Final Goodbye to GEN2243

In GEN 2243 I leaned a lot about myself and the outside world. I leaned technology can make you or break you. I learned that people can get a job, meet their hero, or even become famous though technology. I learned the positive effects and the negative effects. How different applications and websites can help you do amazing things. My professor Kyle Calderwood, showed me and my class many different tools to use and introduced us to people I never would of thought of meeting. Each one told their story and how technology helped them. I took this class as a elective and I can say this class changed my view on technology. Yes it can be for fun and games, but it can be used for much much more. The world is changing and evolving, technology is growing and getting bigger. We can either grow with the technology and let us thrive or we can challenge it. Who knows where we will be 20 years from now, but we as humans hold the key to our own success. We have the choice to set where we are going and where we are headed. This class helped me look towards the future and make decisions that will only benefit to me. It takes some time to realize how much power we old to our success.
I am going to use my power to succeed. Will you?

Make a better you!

In class we learned about circuits! We were given a box of Makey Makey and a whole bunch of wires. My team and I had to figure out how to connect playdoe, foil, cardboard or even a banana to these wire to make a controller. My team and I knew we needed several wires connected to different items to make a controller, but we couldn't figure out how to get it to work. As we kept trying we realized we didn't have a complete circuit. We needed a power source. After a few tries and the light flashing on and off, we figured out we could be the energy source. If you held a wire and touched the buttons it worked! It was so cool to finally understand how the energy transferred thru yourself and other objects. After we figured it out, we started playing games like Frogger, Pacman and even Guitar Hero! This little exercise was a smart way to help us collaborate and find solutions in a period of time. In the real world things will be thrown at us and you need to be able to critically think and find new ways to finish your tasks.

We spoke to a women named Robyn Hrivnatz who is Marketing and Educator Programs Manager for Microsoft. She started out as a teacher and realized she could do more. She spoke of her love of technology and how we can do anything if we set our mind to. She also stressed about the importance of social media. In todays day and age we can use technology to help us learn and even connect. Robyn spoke about how she wants to make a difference in the technology online world. It is a growing field that has endless possibilities.

In Connected Educator chapter 9, we learn about how we will always be a student. After we graduate and get a degree and even when we turn 80, we are always going to be a student. Always going to be changing and learning no matter how much knowledge we have. We will always be a student first before anything else.. There are 4 core Concepts behind this theory which are Knowledge, Pedagogy, Connections and Capacity. The knowledge aspect talks about how we will always be building on our intelligence. You need to use this and help express it and build on other people`s knowledge. Pedagogy is helping yourself and others chase your dreams. Follow you passions and your wants. There is a he world out there and we will never grab it if we don't try. Connections  is the third. We use this to help each other, connect to experts and expand our thoughts. We have so much networks and communities, join them get involved. Lastly, Capacity which means to challenge yourself. Push yourself, embrace possibilities. The world is yours and if you fail to seek it then you will never know the better you!

Create your own Online news papers and websites!

One of the biggest new trends is Online papers. There is this cool new website that you can set up your own newspaper. This new site is called paper.li. It can post itself weekly, daily, monthly, whenever you choose. You pick the topics and it takes information from current events and people you follow and put them on one site. In a newspaper looking format where you can organize the information and make it your news. You can have it post to any social media and it will automatically post at the time you set it. This is a simple and easy way to make sure information is getting out there. The best part is once you set it up, the work is all done!

Some helpful hints to help with your paper.li are seen in this article about, "Follow Smart People".  When your away it is helpful to catch up on local things going on. You can see the current events that were posted and make sure you haven't missed anything good. It helps you learn about different topics. Like my paper is about health so this will take health articles and put them on my news paper. This helps learn more about that topic. You can always take your paper and send it to your work place or share it with your class. This site has many cool concepts to it and is helping us keep up with information while sharing it in a cool way.

Another thing you can do is create a website for yourself. Weebly is growing and becoming a more popular site for this. This website is easy to use and free to sign up for. You can add pages, links, photos and many more things. This website is good for portfolios and just building your digital portfolio. You can choose from many layouts and add different tabs. It is very easy to help express yourself and create your own unique and personal website.

In Chapter 4 of Untangling the Web, it talks about Social Networking Tools. Teachers can use sites like TodaysMeet and Edmodo. These sites can invite students to an open online discussion that only the class can see. They can post lectures and links to things they need to learn. You can create group chats and other ways to connect with each other. Skype is another fun way to connect with either students or coworkers or friends. Skype can help you find other teachers, or professors and share ideas and other things with them.

Social Media good or bad?

