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Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world
Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world

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Glossary

Citizen science
A term describing scientific research carried out by members of the general public, often under the supervision of scientists or organisations. It is often used for basic analysis of vast sets of data provided online for people to work through on behalf of scientific researchers, facilitated by ‘Citizen Science’ websites. An example of Crowdsourcing.
Copyright
The legal provision which protects the rightful creator of an original work or concept from plagiarism and intellectual theft by others.
Creative commons
An organisation whose philosophy and work are focused on promoting a variety of copyright licences which allow creators to grant more generous and flexible levels of usage of their work by others.
Crowdsourcing
A term that refers to the largely online practice of asking for input from a large number of people on a specific project. Citizen science is an example of crowdsourcing.
Data
Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. In an online context, data refers to information stored and transmitted electronically for others to see.
Digital citizenship
A person who develops the skills and knowledge to effectively use the internet and other digital technology, especially in order to participate responsibly in social and civic activities. (Dictionary.com, 2015)
Digital footprint
The trail or traces that people leave online.
Digital identity
How a person presents themselves online.
Emoticons and emoji
A method of conveying emotional tone and intention, either online or in text messages, using characters or small images. It began by using simple punctuation, e.g. the classic ‘smiley’ :-) but has evolved to include many different formats of small pictures, commonly called emoji.
Flickr
A social media site for sharing photographs and videos – it was one of the biggest sources of photography on the internet in the 2000s. Some content can be downloaded by anyone under Creative Commons copyright licences.
LinkedIn
A social networking site designed specifically for the business community, which enables registered members to connect and create networks with others they know and trust professionally.
Online campaigns
Using electronic communication technologies such as social media to engage in activism, advocacy, marketing, and online petitions, especially by citizen movements. An example of an online campaigning site is change.org.
Right to be forgotten
The right to have information about you on the web removed from search engines so that it no longer comes up in search results.
Search engine
A programme that enables users to find information on the internet.
Social media
The blanket term for online sites and applications which allow a large number of users to interact and share information digitally, for example social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter or media sharing sites such as YouTube.
YouTube
A free video sharing site where anybody can watch online videos, and also upload videos they have created themselves.