Learning Journal 7- Website Planning and Design

In this module I not only learned about website planning and design, but also to ask relevant questions such as what is my target audience and what is the goal of my site? As simple as these questions are, they really helped to take the generality out of the idea that I had the website that I am designing.

Answers to the Questions Above:

• Who is my target audience? 
• Students and Educators in the Design I course at Niagara County Community College
• What is the goal of my website? 
• To be a resource for students and instructors to reference when studying or teaching the Elements and Principles of Design.

Those two questions really informed the entire process of my design. They kept me from adding unnecessary content and guided the level of detail that I included.

Below are other important concepts that I learned and applied in order to design a website about the "Elements and Principles of Design."

Storyboard your site

I sketched out rough ideas of what I wanted my landing page to look like and then chose one sketch to be the template for the entire site. 

Color should add to the site as an additional design element rather than being an after thought.

I chose an image that created a mood or had a color palette that I liked and then selected the main colors within it for my palette. I found the RGB and Hex color codes using an image editor.

Have a fast loading site
I resized all images in my website using Web Resizer. This service reduced my image sizes by 50-60 percent which a meant faster load time for visitors. Below is an example of an image that I used in my site and how Web Resizer decreased its size by 77%.

People scan sites in either an F or Z pattern. 
The article from the Neilsen Norman Group describes this. 
Based on this, I designed my website to have the most important information across those F-shaped "eye lines."

I placed the name of the site first (to orient the reader as to what the main idea of the website is), then the navigation (for the reader to go straight to what they need), and then the text (should the reader want to know about the site) and then the images (which support the content on the site). I arranged things in decreasing order of importance based on the F-Pattern.

Consistent NavigationI learned that consistency in navigation makes for a better user experience. If people know where they are going and how to get there, they are likely to stay on the site and gain from it.I applied this to my site by: -Putting my navigation along the top-Creating a dropdown menu so that all site links are in one place-Making the placement of my navigation identical on all pages.

                                                                                        

ParticipationI participated in this course by reviewing the lecture and using it to guide my process, following the links to the cyber lessons and using the content within them to inform the assignment. I enjoyed this module and put great effort in using the resources to create a worthwhile final project. I also participated in giving feedback to others concerning their projects.Terminology:Storyboard - A sequence of drawings typically with some reflections and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a movie or television presentationSitemap - A list of pages of a website accessible to crawlers or users. It can be a document in any form used as a planning tool for web design.F pattern - An "F" shape that reflects the appearance of a heat map created when eye tracking tools track the directions of eye movement when people are viewing a blog or text heavy site.Target audience - A particular group at which a film, book, advertising campaign etc is aimed at.

Learning Journal 6: FTP, P2P, Imaging

Online Communications and Social Media

With the increased level of interconnectivity between people across the world, several social sharing platforms have emerged. I learned that social media goes beyond Twitter and Facebook. Several types of social media are listed below.
 


Social networks – allow for connection with people of similar interests and background. They often have significant information about the user in the form of a profile. (LinkedIn, Facebook) 

Bookmarking Sites – saving, organizing and managing links to websites and resources. Content can be made private or public (Delicious, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Flipboard)
   

Media Sharing – Sites where users largely communicate through one form of media – I.e video or image. (Flikr, Vimeo, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat)
 

Blog Comments and Forums – This is an early type of social media where people can have conversations and post messages. (Quora, Digg, Reddit)
 

Online Reviews – Sites that feature reviews covering a range of topics from hotels and restaurants to employers.( Yelp)
  

Social publishing platforms – blogs and microblogs. Comprise mostly of written content to be shared with others. (Wordpress, Blogger, Twitter, Medium, Tumblr)




Interest-based networks – Networks that center on a specific interest. Goodreads (readers and authors)
 

E-commerce – Sites that allow for the viewing and purchasing of goods. (Polyvore, Etsy)





     
I also learned about Internet conduct. With the ever-growing social platforms that allow for the connection of millions of people across the web, guidelines have been developed that promote positive interactions. Internet etiquette or “Netiquette”comprises the core rules of etiquette on the internet. Clicking the image below will open a link for an explanation of these guidelines.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has 467,000,000+ registered members. 
Students and recent college students comprise of 40miillion of registered members. They are LinkedIn's fastest-growing demographic.  The following infographic is from the LinkedIn website

 
 
Some strategies that I learned from online searches about how to effectively use LinkedIn are:

• Strategically connect with other users. Add people who can add value to your personal network and find ways to return the favor
• Take advantage of the profile. Upload a professional photo and put a short descriptive paragraph about you and your skill sets. Be creative and write in plain English.
• Use your profile to flesh out your resume. Upload content and links to finished projects or personal websites.
• Make an investment in your LinkedIn account.

