Week 12 Blog: The Grand Finale

The Grand Finale 

“Be the best version of you."

My very first blog was about being the "new kid on the block," not knowing my way or the way of social networking.  I was so intimidated by the idea of creating a digital footprint and a professional Personal Learning Network. Being that it is now the end of the semester, I feel much more confident going into the career world having my online identity at its finest. So many people don't realize how big of an impact your digital footprint can make on getting accepted into programs or even receiving a job.  

Enrolling in this class, I was not completely sure what to expect.  I was a transfer student who registered directly with an adviser, and all I remember her saying was "This is such a great class, I'm going to have you take it!" So, there I was on the first day of class.  However, I was shocked that Professor Calderwood instructed us to get a Twitter. At the moment, I had no idea how a Twitter account was going to get me where I wanted to be. Oh boy, was I wrong. I have already built connections with professionals that are in my intended field, or individuals that are pursuing the same field.  

We have done some truly incredible projects throughout the semester that have benefited me in other classes. The one project that helped the most was out social media etiquette project.  This gave us an opportunity to see what else was out there other than slides.  Exploring all of our different options on how to create presentations tends to give me a leg up in my additional classes.  Prezi was by far the easiest to use and gave me the most freedom when it came to creating a presentation.  I've already used Prezi in other classes, and its so much better than being bored to death by Powerpoint.

Another cool project we did was in this past week, called Makerspaces.   We used several objects including play doh, tinfoil, potatoes, and even ourselves as conductors. We were able to control the keyboard with these conductors.  We found that the best conductors were ourselves.  We were also able to do a Google Hangout with Jessica Allen, director of educational technology. 

We have learned a copious amount of tools in order to improve our online presence.  We have learned integration tools, such as EveryPost.  This is such an easy to use program and it's there to make your life easier! You can post to multiple PLNs at the same time, and just check off which ones you want it posted on.  Great way to reach out to individuals connected with different social media sites.  Another way to improve your online presence, or at least to make it look professional are some design tools.  One awesome program we learned about this semester is Piktochart, which is great if you need to present something.  It's a simple way to create an infographic.  The second program that makes it simple to create professional posters, graphs, and design is Canva.  I've already used this one for presentations in other classes.  It's an easy way to get creative, and you can even collaborate with other users.

Furthermore, one of my favorite apps on my iPhone is Zite.  It's a great way to look through articles based on your interests, and share them on your accounts!  This is a great way to spark conversations on social networking and also to stay updated on what's happening in your profession. Lastly, I also discovered a ton of medical applications that I never knew existed before this class!  Since I am studying to be a Physician Assistant, I get extremely excited with apps like this!  One of my favorites is the Genes to Cognition site, which favors towards the study of the brain and how it operates.  Another fun medical app is called iTriage.  This is great for beginners that are studying the medical field.  It helps diagnose based on certain symptoms, it shows you the closest medical facilities, tells you the types of medications that could help, and much more.  

My absolute favorite application is for individuals that have a bit of a stronger stomach. It's called Figure1.  This is such a cool way to see Physicians and Surgeons collaborate and discuss certain diagnoses.  It's almost like an Instagram for medical professionals.  One person posts a picture, and everyone will comment underneath it and discuss what is happening in the picture.  I'm more of a visual learning so this is an excellent studying tool.  

On a personal note, I have to say my favorite Google Hangout was with Dr. Caleph Wilson, who I still talk about to this day.  He taught us how social networking helped him receive some of the opportunities he was able to get. It was interesting to me that I was able to "meet" someone that works everyday to find ways to treat cancer and HIV.  Dr. Wilson told us that every connection matters.  The people we meet in everyday life can help us later down the line if we keep that connection through the social web. This was my most meaningful Google Hangout all semester.  It stood out to me, that one day, maybe I could do something this significant with my life.  I appreciate Dr. Wilson, and the inspiration he gave me. 