Social media is a huge part of todays lifestyle. Social media could either impact you positively or negatively. It could help you get the job and one post, one picture could get you fired. This is why we have to be careful of the stuff we post, the pictures we put out there and the comments we make.

In class we learned what not to do with the internet. How someone can get fired from a picture posted in 2009 or adding a student, or even just posting a nasty opinion. In my case, it had nothing to do with anything he posted, it was someone else's post that destroyed his career. Neftali Ortiz is  a child psychiatrist. He was driving to work one day and he hit a car getting off I95. Who happened to be a 4 month pregnant women. He then proceed to drive away hitting her car again. The women took out her phone and took a picture of him and his license. She posted it on facebook as a warning to other drivers. He ended up loosing almost all of his clients and many comments were made to him. He will appear to court and could see jail time. Oriz said, " Social Media ruined my Life."

In our Connected Educator textbook, we learn about positive social media. In chapter 5, it gives us tools for documenting, connecting, for social networking,  and extending your learning. When it comes to documenting, helpful tools include bookmarking. This is making sure all of your information is organized and easy to locate. The web is so big and diverse we need a way to help put all our information in a safe place. Delicious is a good book marking site. It helps you tag a website and will help with easy retrieval. Some fun tools to use for connecting is blogs. Sites like this one help you express your ideas. There are also many blogging cites like EduBlog that will help your blog be shared with a group of people. Twitter is another way to connect. It not so much blogging, but it is an easy to connect in a fast pace. Depending on your major or career type, there are hundreds of tools for social networking. There are some general social networking sites like Facebook that make it really easy to connect. Finally making sure you are extending the learning not just from the classroom but outside it. Teachertube is a fun way to help students learn and find videos to help better understand the topic.

Social Media can be used for many things. This is why it is so important to use social media positively. There is so many things out there to explore and learn. There are also so many ways to destroy your life using social media, so next time you long on to your computer or post that picture, just think about how it will effect you.  

Apps on Apps

In my class, we have this activity called an App Smackdown. Each student picks an app and has to tell the class about it in 2 mins. This week I picked Glassdoor, which is a job searching  app.  This app was really cool because I can type in the job I am looking for and the location and all the results pop up in date order. Another fun feature is that it can tell you reviews, salaries, interviews and what is wanted from a specific company. It is far from your average job application.

Today technology is changing and growing as we speak. The new thing is 4D Apps. . Many of these help you learn thru a 4D reality. One cool one is Elements 4D. They take cubes of an element and with your phone can show you what that element looks like. If you put two cubes of two different elements next to each other, it can show you what would happen if you put the two together. 

Some other cool apps we were shown in class is Anatomy 4D , and Zookazam. These are the newest technology. You printout a template of some sort, download the app, point the camera to the template and WOAH a 4D image comes up! I used Anatomy 4D to help me study for my midterm. I could see the bones, muscles and nervous system on a miniature body! Zookazam is pretty fascinating, it brings up all different types of animals. This app lets you bring live animals to a classroom. To help explore and show what they look like.

There is an app called ShowMe.. This is a white board app that helps students learn based on notes and recording taken from the teacher. It is recorded and can be replayed and re-watched. The idea behind it, is to help students re-watch a teachers notes. This is less formal and maybe a better way to learn than a textbook. Plus, it is easy to watch outside the classroom and go over it again. Students and parents say it is very helpful when something needs to be drawn out to explain.

Presentations shouldnt be a bore!

Presentations can be so boring, slide after slide, a million words, it can make the audience fall asleep. There are 5 different and unique websites you can use alternative to powerpoints. You can use these sights to spice up your presentation.
1. Powtoon.

This is a website that helps add a little bit of animated characters. It is a fun way to help get the point across thru little animated figures and dramatic slogans. It just like  making your own mini cartoon episode.
2. Prezi

This website, is a fun interactive way to present. It has zooming features and takes you on a "Journey." It can give you so motion sickness, but it is very easy to make the 3D look real.
3. Keynote

This is the better, easier version of powerpoint for a Mac computer. It has the same features, but is much easier to use on Mac computers than the average Powerpoint.
4. Prezentit

This is very similar to powerpoint but has some cool transition features to help have a smooth powerpoint.
5. Sliderocket

This is one of the best softwares out there, but it doesn't come cheap. It has many different features, including changing the colors and defining the pictures and backgrounds you add.

Another fun website that is good for presentations is GoAnimate. It is easy to use and needs no artistic experience needed. You add your slides and words and then pick what you want to move. They have a lot of templates, backgrounds, music, sounds characters and even languages for the characters to speak. With a new clicks you can transform any lecture to a min movie. It as a easy step-by-step process that helps explain the information easier. This is extremely good for students or even to send a message like anti-drugs or anti-bullying. GoAnimate is also shown very helpful for special needs children.

Microsoft added a new part of Microsoft Sway called Microsoft Swift. This is another way to do presentations. It is a quick and more clear way to present your ideas onscreen rather than to an audience. They are backed up to the Icloud and can be used from your IPhone, IPad, ect. You can add Sway on a website or on a powerpoint. You would created a sway which is like a note card rather than a slide. This is a quick way you can jot down your thoughts and tidbits of information you think of. This application is still growing and making changes. It will be added to Office in the next year, so stay tuned.

In class we had an interview with Astronaut Abby. She was an inspiration to all. She is 18 years old and has accomplished so many things. She told us about how her parents never doubted her and always told her to follow her dreams and she did it. She created her own organization/blog with the help of other astronauts to help spread information about Mars. To help people and little kids realize how far we are growing. There is so much out their in space and we are slowly being able to explore it. Abby is so brave to wanting to go to Mars, I know I would have the guts to go into space, let alone a new planet that is slowly being explored. She really is an inspiration to everyone. No one dream is too big, you can do anything you strive for.
You just have to

Is your life Awesome?

In Neil Pasricha`s Ted Talk , spoke about the 3 A`s of awesome. Neil started a website, in a dark time of his life called "1000 Awesome Things." This reminded him that life wasn't so bad. He would post satisfying things in life. These little things in life that make us happy, like clothes right out of the dryer, and the warmth it brings to you. How happy you get when you get a refill without asking. There are a million things that happen throughout our day that make us happy, but most of the time we take them for granted.

He won the best blog of the year award.

 Neil shared the 3 As; attitude, awareness, and authenticity.

First; Attitude
No one can predict the future, we will never know what will happen through our day. There will be bad days and bad weeks and bad years, that is just life. We as people choose how to deal with our dark times. We can deal with it and choose to grow and thrive from it, or we can choose to sulk and waste days, months, maybe years at our low place. He explained how we only have life and no matter how difficult life is we need to move forward. Life is too short to be anything but happy.
Two; Awareness.
When you are a child, you notice everything. Every little detail, movement, smell, thought and even idea. That is most likely why 4 year olds ask "Why?" after everything said. This is something we loose after we seen something once. We don't appreciate what we have as much as the first time it is noticed. This is why we need to cherish the stud we have. Every little moment is worth something. Every conversation, every movement, every smell. All of this makes our world go round, and everything that happens we should be aware and cherish. We only have one life, we need to take each breath as a blessing.
Three; Authenticity.
Each one of us is unique. We need to embrace this part of us. We are different in who we are, what we do and think. This is the part of us that makes us who we are. This is what helps us find love, and make the friendships we have. This is the part that makes everyone different. Being yourself and expressing yourself is a big key in life. If you always follow the Status Quo you will never know who you are and who you are meant to be.

Chapter 3 in Untangling the Web, they give some good websites that can be used for presenting. These include SlideShare, Poll Everywhere, voicethread, and my favorite Prezi. Each one of these websites are used for presenting information. It could be stats, class project or even for work. You can add graphs, voice threads, slideshows, and even moment to your presentation. Each website offers a unique ideas to whatever you may present. These websites are offered to add that flare to your work and not be another boring powerpoint. Educators, students, and professionals are using them to express their ideas and make their presentation unforgettable. So next time you are going to present, make sure to check one of these sites out to add some pop to your work!       

Poll Everywhere 

Voice Thread

Prezi

SlideShare

Are you unorganized?

Have you ever been so disorganized, you loose a picture or a document?
With this app called Evernote this will make your life a whole lot easier. Evernote is an app that you can make notes on, record messages, take and store photos, scan things including business cards, and it saves all of this to the app which can be accessed anywhere. You can use a pen and scribble notes or even take page clips from different websites. This app lets you make check lists and will help you find a note using word search. Say you are looking for a note for one of you classes, you can look up the word you are looking for and ever note or picture that has that word will pop up. Almost like a google search though your pictures!

Jordan Collier  came up with 19 useful things Evernote can do. Jordan is a middle school teacher and he used Evernote to help his students in class. Using this app you can take pictures of the board, if it is notes, or the week agenda, capturing the moment is very helpful. Evernote is very helpful with making lists, helps keep you organized and ready for upcoming test, or homework. Another helpful idea, would be to scan or take a picture of the homework assignments. This was you don't have to bring home your textbook. This app is a easy way to keep your notes, and web clips, not just for school but for any daily use. Evernote has this cool use, that lets other people access your notes if you allow. This was group projects can be accessed from the home. This helps share the information and helps the students collaborate. There are so many more useful tasks Evernote can help you with! Doesn`t have to be in the classroom, it could be used for work, or even your daily life!

If you want to make yourself an Evernote Master you could upgrade Evernote. This is about $5 a month, but this could change everything for you.  It can replace powerpoint with an easy presentation mode that helps you make edits super quickly. You can easily connect your evernote to your email. Thus emailing your work to anyone, anywhere. You can also merge your notes and make them one big note, or organize them into different files. Evernote is an easy to use app and the possibilities are endless to the things you can achieve with this app!



Another app that is very useful in the class room is called BIG HUGE LABS. In Untangling the Web, explains how this app helps edit pictures and helps make fun crafts and projects. It is an easy tool to help make printouts, class visuals and even motivational visuals. This app is very easy to navigate and very helpful in helping students learn. Visuals are a fun and easy way to help students learn! this app is the perfect fit for any classroom teacher, parent, or student that needs an easy way to make creative projects and assignments.

In chapter two of Connected Educator talks about developing a connected learning model. It talks about the three prong approach. 1. Use face-to-face connections in a learning community. 2. Choose an online resource from around the world. become global and broaden your PLN. 3. Fine a committed and collective learning group to help you share ideas and connections. After making these connections, it is important t have a mutual language. This is so everyone can respond and be up to date. Make sure each group has some history of the topic and everyone is giving some information that is research based.  Each group should collaborate on the topic and know the goals that are set. Each person is mutually accounted for information in the group. To have the best outcomes and input diversity is a big key. All of these tips will help you grow, gain knowledge and develop a connecting learning model. 

How is your digital footprint?

In the first chapter of "Untangling the Web," the authors Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow, talk about curation tools.  Curation tools use things like social bookmarking allowing you to oraginze and share your collective information. It is a way people to share ideas and find information faster. If you go to sites like Symbaloo, and Diigo, there are folders inside folders with each different category and sub category. This is a great way to find topics related to your search. Curations have made it easier to find information on a topic and the different bookmarks help you share within the different topics more information.

The internet is a very useful thing, but did you know that every time you tweet, tag your location and even just post a status you leave a digital footprint? A digital footprint is the word used to the trace we leave on the internet. When we use the internet, the information we post never goes away. Therefore, we must be smart on what we post. If the internet is used correctly, a positive digital footprint can be left.  The first step is you want to establish an identity, this is so business, colleges and companies can find you. Your online identity isn't hard to find, so expressing yourself though a positive and respectful manner would be best. Second, be consistent. make sure to keep the same user name so people can find you and connect with you.

There are many ways to manage your digital portfolio. Teach thought came up with helpful tips to help make sure your footprint is the best it can be. The first tip is to make sure some of your social media websites are on private. No one needs to see every part of your social life. two, make sure not to overshare. Media is a good way to share information, but the world doesn't need to know every detail of your day. Another good tip they give, is to Google yourself. This might sound silly, but find out what employers and colleges can find on you. This will give you a good idea to what can and shouldn't be posted. There is many more helpful tips on how to keep you digital profile organized. This includes keeping one user name, password and email. Make sure to monitor your account and keep your passwords safe.

One of the worst things you could do for yourself is have bad posts on the internet. Many students post/ will post things that could effect them in the future. Colleges, employers and even coaches find things thru the internet about you. The major things you should not post is illegal activity. The pressure now a days to be "cool" is not worth not getting a job or getting into college. Bullying is another big thing that student can get in a lot of trouble for.  Posting mean things about teachers, students, employers doesn't go away. It needs to be up for just a minute for the wrong person to see it.

The internet serves as a great place to communicate and explore the outside world. It can lead to jobs, employers and even scholarships. Every single post that you send cant be erased, it is out there forever. In class we spoke with Cameron Brenchley, the Vice President at Collaborative Communications. He helped us fully understand the importance of our digital footprint. He helped the White House and the House of Representatives with their social media. Him and his team would make sure what they were posting for the government was appropriate for all ages and easily understood. Cameron talked about how even the White House uses the internet and different apps to spread information and communicate with the public. He gave us different tips of where to start for looking for employers and what applications to download to help us get our name out there.

Your digital footprint is whatever you make it out to be. Post the right things, stand out and express yourself. Doing this in a professional manor can help you out in the long run. It can help you as a student looking for a job, as a business owner and a professional get a higher status. The Internet is a wonderful place, just making sure it is used correctly is the most important thing.

Google and it`s features, bigger and better than ever.

 

       Google is one of the top search engine sites to obtain the world`s information. Type in anything you desire and in seconds, links, photos, maps, and even apps come up related to your topic.It is one of the most useful things on the internet, but do we really know how useful Google can be? Google has so many tools, it is hard to full understand them all. In class we learned how Google has a calculator and how you can ask Google to APA format your reference for you. Google has many different links but there are three important tools google has. These include; Google translate, Google handout, and Google Docs.

      Google Translate is one of the greatest features on Google. It helps if you have a language barrier or even if you are traveling to help understand each other. It is easy as typing in what you want to say and Google will even pronounce it for you. The newest edition to this, is Google is coming out with a translation app. It will give you the ability to take a aim your mobile device to something with words on it and your phone will translate it to the language you desire. It is an easy way to help travelers explore and understand their surroundings. It helps people from other countries to get around the United States better and learn English if need be.

       Google Hangout is a easy way to meet with a group of people without being with them face to face. With your Google Account you can create a Google Hangout and be invited to an online chat. This chat can either be one to one, with millions of people or as many as you choose. It is a fun way to do interviews, contest, presentations, even hold a online class. It is a good way to connect with your community. Google Hangout is just a fun, new way to connect with people and share information.

      Google Docs usually isn’t the first place you think of when you are going to write a paper, but Google Docs is the newest trend. It was made with collaboration involved. It a way to save your paper online through your email and never lose it. It is an easy way to access it from everywhere. Gone are those days when your computer crashes half way through a paper and it’s gone. Google Docs saves it after every word. Plus since it is saved thru your email, you can access it on any computer, phone, tablet, iPad or whatever device has internet. Another positive thing about Google Docs, it is completely free unlike Microsoft, and it is easily shared with whomever you like. This technology also gives you the power to let other people edit it. It gives you the power to track and see others work on the same document you are working on. It can help businesses, and school projects go much smoother. Each person can add to the paper or power point or even a spreadsheet.

  Google is one of the many tools that can help us with every day life. As the apps and features grow we grow as humans. It helps us learn new languages, new ways to communicate and new ways to help us spread information. Technology grows better and better each and everyday. Soon we will be fixing global warming and reading each others mind. There is so much to learn and Google is a great tool to help us achieve what we need, grow as people, and explore what is out there.

Why our digital portfolio is important.

   Hello, I`m Kaitlyn Jenkins. I am a junior here at Stockton. I am a Health Science major with a concentration of Occupational Therapy. I wanted to take this class because I know how helpful the Internet can be. I thought it would be a good way to broaden my horizons on what jobs, and helpful advice is out there. Finding a job is not easy these days, but making sure my digital portfolio is professional and correct will definitely help.

    The first reading we did was on Chapter 6 of book, "The connected Educator," by Sheryl Nussbaun-Beach, and Lani Ritter Hall. In this chapter we learn why it is important to have a personal learning network. We learn how to follow and how you build your network through blogs. This chapter explains why and how this class is going to effect our lives for the better. The way we thrive is through a healthy community. We build up on who we are and our knowledge through a clear purpose, shared history and culture, active participation, and a shared concern. We use the community to help us build relationships and gain strengths and be more diverse. All of this is important for us in the real world. Another thing that was helpful in this chapter, was learning the different roles in the learning communities. To be someone out in the world you cant be a follower. You need to build your own voice and express yourself. If you are a teacher, nurse, occupational therapist or even just a worker at a business you wont get anywhere if you don't express yourself. You get a job and move up to a higher position working hard, learning new material, leading the way, and building your community. `When you build up your learning network, you build trust. You identify tools, and that sense of community we need. We have successful found ways to help better ourselves in the world. Not all apps are designed for play, there are hundreds out there designed to help us grow as a person, in both as a professional and in our personal life.

      Twitter is a god way to connect with the outside world. There are 200 million active users on twitter.  If you share come common interests or find people that talk about a related topic you build your connections. Social media is to help share and express different thoughts and ideas. The more times someone re-tweets you or even messages back you get seen by more people. This is a way to help become seen. You want to start off with smaller people and grow as you build your more professional portfolio.
    Another helpful thing twitter has, is having the lists to subscribe too. This way you and your followers have a better understand of the conversation. The Twitter list, help organize what your followers are talking about. This way you can keep up with the topics you want to follow. Another positive effect is that it helps you find more people talking about the same topic. This was you can build on the community.
    Twitter also can help students learn. A school in Newport has helped student keep up with the new learning techniques. Their teacher helped explain how they can connect with different teachers and parents. Help find people good at math or science to help teach them. It is also a good way to talk and connect with their hero's. Online education is a very helpful thing if used correctly. It is very important that everyone has a understand of how to achieve the correct knowledge of how to use it.( positive twitter use )