Web 2.0 tools can expose students to a world outside the classroom while being inside the classroom. These tools can be used in a variety to ways including but not limited to teach curriculum content, store data, create/edit video, edit photos and collaborate with others. As technology takes over our student's daily routines we as educators must produce ways in which they can use technology in the classroom if we want to truly be effective. Enrolling in my Web 2.0 class gave me great insight on the different tools I will be able to use in the classroom. My all time favorite would have to be aggravating pages. This tools is o user-friendly that I definitely want to implement it in my classroom to give my students a head start on a piece of technology that most middle school students have not even heard about yet.
There are very few concerns when it comes to using Web 2.0 tools. One concern is privacy issues that Web 2.0 applications bring to the forefront. It's so easy for students to stray when using technology so we must be careful with it's implementation. Another concern is that the use of Web 2.0 tools can make students as well as teachers stray away from traditional learning that may help many students. Since students are so dependent on technology, they tend to forget how to do the simplest math problems, tell time or even how to write a well structured sentence (due to texting).
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Vanity Search Footprint
When asked to conduct another vanity search I was excited about seeing how much my digital footprint had increased over the past 7 weeks. I was expecting more hits, images, the whole nine. Unfortunately, when I entered Jaquelia Jefferson in Google's search bar, nothing appeared to have changed. By this, I felt very disappointed. Then I remembered that I may have to try a different search in order for more "hits" to appear. So this time I entered "Jaquelia Jefferson" into Google and this generated everything I was looking for.
Not only did the previous results appear but, all of the work I completed in the past 7 weeks showed up as well. What I did notice that was a quite bit weird to me, is that the new results did not come up until you were on page 2 of the search results. I would think the the results would go from new to old instead of vice versa.
Besides seeing my blog post and replies to my classmates posts I also noticed that my immediate family member's names appeared from site entitled "Spokeo." I never heard of this site before so I wanted to go see what it was about. The site appeared to just be basic information on my family (name, immediate family members, address and age).
What I was hoping to find that didn't pop up was my twitter account for my Web 2.0 class. This was the one thing that I just knew would be different. However, I didn't see it anywhere. Maybe you have to tweet a certain amount of times before it's comes up as one of the results. My old personal account is the very first results that pops up. With this, I thought the same would be true for my new account.
Overall I did see a significant change that I am happy with. My results came up with four pages instead of the initial two. So I believe that I have created a digital footprint that I can honestly be proud of.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Up-To-Date
The internet is constantly growing with new information day in and day out. The information is generated so rapidly that it's impossible to keep up with it all. As an educator I want to stay up to date to the new tools and trends in order to ensure I can effectively deliver information to them in a timely manner. In order to do this without information overload I must generate a game plan.
Game Plan:
1. Use twitter to follow new programs and applications: Doing this will help me keep up with new items or trends without researching very hard. I'll automatically get notified when something new arises and I can quickly take a look at it and determine if it's something I'm interested in using in my classroom.
2. Attend Conferences: This will give me hundreds of new ideas and techniques that I may use in my classroom all in one setting. Not only will they present new items but, they will also teach me how to use these items.
3. Ask my campus IT for help: With consulting with my campus IT I can find new ways and old ways of how to implement tools in the classroom. She will always be the first to know what will work for certain lessons I want to give.
As an educator I feel that I have enough to keep up with as is. And with the game plan that I generated i think keeping up with web 2.0 updates will be effortless!
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Bookmarking Adventure
I have never participated in social bookmarking let alone I never heard of it. After last week's adventure, I was very excited to see what was next hoping, that I could learn more. However, this week's adventure wasn't what I was expecting. I could not figure out the concept of bookmarking.
After looking at the site (Diigo), I didn't see as very user-friendly. I say this because I am new to social bookmarking and I went into this not knowing what to expect. I viewed a few tutorials on how to use Diigo however, nothing explained the site in enough detail for me to grasp the concept. It also did not make matters better after I could not join our class group for Diigo.
Nonetheless, this week wasn't very beneficial to me. I hope to one day be able to understand social bookmarking in the way that I had hoped.
After looking at the site (Diigo), I didn't see as very user-friendly. I say this because I am new to social bookmarking and I went into this not knowing what to expect. I viewed a few tutorials on how to use Diigo however, nothing explained the site in enough detail for me to grasp the concept. It also did not make matters better after I could not join our class group for Diigo.
Nonetheless, this week wasn't very beneficial to me. I hope to one day be able to understand social bookmarking in the way that I had hoped.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Adventure in Aggregating Pages
I must say I LOOOOVVVVEEEEDDDDD this assignment. In the previous weeks I was at a bore do to me being familiar with the tools that were presented. This week was different. I never dealt with aggregating pages before let alone heard of them. Initially, I thought this week would be no different from the others, not because of the familiarity of the task but, because it was something new that I prejudged as being boring. Well I'm glad to say that I was wrong.