 This is such a beneficial class to take for someone so close to entering the career field.  The world is not like it used to be.  Employers looked at your resume, asked you some questions, and called it a day.  Today, employers are exploring all of your online activities to see what you are really up to.  This class has taught me to be more cautious and to take advantage of the connections I can build. 

 You never know, your next opportunity could be one click away. 

Blog 11: Create Yourself

Create Yourself.

Here's your chance to promote and display yourself in the best way you can.

This week we had the opportunity to do a Google Hangout with Gretchen Thomas, an instructor at the University of Georgia.  Her learning, design, and technology class is very similar to ours except she has all education majors, whereas ours is a variety of majors.  It is very interesting to see a class very parallel to mine on Twitter and to witness what kind of things they are learning.  Gretchen told us about one of the coolest projects her class had done this semester was when they were helping the elementary schools near them with the BYOD program; also known as “Bring your Own Device” to school.  This is a great way to have the younger generations benefit from our technological tools.  She also mentioned a couple good programs such as wix, to create websites.  Then penio, a place for writers to collaborate. Lastly, there is Smore, which is a newsletter site.  She was incredibly insightful and a pleasure to talk to! Thank you for your time!

We also discussed the importance of websites, especially at this stage in life.  Being in college and at the very beginning peek of a career, it is important to build an online resume and make a name for yourself.  There were a couple of sites that Professor Calderwood gave us.  Wordpress is an option.  There is also Weebly, which is great online portfolio that looks nice, has a contact form, you can use a background that is responsive, and even works for mobile view.  Furthermore, scribd. is great to put a resume into for your online website.  Following that, you could use loremipsum as a word filler to see the layout of the website. Next, my class even participated in an activity that dealt with diagnosing the pros and cons of certain websites we picked, to help with our websites that we will be creating.

Lastly, we had a reading on chapter nine, “What the Future Holds” in “Connected Educator” by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall.  It discusses how the web is a place to find people, exchange ideas, share insights, and opinions.  The web is also a helpful learning resource.  It is such a great learning tool, that many school districts have taken it and used it towards educating not only students, but teachers.  In this chapter, they mention four core components.  Core components are to basically change how you learn, to ask questions, to collaborate, and most importantly, explore.  

The first core component is knowledge; knowing your resources.  Second is pedagogy, which is encouraging students not only in the classroom but outside the classroom.  Third, is connections, this includes personal learning networks and building meaningful connections.  Lastly, is capacity, which is the idea of being open-minded and the concept of giving and taking.  Not only learning from people but teaching them as well.

In this chapter, they also mention the questions for the change agent.  A change agent is someone who intentionally or indirectly causes advancement social, cultural, or behavioral change.  Some of the questions include the following:

• Do you see opportunities for positive change that other at your school/program do not see?

• Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas or resources?

• Are your ideas really good?

• Do you add value or just create noise?

• Are you getting the best contributions from most people?

Change is not easy and never has been.  In order to be a change agent, you need to make a difference.  From the words of these talented authors…

“Choose to be powerful.”

Week 10 Blog: Time to Unify

Time to Unify

Being on the same page as coworkers, teammates, or even families can never be a bad thing.  Coming together and blending is also good for social media sites and to collaborate.  This week we learned a variety of different apps and programs that integrate with one another to make our lives a little easier.

This week was filled with many different applications and programs to help make integrating on the web a little easier.  On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of meeting Scott Rocco, Superintendent and Adjunct Professor at The College of New Jersey. He is also the founder of  #Satchat and an instructor at NJEXCEL.  The first program Rocco showed us is called Doodle.  Need to coordinate meetings with coworkers?  Or even doing a group project? Then is perfect for you! Doodle is very simple to use too.  You schedule an event, give title for specific event, include emails, pick separate times, then do a basic poll to see what time and day works for everyone else.  It will send an invite to everyone's email, and it will let you know when everyone is available. Very low-tech and easy to use!

Next up, is a screenshot sharing program.  Jing. You can capture your whole desktop or just a piece of it.  You can change colors, can draw on it, edit it, or even make a video narrating it.  You can also share, save, copy, or delete it.  This is a handy feature to show demonstrations.

