchange.

spelled their name correctly.

3. Spell check - emails with
typos are simply not taken as
seriously.

Tips:

1. Make sure your e-mail

includes a courteous greeting
and closing. Helps to make
your e-mail not seem demanding or terse.
2. Address your contact
with the appropriate level of
formality and make sure you

4. Read your email out loud to

ensure the tone is that which
you desire. Try to avoid relying
on formatting for emphasis;
rather choose the words that
reflect your meaning instead. A
few additions of the words
"please" and "thank you" go a
long way!
5. Be sure you are including all

8. If sending attachments, did

you ask first when would be the
best time to send? Did you
check file size to make sure you
don't fill the other side's inbox
causing all subsequent e-mail to
bounce?
9. Refrain from using the Reply
to All feature to give your opinion to those who may not be
interested. In most cases replying to the Sender alone is your
best course of action.
10. Make one last check that
the address or addresses in the

To: field are those you wish to

send your reply to.
11. Be sure your name is reflected properly in the From:
field. Jane A. Doe (not jane,
jane doe or JANE DOE).
12. Type in complete sentences. To type random phrases or
cryptic thoughts does not lend
to clear communication.
13. Never assume the intent of
an email. If you are not sure -ask so as to avoid unnecessary
misunderstandings.
14. Just because someone

relevant details or information

necessary to understand your
request or point of view. Generalities can many times cause
confusion and unnecessary back
and forths.
6. Are you using proper sentence structure? First word
capitalized with appropriate
punctuation? Multiple instances
of !!! or ??? are perceived as
rude or condescending.
7. If your email is emotionally
charged, walk away from the
computer and wait to reply.

doesn't ask for a response

doesn't mean you ignore them.
Always acknowledge emails
from those you know in a timely manner.
15. Be sure the Subject: field
accurately reflects the content
of your email.

Dig ital 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.

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.

3. Digital Communication: electronic exchange of information.

One of the significant changes
within the digital revolution is a
persons ability to communicate
with other people.
4. Digital Literacy: process of
teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology.

PAGE 3

RIGHT CHOICE

ACADEMY

Continued. . .
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.
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.

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.
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.
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 technologi-

cal world. Beyond the physical

issues are those of the psychological issues that are becoming more
prevalent such as Internet addiction.
9. Digital Security (selfprotection): 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. The same must be
true for the digital security. We
need to have virus protection,
backups of data, and surge control of our equipment.