LECTURES IN EMTEC

WEEK 8
Online Platforms for ICT Content Development
Platforms that allow us to share content with the rest of the world will be our main focus. To
gain experience on what it is like to use them, we will be creating a few of them as well.

1. Social Media Platforms. Websites such as Facebook allow you to make personal

accounts, pages, and groups wherein you can share your own content. Being
restricted to Facebook's "one-size-fits-all" design is the lone downside of this. On the
positive side, Facebook has billions of users. Another social networking site is
LinkedIn. Unlike Facebook, it focuses on professional networking and business

2. Blogging Platforms. Websites such as Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger focuses on

design and content. Typically, it looks like a newsletter. However, here, you have the
option to change the design according to your liking. And although you can
manipulate the design, the popularity of the social media platform is unrivaled.
Another thing that is unrivaled is the amount of customization in blogs. However, this
depends on the content management system that is implemented by the provider.

Content Management System

           A Content Management System (CMS) is a computer application that allows publishing,
editing and manipulating, organizing, and deleting web content. Sometimes, it can also be online
or browser-based. CMS is typically used in news websites, blogs, and shopping.

Creating Your Blog Using WordPress

1. Sign up first on WordPress by visiting https://wordpress.com/ to create an account if
you do not have one yet.
Creating Your First Blog Post
           Press on the Posts » Add New menu in your WordPress dashboard to create a blog post. From
there, an editor area where you can type out your first blog post can be seen.
1. Create a New Post. There are several ways to add or create a new post.  The easiest way to do
so is by hovering over the Posts tab and then clicking the Add New button. Alternatively, you
may also hover over the New tab seen in the top bar and then click on Post. Another way to add
a post is by clicking on the Posts tab and then clicking on Add New seen at the top of the posts
screen.

2. Enter the title of your new Post. In the first box at the top which says Enter title
here, you can input the title of your post.

3. Enter body content. Below the title box, there is a big box wherein you can put all
the content. This includes the text, images, and other content that would make up
your new blog post. Formatting tools like Bold, Italic, Paragraph Alignment, Styles,
Lists, and others tools is provided by the WordPress editor.

4. Choose a featured image. It is usually at the very top of the post that the featured
image will be shown. This also serves as your Post’s thumbnail. This means that
wherever this Post appears or shows up, the thumbnail image you’ve chosen will
appear along with it.
5. To preview what your Post will look like on the actual site, click the Preview button
seen in the side bar. Once you’re happy and finished with your Post, press the blue
publish button on the right-hand side. This will publish your Post. You can also
choose to hit the Save Draft button instead and go back to it later. When drafts are
saved in WordPress, it is not visible to any of your site visitors.

Cloud Computing
          We already have stumbled upon the term "cloud computing" in the previous
discussions. From the past lessons, including this one, you have already used the
"cloud" in producing outputs for this class. Give yourself a minute to think about the
outputs that used "Cloud Computing."

          When we designed and created infographics, we made use of Piktochart. This

infographic editor uses cloud computing. When we make blogs and create Posts, the
editor from WordPress was used. Because there was no need to install any software
on our computer, we refer to these as cloud computing. Basically, the software is in
the cloud or over the Internet. Below are some advantages and disadvantages that
comes with cloud computing:

 Advantage   Disadvantages
  

1. No need to install 1.  It can be hampered down by slow

2. It saves hard disk space Internet speed; no connection, no
3. Easy access to your software/files can cloud computing
be run anywhere as long as there is an 2. May still require compatible software
Internet connection like a browser
4. It saves you money from buying 3. You do not own the software; you are
software licenses and additional hard simply renting it
disk space 4. The security risk of doing things over
5. No need to update because it updates the Internet as opposed to your
automatically personal computer alone
6. Minimum system requirements 5. More prone to hacking
7. Back-up and data recovery are 6. Limited control over the infrastructure
relatively more straightforward than on itself
a physical device.

WEEK 9
Discussion
          How basic is basic? Imagine the way our ancestors do fishing. To catch fish, they
used fishing rods or spears. These days the fishing industry is ruled by huge companies
with huge fishing vessels that have huge nets to catch fish by a truckload. Unfortunately,
since these fishing vessels are not affordable, we will still use our fishing spear or rod.
However, when it comes to web creation, that is not the case. The first difference is that the
Internet is free. Secondly, it is free courtesy of many website providers that provide basic
functionalities for our website to function. Back in the day, you have to learn HTML
(Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to create a decent
website. Today, we use a WYSIWYG editor.
WYSIWYG
          The acronym for What You See Is What You Get is WYSIWYG. This means that
whatever you draw, type, place, insert, rearrange, and everything else that you do on a
page is exactly what the audience will see. For example, in Microsoft Word, WYSIWYG
shows and prints whatever it is that you type on the screen.

