Weekly Blog Report and Reflection #12

Hello fellow bloggers!

The Odyssey Online. (CC) 2016.

Why yes, this is officially my last post on this blog, and it’s sad to say goodbye. I’ve learned a lot throughout this course and enjoyed the exploration of  previously known and unknown tools. When I googled my name I was surprised to see that only a few of my online accounts appeared and I have successfully upheld my digital footprint in a positive way.

The main thing that I have learned about building a positive digital footprint is that it is a vital step in an educational context as well as in the workforce. Everything that you post, like, share, and say online is saved for the whole online world to see and it is important  to represent yourself in a positive light as future employers can view your online pages and obtain your information. It is appropriate to post your thoughts and opinions online as you have a right to freedom of speech, however you must share your opinions in a non hurtful and respectful manner. The amount of young people on the internet is growing and as a digital citizen you must demonstrate to these youth the digital rights and responsibilities and be a good role model as they learn to navigate through the world wide web.

As a digital citizen and a future teacher it is one of my goals to demonstrate to youth the importance of internet safety and being respectful online. At times people forget that there is another person on the other side of the screen when they leave a hurtful comment on their blog or Youtube channel, which is why it is significant to keep the conversation going about digital rights and responsibilities. I also think that the discussion of cyber bullying should be held at a higher value in the classroom because it is so common and children should be educated on the effects of cyberbullying. Online safety plays a large role in being a digital citizen and awareness needs to be formed surrounding this topic in an educational context. Ribble (2015) discusses the importance of educators being aware of digital citizenship and how to integrate it into the curriculum in order to keep their students safe. Ribble (2015) states that the misuse of the internet needs to be dealt with now, rather than in the future, in order to make a long lasting impact on youth and how they use the internet.

Furthermore, I am going to share the new educational website tools that I have taken from this course with my friends. Websites such as Google Docs, Twitter, Prezi, RecordMP3, Gmail, Feedly, etc. are all really great tools and are quite helpful during group projects and presentations. I visit Twitter the most often in order to stay up to date with the news, my friends, and school and I think that it is one of the most beneficial online communities to be a part of. It is a concise and fast way to stay up to date and share your voice with millions of people. Additionally, in my future classroom I would like to integrate these website into the assignments and teach my students about the exploration of new online tools.

For my last official Feedly reader finding, I found an article about “5 Free Digital Solutions for a Happy, Healthier Brain.” This article discusses the constant use of technology and how hiding behind a screen can affect your health. The article suggests different apps that you can download in order to practice mindfulness and use  technology in a non detrimental way that is also brain stimulating. This is a great read and it applies to this course because I’m sure that everyone feels trapped behind their laptop screen as they write their last group of essays!

Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog and I hope to continue on the conversation in the future. Let me know what you think in the comment section below!

Happy blogging, and take care.

Weekly Report and Reflection #11

Hello fellow bloggers!

Niemanlab. (CC) 2016.

Can you believe how fast time has gone by! This terms has flown by so quickly and that means this is the second to last blog. This week we explored webcasting tools such as Soundcloud and RecordMP3 in order to broader our digital literacy. This was my first time experiencing podcasting tools and it was very different than writing out a typical blog or formulating a slideshow. I quite enjoyed the experience and it was interesting because you could clearly state your point for others to interpret. I really enjoy using Soundcloud and I have used it several times previously to listen some of my favourite podcasts. Furthermore, it was my first time testing out RecordMP3 and I was very surprised to see how easy it was to record an audio clip and download it, I also liked that it tracked how long I was talking for.

RecordMP3 and Soundcloud allow me to build my digital knowledge because they create a different way of sharing my opinions and thoughts through voice, similar to VoiceThread. I discussed in my podcast that often times there is a loss of translation through text, however webcasting tools break these barriers to enable your audience to understand your point through tone of voice and expression.

Richard Byrne. (CC) 2016.

