Weekly Report and Reflection #10

Hello Again!

This is a two-part blog post, so I want to give you a reflection of everything that I learned from Animoto and my thoughts about my continuation as a Digital Learner!

As I mentioned in my latest post about Animoto, I had a good time using it, but I never went into the problems that I had with that tool. While using Animoto, I found that I would become stressed with the tool because it was lacking a lot of the features that should have been customizable. The text was something that I had the most problems with because it was very inflexible and did not allow for creativity to be expressed. As you must pick your design before you create the slideshow, you virtually have no control over the font, size or colour of what you want to write, On top of that, you also can only fit in a certain amount of words into your slideshow, which I found to be highly inconvenient, causing me not being able to get my point across. I was able to see how Animoto would be convenient because it walks you through the instructions on how to use it and the format is quite easy to follow, but I would still prefer to use Word's Slideshow.

Prezi. (CC). 2016.

I do believe that someone would be able to use Animoto in an educational context, yet I think Prezi would be more useful. I have found that navigating Prezi is much easier, plus I have had professors who have told me that they prefer Prezi. It is for that reason that I would choose not to include Animoto into my PLE.

With that being said, I did learn more about being a digital learner this week because of Animoto. I learned the importance of respecting copyrighted work, as well as coming to the realization of how many images are under copyright online. Smart Copying talks about the importance of understanding what copyright is and you should definitely take a look at their site if you have any lingering questions!

Wikipedia. (CC). 2016.

This week in my Feedly, I found an article from Michael Geist that relates to the constant battle that the Copyright Board fights with the Education Board. I found this article to be very interesting because I noticed that professors were becoming more wary about the content that they were allowed to scan onto the computer. If you want to see the progress the two Boards made, you should check out his blog!



Until next time,
Nicole

Weekly Report and Reflection #9

Hi Again! (x2)

As you may have noticed, this is my third post this week, as I have been doing many different things this week to talk about digital citizenship. I am aware that I have already given my opinion on VoiceThread, but I will touch upon this tool again for my weekly reflection. 

VoiceThread. (CC) 2014.

As I have previously mentioned, although I do see how VoiceThread can be useful, I do not personally think I will be implementing this tool in the future. My favourite part of this tool is the fact that I can hear the voices of the people leaving comments on this site. I listed this reason because you are able to actually hear another person talk about their opinions on the topic that you have clicked, which can help you establish a sort of intimacy with another user. This can also help to ensure that there is not a misunderstanding between what a person is saying because you are able to actually hear them (something that is a problem if you are just reading a comment). However, as I thought about this more, I realized that because there still is an option to just type out your comments, the possibility of misunderstanding is still there. I also thought about how this site may not be the most useful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing because they would be missing out on the voice comments. 

That being said, I still would not know how I would incorporate this site into my life as a student and for that reason, I would not include it in my PLE. I could understand why someone would want to implement this tool into their PLE, although I have no idea how they would do so. I feel that I would prefer to just find a blog and provide a written comment, that I would have to ensure makes my point clearly. 

Polldaddy. (CC) 2016.

Another site that I looked into was PollDaddy, which I thought was interesting. I like the idea that you can create your own polls, surveys, and quizzes. I find that this would be more useful than VoiceThread, as I could see how I could put this tool into action. I would recommend PollDaddy to psychology students, as it has been in those classes that I have had to create polls for. However, as I am not a Psychology student, I would also leave this site out of my PLE because I would not need it. 

I decided to read other classmates' blogs about VoiceThread to see if they shared my opinion of the site and found that Andrea had brought up an interesting way in which it could be used in the future. I was pleased to see that Andrea would not implement it currently, which made me feel slightly relieved that I was not missing out on a great way to use the tool. I highly suggest going over to her blog and seeing her perspective!

From this weeks Feedly, I found Richard Byrne posted about three updates that Google Docs has done this week. Although this does not relate to this week specifically, I have written about Google Docs! These updates will definitely make you a more efficient digital user and encourage you to use Google Docs more. One update in particular could be useful to teachers, in allowing people to export the docs to an EPUB format. If you are interested, please read more at Byrne's blog!

Until next week!

Nicole

Technology Use Scenario #1

TeachThought. (CC) 2016.

Scenario: Sean decides to create a website that is a parody of his school's website. Sean uses the same website style as the school, but makes up stories and misinformation about the school, such as features about weekend drinking parties. Because he is in the class that makes changes to the real website, he is able to direct people to his website instead of the real one. The principal, Ms. Martinez, finds out about the change when an angry parent calls to complain about a story on the website mentioning her daughter. Ms. Martinez contacts the school technology- support person, Mr. Jones, and requests that he remove the parody site. She also asks Mr. Jones to find out who is responsible. 

It is quite evident upon reading the first sentence, that Sean is not being appropriate. To be a digital citizen, it is important to keep your digital footprint as clean as possible, which is something that Sean is not keeping in mind. It is also important as a online user to be respectful of others, just because you are typing from behind a screen, that does not mean your words are not effecting someone else. Sean has conducted wrongful behaviour by creating a parody that is misleading others, posting false, offensive and hurtful content, spreading awareness to the site and by using the class meant to promote his school in negative ways. TeachThought blog talks about 20 rules to abide by to be a good digital citizen. Sean has failed to consider his digital footprint, has not considered the people that he may be hurting in creating his parody site and has made his site personal by attacking people and his school. On top of that, he did not properly think out the consequences of his actions to not only himself, but the people he has written about. Sean should have first thought out how he would feel if someone were writing untrue words about him and what would happen to him as a student if he went through with his idea. That alone should have prevented him from creating this site, as I think none of this should have ever happened if he properly thought out the repercussions. 

I want to know if you have any ideas of what Sean should have done differently or if you agree with me that there was not one thing that Sean had done right. He was committing identity theft in stealing an institutions identity, slandering their reputation. I would also like to know how you think Ms. Martinez should punish him and if there are any ways to avoid this situation in the future.

 

Reflection #8 - Wikipedia

Hello Everyone!

I am back again this week to talk to you about a topic that I am quite familiar with. This site is one that I have been prone to peruse from time to time, but have also had experience creating pages. Of course, if you read the title of this blog, you would see that the topic this week is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an interesting site because you can create your own page about anything you would like for the public to see. This tool also allows you to easily add pictures and references, while integrating a coding component, which is fantastic for tech savvy individuals. Unfortunately, as I have mentioned many times, tech savvy are two words that are not associated with me.

Wikipedia. (CC) 2016.

I have created two separate Wikipedia pages within the span of a year and found that I absolutely hated my experience. Both of these projects did happen to be group projects, but it was not my partners that made my experience so awful. Although I do see how Wikipedia can be useful, I was always taught that it was not a reliable site because anyone can create a Wiki page. I understand that you can virtually find any topic and can incorporate various components such as images with a variety of texts, while being able to have multiple people input data at once. However, it was the coding aspect which I absolutely despised. As coding is very sensitive, if you are off by one slash or character, you cannot complete the function you were trying to accomplish. There are various errors that you can encounter while coding and you may not know how to fix them, which makes working with Wikipedia incredibly frustrating for me. I very much prefer Google Docs, both when working solo or with groups because I find it to be more straightforward and it is easier to understand.

Wikispaces. (CC) 2016.

I think that Wikipedia could be a great tool to gather information for a project, but I also do not like how anyone can create a page. I think this makes the pages suspect, as you do not know how accurate some of the information is. I also would not recommend creating Wikipedia pages as a project because I do not think it is fair to mark someone on designing and coding, if that is not their forte. I could understand if the class was specifically aimed at coding or websites, but I think it is unfair for a class that does not involve either. I do see the importance of becoming more tech savvy, but as my experiences with Wikipedia have been awful, I would prefer to learn in other ways.

To end this week's blog, I wanted to share Lisa Nielsen's article this week called Don't Waste Student's Time with Note Taking. Something Better. I felt this was a relevant article as a fourth year student, that tackles the issue regarding student note taking. The article stresses the importance of children being supplied the notes prior to class, so they are better able to focus on what the teacher is saying to create meaningful connections. If you are interested in this point of view, feel free to check out her article!

Until next time,
Nicole

Reflection #7 - Google Docs

Hello Again!

You know what time of the week this is! I am back to write on another technological tool and discuss what I liked or disliked about it! For this week, Google Docs was the assigned tool, which I was immediately pleased with.

Spanning.  (CC)  2016.

Now I should probably explain why I was so happy with the chosen resource. The truth is, I first discovered Google Docs and Slides last year when I had a group project with four other people. If you have ever been in a group consisting of five members, you know that it is often very hard to be able to meet with all members of your group due to everyone having different schedules. However, one of my group mates introduced us all to Google Docs and Google Slides and my life was forever changed as a student.

This tool is so great for collaboration because it allows for people to work simultaneously or independently on projects, where anyone is able to edit anyone else's work. This is great for a student in a group, who has a tight schedule, as they could input all of their data into the document and help edit when they have time. This also allows for people to see everyone else's progress in the group, which could lead to less stress (or more stress if your group members are not doing their work). I have found that Google Docs is great for group essays, which I have done recently. I especially encourage using Google Docs because each group member can post what sources they will be working with to ensure that no one is using the same source twice.

I also have used Google Docs academically for note taking during class, as there are many functions that allow me to organize my notes. I especially like the various highlighter colours and fonts that can be used. I also found that because Google Docs automatically saves what you are typing, I do not have to worry about losing the information that I have typed. I also think the ability to easily insert pictures is another awesome tool because you do not need to have the picture saved, but can simply use the URL.

Since discovering Google Docs, I have also used it when completing statistics assignments because of the quick save feature and the table insertion. As Word also allows people to insert tables, I found that Google Docs is much more easy to navigate and that adding tables is faster. I have also used Google Docs at work in the summer, as I had to keep a daily journal of the amount of people that I called with notes and found that it was extremely efficient in a Google document.

