Wrap Up

I cannot believe these 6 weeks are coming to an end. As the course wraps up in this final week I have been able to reflect on all the things I learned this semester. Learning is an ongoing process and I am eager to use the tools I have discovered while developing additional skills through Web 2.0. I know these tools can be beneficial for my life, personally and professionally.


If I had to pick one of my favorite Web 2.0 tools I would have to choose Diigo. Not only is Diigo a bookmarking site, which allows me to come back to articles to read later when I have more time, it also allows annotations directly on the articles. I was used to keeping an unnecessary amount of tabs open so I wouldn't forget something I wanted to look at. Now, with Diigo, I can keep everything organized and in one place.


What tool have you found most beneficial and are excited to continue using?

Facebook: Personal or Professional

A big topic these past few weeks have been if Facebook is appropriate in the professional world. People tend to have different opinions, as most topics go, however, I believe Facebook is best suited for personal use only. While many of my friends use Facebook for their professional life and even post about work related items, I think there needs to be a separation between your personal life and your professional life. Similar to a cliche people say, "leave your issues at the door", when you get to work.

Do you use your Facebook for personal use and professional use? and why?

The Social Media Effect

Have you noticed this social media effect from your heavy use of social media these past few weeks? I know I have, although my numbers are nowhere nearly as high as those reflected in the following picture. From curating information, using different social media tools to get the word out, and seeing analytics of how many people have viewed our sites has really opened my eyes to this social media effect.

Image Credit: By Automotive Social [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

References:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASocial_media_effect_info_graphic.png

Laws that affect Blogging

Are you aware of these European Laws that affect blogging? The law requires bloggers to provide information about cookies used and to obtain consent for what is on your blog.

Thanks to Blogger now I am aware of this law European Union Law. Although we have learned about copy right laws and creative commons licenses this got me thinking if there are other laws out there about blogging. I found a very interesting article about a law that went into effect in Russia last year. It was interesting that the first thing I saw when I went to read the article was their cookies notice, abiding with the the new European Union Blog Law. 

A year ago, on August 1st, 2014, Russia passed a law requiring popular bloggers to register as mass media. According to the article, it was an attempt to "weaken opposition voices online and control information exchange in the country". If your blog receives over 3,000 views a day you could be at chance to face a criminal offense. This is a form of government censorship that doesn't seem fair to me in our growing global online world. Russia's government also has the power to eliminate any website without explanation. Alexei Navalny, an opposition activist, had his blog shut down was then arrested for using twitter, which was apparently banned from his house arrest terms.

What would you do if your freedom of speech via your blog was taken away like that?

References:

Blogger.com

http://calvertjournal.com/news/show/2952/mass-media-law-for-bloggers-comes-into-effect

Are your passwords safe?

After reading Dr, Dennen's post about leaving footprints everywhere we go, it really got my thinking how else we can be comprised on the web.

Identity theft is a growing topic as is credit card fraud. In 2015, a plethora of companies were hacked, comprising millions of people's personal information including credit card and banking information. These data breaches are happening more often and affecting you even when you may not think so.

I found this slideshare about passwords to be extremely interesting since it relates to the topic and it reflects mistakes individuals, including myself, continue to make.

I am guilty of these bad password habits. I reuse my same password for everything I create simply because I know I will remember it. However, that makes me more susceptible to identity theft and fraud.


Resources:
http://time.com/money/3528487/data-breach-identity-theft-jp-morgan-kmart-staples/

http://www.slideshare.net/bhaveshpatelseo/the-state-of-passowrd-habits-infographic?related=1

Larry Lentil.. A Frenchie's Rise to Fame

My brother sent me this video of his dogs tonight and it brought so many laughs to me, I just felt obliged to share!

                         


How in the world can this relate to our Web 2.0 class you might ask.... well, social media is the answer.

My brother and his girlfriend have been using different social media tools to make the newest addition to their family, Larry Lentil, a french bulldog commonly referred to as a "frenchie", famous.

Do you or any of your family members create and use social media accounts for your pet?

This seems to be really popular as many dogs these days, and some cats too, have their own Instagram page and Facebook accounts. Larry Lentil was puppy-proud to reach 3,000 followers the other day on Instagram and shared this photo:

Image credit: Instagram: Larry Lentil

https://instagram.com/larrylentil/

WEBOPEDIA

I have heard of and used the encyclopedia and wikipedia but I have never head of Webopedia until today. Have you? Webopedia is the online tech dictionary catered towards IT professionals, educators and students.

Their goal is to "provide easy-to-understand definitions, avoiding the use of heavy jargon when possible so that the site is accessible to users with a wide range of computer knowledge". 

Webopedia realizes we live in an ever changing society and constantly updates their content as technology continues to evolve and change. It is a great site to learn a little more about the tech world, as a student learning about Web 2.0, this site helps me understand different things I am learning about and stumbling upon on the web.

After learning about networks in this class I found this term, network management, interesting. Networks have to be managed to ensure things are running smoothly and the users are able to navigate and make use of the network, in this case, computer network, effectively.

References:

http://www.webopedia.com/AboutUs.asp

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/N/network_management.html

Online Communities

Communities are something you might build with or without realizing it. You mingle with your neighbors and classmates, you run into familiar faces at the grocery store and fitness center, you meet friends of friends and talk about shared interests. You are expanding your community and interacting with your community quite often whether you believe it or not.

Online communities, on the other hand, take on a whole different role. You can find people with similar interest and engage in a community with those like-minded people. You can discuss topics of interests, share stories, get feedback, learn from one another. Sounds like normal stuff you do every day within your community, however, by being online, it gives the "community" a new perspective. You can engage with people from all over the world without ever meeting one another. You can learn more from being able to access more information at once with less time demands. You only have so much free time to chit-chat at your local grocery store or mingle after your workout class. Most people live busy lives and don't always have that time for the personal interaction. By having online communities everyone can get involved on their own time, at their own pace, and how often they choose to.

Different communities have different norms. It's interesting after exploring a few online fitness communities to see how those different communities interact. Some communities are more active than others and the members provide plenty of support for one another, while some communities are not as active but provide great resources and tools for their members.

My favorite aspect of online communities is being able to get involved at your own pace. Where as in person you are basically forced to make small talk when you run into familiar faces in your community. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable or timely, and the online community takes away those worries.

What's your favorite aspect of online communities?

Knowledge Sharing

Do you enjoy sharing knowledge? The internet is a great place to share knowledge and learn from others. It's amazing how much you think you know, until you begin exploring the unknown. People share such valuable information and on such interesting topics.

For my knowledge sharing and tracking assignment I thought it would be a good idea to curate some healthy lifestyle tips. I thought I was pretty knowledgable on the subject but I do have to admit I have been learning a lot as I find more interesting tips and trades to share with my readers.

Have you been learning from your knowledge and sharing assignment? Or are you more focused on sharing your knowledge? I believe I am doing a little of both!

Check out my Healthy Lifestyle topic at: http://www.scoop.it/t/health-by-nicole-avarello

FERPA

FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Policy Act. This is a very neat topic since I have recently been learning a lot about the HIPAA law from working in the healthcare industry for the first time. In both cases, it's important to have rights over your personal records, whether they be medical records or educational records. I believe have been a stakeholder of FERPAs as a student with protected educational records. It is a great protection to have. No one should be able to see other students grades besides the student themselves and their parents. 

With technology growing, and educational technology being used more and more in the classroom it is important to ensure teachers are following guidelines and continuing to practice by this federal law.

The University of Missouri provides a great guideline for their educators, as I am sure many other universities do as well. I found the University of Missouri's Faculty Guide to Teaching and Learning with Technology extremely useful to learn some more about the topic since they break it down and really explain all the different aspects. It covers everything one needs to know in regards to planning a technology enhanced course, assessment, copyright laws, and FERPA. It's important to understand these guidelines when they have to do with federal laws and protecting students rights. Educators teaching in online environments have to be really careful with what information they make public. Students can even choose to have their name withdrawn from the class directory if they are not comfortable with their information out there and it is their right to do so. Educators have to respect those rights.

Here is something I found very useful from their Faculty Guide: 

References:

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

http://tech.ed.gov/netp/assessment-measure-what-matters/

http://etatmo.missouri.edu/file/Faculty_Guide.pdf

Technology Kinks and Quirks

Today during our Webinar with guest speaker Barry Wellman, co-author of Networked, we experienced some technology kinks. We had some trouble at first with the sound and audio since we were set up on a few different computers to portray more of a classroom experience for our guest speaker, Barry. We also experienced some issues getting Barry connected and heard. Once we were all setup, it was a great interactive experience! It was really neat to meet some of my classmates in person, who I've been networking with for a little over 3 weeks now! Barry was able to talk to us more about his experiences and sections of the book. I particularly like the use of the chat so everyone's audio doesn't have to be on, that way no one is talking over one another, but we can all still participate and engage in the discussion. Overall, I believe it was a success but definitely a learning experience.

I learned that, although issues may arise, it's important to continue to have a positive attitude and do what you can to make do with your situation! If I have gained any non-EME6414 readers, I highly encourage you to check out Barry and Lee's book Networked!

Image credit: http://www.amazon.com/Networked-The-Social-Operating-System/dp/0262526166

Social Media Technologies and Relationships

Social media seems to be taking over and the technologies and tools offered are endless. This week we are exploring some new tools including Google Maps, Edmodo, Fakebook, Symbaloo, and Webquests. It is so neat to see all the different tools offered and what you can do with them. While social media has a plethora of benefits, have you ever considered its downfalls? Do you think social media is interfering with your relationships?

Marissa Brown wrote an interesting article on the topic. She believes that social media sites have disrupted our micro, interpersonal levels within relationships. Do you agree?

Image Credit: Yoel Ben-Avraham

Learning on Twitter Chat

I decided I would try another new tool this week! I was very inactive with my Twitter account prior to this course; merely a lurker on the very random occasion someone told me to check out something they tweeted. So after getting back in the groove of tweeting for this course and following my classmates tweets, I was ready to try out a twitter chat!

#lrnchat uses a social messaging service, Twitter, to conduct an online chat. They hold chats once a week from 8:30 - 9:30 pm. Participants are typically those who are interested in learning in formal, informal, social, and mobile ways. It was so exciting and I was fully engaged in Twitter and the participants for that hour! 

It was so neat to generate so much traffic to my twitter account while learning from people all over. A few of my classmates were involved as well and I even had a conversation on the side with one of them and a few #lrnchat participants too!

My Twitter notifications were on overload and it was challenging to keep up! (Good thing it was only an hour!) Here is a recap of my notifications and involvement in my first #lrnchat:

• I gained 5 new followers!!
• Had 19 of my tweets and tweets I was mentioned in favorited!
• Was directly tweeted at from 4 different classmates!
• Was retweeted by 3 lrnchat participants
• Had direct conversations with 5 people
• Was welcomed by 2 lrnchat participants
• And I was added to 2 lists!

Overall, it was a ton of fun and I learned something new!

If you're interested in reading more, check out the full transcript from last night's Learning Quotes discussion !

https://lrnchat.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/transcript-july-16-2015-learning-quotes/

Would you be interested in participating next week? 
Let me know what you think(: 

Perspectives

As I begin to curate resources for my Knowledge Sharing and Tracking assignment, it got me thinking a lot about perspectives. Everyone has different perspectives, or ways of seeing and thinking about things. I hope I can retain followers with similar perspectives, although having different perspectives is beneficial to see the whole picture. Have you stood in someone else's shoes before? Understood where they come from and why they carry certain perspectives? Have you benefited from someone else's perspective? Definitely something to think about.

Photo Credit: Flickr user Dawn Ellner

Interested in Folksomies?

Web 2.0 offers a plethora of tools, as we dive into more and get further into this course, are you using these tools? Or are these tools overwhelming you? 

I have begun to organize my online life and these tools are definitely helping me. Finding the time to learn and use everything might is the challenge I am trying to overcome. I want to start using tags more since I believe they can be beneficial in finding things, rather than me just booking everything I am interested in. Tags will help me find what I am looking for more quickly and organize my online collections. I don't want to clutter my new online world, otherwise I will definitely overwhelm myself. I found this blog useful and I wanted to share it with my readers. It offers useful tips and further readings on tagging and folksomies if that sparks an interest of yours! 

http://www.threadwatch.org/node/1206

Let me know what you think!

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing, a term coined by Howe, is a process that involves outsourcing task to a distributed group of people, typically online and targeted at the public, is becoming a growing topic and tool for companies. (Howe, 2006). Although it is a new topic to me, I think I have been participating in it on the lower level, as a consumer, all along. By my use of social media tools and online product reviews I feel as if I could have contributed to companies online marketing crowdsourcing on the base level.