       Furthermore, Rocco showed us an awesome brainstorming tool; Padlet.  This is a great program to use to create and collaborate.  You can just create a board then send out the link to it, and anyone with the link can post anything on the board.  That simple. 

          Following, Rocco displayed how to use Buffer. Are you too busy throughout the day to keep up with your personal learning networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn?  This is a great device to use to schedule your posts throughout the day or weeks.  Therefore, you're not posting a crazy amount of tweets all at once because it's the only time you really get to your phone.  Now, you can stage your tweets so they are spread out and followers don't get bombarded with your posts.

        

 Lastly, Rocco had demonstrated how to use the Pocket App. This is great to save any articles or links that you want to go back and read later.  You just click and it will add to your pocket.  Also, once it's saved in your pocket, you do not need internet to refer back to it. My class is very appreciative for the great programs and applications that Scott Rocco showed us! All of them are very useful for everyday living!

             

Professor Calderwood showed us some incredibly useful apps and programs as well.  The first one that is a convenient app is called IFTTT; which stands for if then, then that. This tool is used to integrate social media sites together.

  Another neat site we were showed is EveryPost. This gives you the capability to post to different social media sites simultaneously.  This brings social media publishing to a whole new level of convenience.

Following that, we learned about PieThis. It's is almost like an instant messaging site for specific groups or topics; a very good collaborative tool to use.  Subsequently, we were also taught how to use Compfight. This is a search engine you can use to freely download high-resolution images, clip art, and professional photos.  This is a great site for posters, blogs, or portfolios that you need images on. Succeeding, there is TChat, which is a good resource to use if you are trying to follow specific hash tags or compose a tweet right there.  You can view twitter chats during the live feed.  You can reply, re-tweet, and hide re-tweets from other users. Next up, we have Swayy, which is similar to Zite.  In case you're not sure on what either of those do, they are apps to find articles based on what you're interests entail. These are great ways to share articles to your personal learning network in order to inform followers or build connections based off interests.  

Also, there are a couple good visual tools we learned about.  Piktochart is an easy way to create an info-graphic which is good to present because its easier for the audience to understand. Canva is a site to create professional-looking posters, graphs, and designs.  Easy as drag and drop!  You can also collaborate with others.  

Then, Professor Calderwood went on to show us Storify, which is a good way to archive tweets from Twitter chats and you're able to embed them into a blog.  Following that one was TagBoard.  Simply typing in a hash-tag can pull up photos from all Instagram and Twitter.  They even sometimes use this site for the Jumbo-tron during sporting events. 

Finally, we learned about Paperli.  This is your own personal online newspaper.  It pushes out specific content based on what you choose.  All you do is type in specific people, topics, or hash-tags and it will filter in your newspaper.  You can also set it to notify your followers daily, weekly, or twice a day. 

Week 9 Blog: What's your story?

What's your Story?

Everyone has a story they want to share.  Their experiences, their reflections, and their thoughts are just screaming to get heard.  In this blog, I'll not only give you programs you can share your story on, but ways you can collaborate and hear others.  I'll also give you another way to share the adventures burning inside!  Let's see how you can share your story. 

This week, we were asked to read chapter 4 out of Untangling the Web by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow.  In this chapter, they discussed a few different of social networking tools. The first one that really stood out to me is the one we use in our class this semester; Edmodo. This program was launched in 2008. It is a place for teachers to bring their classes to collaborate, complete assignments, and even take quizzes.  This digital classroom also sends alerts and shows your progress/grades. 

The next one that was discussed is one of the most popular social networking sites in today's society is Twitter.  This is simple and to the point! Only 140 characters per post! The great thing about this microblog is that its an easy way to make connections all over the world.  What you put into it, is exactly what you will get out of it.  

The last program mentioned that really stood out to me was TodaysMeet, which is where teachers can create private communication boards for students to come together and collaborate.  This program has the potential to change the dynamic of the classroom and enhance learning processes.  This is beneficial for the students so they can ask questions inside and outside the learning environment.  Teachers can also have students answer questions during a movie on this as well.  TodaysMeet also has a time limit for however long the facilitator wants it to stay open.

