Big Idea 5.1 Beneficial and Harmful Effects:

Come up with three of your own Beneficial and corresponding Harmful Effects of Computing.

Benefits: One large benefit of computing is it’s ability to make many simple calculations in a fraction of a second. This calculative nature of computers allows us to break down complex operations into simple, individual instructions for the computer to read and interpret, with these solutions eventually combining to generate an answer to a larger problem. Furthermore, the instanticity offered by the internet allows for the average person to quickly search and gain results to a particular question. Finally, computing also rpvoides us with ultra fast methods of communicatin, through online SMS spaces and video calling. These benefits ultimately serve to link up the global infrastructure and speed up collaboration.

Harms: Computing, especially in the digital world, could lead to very serious issues concerning morals and ethics. For instance, most of the internet is driven by large collections of data, that provide the user with the information that they want. Every functional program and service includes some storage of user data or input that can be nearly permenantly stored online. As such, the moment one posts something personal or undesireable to the online space, it becomes nigh difficult or nearly impossible to remove it from the internet. Furthermore, the issue of data privacy could also extend to unauthorized or unconsensual data collection. For instance, much of social media’s reccomendations to the aberage user are based on their private searches and online history, also with their own inputted interests and information. Such information could then be traded and sold online for money, which exposes one’s personal data to the world. Lastly, computing also has serious environmental effects especially due to the amount of raw materials and pollution it can cause. Chip productions in particular, require vast amounts of different metals and minerals, that all contribute to global pollution and the destruction of ecosystems.

Talk about dopamine issues. Real? Parent conspiracy? Anything that is impacting your personal study and success in High School?

The dopamine issues due to the internet is definitely real. Social media and video games are an incredibly dangerous in that they are highly addictive and are devastating to a student who has a packed schedule. Personally, I experienced this in middle school, where I was extremely addicted to video games and neglected y studies. The effects soon showed up in my grades, and I was forced to change and reevalutae my habits to improve my experiences in school. Now, my grades are much better than they were before, and despite the fact that I still use social media and play games, I’ve learned to restrict myself and place my student and family duties above my personal enjoyment in the online world.

Big Idea 5.2 Digital Divide

How does someone empower themself in a digital world?

Someone cam empower themselves in a digital world by sposting their creations and achivements online to share with others. This is typically a good way to show off one’s skills to the outside world, but it can also be harmful in that there is a select minority on the internet that will attempt to put down others for their self-gratification.

How does someone that is empowered help someone that is not empowered? Describe something you could do at Del Norte HS.

An empowered individual typically helps others who are not empowered by providing them some form of physical or mental help. For example, my friends are I are able to empower each other in out rigourous academic lives by sharing the knowledge that we learn from class as well as what we learn from out own time. Thorugh this, even if we struggle in school and might feel discouraged, we still would have a safety net that could help us at our lowest an ensure a good academic outcome or result.

Is paper or red tape blocking digital empowerment? Are there such barriers at Del Norte? Elsewhere?

Paper and red tape blocking are not forms of digital empowerment and instead serve to further restrict an individual. In some cases, forcing students to use a specific medium (whether it be on paper or digitally), could result in an additional headache for the student, as they may not hve the necessary materials at hand to complete the tasks, resulting in them unable to complete their assignments on time. Furthermore, having a red tape process or a fixed process of completing tasks would result in an overall decrease in efficiency, both in a school and work scenario. This is because forcing workers and students to complete a task a certain way neglects the other more effective and efficient methods that one could’ve used otherwise to achieve the same goal, just in better time and quality.