In regards to my PLE, I had already included Google Docs under my two categories of Education and Communication. I will keep it in this position as it is a tool that benefits both of these areas. As I was already aware of Google Docs and Slides, I did not think it made that much of a difference on my digital literacy. However, as I did play around with more of the functions, I did become more knowledgeable, thus improving my digital literacy!

Blogspot. (CC) 2016.

To end my post for this week, I wanted to share an app that I found from my Feedly. Hack College reviews the app ColorNote, which is an app that is synched up to your phone and Google account, that helps you to stay organized. It helps to keep you aware of checklists using colour coordination, that I think could be incredibily helpful for a student! If you are interested, you should check out their review!



As always, until next time!
Nicole

Reflection #6 - Evernote

Hello Again!

I was off for a week enjoying some time to myself, but I am now back and ready to blog! This week, my class had to focus on the tool Evernote and use this site to help us get ready for one of our upcoming assignments. While working with Evernote, I found that I had many mixed reviews about the site personally. I do not know if I have mentioned this prior, but I am not a tech savvy person, although I can easily maneuver the web tools that I am accustomed to (after a VERY long trial period). So my first experience with Evernote happened to be today, which I found to be an infuriating struggle. I did find that the actual set-up process was quite easy to figure out, which I enjoyed, yet I found the clipart attachment was bothersome to download as it took some time. That being said, I found that the clipart tool was extremely handy, as it is easily accessible. Another pro was that the tool allows you to clip anything you want back to Evernote, including images, videos and various text. I also really liked how it gives you the option on whether you want to only take a portion of the text, everything or just include the link. Another benefit I found was that it is extremely organized. Evernote allows you to create your own different types of notebooks, so when you are clipping from a website, you can put that information into whatever notebook that you want to. Due to its ability to easily organize, I can understand how this would be a great tool to compile sites and information for a project. Although I did initially dislike Evernote because it was like nothing I have ever navigated before, I did find that once I knew what was going on, I could easily figure it out.

http://mergy.org/wp-content/uploads/evernote.png

In a sense, Evernote reminded me of an RSS Feed that you are personally creating, that you can later look at everything that you have assigned. Due to the share feature on Evernote, you could also share your notebooks with partners if need be. However, a downside of Evernote is that you are the only person who is able to edit your notes, so if you did have a partner, they would be privy to your information, but ultimately powerless. If I am honestly speaking (or writing), I could see the benefit of using Evernote in a group, but would prefer to use Google Docs myself because of the ability to edit others work.

I will definitely be adding Evernote to my PLE despite the mixed reviews that I have given the tool throughout the entire blog. I do see how someone could thrive using this tool and I could put it under Education, as I would personally not use it for any other reason.

http://alumni.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/image/mosquitoZIKA.jpg

Another topic I would like to discuss with you all today is something I found via Feedly! The article is called Canadian Mosquito Tests For Zika Virus Transmission Begins. Within the article, you discover that Brock University is testing for the Zika Virus in Canada to discover if our mosquitoes can carry the virus, which is extremely important to us as Canadians. Without my Feedly, I may not have noticed this article and would not have even thought about the potential that our mosquitoes could start infecting us too.

Until next time!
Nicole

Weekly Report & Reflection #5

This week, I found our topic to be especially exciting because we had to work with Twitter!

http://cdn.dexmedia.com/media/twitter-hashtag.jpg

Twitter is a social media that I have brought up in my blogs before this week, so I was excited that I would be expanding my PLE with an educational twitter account. As I have mentioned previously, I really enjoy Twitter because it allows you to filter using hashtags and follow people or accounts that interest you. It is very similar to my Feedly in that way, as I could also decide to put notifications on certain accounts in case I do not want to miss any of their tweets. 

As I mentioned before, I had a Twitter account prior to this class, which I used mostly for entertainment purposes. If you look back at my week 2 for my PLE, I had connected Twitter to two of my main categories of Communication and Connection via Social Media. However, with the inclusion of my educational account, Twitter may also fit below Education. As I do not think I will be able to connect Twitter to three different components in my PLE, I will distinguish between my main and educational account as they serve two different purposes.

https://mobilescience10.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/twitter-for-education.jpg

Before this class, I had never though of Twitter as an educational tool because that is never how I used it in the past. On my main account, I use Twitter to interact with my friends and tell jokes about my life and the people around me. It had never occurred to me that Twitter could have an educational side, which I realize now, was not correct to assume. Looking at the features on Twitter, I could see how it is a great educational platform and how it has been used like that in the past for movements such as #BlackLivesMatter. By implementing a maximum 140 characters count, it allows for people to be concise and get to the point of the issue at hand. It also allows for you to constantly be updated about issues surrounding you, where you can easily check your phone.

As always, I have "mastered" one more media site, allowing me to become more tech savvy and add to my PLE. I cannot wait for next week!

Until next time!