This ultimate LinkedIn cheat-sheet is an extensive infographic on how to craft the perfect LinkedIn profile. Click the snapshot image below for the full guide.

 

LinkedIn Resources:
5 Smart Steps to Career Success 
How to Use LinkedIn: 35 LinkedIn Tips for Professional networking, Business &Marketing

LinkedIn Tips from the class workshop

• Upload a professional profile picture. (ask yourself, would I be comfortable going into an interview looking like my profile picture ?)
• Accept connection from people with similar professional background and careers that align with yours. Be discerning.
• If looking or some direction in your field, look at the profiles of people in your field and see what paths they took to get to their current position. Most students are unrealistic in their expectations of what they will be doing post graduation.
• Make your newsfeed meaningful.
• Under the jobs tab, let recruiters know that you are open
• connect with someone every three months to keep your connections open

Terms

• Asynchronous Communication: Communication that is not happening at the same time. I is characterized by a time lag between transmission and receiving (email, snail mail)
• Synchronous Communication: Communication that is happening at the same time. That is, both participants are present and there is no delay in the transmission and receiving of information (text messaging, telephone, skype)
• Blogosphere: The realm of internet blogs and the people who read or write them.

• Social Capital: The resources accumulated through relationships among people

 

LJ4 21st Century Skills and Information Fluency

In this module, I learned primarily about 

• Information fluency
• Advanced web search techniques using boolean operators
• 21st Century skills that employers are looking for
• Net Neutrality
• Digital citizenship
• Digital footprints
• The Deep Web

Information fluency is a combination of information literacy and digital citizenship. It is not only how we evaluate and critically process information but also the responsible use of it.

Boolean operators such as "and", the minus sign "-" and plain quotation marks "" serve to help narrow and refine my searches. I saw this great infographic in class and found it online to show here.

The following video demonstrates how to get the most of your next google search!


Some of the top 21st Century skills that employers are looking for are:

• Coding
• Data Mining and Management
• Mobile Development
• Network Security
  
  Those are "hard skills" or skills that come from training or practice. The following are "soft skills" or skills are related to emotional intelligence and personality.

• Ability to manage a diverse environment
• Strong communication skills
• Knowledge of other cultures 

Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers should equally provide users access to all legal content and applications on the internet. They shouldn't charge content providers for faster delivery or slow the delivery of content provided by competing providers. It basically means that I should get the same internet experience as the next person at no additional cost. USA Today provides a great article on Net Neutrality. 

Digital Citizenship is how we carry ourselves on the internet. It has to do with our responsible use of the internet technologies available to us. The following link details the nine elements of digital citizenship. Nine Elements. Though I never really considered it, it makes great sense that just as we are expected to behave in a certain way as employees in a workplace, or students in a classroom, so we are expected to conduct ourselves appropriately as citizens of this digital age.

Fractus Learning

Digital footprints are the trails of information that we leave behind about ourselves across the internet. Some informative resources about digital footprints are linked below
Internet Society- Your Digital Footprint Matters 
Tech Radar - How to Protect Your Privacy and Remove Data from Online Services

Though our digital reputation is most commonly linked to our social media accounts and the content we post, It can also be linked to the searches that we make or the websites that we frequent. Using a search engine like DuckDuckGo ensures greater privacy that other major search engines. It is good to "google" ones self once in a while to make sure that what comes up is appropriate. This part of the module made me realize that whatever is posted on the internet, for the most part stays there and that posting personal content should be done wisely.

The Deep Web
The deep web is a part of the web not readily accessible by major search engines. It comprises a great portion of the internet than the surface web - which is what most users interface with daily. I often thought of the deep web as an unsavory, mysterious place but I found that this is not all of the deep web. A great portion of the deep web has valuable content and information. Most databases are stored on the deep web. I didn't realize that when I was doing a scholarly search using paid for databases, I was going beyond the surface web.


New terminology

   Digital Citizenship - The norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.
   Net Neutrality - The principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.
   Tor browser- A browser that allows for anonymous web browsing and confidential communication.
   Information Fluency - The ability to gather, evaluate and use information ethically and legally.


I participated all throughout this module in both discussions and during lecture. I gained new information throughout.

LJ3 Online Safety and Internet Security

In this module we took an in-depth look at Internet risks and safeguards. This module really educated me on the importance of protecting my personal information. This module was both unsettling and empowering. I have compiled a list of Internet Security tips below. I acted on several of them upon learning of them. I also spoke with my family about them so that we could all be educated users who know how to protect our information and machines.

As a result of this module, I:

• Updated my devices. I used to update only when it was unavoidable because I didn't like the changes that updates often brought to the interfaces that I was comfortable with. Now that I understand what a security hole is and that updates are mostly security patches and fixes for them, I am eager to update and concerned about having out of date, vulnerable devices.
• Changed the defaults affiliated with my Internet router. I personalized the information and removed the factory default settings.
• Began using credit rather than debit to make transactions. The level of protection in using credit over debit is so much greater.
• Cleared the cookies in my browsers to remove form data that had been saved.
• Password protected my personal computer. I never thought to do so because I don't carry my computer around and it is only used by me. However, it is now password protected.
• Am very critical of incoming email messages requesting information and extremely wary of links and attachments. Before, I paid spam and phishing no mind. Now that I understand their aims, I am less complacent about what I allow in my email.
• No longer use public Wi-Fi for mobile banking. I use my data instead.
• Am ever searching for the HTTPS protocol that tells me that the website that I am visiting is secure.
• I learned how to use my default image editor to remove identifying content.

Those are only some of the changes that I have made. Others are in the process. Below I have listed tips for online safety and Internet security.

Personal Information

Image credits to www.cbwc.ca

We are to treat our personal information "like cash". It’s just as valuable if not more. -FTC

• Know what your online accounts are doing with your personal information 
• Read the privacy statements. We can’t just click “agree” and in many instances, it wouldn’t be wise to. I found the act of seeking out a company’s privacy policy to be empowering because I felt more in control of the distribution of my information.
• Blur data in photos using paint or a default image editor
• Be alert and check your photos for identifying information such as license plate numbers, house numbers and street signs. 
• All of these small bits of information can paint a picture of who you are, where you live and where you are at a given time. 
• Before forwarding an email:
• Note the contact list and protect the other recipients’ contact information by using BCC.
• Also delete identifying information in headers and signatures. This is both a courtesy and a form of privacy protection.
• Ask permission before tagging someone on a social network. They may not want their locations or affiliations broadcasted to the Facebook community.
• Choose better usernames. Avoid using birthdate numbers since they reveal demographic information. 
• I.e JenniferO1290 may reveal a female born in December in her mid twenties. Consider what information can be extracted from your username while creating one.
• In addition to physical measures, password protect your devices
• Change the router’s pre-set passwords and default name – these defaults can be found printed on the bottom of your router along with the instructions for changing them. 
• Hackers recognize and know these default passwords. Be more intentional about protecting your WiFi by personalizing your login information.
• Disable broadcast SSID on your router. The SSID or "Service Set Identifier" is the name of your wifi connection. If you disable the broadcast, you're connection is no longer visible to the public. 
• The caveat though is that it is also not visible to you and you must manually type in the name of your Wi-Fi connection when you want to connect
• Secure your wireless network by limiting access to it. 
• Allow only certain MAC addresses to connect to your wifi (i.e the computer addresses of you and your family members or roommates)
• Update your router consistently. Updates often contain security patches that prevent unauthorized users from accessing your device. Avoid using a router with outdated security software

Safe Web Browsing

Image credits to lect.org.uk

• Use add-ons and plugins that force browsers to use encryption.
• Examples of these add-ons are Force-TLS and HTTPS-Everywhere –these are free of charge from Firefox.
  
• When logging into a website with a public computer, uncheck “stay signed in” and choose “never” when prompted to choose if you want your password to be stored in the computer for the ease of future logins.
• When using a public computer or browsing on public Wi-Fi, always use Private browsing so that all cookies, passwords and other identifying information is not saved.
• Always log out of everything when you are finished.
• If you are leaving a public machine and have forgotten to enable private browsing, stop and delete the trail of information you left behind. 
• This means going into your internet settings and deleting download history, tracking data, form entries and your cache. Leave no traces of what you’ve done after leaving.
• Be aware of online quizzes that ask questions that sound like standard security questions. i.e- what was the color of your first car? This information is made publicly accessible through these quizzes.
• When browsing the Internet, the most secure sites will likely have a Secure Socket layer. 
• This layer appears as an "S" after http. When you see HTTPS and a small padlock icon, you can be reasonably certain that you are visiting a reputable web address.

image credit google.com

• Customize your internet browser settings. Don’t just use the default. Enable options such as “block third party cookies,” and “disable pop-ups.”
• When you're unsure about the credibility of software that you’re considering downloading, search for its EULA or End User License Agreement. 
• If you cannot find it on the developer website - forego the download.

Tips for using Public WiFi

• Consider using a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs encrypt traffic between your computer and the internet even if the website you are browsing is unsecured. You can acquire a VPN from a VPN service provider.
• When connecting to a Wi-Fi hotspot, search for one with a WPA2 encryption. It is the strongest wifi encryption for data protection.
• When using public Wi-Fi, turn off public sharing so that the files on your computer aren’t discoverable by other computers.
• Avoid auto-connecting to Wi-Fi. Turn this setting off and manually choose the most secure wifi connection available to you.

• Confirm the free Wi-Fi network name with the establishment that you are in. This will prevent you from connecting to an unsecured dupe connection created by someone who is banking on your assumption that there won't be unsecured dupes waiting to collect your data.
• Don’t use certain types of mobile apps on public Wi-Fi
• For sensitive transactions like banking, taxes or shopping with a credit card, use your data instead. 
• Also be wary of logging into sites with public Wi-Fi. If you have to make a sensitive transaction or log in to a website, go to the actual company site rather than the mobile app. The site is likely to have a Secure Socket Layer.

Malware

• Often times downloads will include additional software such as an additional search engine or something more. 
• When downloading a file, look carefully at what boxes are checked for download. Make sure that you are not downloading additional software.
• Some websites have banners that look like download buttons but they're links to other software. 
• Be sure that you are clicking on the actual download button and not a banner that leads to another website.

Phishing

• When you receive a suspicious message from someone you trust concerning an event or offer, do not click on any links. Instead,  check the story on  Snopes.com. 
• Snopes is a website that keeps track of e-rumors, email forwards and questionable stories. It verifies or debunks the stories.
• Turn off email preview feature in your mail settings. 
• Sometimes, previewing a phishing or spam message is enough to launch any executable file within the message.
• Check attachment extensions in files found in suspicious messages. 
• The following three are dangerous to click on since they give your computer instructions to carry out: ".bat", ".cmd", and ".exe".
• Don’t click short URLS in messages. Instead, type them into checkshorturl.com to find where they lead.
• When you receive an email from a company or agency asking you to verify your information or change your account information, do not respond to the email. 
• Check with the actual company via a phone call from a statement or official correspondence or through their official website. 
• Never respond to an email asking for sensitive information.
• Don't just Delete and block spam. Consider reporting any messages you receive to  spam@uce.gov and the company that the spammer or phisher was trying to imitate.
• Look closely over messages for typos or suspicious URLs.
•  and hover over links to view domain names. Check the sending address to see if it looks credible.

Online Tracking          

• If you find that the ads that show up in your browser are a little too close for comfort, you can go to google.com/ads/preferences and set your preferences to opt out of interest-based ads.

• Most browsers have privacy settings that allow you to request that websites not track you. You can turn that request on. 
• Searching in private mode keeps your Internet activity private from most.
• Periodically clean out the cookies in your computer to clear personalized settings and saved information
• Regularly review privacy settings on all social media networks. Look over what kind of data you are sharing

Passwords

• The longer, the better. Add special characters, different cases and numbers for a strong password. 
• A strong password may take a brute force attack years to crack while a weak one may take only milliseconds to guess. 
• Use Howsecureismypassword.net to see how your password would fare under a brute force attack.
• Use 2factor authentication rather than just a single password.
  

