apcampbell

After week three, we still felt confused about what trackback was
and how it was to be used.  Therefore, we spent a significant
portion of class talking about this.  Our discussion focused
on the consequential and qualtitative differences between
commenting, blogging, and posting a story.  Henshall’s November post
was helpful in providing a starting point for this
discussion.  We all agreed to make another attempt at practicing
commenting on another learner’s post on our own
weblogs, making sure a link to that post was included
somewhere in our news item.

Our discussion then turned to ethics in personal
webpublishing.  We examined when and how to properly
attribute content to other sources.  We also touched
upon the dilemma of whether or not to edit something that’s already
been published to our site.  Is it acceptable to alter content
after readers have already accessed it?  What does this do to
trust and reliability?  The importance of ethical
practices was stressed.  Finally we reflected on the meaning
of the term ‘intellectual property’ and sought answers for what
constitued ‘ownership of ideas’.  Does such a thing actually
exist?  Is it worth something?  How could something so
abstract be of such value to others?  Is it necessary to use a
creative commons license on our websites?  If we do, are we being
hypocritical in any way?  Do we use pirated software and listen to
copied music and then expect people not to use our ideas without first
asking permission?