These tools are different than others that I have explored because they are completely open to freedom of speech, therefore you have to ensure that you are upholding the digital rights and responsibilities as you communicate your point. One of the main things that CNN discussed in their video “What is Podcasting,” that I found to be significant is that anyone can do it! It is very simple to log on to RecordMP3 record your audio clip and then download it to iTunes, allowing everyone to become a talk show host or spread their voice across the world. Incorporating podcasting and screencasting into blogs is also beneficial because it makes the blog multimedia and include voice and audio to add a different form of reflection to the blog. In Tyra’s blog she mentioned  that podcasting helped her to speak more clear and proper so that the audio recorder would pick up her voice. She also mentioned how this would benefit her for future interviews or speaking in front of a large group of people and I agree with this. I agree with this statement as I found myself recording multiple audio clips in order to find the best one that I was most clear and concise in.

With summer break in the midst I have been looking for new job opportunities and practicing for job interviews. This week in my Feedly Reader I found a post called “The 3 Keys to Building Immediate Rapport In A Job Interview” by the Huffington Post and I found it to be very beneficial to my learning. I recommend this article to anyone that has a job interview approaching or would like some extra tips on the interviewing process.

Happy blogging/podcasting and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for updates on my last blog post!

Weekly Report and Reflection #10

Hello fellow blog readers!

ONECE. (CC) 2016.

Can you believe that this semester is almost coming to a close! In a couple more weeks I will officially be done my fourth year, it’s flown by so quickly! In terms of digital literacy tools, this week we are exploring tools that make it easier to create slideshows! I began to work with Animoto because I had never heard of it previously, however I found that it had several limitations dealing with the resizing of pictures, adding text, creative possibilities, etc. Therefore, I began working with Prezi, of which I have used several times before and thoroughly enjoyed. Prezi is a great option for creating presentations for school, work, or just for fun! The creative options are endless with Prezi and it allows you to customize your presentation by adding different shape bubbles, colours, pictures, videos, information, etc. As I mentioned in my reflection about Prezi, I find that the only downfall of this tool is that it can be time consuming when creating the path of your Prezi as well as resizing visuals.

As I mentioned, I have used Prezi previously for class presentations as well as work presentations. I tend to use Google Slides much more that Prezi because of its accessibility and it is easier to view through my app on my phone. Additionally, I like Google Slides because it is great for group projects as everyone can log on at once and work together, whereas with Prezi this tends to be a bit more complicated. However, Prezi saves your completed work automatically, thus you don't have to worry about losing your presentation while creating it. Amberley, one of my fellow ADED learners, discussed Prezi in her blog this week and I liked how she discussed captivating the audience through Prezi presentations and maintaining their focus. I agree with this as Prezi adds a different aspect to presentations compared to Google Slides, which tends to become repetitive and basic. Be sure to read her blog as she poses a very great discussion about slideshows and provides more information about Animoto! I will continue to utilize the Prezi tool for future presentations and I think that it is a great asset for my PLE. I will especially be using this tool in the classroom when I become a teacher.

Moreover, I also explored citations and creative commons as a way to further my learning when creating slideshows and using pictures that are retrieved online. It is important to cite all work that is not your own and to give credit to those who worked hard to create something to share online! The Clever Sheep: Creative Commons Chaos blog lists several different creative commons resources and I found this to have very beneficial information.

Now it’s time to discuss my new finding from my Feedly reader! This week I found a link to a video that discusses “5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking.” This video couldn’t have come to my attention at a better time as I have several essays due in the next couple of weeks and I tend to get into a rut when I have to balance so many essay topics. At times, it can be difficult to think critically and analyze information, especially when you have to continuously write essays, and I will be sure to practice these tips in the next coming weeks while working on my assignments.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and happy blogging!

Also don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for future updates on my postings, as well as follow my blog!

Technology Use Scenario #14

Scenario: Mr. Hutchinson wants to keep his students' parents aware of classroom activities. He remembers hearing about using Twitter posts at a technology conference. After doing some research, Mr. Hutchinson finds both positive and negative viewpoints related to using Twitter in the classroom. He believes that for what he wants to do- inform parents of their child's daily work- these posts would be appropriate. Before setting one up, however, he consults with the principal and technology support person to see if there are any legal issues. Both say that what he wants to do is perfectly okay. Mr. Hutchinson then sets up a professional Twitter account and informs his students and parents about where to find the information. Is social media a good way to share information? (Ribble, 2014)

Eileen Wacker. (CC) 2016.

