Thursday, 31 March 2016

Weekly Report & Reflection Week 12

Welcome back for potentially the last time! 

To start off we were asked to Google and ourselves and I'm not going to lie I've done this before, but this time I didn't really see anything about myself which I was kind of surprised at because when I did it before I at least found one or two thing about myself. There was a lot that I thought was mine, but when I clicked on the link it was 100% not me! After inquiring about myself on Google it would seem that my digital footprint has not grown, but I would have to disagree and say that I think that my digital footprint has grown because of all the different tools that we have explored and entered our information into and how I have visited multiple different webpages throughout the course. I would say that there has been some changes because before this class I generally stayed to the tools that I was familiar with and tended not to stray from those tools, but now that I have explored and gained some new knowledge on different tools I feel more comfortable and inclined to use those tools and share them with others. 

From this course I have learned that creating a positive digital footprint is something very important to my future, I know for a fact that some companies will look you up online before they hire you to see the types of things that you are posting to social media and I want everything to be appropriate if that were ever the case for me. I also am hoping to be attending another school in the fall which is going to help me get the career of my dreams and if in any case they look up my profile on any social media or other websites I want to make sure that the things they are seeing are not inappropriate. So I think that creating this positive digital footprint is going to help in many different aspects on our lives. Between my digital foot print and living and learning in a digital world it has shown me that we are able to use the different tools we have explored for many different reasons and that I know I will most likely continue to use some of them to help me create a new way of presenting or keeping myself organized. 

What I have learned about digital citizenship is that it is always important to make sure that we are posting appropriate information and information that we would want others to see. I would just encourage to make sure that they know their rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen and what it means to be learning and living in a digital world. Another lesson that I learned from this course is that through the multiple different tools that we have explored we are able to promote the quality of interactions because with the different aspects and features of all the tools we are able to comment, or work together on presentations, assignments more easily. Which all of these play into make it easier to interaction online as well. 

As a digital citizen I would always promote and stand by anything or anything that is trying to stop bullying and cyber bullying because that is a major thing about being a positive digital citizen. I would try to encourage people to use many of the tools that we have to work together with others and that with the use of these tools we are able to stay in contact with other individuals more easily through text messaging, or emailing. There is one webpage that I referred to quite frequently that helped me understand the nine elements. To access this webpage click HERE. I would help others learn and work in a digital world by showing them the different tools that we have learned about and encourage them to even Google what it means to be a digital citizen and how they can work towards being a positive one. I would also encourage people to ask questions if they had any because that's what I did and after I asked the questions I gained a better understanding of what it meant to be living and working in a digital world. 

Well that's it everyone, I would like to thank you all for coming back every week and reading about my experiences about all the different tools and things I have learned! 

Until next time,
Amanda :)

 

Saturday, 26 March 2016

Weekly Report & Reflection Week 11

And we're back again, 

Through the use of these webcasting tools I have learned that you can pretty much put anything you want into the digital world and this is something that we have to be careful about. Through the use of these webcasting tools I learned that they can be used for multiple different reasons, whether it's more personal or business I think that this is an interesting tool. To be completely honest, I don't know when I would use this tool for an educational purpose unless it was for an assignment in a communications class. But I could see how it would be useful to those who would be using them because it allows them to create a recording and share with many different people. Since I chose to work with Soundcloud I feel as though it has helped my build my knowledge because I had not used any type of webcasting tool before this class (seems to be a trend for me, trying new tools) and I guess that was just because I don't think I even felt like I had something to share with others to that big of an audience. But now if I ever feel the need, I know multiple different tools that would be able to help me out. 

These tools are different from some of the other ones that we have explored and looked at because these tools do not really allow you to collaborate with others, unless that person is with you as you are recording which in most cases is not the easiest thing to do. But you do have the ability to share your comments on the podcast and let the person know what you think, if you liked or disliked it, and maybe even make some suggestions to them as well for their next post. 

I do think that I would add this to my PLE just because it is another tool that allows us to create and share information through the digital technology and it may be useful in my future. This contributes to my knowledge about being a digital citizen because after looking through the Soundcloud webpage there are podcasts on almost everything you could think of and I think that we as user of digital technology should be utilizing all of the different tools that we have learned about through out this course and have helped us become better digital citizens. 

One item I would like to share from my Feedly is another post from the Brock Student Blog, because it talks about Wellness week and I think that this week at Brock is a great thing. They offer many different activities such as free massages, free breakfast and many more! I think that this is a great idea because as we are all gearing up for our last set of exams before the summer these are some great ways to relax and help you prepare! 

Until next time,
Amanda :) 

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
Amanda's ADED 1P32 Blog by Amanda Tomlinson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 Tomlinson, A. (CC) 2016













Podcast

Welcome back everyone! 

This week we looked at different webcasting tools and I personally had never used one of these tools before so I found it fun and interesting going through and exploring the different tools. But I found that I liked Soundcloud I found that I was able to navigate this webpage the best and I found it the easiest as well. I have placed a quick podcast at the bottom of this post about what I learned about living and working in a digital world.

I do believe that using a podcast contributes to my digital responsibility because I know that what I am posting in the podcast is going to be appropriate to any user, and I know that it is my responsibility to make sure that I am only sharing information into the digital world that is appropriate for everyone. This also contributes to my digital literacy because I am learning more and more about the digital world through each week of this course and with each of the tools that we learn about they are all contributing to my knowledge of what digital literacy and different ways to communicate and create information. Overall this podcast has contributed to my understanding of digital citizenship because this type of tool could be used for many different reason, for example someone could create a personal podcast, or I know that it can be used for music aspects and many more options and I think that it helps contribute to my overall knowledge of what tools I have out there for me to use.  

 Until next time,
Amanda :)  

Sunday, 20 March 2016

Weekly Report & Reflection Week 10

Welcome back ...again to some of you! 

This week we took a look at many different presentation tools and I personally tried to explore the majority of them and see what was similar and what was different between them all. I found that most of them were easy to use and that all of them allowed you put input pictures, videos and text. Some even allowed you to put a song over so as the presentation played there would be music to it, or another allowed you to record your voice so that played as the presentation went along. I think that all of these features are interesting and some may appeal to other more, but personally I like Prezi. These tools, specifically Prezi will be helpful in my education because it is a new and creative way to put a presentation together. I think that it is a cool way to present a topic that interests you and allows you to pick from different themes as well as start from scratch and fully create your own. I think that this a good tool for any student to know about because it is a neat way to create a presentation other than using the typical Power Point. 

Prezi and some of the other presentation tools are different to others that we have explored because they have different features, such as music and voice recording as mentioned above. Also some of these tools do not have the feature to share like some of the other ones we have looked at such as Google Docs. Which is somewhat of a con to these tools just because it you are working collaboratively it is easier when everyone is able to access the presentation at once. I would for sure add Prezi to my PLE and I would most likely put it under create, because it's a tool I would use to create presentations for both school and if needed outside of school as well. 

As we move through the course I learn more and more about what it means to be a digital citizen and this week I learned that you cannot just take any image that you want off of Google or another website to use it for your personal use. There are certain pictures for that use and before this week I did not know that, but the work for this past week has informed me of this topic. I have also learned that you have to make sure that you are properly citing everything that you use because if you are using someone else's work they deserve credit. I look forward to learning more about being a digital citizen in the last couple of weeks that we have left! 

On a side note I found a blog post from a couple of weeks ago on a Brock Student blog site (which you can see if you click HERE) and I found that since exams are coming up in a few short weeks that this may help a couple of you! This blog post was about tips for midterm season, which essentially you could apply to exam season as well. All lot of them I resonate with because I need to be in a place with minimal to no distractions or else I do not get any work or studying done. Which usually means I have to be in the library in a cubicle or at home in my bedroom! What are some of your study tips that you would give someone? 

Until next time,
Amanda :)  

My Slideshow

Welcome back everyone! 

This week we had to explore multiple different presentation tools and I first tired to use Animoto and to be truthful ....I found this one quite frustrating to use I for life of me could not figure out how to upload my pictures but I figured out that was my fault and not the program. But I as I was exploring different presentation tools, I found that a couple others were a lot easier to use. The one that I decided to use was Prezi, I have used this tool before and I like how it works. 

Within my presentation there are images that I believe represent what being a digital citizen means as well as what digital rights and responsibilities a person should consider as they are using the internet. Each of the images that I have used demonstrate some sense of digital rights and responsibilities, each of them are a representation of how some questions that we as digital citizens should be asking ourselves. Each of these images are available to use by the public and through the work for this week and learning about the different rights for copyright I have learned how to search for images that I am able to use for my own presentations etc. I personally did not know a lot about what images I was allowed to use for my own personal use and which images had copyrights on them, but now that I know how to change my settings in order to check to see which images are there for public use, or which websites has images that I am able to use as well. This is information that I am going to be able to use for the foreseeable future as I will most likely need to search for pictures on Google or any other webpages.

To see my Prezi you can click HERE or watch below!  

 

Until next time,
Amanda :) 

Thursday, 10 March 2016

Weekly Report & Reflection - Week 9

Welcome back for the second ..or maybe third time this week! 

Through my exploration of VoiceThread over the past couple of days I have found that this tool is a very interesting tool. I like how this particular tool is interactive in the sense that you can add a comment in multiple different ways such as a voice comment, video comment, make a comment using your phone, upload a comment and finally just typing out a comment. With that I like that you are able to see everyone's comments all along the side so you are able to access them easily. I think that tool is going to help with my learning because I like the idea that you are able to create a presentation that can include pictures and videos and when it is done and ready to go plays as a video, unlike a slide show presentation where you have to constantly click to the next slide.

When looking at my PLE I think that this tool will fit into a couple of different places, but I would most likely place it under create. I believe that this heading would suit it best because this tool allows be to create a presentation that I am able to add my personal voice comments into. When comparing this tool to the other tools that we have looked at I can say that I see some similarities as well as differences and the main difference would be something that I have already mentioned, which is the fact that you can comment and in many different ways. It is similar to the other tools because you are able to create a presentation and add in pictures, videos and text and allow the presentation to play. In regards to my PLN I think that this tool is great because everyone is able to comment on it and give their input and I always says that any criticism is good because you are able to learn from the negative comments or appreciate the good ones.

When I think about being a digital citizen at the beginning of this course I was not completely sure what that meant. Now I am gaining more and more knowledge about it and I now realize that there was so much more to being a digital citizen than just respecting the digital world and making sure that what you were posting and what you were doing was appropriate. Which leads me into what I have learned about digital rights and responsibilities which is that it is our right to make sure that what we are posting or sharing is appropriate for everyone to see or for whomever we are allowing to see it. It is also our right to make sure that the sites we are posting on give us the option to keep things private such as personal information about ourselves and even our families. I know that I still have a lot to learn and I am looking forward to it. 

As I was going through my Feedly reader this week I found a blog post from the Brock University Student Bloggers and this article talked about keeping in touch with Brock through social media. I though that this sort of related to digital rights and responsibilities because what it posted on those sites is also appropriate to the audience they have. This blog gives you all of the different Facebook pages, Twitter handles, etc. so that we are able to keep up-to-date on what is going on at our school. If you would like to see this blog all you have to do is click HERE

Until next time,
Amanda :) 

 

Technology Use Scenario

Scenario #8: Mr. Scott, principle of Rural High School, is walking through the library and sees a student working on a computer. Looking down, he sees that the student is on a music site that requires a credit card to purchase music. Mr. Scott informs the student that the district's acceptable use policy does not allow buying items online using school computers. Should these actions be allowed in school? Why or why not? 

This particular student is not using technology appropriately because the student most likely knows that they should not be on the site that requires them to purchase music. The student was in the library so they were probably on a school computer, which in that case every student knows the rules and regulations when they are on a computer within the school, these policies are mentioned to them multiple times before they use the computers and while they are on them. Even when the students are on the computers they have specific websites that they are able to use, even for music. This could be seen as the main reason that the use of technology was inappropriate. 

As we use technology is this type of setting there have to be rules and policies in place so that students are not misusing the technology and are using it in an appropriate in order to enhance their learning. There several rules when it comes to being a good digital citizen, if you click HERE there are a set of 9 rules that can apply to both the home and school setting when using technology. One of the rules mentions how a digital citizen upholds basic human rights in all digital forums, this particular rule mentions that students should not be able to publish freely without "government approval" which in the school setting I do believe is something that should be upheld. Students should only be able to post things online while they are at school that are within school policy and appropriate. A second rule mentions that students should protect all personal information in case of harm. This applies to this particular scenario because the student was seen on a website that needs a credit card to purchase the music, and if the student is entering this type of private information while they are school they could potentially being accessing different websites that require this type of information and this could cause repercussions for the student in a negative way. 

There are multiple different ways that technology is being used in the classrooms and schools today and they are being used to help advance one's academic learning. Click HERE to see a list of trends that are happening in classrooms today and how they are helping students learn. I do think that if the student was using an appropriate website that was seen as appropriate by the school, then it would not have been an issue. I think that the main issue was that the student was on a website that they should have been using as home under the supervision of their parents. So the student could have used a different website to listen to music or they could have just been doing their work without the need for music. 

Overall I think that this was a good example because it shows that some students are using the technology within the school in an inappropriate way and if this continues it could cause a negative consequence not only for that one student, but for many others as well. 

- Amanda :) 

VOICETHREAD

Hey Everyone! 

Today I explored a new tool called VoiceThread and I think personally that this is a really interesting tool. I think that this is can help enhance my academic learning because it is another tool that I am able to use in order to create a presentation and it also allows others to comment on it, which they this way they are able to give you suggestions as well as tell you things that you have done well. I think that this would fit into PLE in two different places under organize and create. It fits under both of these headings because it helps you organize a presentation and information as well as it is a tool used in order to create that presentation. I would probably try to use this tool if I was doing a presentation for a class such as ADED 1P32 because it is an online class this gives them a chance to comment on my presentation without having to send a document back and forth with everyone's responses in it. Overall I think that this is a pretty interesting tool that I have never heard of before and I think that it will be fun to continue exploring and finding my way around the tool. 

 
Until next time,
Amanda :)  

Sunday, 6 March 2016

Weekly Report & Reflection - Week 8

Welcome back everyone! 

I hope that everyone is enjoying their last couple of weeks of the semester! 

This week we took a look at wiki's and at how they can be used in order to aid your learning, I personally did not know much about wiki's and how they were able to help with my learning, but after exploring them I found that they can be very useful to me. I can see myself using a wiki in order to collaborate with peers and this feature also allows you to make changes and revise some work with others as well and I think that this is a great tool because then you are able to get the input of someone else and this can help improve your work. Even though I like this tool, I still feel as though I would use Google Docs more just because I am more familiar with it and I like the idea of being able to share my work with anyone. 

This week also focused on digital rights and responsibilities and what were the three topics that we found were the most important. I personally chose right to privacy, content ownership and right to free speech. I find that all of these topics are important and connect with each other because they all have the one aspect that we as an individual are allowed to post what we feel, but at the same time making sure that it is appropriate  for others to view unless you make it so that you are the only one able to view the post. 

Tomlinson, A. (CC) 2016  

One thing from taking this course that I have learned about myself is that bad habits are things that take concentration in order to break. I mention this because as I am going through and working on this classes tasks every week I was finding that at the beginning I was taking a lot longer than needed because I would also switch over to Facebook or some other sort of social media. But after going through my Feedly account this week I found a TEDTalk video on breaking bad habits. I found this video to be very helpful and that I could relate to many of the things the man was mentioning and I can say that I am going to try and use some of his techniques in order to break some of my bad habits and help me become more focused as I am working on school work whether it be this class or another. If you would like to watch that video you can click HERE. 

Until next time,
Amanda :)