Capstone – Kevin's Blog

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone with 1 Comment

Capstone #7 – Presenting to the Parents

We presented our Capstones to our families. We were split into different rooms, some were in the classroom, library, computer lab and the auditorium. I was in the auditorium and it was very different because we had a mic that made your voice very loud. You had to speak very loud and clear. I was kind of nervous for the presentation but during the real presentation I was very relaxed because I knew the parents were not going to judge me. After this long journey we finally finished Capstone. Capstone was fun and hard. Here is my performance:

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone with 1 Comment

Capstone #6 – Working on My Final Project

For Capstone, you need to do a Ted Talk or a Ignite for your Final Project. An Ignite is a slideshow where the slides change every 15 seconds and an Ted Talk is whatever is in your mind. I decided to do a TED Talk, and I made a 13 slide presentation. I was also thinking about projected two phones texting each and representing a real life risk. But before that you have to make a script, I have 13 slides so for each slide I wrote what I needed to say. I first started to memorize my script and then I put photos in my slideshow to show what I am saying. After this I just kept practicing my slideshow and now I am preforming in front of the class. Which then the class give me positive and constructive feedback. This Final Project was hard but also fun.

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone tagged Essaywith 3 Comments

Capstone #5 – Answering My Main Inquiry

For Capstone, you need to write an essay answering your Main Inquiry Question. My Inquiry Question is: What are the risks to our privacy when on different Social Media sites an what are the top ways we can protect ourselves. This essay was based on lots of research and is a big part of this project. Here is my essay:

Have you ever thought when you go online that your personal or private information can be stolen at anytime or anywhere? Probably not, but after you read this, YOU WILL. There are many risks to our privacy when we use Social Media sites. The top three risks are posting, info and scams and data selling. The top five ways to protect ourselves is remember the Internet is permanent, be selective when accepting a friend, managing your privacy settings, don’t reveal personal information and choose hard -to-unlock passwords. I have been doing almost two months of research.I think that there are many risks but also ways we can can protect ourselves on Social Media sites.

The first part of my Main Inquiry Question is: What are the risks to our privacy when we use Social Media sites? One risk of your privacy on Social Media is posting because whatever is posted can be found by anyone in the world. This is why if something gets posted but you don’t want people to see, anyone can still find it and hurt or threaten you, the number of sexual assaults per year has increased by 300% . Examples are, personal information, inappropriate pictures, etc. According to https://www.guardchild.com/social-media-statistics-2/ 24% of users have had private or embarrassing information posted without their permission. This is something that lots of teens do not pay attention to. Another risk of your privacy on Social Media sites is that on Social media, info and scams can open up breaches of security. When we use Social Media, viruses, identity and brand theft can all occur. You should consider being more careful when clicking “I agree” to avoid the software and hardware security breaches. Some recommend being very broad with information to avoid very personal information leaks. You need to think how much information you share and if that information can be used against you. This is one of the more sneaky and harder to control risks to your privacy on Social Media sites. My final risk of your privacy on social media sites is data selling. This happens when a company sells part of their customers information. For example the Facebook Scandal was when Mark Zuckerberg (CEO) sold information to a different company and gave away many people’s information. This is a risk to your privacy that is beyond your control.

The second part of my Main Inquiry Question is: What are the top ways we can protect ourselves on Social Media sites? One of the top ways we can protect ourselves is to remember the Internet lasts forever – once you put information on the site, it stays permanent. Even if you delete the account, you can not be sure if someone has already printed or copied your text or photos off of it. According to https://www.guardchild.com/social-media-statistics-2/ 39% of users think that their information is private to everyone. This is one very important way to protect yourself on Social Media sites. Another top way we can protect ourselves is be selective when accepting a friend – Do you really know that their profile is not fake? Only friend people you know in the real world. Be careful when clicking on links, even if they’re from friends. Hackers hunt on social networks because you are more likely to click on something from your friends. Try not to accept offers that are too good to be true, because they usually are. Another way we can protect ourselves is to manage your privacy settings – make sure that you are only sharing information with friends and family or anyone you trust and check them regularly in case there are any changes. Be careful of the fact that the information you share on any social network may be connected to another. For example, a video you post to Twitter may automatically post to your Facebook account. Don’t have the GPS function on your smartphone camera all the time. If you plan to share images on Social Media sites, make sure that you don’t reveal your exact location by turning off the GPS on your device. Don’t turn on auto login. Don’t have your computer’s browser to remember your login and password and make sure that you don’t have your apps set to automatically log you in so that way if someone does get access to your devices, they can’t access your social sites. This is a way to protect ourselves on Social Media sites that most people don’t know about.

Another way we can protect ourselves is don’t reveal personal information. Question anyone who asks for your personal information online and never give away any home address, phone number, Social Security number, or other personal information. According to https://www.guardchild.com/social-media-statistics-2/ 29% of users have been stalked by someone they don’t know. This is another top way we can protect ourselves on Social Media sites. Another way we can protect ourselves on Social Media sites is to change your passwords regularly. Choose hard-to-unlock passwords that are at least eight characters long and a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Also make sure you use different passwords for each profile. Close old accounts that you don’t use anymore. Don’t risk leaving personal data in an old account, such as a MySpace page that has been idle for years, or on an online dating site you no longer in use. Instead, close the accounts you don’t use and delete as much personal information from them as possible. All of these methods show some top ways to protect yourself on Social Media sites.

In conclusion, these examples all show the risks and the top ways we can protect ourselves on Social Media sites. I think some of the risks are linked to the top ways we can protect ourselves but some don’t. Even though there are a lot of risks there are also many ways to protect yourself on Social Media sites. I learned a lot researching about this Main Inquiry Question. Now you know to think before you send, press or post anything.

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone tagged Interviewwith 2 Comments

Capstone #4 – Interview

For our 5th grade Capstone project, we needed an interview. An interview is where you ask someone questions and they answer them. My Capstone topic is Social Media so I needed to find an expert in Social Media. My site visit (a place related to my topic) was to a place called We are Social (advertising on Social Media), so my dad helped my find two people I can interview.

The first person was Matthew Friedman. Matthew works in strategy. For the interview I need questions so I made a list of 17 questions.

Do we need Social Media in our lives?
How has Social Media affected our lives?
What are some top ways we can protect our privacy from different Social Media sites?
Do you think Facebook’s scandals affected Social Media?
What have Social Media companies been doing in response after the Facebook scandal?
Do you think the government can do anything to prevent Social Media privacy?
In the event of a any violation of customer privacy by Social Media companies, is there any law that regulated and punish the companies?
Do you think we should limit the access to information from different companies? CEO, and other big parts of a company?
What is it that your company is doing to protect customer privacy?
Are there technology developed specifically designed to protect Social Media privacy?
Do you think people from different people view privacy protection differently and if so what differences?
Are there Social Media products and services that are friendlier to privacy protection than other product and services?
What are some of the best ways to teach kids to be responsible on Social Media?
Has Social Media causes too much addiction?
Do you think Social Media has ruined bonding, family, etc?
Should there be a age limit for Social Media accounts like alcohol?
What is the difference of Social Media evolution in the US compared to Europe?

These questions were very different but related to the same topic. After I ask these question he gave some interesting answers. For example for question 12 he replied “Not that I know of”, which surprised me because I thought they world have some sort of technology that can protect our privacy.

My second interview was with Samantha Palser. Samantha works in research and insights. I asked her the same 17 questions and she had very similar answers but for a few questions she would say something like ” I think BLANK is BLANK but also is BLANK and Matthew was more of a straight answer. Samantha had less direct but more thoughtful answers. I think Matthew and Samantha were very different interviewees.

My second site visit for Capstone was to a place called Cowen (Diversified financial services firm that provides alternative investment management and investment banking services), there I interviewed one person, Liliana Riotto. Liliana had my questions in advance so she made a packet explaining all her answers. This helped me understand what she was saying during the interview. Her answers always had two sides and were way more complex. She had lots of opinions but most of her answer was based on research or an article.

My favorite interview was Matthew’s because it was clear and simple, which made it easier to understand. Samantha and Liliana were a little confusing and unclear. These interviews helped me in my Capstone research. The interviews also helped me see what real people think about important things about Social Media.

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone tagged site visitwith 1 Comment

Capstone #3 – Site Visit

For our Capstone project we need to go on a site visit to a place that is related to your topic. My topic is Social Media so I researched my topic and looked at companies nearby. I found a few places, one was We Are Social. We are Social was a Social Media company that advertised on Social Media. This site visit was very cool, in the company there were many computers for research, but at the same time they had many fun things there like a bean bag room or a chair swing and a ping pong table. This was a focused but playful work place. I took many photos and learned a lot about Social Media. I thought Social Media was always just an app and never really thought there were many small companies that advertise and do many other different things related to Social Media. My favorite part of it was all the fun and playful things there. Here are some photos:

My second site visit was a place called Cowen. Cowen is a Diversified financial services firm that provides alternative investment management and investment banking services. They have a section on Social Media. This place was more open and spacious. They had many signs and things that keep track on things like how the Social Media stock market is doing. This was a more focused and serious company. My favorite part was how they have many very large rooms categorized for different jobs. Here are some photos:

Overall I think these two companies are very different in style. The first one was small but had many playful things and the second one was very big and also focused. I had lots of fun and learned many new things about Social Media Companies and where they work.

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone tagged sub questionswith 2 Comments

Capstone #2 – Inquiry and Sub Questions

After choosing my Main Topic, I have to pick my Inquiry Question, this is the question you will be researching and presenting about. Choosing this meant choosing one part of your topic and making it a question. My topic was Social Media so I wanted to do The Evolution of Social Media. After a lot of thinking I decided to do How social media has effected our lives and should we have more restrictions. This is my inquiry question next you have to make your sub questions, your sub questions are your mini questions up to your inquiry. I did 4 sub questions and this took lots of thinking. But eventually I thought of the right sub questions.

Sub Questions;

What are the positive effects of social media?

What are the negative effects of social media?

What can the government do to control information leaks?

Should we have more restricted?

By yniu25 on 5th Grade, Capstone tagged Topicwith 4 Comments

Capstone #1 – Choosing a Main Topic

Capstone is the final and most important project in 5th grade. Capstone means the High Point. Capstone is a two month project, in which you choose a topic and a main inquiry question. After this, you research and put together a presentation. There are also many requirements. For example you need to interview someone related to your topic, and also have a site visit (go somewhere related to your topic). Choosing the topic is not easy since you need to find something you are interested in but not something you just want to do because of a new trend or your parent has a contact with someone, you also need a 1st choice topic and a backup topic. I started with something boring like NFL greatest players and Tennis greatest players. After a while of thinking I changed it to ESPN in and outs and Twitch vs Youtube. Then my teacher helped me realize that ESPN was something I wasn’t that interested in. So after a lot of research and thinking, I changed it to The Evolution of Social Media, but I knew I had to shorten it down. The only problem with this is that I don’t use Social Media like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. The only partial Social Media I used was Youtube so I thought about doing Youtube. I felt like this was too simple and I wanted to learn a lot about something. I talked to my mom and I wanted to do other things like different Social Media. Now that I have a close to 95% sure topic, time to think of an Inquiry Question.