Mobile Device/Smart Phone Security

• Update apps regularly in order to have the most up to date software running. Out of date software is not as secure.
• Set sharing settings on your phone and apps. Take an active role in deciding what is shared and what is not shared.
• Do research on the apps before you download them.
• Check for contact info by the developer, if you cannot find any – forgo the download.
• Apps can access contacts, call logs, calendar, locationand usage info, so read the permissions to see what the app has access to and what it is doing with your personal information.
• Turn off location services when not needed

Laptop/Computer security

• Take some physical measures to protect your private information
• Never leave your device unattended in a public space, if you must, then consider using a security cable lock to keep your device anchored. 
• Use non-laptop bag when traveling. 
• A laptop bag is obvious and may be an easier target than say a laptop placed inside of a tote or backpack.
• Don’t store passwords in your laptop, instead use a password management program such as lastpass.com/ or agilebits.com/onepassword 
• Update your operating system regularly
• Install privacy software
• Don’t download non-industry standard plugins or software. They may come with additional software from less than reputable sources.

File sharing on Peer-to-Peer Networks

• Set limits on what you files are sharing.
• Use credible P2P networks from reputable companies.

Online Shopping

• Review bank statements regularly for any unaccounted for activity.
• Understand that you are responsible for all charges made with your shopping app and that there is no legal limit on your liability with money stored in a shopping app.
• Use a credit card rather than a debit card. The liability and protection services are better. I use the credit feature on my bank card.
• If you notice that your amazon recommendations are too close to home or personal or even unrelated, click “Why recommended > Don’t use for recommendations. Now that item won’t influence your recommendations.
  

                                                                  image credit amazon.com

• Only share credit card information with a website that is secure. Look for the padlock and the https.

Other 

• For a location based service like foursquare – check in as you’re leaving rather than as you're entering the establishment.
• When creating an online account take note of opt-in /opt-out options for emails in order to keep your account from being flooded with offers from companies you may not even be familiar with.
• Unroll.me is a service that helps with unsubscribing from lists and keeps your inbox clutter free.
  
  image credit unrollme.zendesk.com
  

• If you have a website that collects user information, be sure to make privacy agreement with freeprivacypolicy.com/index.php

The resources that I used are lynda.com, Atomic learning, The Federal Trade Commission website.

As for my participation in this module, I watched nearly every single video and opened nearly every recommended link. I found this topic very interesting and valuable.

LJ2 Connections and data transmission

In this module I came to better understand the TCP/IP protocol. TCP/IP was a term that I could give a general definition for (i.e. the rules or standards for how information is transmitted over the internet). However, I didn't have a refined understanding of this dual protocol. It is actually an elegant solution to the problem of sending and receiving large amounts of data over a network, shared by millions, without it getting constantly fragmented, misplaced or "stuck in traffic."

The image below gives a brief overview.

this image was found here

When I type in the web address for a website in my browser the TCP or Transmission Control protocol establishes a connection with server that hosts that website. Then, rather than sending the requested webpage all at once, the TCP breaks the webpage down into "puzzle pieces" known as packets and routes them to their destination. These packets are packaged with information to ensure that they

• arrive at their proper destination 
• are completely reassembled in proper order upon arrival

 To do this, the packets have information about

•      the addresses of both the sender and receiver of the data 
•      the size of the packet 
•      their order in the chain of reassembly 

From there, the IP in the TCP/IP protocol decides what path the packet will take. The data hops from computer to computer until it reaches my browser. What happens if a packet gets lost or fragmented? The TCP detects these errors and will re-transmit that data until it receives confirmation that the packet has arrived and the "puzzle" is completed. TCP/IP has meaning to me now. It's what enables me to type in a web address and see the resultant page physically load before my eyes. Pretty cool.

I also learned what a word cloud is. I had never heard the term before. I learned how to use Wordle which is a website that creates word clouds. My peers and I contributed words to the word cloud displayed below.

I spent time reviewing the slides for this module and visiting the external links provided. I enjoyed learning about these concepts.