Spam messages, in the form of emails and texts, are “unsolicited commercial messages” sent either to advertise a new product or to trick people into sharing sensitive information through a process called phishing (more about phishing below). Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) protects individuals by outlining clear rules about digital communication processes for businesses. Sending spam messages is a direct violation of the law. Businesses that send unsolicited emails to individuals are legally required to provide an “unsubscribe” option for those who may have wanted the messages at one time but who have changed their minds and no longer want them.

Have you ever considered why products you searched for on Amazon show up in your Facebook feed, pop up in your Google search results, or appear on YouTube in advertisements? Cookies—small pieces of data with a unique ID placed on your device by websites—are online tracking tools that enable this to happen. Cookies can store your website-specific browsing behaviour and any site-specific customization (for example, your location preferences), as well as keep track of items added to a cart on online shopping sites, such as Amazon. In addition, they can track your purchases, content you’ve viewed, and your clicking behaviour. The biggest concern with cookies is that they enable targeted online advertising by sharing your usage and browsing data with advertisers. In addition, certain adve

Let’s face it, very few people read the “terms and conditions,” or the “terms of use” agreements prior to installing an application (app). These agreements are legally binding, and clicking “I agree” may permit apps (the companies that own them) to access your: calendar, camera, contacts, location, microphone, phone, or storage, as well as details and information about your friends.  While some applications require certain device permissions to support functionality—for example, your camera app will most likely need to access your phone’s storage to save the photos and videos you capture—other permissions are questionable. Does a camera app really need access to your microphone? Think about the privacy implications of this decision.

The Triple E is that practical tool that brings together instructional strategies, learning goals and purposeful tool selection.  Most frameworks focus on how technology substitutes for traditional tools or if the technology use is creative, but not if the tools were able to actually leverage the learning goals.

It is a simple framework, based on research around teaching and learning practices with technology tools.  The framework is intended to help educators create lessons that allow students to use technology to meet and add value to learning goals as active, social, creative learners, in authentic ways.