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Bright Future of Technology

Dear Readers,

The technological world is exploding with new apps and software being developed. The digital future is bright, promising, and exciting. Technology is helping individuals rethink the structure of work, money, and overall life challenges. The innovations being created to help us navigate the digital economy are electrifying and positive and will help shape a brighter digital future. Here are some examples of how digital technology is creating a bright future:

Accessibility and Inclusivity: These have evolved with the introduction of policies to ensure all members of the population are included. The Accessible Canada Act works hard to identify and put in place laws to remove barriers that people with disabilities face. Additionally, artificial intelligence is exploding in areas such as providing real-time assistive technology for people with disabilities.

Cryptocurrency: When I was first introduced to Bitcoin many years ago, I thought it was a scam. Imagine having digital currency! I felt if I couldn’t physically hold it, then it wasn’t real. However, cryptocurrency has evolved, and there are many options on the market besides Bitcoin, such as Gaimin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum. Initially, banks had trouble accepting digital currency, but their policies have changed. This is why I believe physical money will disappear and be replaced by digital currency. This transition may take many years, but it is inevitable. Today, digital payments are common. We can pay with our debit or credit cards for items purchased and send e-transfers. These options make the transaction process easy and quick. However, people are still using checks and cash to pay for items. In the future, this will be no more as I feel all payments will be digital. We will be paying with some form of cryptocurrency. We already have the introduction of mobile wallets which store your cryptocurrency. ((Prasad, E. S. (2021). The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance. Belknap Press.)

Virtual Reality: With virtual reality in classrooms, it is now possible to train students to put theory learned in the classroom into practice. It also supports the mental health and overall well-being of students as it creates therapeutic experiences.

Finally, the digital future should be welcomed by all as it creates an inclusive, supportive, and accessibility-focused environment.

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ClassHelp

As the Chief Technology Officer, I am thrilled to see our dreams, ideas, and hard work come to fruition with our start-up company, ClassHelp. Each year, our mature student population grows, with more students balancing family, work, and university responsibilities. These students often struggle to find a class schedule that fits their busy lives. Our AI software is designed to assist students in creating a class schedule that works for them, ensuring a better balance between work, family, and university. ClassHelp simplifies the process so that students can focus on enjoying their academic journey.

Each semester, students are responsible for enrolling themselves in courses. This process involves searching for available classes and paying keen attention to factors such as:

Class Prerequisites: students must check to ensure they have the necessary prerequisites to enroll in their chosen courses. If they don’t have the prerequisites, they will be unable to enroll.

Class Co-requisites: If courses have co-requisites, students must ensure they enroll in those courses as well.

Degree Requirements: students must ensure they are enrolling in courses that are needed to fulfill the requirements of their degree.

Class Schedule: students must create a schedule that is conflict-free and accommodates their personal schedule, extracurricular activities, and work commitments.

Credit Load: If students are on OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program), they must carry a 60% course load every semester. Therefore, students need to ensure they are meeting this OSAP requirement to receive academic funding.

Professors: Each professor has a different teaching style. It is best to research (e.g. check with other students) the professor's teaching style to see if it aligns with your learning style, as this can impact your learning experience.

Course Delivery Method: Students need to check if courses are delivered online or on campus.

Financial Considerations: Students need to ensure they can manage the financial responsibility of a university education.

With ClassHelp, the heavy responsibility of paying attention to so many moving parts is now the job of our AI. ClassHelp uses AI algorithms to collect data from course calendars, students’ academic history, degree requirements, course delivery methods, tuition, prerequisites, and co-requisites to create schedules. Additionally, ClassHelp uses natural language processing to understand each student’s preferences, creating a personalized and conflict-free schedule.

Our neural network AI offers real-time updates and adjustments, allowing students to add and drop courses and receive an updated schedule. This feature ensures that students have access to the courses they need, reducing panic when making last-minute changes.

ClassHelp can also recognize previous class schedules, detect patterns, and produce schedules that mimic what the student had before. Furthermore, ClassHelp offers a virtual assistant with 24/7 support.

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George Brown College

Nursing Simulation Centre

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I wanted to share some insights I gained from playing the Nova Cybersecurity Lab Game. It made me realize how little I truly understood about phishing attacks and malware. While I knew these threats were dangerous, I didn't fully grasp the extent of the damage they could cause. During the game, I lost 239 files due to malware, which was a shocking. Despite investing in my business's security, it became clear that more robust preventative measures are necessary.

It's essential to back up files and train staff on cybersecurity, but the best preventative method is using reliable antivirus software. Staff might miss scheduled training or overlook warning emails, and while backed-up files can be replaced, they can still be destroyed if preventive resources are not in place.

The game also included scenarios where I had to identify phishing emails and websites. This exercise highlighted the importance of paying close attention to emails and websites before responding or providing personal details. It reinforced that identifying cyber threats requires vigilance and attention to detail.

Additionally, one of the challenges was creating a secure password that couldn't be easily guessed by hackers. This taught me the importance of using a combination of upper and lowercase letters along with numbers to create strong passwords.

The coding exercise was particularly challenging for me, highlighting an area where I need to improve my skills.

Overall, the Nova Cybersecurity Lab Game provided a practical and educational hands-on experience that brought to life the concepts we covered in module 7.

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Books

The screen shot shows the blogger who has shared their thoughts and opinions after reading Barack Obama’s autobiography. They were extremely open and somewhat vulnerable in sharing how the book has touch them and open their eyes to a different side of the former president. This presentation of vulnerability can be classified as self branding. They have portrayed themselves as genuine and relatable to appeal to a target audience. This personal branding is excellent because Barack Obama is a well-known public figure and an excellent orator, so to give a review about his book is thought provoking and people will want to know more. Therefore, being aware there is an audience you can cater to with this information helps to build your personal brand.

Furthermore, the blogger's commitment to regular book reviews, with posts appearing every month, shows that a personal branding plan is in place. Even the choice of Tumblr username, "Kindledspiritsbooks," clearly indicates their strategy in avoiding generic labels.

In addition, the online netiquette is one that is open to constructive dialogue.

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ASL

When reading blogs and interacting with social media I never associated the word “infrastructure” with social media. However, as I am now introduced to the 3 I’s this has allowed me to look at social media through a different lens. For example, when I downloaded the attachment, I paid attention to the different layers I read about in module 1, while realizing the physical layer has allowed me to be able to complete the download while Web 2.0 has allowed creativity. In this instance, it has exposed us to different a different language. One we may not be familiar with if we are not deaf or hard of hearing. Sites such as YouTube, has been used to show that deaf and hard of hearing people enjoy the same activities as hearing people. In the attached print screen, it shows a deaf girl signing the words at a Rihanna's Super Bowl performance. This video was uploaded to YouTube. The objective of this video was clear, they chose a popular social media platform to show that many misconceptions about deaf people are incorrect. They may not hear the music, but they can feel the vibrations. ASL is a visual language, so this video conveys the message clearly and simply.

This personal brand will appeal to the deaf community. However, people who are not in the deaf community might not be drawn to this post. The social media plan is quite vague and limited to a specific audience.