Technology and Values

Welcome to the last Tammy’s Teaching Tidbit of the 2023-2024 school year! This week’s topic is technology and values.

Everyone possesses personal values. (Some examples entail kindness, honesty, creativity, achievement, and family.) While values begin forming during the adolescence years, they will change throughout people’s lifetimes. Values come from numerous sources, including family and friends, cultural expectations, both negative and positive experiences, and images of what it means to live a meaningful and good life (Allenby, 2015).

The activities people partake in can support or hinder their personal values. Especially in first world countries, technology and media consumption can influence personal values both negatively and positively!

Digital Well-Being 

Values tie into digital well-being. Healthy digital well-being occurs when media and technology use supports participants’ mental, physical, and emotional health (Ehehalt, Gurbada, and Thotz, 2024). Cyberbullying would lead to poor digital well-being, as well as hinder the values of kindness, respect, and compassion. Spreading accurate information about a charity or humanitarian cause would aid in practicing healthy digital well-being. Additionally, this employment of technology, and most likely social media, supports values of altruism, equity, and empathy. Part of digital well-being entails learners knowing how and when to use different types of technology for an intended purpose. (Common Sense Education offers K-12 lessons pertaining to digital well-being.)

Constant Companion Study 

The Constant Companion study, conducted by Common Sense Education, found that 11-to 17-year-olds spend an average of 43 minutes on their phones during the school day. These same students receive over 237 digital notifications daily (Ehehalt, Gurbada, and Thotz, 2024). There is a nearly unceasing desire to be digitally connected to others. This generation is a part of the second digital divide. They grew up surrounded by technology, especially computerized tech. However, being able to use these devices ethically is a learned, instead of innate, skill (Burns and Gottschalk, 2019).

Values Often Linked to Technology

Regardless of how many science fiction novels and televised series portray it as such, technology is not a force of evil. Truthfully, any tool—and technological advances are merely tools—can be used productively or destructively. Numerous personal values can easily be intertwined with technology, including innovation, enquiry, curiosity, diversity, equity, communication, respect, and integrity (Technology, n.d; Weinberg, 2019). (Much of the Digital Citizenship concept in North Dakota’s Library Media Content Standards addresses how to use technology in ways that align to values that better the world and better interpersonal relationships.) Whether tech is utilized for virtue or for malice comes down to its users. People should reflect upon how technology can add fulfillment to lives without forgoing human values.

A Few Things to Consider 

1. Discuss with pupils their own values and how these principles tie into technology use. Lists of core values—resource one, two, and three—can assist in igniting these conversations.
2. Evaluate if your technology usage aligns with your values. For example, if you value physical activity but regularly find yourself scrolling through your phone on the couch, how can you change that habit to one that better aligns with your ideals? On the other hand, if you view generosity as one of your values, what charitable causes possess a social media presence?
3. Determine if problems need a human solution or a tech solution. For instance, handing an upset child a tablet will not provide any sort of long-term assistance. However, talking to that child in a caring, but firm, way can be an excellent method for teaching values such as self-regulation and communication.

Goodbye, For Now! 

Have a fantastic summer! NDSL staff, myself included, will be available during the break should you have any questions or concerns for your libraries or licensure.

References 

Allenby, B. (2015, March 4). Choose at your own risk: How technology is changing our choices and the values that help us make them. Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2015/03/how-technology-is-changing-our-choices-and-values.html.

Burns, T., and Gottschalk, F. (Eds.). (2019). Educating 21^st century children: Emotional well-being in the digital age. OECD.

Ehehalt, J., Gurbada, J., and Thotz, S. (2024, May 15). Values and tech: Fostering a positive digital culture in your school [Webinar]. edWeb. https://media.edweb.net/edWebinar/?view=20240515edwebnet16.

Technology and values (n.d.). Te Kete Ipurangi. https://technology.tki.org.nz/Technology-in-the-NZC/Technology-and-values#:~:text=Technology%20and%20values%20education,the%20values%20of%20the%20future.

Weinberg, M. (2019, May). Technology, values, and the shaping of social reality. https://bahaiworld.bahai.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/technology-values-shaping-social-reality.pdf.

Software Overview: Notepad++

A wonderful software to have in the digital projects toolbelt is Notepad++. Notepad++ (pronounced “Notepad plus plus”) is a text editor. It’s like the stock Notepad program on Windows, but it has much more capabilities. Notepad++ is highly useful when working with text and/or metadata.