In this scenario Mr. Hutchinson took the proper steps in order to ensure that utilizing Twitter to connect with his students' parents was a viable option. This scenario is an example of an appropriate use of technology as Mr. Hutchinson consulted with the principal and technology support person in order to validate his decision and protect others information. In addition, he also contacted the parents to ensure that they would be comfortable using Twitter as a form of communication. Twitter is a beneficial online tool because it respects the digital right to privacy as you can set your Twitter page to private, therefore people have to request to view your posts. Moreover, it makes communicating easier because the teacher can reach out to all of the parents at once and receive responses quickly.

The article on StaySafeOnline provides in depth information about how to protect your children online and it discusses privacy settings. I would recommend that Mr. Hutchinson sends out an agreement form to all of the parents that discusses private Twitter accounts to ensure the safety of their information. Also, Mr. Hutchinson should post a chart in the classroom that describes the Do's and Don'ts of the internet in order to inform his students on proper technology use as stated by Education World. It is also important that Mr. Hutchinson constantly monitors the online conversations to ensure that they are educational and not disrespecting any of the digital rights and responsibilities of others. Therefore, as I indicated, there are multiple steps that Mr. Hutchinson should have  taken in order to protect the privacy of the students and parents in an online context.

I am interested to read your thoughts and opinions on this scenario. Do you think that Mr. Hutchinson uses Twitter in an appropriate way? Is Twitter a good form of communication between teachers and students' parents? Feel free to discuss the scenario in the comment section.

Weekly Report and Reflection #9

Hello fellow bloggers,

Umass Amherst. (CC) 2016.

Are you looking for an online tool that allows you to discuss group topics or boasts communication with people all over the world on a topic of choice? Then, I highly recommend you try out VoiceThread, this website allows you to create slideshows and foster communication with fellow students and teachers in order to promote discussion in a unique way.  The blog "Teachers Challenges" offers a description of VoiceThread and several ways to communicate via slideshow, rather it's through text, audio, pictures or video.

I enjoyed experiencing VoiceThread for the first time, however I do not think that it would be a tool that I would currently use quite often. In the future, when I have my own classroom it would be a beneficial way to integrate safe communication with technology into the classroom. The main aspect that I like about this tool is that often times things can be taken out of context when in text format, however spoken word breaks these barriers and allows proper communication. However, I do believe that there are better online tools to foster communication compared to VoiceThread, for example Google Docs and Twitter.

I will not be adding this to my PLE because I do not think that this is a tool that would currently benefit me nor be useful in my university career. Although, as stated previously I may add it to my PLE in the future. When I do add this tool into my PLE, I would place it under Educational tools because it fosters learning and provides insight into other people's perspectives and opinions. Furthermore, I recommend that you visit one of our fellow ADED 1P32 classmate's blogs, Brooke, a she provides really interesting insight into VoiceThread, however we share the same opinion on not utilizing this tool. Within her Weekly Report and Reflection #9 she discusses using Google Docs as a form of communication instead, and I agree with this statement as it is much easier and accessible.

This week in my Feedly reader I came across a link to a TedTalk about miscommunication called "How Miscommunication Happens." I found this to be interesting because it relates to VoiceThread in the sense that it attempts to break past misunderstandings and promotes clear discussion surrounding opinions. The animation is really well done in the video and although it is short, it offers really beneficial information that can help students when working as a team or discussing a topic with co-workers.

I hope that everyone has a lovely week and be sure to follow me on Twitter for future updates on my postings!

VoiceThread

I created a page with my VoiceThread comments, however it is not functioning properly on my blog, therefore the following is my VoiceThread.