Earlier in the week, we also learned about some amazing tools to create a digital story!  We had the opportunity of learning from Hannah Clemmons, Jonathan Wylie, and Shannon McClintock.  Hannah, from LaunchPadToys showed us how to use Toontastic to create our very own cartoons! Super easy to use!  You just select background, character, and you just move your characters as you narrate the part.  You can also add music if you want to create that emotional level as well. 

Following was Jonathan, who showed us how to use animoto. This is a very easy and straight-forward program to use.

Furthermore, was Shannon, who showed us how to use flipsnack and storybird!  Flipsnack is more about adding an already existing file, such as a pdf or Google presentation and adding from there.  As for storybird, it is an artistic way of storytelling!  Very good for younger students to use to show their understanding of concepts. 

Lastly, Professor Calderwood told us about Voki. Voki is like virtual people that you can make talk.  It's actually really neat and easy to use! There are also many more apps and programs that are easily accessible.  Let's see what kind of stories you're able to create! Goodluck!

Blog 8: What's in your Toolbox?

What's in your Toolbox?

There's no point to make connective learning so difficult when there are plenty of tools designed to make the process easier.  The great thing about networks is that people are constantly trying to improve and find the most efficient way to get things done.  

For this weeks blog, we were asked to read Chapter 5, "Using Tools to Support Connected Learning," out of Connected Educator written by Sheryl Nassbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall.   This chapter was incredibly useful for beginners like myself.  There are a copious amount of programs and networks that I have never heard of until reading this book.  It's amazing the tools you can use to make networking painless. So the first tools that were mentioned, were mainly for book marking or tagging purposes.  This is basically just a way to organize the information you are retrieving.  

The first site they discussed is called Delicious, which is a well liked website for bookmarking.  This makes searching a lot less time consuming as well, instead of searching the broad spectrum of Google.  You can just tag the websites you like and revisit them whenever you'd like.  It is also a convenient way to collaborate resources.  

The next one is called Diigo, another social bookmarking community, resembling similar characteristics of Delicious, but has enhanced features. The cool thing about Diigo is that you can make annotation right on the webpages that you're saving.  You can also add sticky notes or highlight certain information.  Furthermore, you can split your page up into three different sections. The three sections are My Library, My Network, and My Groups. A place for research, a place to build your personal learning network, and a place to collaborate.  

    Subsequently, we have tools that are mostly for connecting and sharing.  The most significant collaborative tool are blogs.  Web-blogs are journal-like entries that share information and experiences that enable you to receive feedback. A couple of free blog websites are Word Press, Blogger, and Tumblr.

Following, we have podcasts, which are audio and/or video files.  You can download these on laptops, smartphones, or an ipod.  Convenience is key here. You can just easily download and listen to them whenever you want!  

    Additionally, one of the popular microblogging sites is Twitter.  It is for all types of people to connect and build a personal learning network.  Twitter connects worldwide.  It is a very short way of sharing information, thoughts, and experiences including pictures and videos.  

    Lastly, for the blogging type tools, we have Google Documents.  This is my personal favorite, mainly for the collaborative aspect of it.  Google Docs is set up very similar to Microsoft Word.  The main difference is that you can share the document with whomever you'd like and everyone can work on the same paper at the same time and it will save simultaneously.  This is extremely beneficial for group projects or papers.  Definitely a life-saver for a college student!

The final subject that I'd like to make mention of from this chapter is about managing your online reputation.  We should all be aware that your digital footprint is something that will follow you for the rest of your life.  You want to display yourself in the most positive and professional.  Your activities and behavior online directly reflect your online image.  A great way to track yourself is on Google Alerts.  You're able to see when your name is used online and what pops up when that occurs.

Online reputation is a vital part of surviving this society today.  This week in class we presented stories of when social media had been used incorrectly and the negative effects of it.  Everyone brought in different stories of how it can affect your image, your job, or even your life.  Think before you act.