It is a source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. It supports tabbed editing, which allows working with multiple open files in a single window. And it is completely FREE.  

Output can, of course, be saved as the usual text file (TXT), but Notepad++ can also be used to work with many other file types (like HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Python, and XML). 

Because it’s open-source, Notepad++ has a powerful help presence (through a manual, documentation, and an online community). And don’t forget about the option for plugins, or add-ons. One plugin that is particularly useful is DSpellCheck. When enabled, DSpellCheck offers a built-in spell checker. 

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides. 

Software Overview: Image Composite Editor

One of my favorite image software, and one that I use quite frequently, is Image Composite Editor. I’ve highlighted other image software before, such as GIMP (editor), Nomacs (viewer), XnConvert (batch converter), and Bad Peggy (validator). Each of these is unique and serves a specific purpose. Image Composite Editor fits right along side them in the “tool bag.”  

According to its now-archived webpage (we’ll get to that), says Image Composite Editor “is an advanced panoramic image stitcher created by the Microsoft Research Computational Photography Group. Given a set of overlapping photographs of a scene shot from a single camera location, the app creates high-resolution panoramas that seamlessly combine original images… finished panoramas can be saved in a wide variety of image formats, including JPEG, TIFF…” 

So, in short, Image Composite Editor is an image stitcher or splicer. This is particularly useful for large, panoramic photographs. Digital Initiatives has come across many panoramic photographs, particularly during a ScanDay. How do you digitize a photo that is 1-2 feet in length when most flatbed scanners can only accommodate an 8.5 x 11 size?  

Image Composite Editor to the rescue! If you scan the photo in segments, Image Composite Editor can be used later to put the pieces together. The key thing to remember when scanning a panoramic photo is to overlap the scans. Scan it in 2-4 pieces/ images that overlap each other. In order for Image Composite Editor to work properly, it must detect an overlap between images. If there is no overlap, it won’t put the images together. 

Image Composite Editor was created by Microsoft, so it is a reputable software. However, Microsoft has since discontinued the product and no longer supports it. This is unfortunate because it is a useful product. Even so, there are still ways to download the software. The former webpage and downloader can still be accessed via the Wayback Machine, which is an amazing web archive managed by the Internet Archive. 

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides. 

Software Overview: Viewers

Continuing with the occasional overviews of software, this month’s column will focus on viewers. A “viewer” is a basic software with limited capabilities. Its main focus, you guessed it, is to view or display the item. Most operating systems (like Windows) will have their own default viewers for you to use. However, these can often be underwhelming.  

There are many free and open source viewers available that are more robust or user-friendly than the stock ones. Some of them even offer numerous plug-ins or add-ons for additional features. Most of these viewers focus on particular formats: image, audio and video, and documents. 

For images, Nomacs is a wonderful option, and it draws you in with its martini glass icon. It supports many image formats, and it can also be used for RAW and PSD images. Within the program, there are many adjustments, viewing panels, and tools to choose from.  

For many years now, the go-to audio/visual viewer has been VLC media player. It continues to reign supreme. According to the VLC website, it is “a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.” 

For documents (PDFs), Sumatra PDF is handy. When working with PDFs, I typically use Adobe Acrobat. However, when Adobe is busy running a task, it often refuses to open another PDF. This is where Sumatra PDF comes in. Sure, most internet browsers have built-in PDF views, but I’ve never been a fan of those. Sumatra PDF is simple, fast, and free. 

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides. 

Don’t Let Financial Literacy be a Bummer!

Gamification – a term used to describe the approach of using games to promote learning and training – has exploded over the last few years, especially with the addition of online learning. But does it really improve learning outcomes?

Actually, according to a study review done in 2022 titled “Learning through Play: Gamification of Learning, A Systematic Review of Studies on Gamified Learning,” it does. While more studies are needed to understand the full capacity of gamification, the review says the level of engagement increased significantly, thus resulting in student motivation and participation. Anyone who has been in a classroom recently will tell you that student motivation and participation are huge wins.

So what does this have to do with financial literacy? Talking about finances can be a dry subject. And for someone who doesn’t have a strong financial background, it can be intimidating.

Enter Next Generation Personal Finance (NGPF). This website hosts a plethora of online games, free curricula, and other resources geared toward teaching financial literacy to students. Many of these online games can be done individually or with a group and can take anywhere from 5-20 minutes to play. Additionally, teachers (or librarians!) can access mini units or full semester and/or nine-week courses that are ready to go – no prep needed!