Over the past four years, this topic has grown immensely. It is amazing to see how large organizations use crowdsourcing to gain competitive advantages in their industries.

An article that I found extremely interesting is 6 COOL CROWDSOURCING BUSINESS TOOLS. 

One of the points it touches on is on-demand transcription. This is a service that is growing and being used more and more. The article talks about Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, which is also covered in our course reading Conducting behavioral research on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk by Mason and Suri (2011). Mason and Suri touch on some of the aspects of using the web for behavioral research and the benefits including easier access to a larger diversified pool and lower costs of experimentation. Time is a huge advantage of these tools as well. CastingWords, an on-demand transcription service, uses Mechanical Turk to pay people to transcribe segments of audio with a turn around time of 24 hours. It’s amazing what can be done, for less pay, and less time, using the web. 

Although this may seem like sunshine and rainbows, there are always disadvantages to process as well. One of the fallbacks of crowdsourcing I noticed is the quality of work you are receiving and the accountability of the people doing the work for you.

I am interested to hear what other limitations do you notice, or have experienced with crowdsourcing?

References:

Mason, W and Suri, S. (2011). Conducting behavioral research on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2011.

Howe, J. (2006). The rise of crowdsourcing. Wired Magazine, 14, 1–4.

6 Cool Crowdsourcing Business Tools. (n.d.) Retrieved July 14, 2015, from http://www.inc.com/ss/how-use-crowdsourcing-business.

Gaining an Audience

As we near the end of Week 2, I have indulged in a lot of material. One of the articles that really stood out to me was Vanessa's "Becoming a blogger: Trajectories, norms, and activities in a community of practice" (Dennin 2014). I have begun to seek support in my online communities and the article touches on different factors of that. Having a place to go to interact with similar people and share my experiences is something I never thought I would do online. It is a neat experience though!

The article mentions that newcomers might have trouble getting started or gaining an audience. Some bloggers choose to observe, comment and then blog as shown in Case 2 in the article. That could better help them develop a plan and follow through with it.

As far as my communities go, I did not experience any resistance getting started. I was welcomed by multiple members and jumped right into discussion. My blog, on the other hand, I worry about gaining an audience still. I have tried to use tips from class to ask people for their opinions and provide questions so they can answer but I have not seen much activity yet. It is only week 2, so hoping with my increased comments on other peoples blogs I will soon see some reciprocity!

I am starting to think a pseudonym would have encouraged me to share my blog posts through Web 2.0 tools. Does anyone else feel that way?

Personal Learning Networks

I really enjoyed the PLN Videos and especially liked how the video stated there is no wrong way to create your PLN! I think I needed to hear that. I was worrying too much about which tools to use and how many and the thought of it was overwhelming but hearing I can create it my way to fit my needs really encourages me to not get overwhelmed and to use the tools I enjoy. I’m excited to continue learning about Web 2.0 but will choose carefully which tools I enjoy most, fit my needs, and make my life more efficient.

I am excited to build my network! One of my “to-dos” items on my phone actually is to go through and delete any old contacts, even old pictures. Although I update my phone to the “cloud” (which don’t even get me started about the “cloud”, that could be a blog of it’s own!!), I am really bad at removing old pictures because I love going back to them and finding them instantly. Working on that goal! So, once I build my network, I will make a cleanup per say every so often to remove things I no longer find useful and are just cluttering my PLN. That way I can keep it small and focused and not allow myself to get overwhelmed, since this is something to help me by following, participating and sharing knowledge.

By using all these different tools to help build my personal network I can tailor it to fit all my interests, preferences and needs to better myself at the end of the day. I am so glad I am learning about this, because although I use the Internet often, and did use have a few social networking tools prior to this course, I didn’t know I could control and build my personal learning networks.

After hearing about all the features and activities, I think I might’ve had a personal learning network all along without realizing it. Now it’s time to start taking advantages of these learning opportunities to tailor the perfect PLN for me! I do have some problems to solve and lots of goals to meet so I think this is really going to help me. Speaking of goals, another one of mine is to follow the news more often, I’m sure I can achieve that goal if I create and use my PLN right!

Thanks to this course, I’ve already met some of my needs and I am gaining a lot of knowledge. Through my community, my blog, my feed reader, I really am off to a great start! Time to keep building my PLN and contributing to my network!

Happy Networking (: