SLCO100 Leaning and Communicating Online Assessment One: An exploration of the digital world (individual task).

Diabetes Diabetes is a chronic health problem that involves elevated and decreased glucose levels in the blood. Glucose is needed to supply energy to every cell in the body. If levels become too high or too low they become toxic to the brain and other organs in the body. There are 3 main types of diabetes: type 1 (insulin dependent), type 2 (non-insulin dependent) and type 3(pre-diabetes). The following 4 sources enabled social constructivism to play an important part in my research: Diabetes Mellitushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes A multisystem disease, diabetes debilitates the human body in more ways than onehttp://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2045009,00.html Keeping a child safe at schoolhttp://forecast.diabetes.org/school-aug2012 Diabetes videohttp://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/videos/diabetes/635

What I learnt about diabetes and online sources The Wikipedia website provided information, facts, diagrams, links, statistics, comparison tables (type 1 and type 2), history of diabetes; Diabetes was one of the first diseases described, with an Egyptian manuscript from 1500 BCE mentioning "too great emptying of the urine", further readings and external links in relation to classification, signs and symptoms, causes, various countries epidemiology of diabetes. I found Wikipedia to be very informative and factual by adding new information to my preexisting knowledge- Assimilation. I found there were an extraordinary amount of references throughout the Wikipedia readings. This gave me the opportunity to branch out and use a few reference links to research diabetes further. Diabetes Australia was established in 1984, as a national federated body comprising of state and territory organizations supporting people with diabetes and those professional research bodies particularly concerned with the treatment and prevention of diabetes. 208 Australians develop diabetes every day (updated 15/10/2012). Approximately 1.7 million Australians have diabetes but that up to half the cases of type 2 remain undiagnosed, its estimated that by 2031, 3.3 million Australians will have type 2 diabetes (Vos et al, 2004). I found these statistics to be a little confronting as I personally have a family living with diabetes. After reading on Wikipedia about the effects diabetes has on the body, I wanted to specifically find an interactive diagram displaying this information. I looked this up on Google and found an interactive diagram on the TIME website with red flashing dots on the diagram of the body and internal organs; holding the mouse over these dots displays information in relation to that specific part of the body. The heart (pointing with the cursor) Diabetics have an increased risk of atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. The hand (pointing with the cursor) Nerve Endings, Kristy Snell Page 1

Neuropathy- damage of the nerves- often affects nerves that control sensations and can impair sexual function. I found this diagram interesting, as it could perhaps be used as an educational tool for school children/adolescents coping with the effects of diabetes on themselves or someone they may know , although I became frustrated as I was unable to find the author/illustrator, leaving me wondering how accurate these points of information actually were. As a result of my frustration this led me to find a real life story about diabetes. I was able to read or listen to Keeping a child safe at school, by Tracey Neithercott. This article demonstrated knowledge by the the author, mother, legal services attorney, pediatric diabetologist and the ADA about a safe environment being one of the few things children with diabetes require during the day. How to provide this safe environment became the topic of conversation further on in the article and also provided reason for debate and conversation from readers. Hearing the key issues regarding diabetes and the environment from different perspectives was helpful and enlightening. I was able to read further through links in the article backing up the information Tracey had published, last updated on 10/9/2012. As previously mentioned readers are able to comment on the article, voicing their opinion about keeping children safe at school, I thought this was very practical and a great form of social constructivism. I was browsing through Facebook trying to find a page about diabetes and this lead me to watch a video. The video Diabetes was shared on Facebook by a user from http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com . The video was created on the 8/12/2010, publisher unknown (I was unable to find any link). This video was a visual and audio enhanced tool providing facts and knowledge about diabetes. The video portrayed similar findings to that of all 3 previous sources, in a simplified yet informative manor. The main factors about diabetes were addressed and the transcript was also available to read.. The diabetes video helped to put the medical terminology into better perspective in relation to the body and its blood and cells when suffering from diabetes. Showing the glucose and insulin functions of a person without diabetes, and then in a diabetic was helpful to understand the difference and why diabetes can be fatal if untreated. Unfortunately there was nowhere else to go after watching the video, apart from the website itself, there werent any references or links to follow. I found this disappointing after my previous research led me to source more information from other sites and platforms. Conclusion I learnt legions regarding assimilation and accommodation from social constructivism about diabetes and evaluating online sources. Diabetes affects 347,000,000 people worldwide (WHO, Wikipedia) as is rapidly becoming an alarming epidemic across the world. I observed information to be reliable, trustworthy and valid when it arose throughout the differing sources of research. For example the information contained in the video diabetes was comparable to the information obtained from Wikipedia. This reinforced my current research practices, to continually acquire information from a variety of sources. References and links helped to cement the authenticity and dependability of the information gathered. Using different online sources expanded my knowledge about diabetes; I can

Kristy Snell

Page 2

apply this new information to my personal and workplace environment, and use my evaluation of online sources for my future research and studies.

Kristy Snell

Page 3