Check out the website: https://www.ngpf.org/

I decided to test my own knowledge and took a chance at one of these games. Bummer! focuses on buying insurance. Players get four rounds to purchase different insurances and hopefully end with a positive balance in their account.

In the first round, I was asked to purchase pet insurance. The screen gave me different choices of insurance premiums and coverages ranging from basic to deluxe. After choosing a plan (and having that cost deducted from my total), I was then asked if I wanted to purchase any additional coverage (snoot care, wellness, and corncob protection). Once I had my insurance chosen, it was time to spin the wheel. In the first spin, I landed on a BUMMER! My pet was sniffing around at the park and ran into a porcupine. Because I did not purchase snoot care, none of my insurance covered the bill. Next spin – this time just a little bummer. But check out this screenshot:

What kid (or kid at heart) would not chuckle over a “Poop Poop Hooray?” The round continued for 4 spins. The last spin landed on a trivia question. Getting it right, I was rewarded with $100 added to my total.

Round 2 followed a very similar pattern, this time around renter’s insurance. Check out these add-ons:

 I loved the fun “scenarios” they added to mimic real life (well, maybe not aliens). I ended the round and moved on to Round 3: Car Insurance.

Round 3 upped the ante. Now instead of just basic through deluxe choices, I had to look at the options for liability, uninsured, comprehensive, and collision coverages. As luck would have it, on my third spin, I hit a deer (was I driving in ND?) The game then showed me the breakdown to fix it.

Round 4: The Big Kahuna – brought all of it together. Once again, I had to go through the options for each insurance from the other rounds. This time the spinning wheel had a lot more options and included more chances to spin. The game’s ending was a little anticlimactic with a congratulations page; however, I actually had fun and did learn some things along the way.

The website has many more games to choose from. I encourage you to try one. Maybe even use one for family game night!

Sources:

Nair, S. & Mathew, J. (2022). Learning through Play: Gamification of Learning, A Systematic Review of Studies on Gamified Learning. Journal of Information Technology Management, 14(1), 113-126.

Software Overview: Bad Peggy

For this month’s column, we turn our attention back to software. Useful image editors, converters, and renamers have already been covered (GIMP, XnConvert, and Advanced Renamer). Now, let’s look at validation software.

This type of software supports the validation of digital files by scanning specific file formats for errors, data loss, corruption, etc. I recently spent time researching and testing various validation programs. There are many available, and most of them focus on certain formats (TIFF, PDF, JPEG, etc.).

One program specifically designed for JPEG, PNG, and GIF caught my eye. It’s called Bad Peggy. I wish I knew more about the origin of the name. I also wish I knew more about the program’s logo/ icon (a corrupt image of a foot in high heels that is turned sideways). The name and logo are certainly intriguing.

According to the Community Owned digital Preservation Tool Registry (COPTR), which is a fantastic resource, Bad Peggy “scans images (JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF) for damages and other blemishes, and shows the results and files instantly. It enables you to find such broken files quickly, inspect and then either delete or move them to a different location.”

JPEG (or JPG) is an abbreviation for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is a very common image format. JPEGs typically have manageable file sizes which makes them easy to share, email, upload, etc. The reason for the small file size, however, is the lossy compression process associated with the format (see the “JPG vs. PNG” article for more information). In the digital preservation world, JPEG is not a preferred format for originals because of its data loss (see NDSL’s “Digitization Standards”), but JPEG is still widely used. This is why Bad Peggy can be useful for both institutions and citizens since both will likely use JPEG extensively.

One of the best things about Bad Peggy is its simplicity. You add images and then scan. That’s about it. There are no confusing settings or add-ons. It is short and sweet. Bad Peggy quickly scans images (or entire folders of images) and checks for irregularities, such as corruption.

Although Bag Peggy has been tested and authenticated by others, I wanted to do a test for myself. Believe it or not, there are websites that will corrupt files for you. Although I do not support the reasons the website mentions for corrupting files, it was a rather useful site for my test. Of course, NEVER run tests like this on the original file. ALWAYS make a copy to play around with.

Back to the experiment. I corrupted a copy of a JPEG with the website and then used Bad Peggy. The program detected the issue right away. Nicely done, Bad Peggy! If you use JPEGs (or PNGs) and you want to keep an eye on them for long-term storage, Bad Peggy is a great option. Did I mention it’s free? I probably should have led with that.

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides.