NEW RESOURCES

Google has launched new tools to keep accounts safe. “My Account gives you quick access to the settings and tools that help you safeguard your data, protect your privacy, and decide what information is used to make Google services work better for you. It also provides more context to help you understand your options and make the right choices for you.”

A new online portal highlights research from Kentucky – “The University of Kentucky Libraries has collaborated with several counterparts and Berkeley Electronic Press to create Kentucky Research Commons, an online portal that highlights and provides access to scholarly works produced at different institutions in the Commonwealth.”

USEFUL STUFF

From Hongkiat: 9 Google Photos Features You Need to Know.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Yahoo and the NFL are teaming up for the first global live stream of an NFL game. “Sports fans, mark your calendars for October 25, 2015. We’re teaming up with the NFL to bring you the International Series Game, live streamed from London, so you can watch the Buffalo Bills take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this fall.”

The Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of a man who was convicted of making threats after posting rap lyrics to Facebook. “Anthony Elonis was convicted in 2011 on four out of five counts for violating a federal law that prohibits making illegal threats through communication channels like wire and radio. In Elonis’s case, he quoted violent rap lyrics on Facebook after his wife left him the year prior.”

The Governor of Vermont just asked Mark Zuckerberg if he wants some. “I was very concerned to read about Facebook’s unnecessary bullying of a Vermont startup called Designbook. The Vermonters behind this company are the type of people that make me proud to be this state’s Governor….The last thing these Vermonters deserve is for a giant corporation to threaten them unnecessarily. We don’t stand for that type of injustice in Vermont.”

Facebook is getting into PGP encryption. “Users who want to take advantage of the new security standards can tell Facebook their public key, and the site will then ensure that any sensitive emails that it sends out, such as password resets or other notifications, will be encrypted.”

RESEARCH AND OPINION

Interesting paper from Süleyman Nihat ŞAD: Facebook as a Peer Assessment Tool: Does It Work for Visual Art Education. “According to the findings, most of the students had positive opinions regarding peer observation and comments via Facebook. In general participants stated that such peer assessment is beneficial, since it helps them notice their deficiencies, look at their work from a different perspective and improve their artistic skills; thanks to positive feedback their motivation and self-confidence is boosted. Participants also believed that peer-assessment on Facebook has the advantage of ubiquity, which means, without any limitation of time or space, they enjoy feedback from students from upper grades or from the art departments of other national or international universities.” Very brief but interesting, with a good set of references. I would love to see a study combining Facebook with a more art-oriented site, like DeviantArt.

Why and when do students refer to the Internet for answers? “In one study, University of Louisville psychologists Nicholaus S. Noles and Judith H. Danovitch found that 4- and 5-year-olds are more likely to turn to adults for the answer to a question than a computer, while adults are more likely to seek the answer electronically. Interestingly, 8-year-olds turn to computers more than younger children, but less than adults. However, 5- and 8-year-olds are more likely to trust an answer from a computer if it conflicts with a person’s response.” Good afternoon, Facebook…

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