Aggregating pages opened a whole new world to me. So much can be done on this application that it is overwhelming (in a good way). What I loved most is that everything that you like to look at on the web is at your fingertips all at once with having to travel through so many sites to get caught up. You can have your feed from Facebook in one corner, a to-do list in the next corner, your YouTube subscriptions popping up in the center and so much more. So many times I find myself pulling up the internet checking Facebook, then Instagram, then Snapchat, then Pinterest, then going back to Facebook (thinking I missed an update within the last 5 minutes) and the cycle continues. So needless to say, I will be creating an aggregating page for my personal use :)
Let's get to the educational use... I think this application will be great in the classroom for those teachers who may not be technology savvy or may not know how to implement technology into their classrooms. This will be an excellent start. Although, Protopage was user-friendly I don't see my students being able to navigate as easily as I could. So I personally wouldn't use it in my classroom until I become a bit more familiar with the program and am able to answer any questions they may come up with.
I really hope the next few adventures are as fun as this one...
Aggregating pages opened a whole new world to me. So much can be done on this application that it is overwhelming (in a good way). What I loved most is that everything that you like to look at on the web is at your fingertips all at once with having to travel through so many sites to get caught up. You can have your feed from Facebook in one corner, a to-do list in the next corner, your YouTube subscriptions popping up in the center and so much more. So many times I find myself pulling up the internet checking Facebook, then Instagram, then Snapchat, then Pinterest, then going back to Facebook (thinking I missed an update within the last 5 minutes) and the cycle continues. So needless to say, I will be creating an aggregating page for my personal use :)
Let's get to the educational use... I think this application will be great in the classroom for those teachers who may not be technology savvy or may not know how to implement technology into their classrooms. This will be an excellent start. Although, Protopage was user-friendly I don't see my students being able to navigate as easily as I could. So I personally wouldn't use it in my classroom until I become a bit more familiar with the program and am able to answer any questions they may come up with.
I really hope the next few adventures are as fun as this one...
Thursday, February 2, 2017
YouTube Adventure
I'm no stranger to YouTube. I practically use it everyday. However, I have not used it in a professional or education manner. I typically use it to watch Vlogs (video blogs), tutorials, music and to upload videos from dance practice. The requirements of this week for the YouTube adventure were things that I do on the normal basis so there wasn't anything that I had a hard time figuring out or didn't know about.
I once wanted to start my own YouTube channel for giving tutorials for how to do different make-up looks. This soon came to pass as I started working and really didn't find time to set this up like I wished. But if I did get the chance, I would want to learn how to edit those videos on YouTube. The individuals that I'm subscribed to always say that editing can take hours if not all day. I think learning the aspect of YouTube will be beneficial in the future.
I once wanted to start my own YouTube channel for giving tutorials for how to do different make-up looks. This soon came to pass as I started working and really didn't find time to set this up like I wished. But if I did get the chance, I would want to learn how to edit those videos on YouTube. The individuals that I'm subscribed to always say that editing can take hours if not all day. I think learning the aspect of YouTube will be beneficial in the future.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Possibilities of Twitter
Twitter is becoming a world-wide phenomenon. People tweet about a range of things from what they may be experiencing that day to what they eat for dinner. I have found that my students aren't into Twitter as much as I thought they would be. Students nowadays are more interested in viewing others. That's where SnapChat and Instagram come into play. Despite the student's lack of interest for the use of Twitter in their personal lives I have several ideas of how Twitter can be useful in the classroom setting.
Twitter could be helpful in reminding students of upcoming assignments and due dates. I believe this form of reminder is more useful than the method we have now on my campus which is Schoology. Schoology is a great tool for testing/quizzing students as well as open line of communication. The only downside is that Schoology can be a bit tricky to log into when you are not on campus which of course, students use as an excuse of why they didn't complete the assignment. I believe Twitter can eliminate this dilemma due to it be wide stream through so many portals.
Twitter can also allow students to connect with the community outside of school. I personally, am on the fence about this level. This can be dangerous at some point if it is not monitored properly. I feel that this is a good method to get the students use to communicating with others outside of their everyday norms. However, one must be careful if they are interested in using this method in their classroom.
My final point is my favorite, parent communication. I believe that parents should be involved in their students education and this is an easy portal to do it with. Of course, you can't tweet a student's grade or how their behavior is in your class but, you can relay what the student's are learning that week. Or even assignments and due dates to keep the parents in the loop.
Twitter has a lot of great possibilities if used correctly and monitored. There are many more uses that Twitter can assist with in the classroom however, I think these are a great start :)
Twitter could be helpful in reminding students of upcoming assignments and due dates. I believe this form of reminder is more useful than the method we have now on my campus which is Schoology. Schoology is a great tool for testing/quizzing students as well as open line of communication. The only downside is that Schoology can be a bit tricky to log into when you are not on campus which of course, students use as an excuse of why they didn't complete the assignment. I believe Twitter can eliminate this dilemma due to it be wide stream through so many portals.
Twitter can also allow students to connect with the community outside of school. I personally, am on the fence about this level. This can be dangerous at some point if it is not monitored properly. I feel that this is a good method to get the students use to communicating with others outside of their everyday norms. However, one must be careful if they are interested in using this method in their classroom.
My final point is my favorite, parent communication. I believe that parents should be involved in their students education and this is an easy portal to do it with. Of course, you can't tweet a student's grade or how their behavior is in your class but, you can relay what the student's are learning that week. Or even assignments and due dates to keep the parents in the loop.
Twitter has a lot of great possibilities if used correctly and monitored. There are many more uses that Twitter can assist with in the classroom however, I think these are a great start :)
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