VoiceThread is a very interesting website where you can post written, video, or audio comments to slideshows in order to share your opinion on a topic. I had never heard of VoiceThread previously, therefore this was my first time experiencing the tool. This would be a great tool to integrate into the classroom as a teacher because I could post a topic to VoiceThread and then provoke discussion amongst my students surrounding the topic. This is also a  great tool because the outreach is endless and people all over the world can state their opinion to a post on VoiceThread. Something that I found to be very interesting while watching the tutorial on VoiceThread is the discussion of how humans communicate through voice, however we mainly discuss things through text nowadays. When commenting or texting with technology many things can be lost in translation or interpreted incorrectly and I think that VoiceThread helps to prevent this from occurring.

In terms of my academic learning I found it to be beneficial because I can view other students perspectives on certain topics and broaden my knowledge. I would place this tool under the Educational part of my PLE and I would use this tool to discuss areas of interest surrounding topics discussed during lecture or as a way to communicate with other group members for an assignment. I'm not aware of how often I would utilize this tool compared to others, however I think that it would be interesting to see how fellow students react to it. Another aspect of this tool that I did enjoy, was being able to browse the VoiceThread main feed and view other people's threads that they have created as they are all very unique and promote different conversations.

I would definitely recommend that others try out this tool and I am interested to read everyone's thoughts!

If you would like to see this post on my Page here is the link: http://andreamarano.blogspot.ca/p/voicethread.html

Weekly Report and Reflection #8

Hello fellow bloggers!

Wikipedia. (CC) 2016.

Wikipedia is one of those websites that we all know and love when we are in need of quick information, even though it may not be the most reliable source at times. It’s a Wiki Wiki World simply defines a wiki as a website where anyone can edit and update information on millions of topics. Wikis are a hub of information and they tend to be one of the first search options when you type a topic into Google, demonstrating their popularity.

In the past I have created two different wiki pages for assignments, one focused on Geneva, Switzerland, and the other analyzed panic disorder with a transdisciplinary approach. As you can see, these are two VERY different topics; however the method of gathering information and formatting it into a wiki page is always constant. Both of these assignments were group projects and they really enforced collaboration and teamwork because when an issue would arise on the wiki, we worked together as a team to form a solution. It was important that we solved the issues together before moving onto the next step because if it is left unsolved it can form new issues to arise and ruin the format of the html text.

Although wiki’s are a great tool to use in order to practice collaborating, I would much rather utilize Google Docs for group work and collaboration projects. I find that it is much easier to edit, access, learn how to use, and communicate with Google Docs in comparison to wiki’s. Furthermore, in contrast to blogs, wiki’s tend to be more factual based and they do not allow open discussion to occur. Blogs are opinion based and the commenting section allows for communication and discussion on particular topics. Moreover, in WikiWalk-Through: The Basics they state that a large difference between blogs and wikis is the commenting factor on blogs as this is not possible on a wiki. In wiki formatting, an individual can completely replace someone else's facts and thoughts with their own information.

Wikipd. (CC) 2016.

Wikis are a very interesting tool because anybody can access them and edit the information. However, this poses limitations because anyone can post unreliable information to the wiki. Therefore, it is not recommended that wiki’s are completely trusted because of the editing factor. I do think that they are a beneficial tool to implement in the classroom when a teacher has to quickly research something to show their students, this also allows for quick feedback from students. In my volunteering classroom, the teacher frequently pulls up Wikipedia to show students a quick and interesting fact that they can reflect on a form discussion about. Additionally, formulating a wiki can be beneficial for a group because they learn how to communicate as it can be difficult times to create. Furthermore, in a real wiki it doesn’t necessarily foster communication as you are putting together the information on your own, however this can create room for conversation about a particular topic when somebody researches it.

This week in my Feedly reader I found a blog called Help Students Develop Vital Interviewing Skills in Your Classroom, which is beneficial for people that are currently applying for summer jobs or graduating and looking for a job. I think it is very important that students learn interviewing skills because it can really help them when they begin to apply for a job. During high school I had several classes that taught us interviewing skills and they really benefited me as I began my university career.

Have a wonderful week and happy blogging!

As always, don't forget to follow my blog for further posts and also be sure to follow me on Twitter for updates!