Other Ways to Create a Website

          To create pages, HTML codes are used. While to design these pages, CSS codes
are used. To create pages using WYSIWYG, it will certainly help if you have taken up these
specific coding skills previously. However, if you have not, it’s alright. WYSIWYG is
designed for anyone who does not or has not have prior coding skills. Before proceeding to
use an online WYSIWYG platform, try this:

Creating a Website using Microsoft Word

 1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. Type anything on the page such as "Welcome to my website."
3. Click on File > Save As > Browse.
4. On the Save As dialog box, look for your activities folder and create a new folder.
Name it as "Sample Web page.” Specify the filename "Sample Web page." On the
Save As Type, choose "Web Page (*.htm; *.html).”

Creating Your Website using Jimdo

          Jimdo is a WYSIWYG web hosting service. It offers free, professional, and business
web hosting services. Jimdo also has an Android and iOS application. You can use this to
manage your website whenever you do not have access to a PC. In this exercise, create a
website that focuses on your hobby or passion.

1. Go to www.jimdo.com and clicking Create Your Free Website to create your own
account on Jimdo.
2. You will be instructed to choose a template. Pick any template that you want.
3. Choose a URL for your website. Enter your email and password.
4. Your website will be generated, and soon, you will end up in the WYSIWYG editor of
the site.
5. The center will show the preview of your website. On the right, you will find the design
tools. The editor is easy to use.

          
          Now, it is time to edit the website according to your liking. To achieve it, use the
following tips:

          The home page is shown on your editor by default. To navigate to another page,
press the page title seen on your navigator. The site navigator contains a set of links going
through the different pages of your website. The navigator that is currently available to you
will depend on which template you chose.
Site Settings
 Design - changes the design style of the page (like
color)
 Store - manages the orders made from your website
 Blog - creates a blog for your website
 SEO - Search Engine Optimization, used for others
to easily find your site using search engines like
Google and Bing
 Domain and Emails – it is used to manage email
accounts for your website.
 Settings - changes account and website settings
 Questions - accesses Jimdo's help archive
 Upgrade - upgrades to JimdoPro or JimdoBusiness
WEEK 13
Discussion
           "You never miss the water until the well runs dry," and perhaps, the same saying
applies for the Internet. How many times has your ISP deprived you of your right to access
the Internet? How many times have you been frustrated? But besides not being able to
update your profile picture or update what you had for dinner last night, there are bigger
things this world would have missed without the Internet. ICT, in general, played a crucial
role in our history.

The Role of ICT in Recent History

           The Philippines has been one of the few nations that demonstrates unity for a call to
social change or action throughout recent history. If it were not for ICT, these campaigns for
social change would not have been successful.

1. EDSA (People Power Revolution) - The People Power Revolution lasted from 1983 to
1986. During a radio broadcast of Radyo Veritas, Cardinal Sin encouraged the
Filipinos to help end the regime of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. Along EDSA,
from February 22 to 25, 1986, a major protest took place wherein two million Filipinos
from different sectors were involved. These included civilians, religious groups,
political parties, and the military. The course of history changed with the help of the
radio broadcast. Filipinos would not have been moved into action without it.

2. EDSA Dos - This is also known as the 2001 EDSA Revolution, which happened from
January 17 to 21, 2001. It was fueled after 11 prosecutors of President Joseph
Estrada walked out of the impeachment trial. As a result, through text brigades, the
crowd in EDSA grew over a few days. Just like the in first People Power Revolution,
without the text brigades, Edsa Dos would not have been successful.

3. Million People March - This is a series of protests that mainly took place in Luneta
Park from August 22 to 26, 2013. Several demonstrations happened around important
cities in the Philippines and even some locations overseas. Its purpose was to
condemn the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). Though it
is dubbed as the Million People March, there were only around 400,000 total
attendees. Despite that, it demonstrated how powerful social media campaigns are
and was still considered a success. As their mediums, Facebook and Change.org was
used by the organizers and promoters of the Million People March.

4. Yolanda People Finder – Due to the recent storms in Philippine history, the People
finder database powered by Google was born. The People Finder, a vital tool during
typhoon Yolanda, was used by people across the globe to track their relatives’
situation during the typhoon. This proved to be successful and is now adopted by
more organizations with the goal of helping people track relatives during calamities.
Change.org
           Change.org is dubbed as the world's platform for change. Here, a petition can be
created by anyone from the online community. Then, they proceed ask other people to sign
it. In the past, petitions are only done by signing a paper, usually done by a group asking for
signatures via travel. By allowing the online community to affix their digital signatures on a
petition, Change.org gives access to more people. The mission of Change.org's is to help
people from all around the world create the change that they want to see. For years,
Change.org hosted several petitions that help solve the following problems: economic
problems, criminal injustice, abuse of human rights, lack of education, environmental
concerns, animal abuse, human health concerns, and world hunger.