W7: Final Web 2.0 Tools Reflection

Final Web 2.0 Tools Reflection

Introduction

Reflecting on the web 2.0 tools course, where we explored various technologies, including Twitter, YouTube, HyperDocs, Social bookmarking, and tools like Diigo, this was a meaningful and essential learning experience this semester. Using web 2.0 tools in teaching and learning is fantastic. It can support the education of the curriculum, assist students with technology skills, and aid in removing consuming constraints students learn with unique, modern, and usable mobile learning environments. In addition, the various web 2.0 tools in academia incorporate the students' various advantageous resources, including additional components of learning knowledge, user-friendly applications that can be used with curriculum, and educators can tweak specific learning for students individually, which assists the individual needs of the learners, an increase in technology and written forms of communications, and interactions and collaborations among the students.

Twitter

Twitter is a brief communication social media application that can also be used to facilitate teaching and learning in addition to pedagogy and curriculum. Twitter can be incorporated into learning about digital citizenship for learners. This technology tool allows students to stay aware of academic topics, community, themselves, and other topics like sports, politics, and many other areas. Educators and students can express their opinions on educational issues and even become aware of the students' and educators' voices via this media application. Twitter allows users to easily tweet about any topic and stay in touch with fellow users, gaining additional technology skills as they progress through academics and becoming better informed using this web 2.0 tool. Users beyond academics can continue using Twitter as a professional networking technology resource.

YouTube

As a web 2.0 tool, YouTube is an easy-to-use, informational, and often entertaining technology tool to use in education. YouTube is an exciting video media resource that affords teachers and students fun opportunities included in the curriculum and other activities. This web 2.0 tool allows users to increase their listening skills in the learning environments as they continue to learn the subject matter in the classroom. YouTube allows students and educators a fun learning experience as they engage in their classes with fellow learners. YouTube is a user-friendly and straightforward software application to include and collaborates with other teaching and learning technologies like Microsoft suites or Google Classroom, for example. Access to assorted topics in teaching and learning allows users to expand their knowledge and skills they otherwise would not have experienced within their learning environments. Using YouTube in education may also trigger additional learning resources and discussions among learners, and they may become better equipped to collaborate with group projects on topics of interest, activities, or reports as well.

HyperDocs

HyperDocs are a web 2.0 technology that can be created using a starting technology resource like Google Docs, Slides, Microsoft Word, or PowerPoint to package lesson plans for educators to use, and they provide the learners a variety of methods to interact and review and learn from. The HyperDocs are advantageous in that they package the learning content and subject matter from various other web 2.0 tools dependent on the educator facilitating the learning experience in preparations for the learners. Setting up these HyperDocs using various technology tools, students can develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and engaging as they learn, where they can share and reflect on these diverse technical learning components. 

Social Bookmarking, Diigo

Diigo is one resource of a technological social bookmarking tool and it can be used basically to bookmark websites, and organize websites and webpages for various learning tools of use at a later time. Learners can collect websites in preparation for use in assignments, or collaborative projects with fellow students. Students can share these bookmarked sites, and they can annotate them as well on the internet. Using Diigo or similar social bookmarking web 2.0 tool in education can be an advantage in helping learners with reading, writing, and communication skills. Educators can use these resources to share with students as part of learning content. With Diigo, users can complete notes and do notetaking and then include them with the bookmarked sites that they are reviewing and researching for their learning of content and subject matter. 

Reflection

Reflecting on the above mentioned web 2.0 tools that are just a few of the technology applications that can be used in acaemics, educators can use such resources to enhance and expand on the students learning experiences. Also, they can create individual learning experiences to meet the individual needs of specific students where they can be designed to promote students success in the classroom and beyond. The uses of these various types of web 2.0 technologies used in education have transformed and enhanced learning experiences for students in the internet dominated world we live and interact in today. Overall, these technology tools benefit learners by the user friendliness of these applications and the visual reinforcements of the resources being explored within the learning experiences collectively and individually which increases students technology interactions with content and users day to day. 

W6: Final Vanity Search

W6: Final Vanity Search

 

This week I would like to reflect on my journey from my initial vanity search that I learned throughout this course. I started my final vanity search differently this time, so I started with a different internet web browser Microsoft Bing in Microsoft Edge Search Engine. For my initial search, I used Google in Google Chrome. From the image above, you can see in the search field that I started by simply typing my name as it is spelled and without quotation marks, Ami Stovall. When the search results pulled up, I noticed immediately that it generated information that was spot on my name and my personal and professional information, including my portfolio link, LinkedIn site, Facebook account, the WhitePages, zoominfo.com, another graduate school portfolio that I completed, my blogspot.com account, classmates.com, spokeo.com, and others too. Even from classmates.com, I hesitantly clicked on that link. The screenshot below includes my graduating class, a picture of my cat, and a brief history of me that was correct, years of high school, and I did NOT input at the time of my high school experiences... This was amazing to me, and it was more accurate than my first vanity search six weeks ago. 

Next, I did another search with the same internet browser and the same search engine, but I put my legal name in quotation marks. When the search results were pulled up for me to explore, I noticed that there were some of the above-mentioned sites on me as well as some new ones like my YouTube channel, myheritage.com, and journal entries from my semester blogs in graduate school, but not all of them, and even sites that I had reviewed services and goods through the years with my name. This truly amazed me, and I have mixed emotions about this as an older learner who has always been instructed not to share my personal information. On the other hand, I know that technology is not going away, and I love, enjoy, and benefit personally and professionally from technology. I know that I will continue to use it daily in my life. 

Reflection

I know that with so many other things and skills in life, "there is usually more than one way to skin a cat," as I am learning with and from different technology software applications, operating systems, and apps we use for technology. Doing a vanity search alone from different search engines and internet web browsers can and does provide different results, usually due to having software developing companies and employees too that do the coding in different ways, which ultimately provide different types of software, mobile apps, operating systems, and even the knowledge and skills of the front-end users of these tools in technology. What a challenging, eventful, and meaningful experience I have had learning these newer technologies for modern interactive and often mobile learning today! 

W5: Adventures in Social Bookmarking - Diigo

Adventures in Social Bookmarking - Diigo 

This week we were challenged to explore Diigo, a social bookmarking tool on the Google Play Store. I have never heard of Diigo or social bookmarking, so my first adventure is researching, learning, and tinkering with social bookmarking online. Although I know what bookmarks are in using the internet web browsers with searching and bookmarking sites to be used for reference later, this is my first encounter with "social bookmarking." So, I began with a Google search to learn more about social bookmarking. I knew social bookmarking saves specific or favorite webpage(s) to a social bookmarking software platform, like Pocket, Pinterest, Digg, Mix, and Slashdot. Social bookmarking media, apps, and websites allow users to revisit the saved bookmarks and add, annotate, collect, organize, and designate sharing permissions individually or in groups, content curation, and others. As I was researching social bookmarking, Pinterest kept coming up in my search, which was interesting because I am very familiar with Pinterest. I use it often too, but I had never heard of Pinterest being referred to as a "social bookmark" site. This was interesting to me. 

Next, I redirected my search to the specific social bookmarking platform, Diigo. I looked at various social bookmarking topics in my web navigation, including those on Diigo. First, Diigo is a "Digest of Internet Information, Groups, and Other stuff." This helped connect me, as I used to use "brick and mortar" (hardcover) versions of encyclopedias that our family purchased from door-to-door salesmen back in the day. Subsequently, we received one volume, "brick and mortar," of these encyclopedias, and we couldn't wait to receive and begin reading and learning from them. Getting past my humorous reflection of our family's access to such once thought numerous. Amount of information we learned from them...; I learned that in addition to all the above information of social bookmarking, Diigo also affords users the ability to highlight specific details, create and use sticky notes, tagging features, streamline communication with the outliner, create/managing personal users libraries, as well as archiving webpages (with the paid version) from their social bookmarking platform. Depending on the web browser you are working in, users can install the Diigo app extension using Google Chrome, for example. 

I consider myself to be tech-savvy, but when I created my Diigo account and began to stroll through this social bookmarking site, either it wasn't very intuitive to learn to use, or I am slipping with my technology knowledge and skills, which is possible and essential for me to continue my lifelong technology journey to continue to learn, grow, socialize, and engage... with others in this technology resolution of a world we are in today. 

Reflection

I am amazed every day by the things, information, and stuff that I am unaware of in my personal and professional life. This is one reason that lifelong learning is essential to individuals and seeking out daily to learn new things, stuff, and information. Also, as educators, we must help make students aware of the world's ever-growing vast array of items and stuff, and lead to learning, even if we all focus on minimally learning one thing daily. Furthermore, with today's learners, knowing how much technology impacts technology in one's life is crucial. If an individual took an inventory of the number of software applications, mobile apps, other digital media, and web 2.0 tools used and necessary to successfully interact, engage, and navigate through today's world, the results would be astonishing. Thankfully, I know that to learn about and perfect my skills and knowledge of anything, I must use the resource daily and stretch and expand my "learning" muscles.

W4: Adventures in HyperDocs

Adventures in Hyper Docs

This week our class was challenged to explore the newer online teaching and learning tool, Hyper Docs. To begin, I went online and did a Google search after I read about and watched the information provided by Dr. Bigenho. Next, I followed my academic referred resources about Hyper Docs with my Google search on this Web 2.0 resource. 

HyperDocs is not just a word document or google doc with links. They are learning experiences designed, created, facilitated, and operated by the educator. These interactive learning experiences allow the teacher to set up the student's learning objectives and expectations for the students. These engaging teaching and learning experiences can be used in the active learning environment with students when the teacher creates and manages a subject matter task, assignment, or even project. Students can then use various Web 2.0 technology tools such as videos, media, presentations, and hyperlinks to other academic learning spaces online, to name a few. 

With HyperDocs for the teacher, the resources, technology tools, online links, and resources are identified before the learning experiences so that students, during the valued learning opportunities in class time, can just be focused on the learning that is ready for them in a packaged, outlined, and organized fashion. In addition, the teacher can have all of the interactive learning teaching and learning technology tools available and ready in a specific starting technology application such as Word file, Google Doc, PowerPoint, Presentation, Wakelet, or other technology tools available to the teachers and students alike for the class. 

Other considerations to consider when preparing a HyperDoc for a class are the age level of the students, grade level, subject matter, course content, pedagogy, and the perimeters and time the students will have available to cover the range through the HyperDoc. As the instructor, it is essential to consider these factors as mentioned above so that the students will all be able to have an equal and meaningful learning experience that is age and grade-level appropriate along with the subject matter and course content that suits the timeframe of the learning experience. 

HyperDocs begins with engaging, exploring, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating where the teacher sets up the interactive learning resources, links, apps, and technology tools. These five Es are listed above in this order. The purpose of this arrangement and facilitating of the HyperDocs for students is to afford students access to many technologies, tools, and resources that challenge their thinking as it relates to the subject matter and allow the students to experience multiple perspectives of the material in such a way to challenge students thinking in general as well. 

There are advantages and challenges to working with HyperDocs in teaching and learning. One advantage is that the interface is usually familiar to students and teachers. HyperDocs can be created initially using a template, or teachers can be creative and start from scratch, which doesn't box educators into one format in planning and preparation. As mentioned above, the HyperDocs can be originated with already familiar software applications and operating systems like Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office suites, Google Suites, Apple iOS, and Apple suites, to name a few popular ones. Students and teachers can upload and download these HyperDocs from the school's associated Learning Management System (LMS) using these operating systems and software applications. This format of learning material using HyperDocs allows teachers to use multiple learning resources from various sources besides just using the textbook alone, which is also incredible for learners. 

Like the advantages, there are usually challenges associated with creating, using, and managing HyperDocs. Depending on the educator's technology tools and resources, there may be an associated financial cost to use some of the technology Web 2.0 tools. Creating and using HyperDocs for teachers can initially take time and effort. Some forms of information educators may differ from the Learning Management System the school system uses. In addition, this interactive learning package of HyperDocs can take an instructor much more time to upload to the LMS than just one file per concept. 

Reflection

HyperDocs, I've learned, can be an engaging, interactive learning experience that is more meaningful for the students and the educators too! This is a new technology format, resource, and tool that educators have available in their teaching tool kit. It provides students with extensions of former teaching and learning experiences that used to be limited. 

W3: YouTube Adventure

Twitter & YouTube Adventure

This week we were instructed to set up/reconnect to a YouTube account and then activate our YouTube channel. I have a Google account and already had a YouTube account using my personal (non-school) Gmail login credentials, which I used to log in to my YouTube account. Next, our instructions were to search for videos from the five assigned “lists” he assigned during the week. Some of the YouTube videos per category that I was assigned for the week included the following:

Videos using Twitter and Twitter tools

Twitter and Twitter tools - ETEC-527AmiS - YouTube

Videos on Teaching and Learning with Technology

Teaching & Learning with Technology - ETEC-527AmiS - YouTube

Videos that speak to the use of Web 2.0 tools for learning

Web 2.0 Tools for Learning - ETEC-527AmiS - YouTube

Videos related to one area that I currently teach or might teach when I do get to the classroom

Online ADA compliance

Online ADA Compliance - ETEC-527AmiS - YouTube

Playlist of my choice

Chemistry 101
Chemistry Online - ETEC-527AmiS - YouTube

Next, I went in order with my searches on YouTube per the list instructions from Dr. B., and I searched for videos using Twitter and Twitter tools and the four other categories listed above. Many YouTube videos were listed per search in the YouTube world of videos. I noticed that with Teaching & Learning with Technology and Web 2.0 Tools for Learning, there were fewer numbers of recent videos in the search results. This was either because there hasn’t been anyone who has created videos on these topics, the titles they chose from their uploaded videos do not generate their videos from the search results list, or they didn’t include tags in the process of them uploading their content to YouTube. So, I tried changing my search criteria to different names than the exact list of categories I was given in the class assignment. Some of these results gave me more videos to review and choose from. Next, I began searching through the watch search results list of videos available from each category that Dr. B. assigned. When I found a video that sparked my interest, I added it to my newly created playlist. So, I did this process for each of the five categories, which took some time, but I found a good number of videos worth placing into my assigned playlists to watch later. The list of playlists from YouTube that I created, named, and placed into my YouTube account are all linked below for easier access. 

W2: Twitter Adventure

Twitter Adventure

This week we were charged with doing a Twitter adventure where we blog on the prospects of using Twitter as a tool in education. To begin, I researched Twitter, as I already have a Twitter account, but I rarely use this software application, and I need to learn more about this social media application. I began by logging into my Twitter account and navigating through the site. In addition, I made a post and included our course hashtag at #etec527. Our professor initiated this course hashtag so that the students in the class could search Twitter to help us better connect with his and others’ posts related to our course this semester. I also made a few tweets on my account using the hashtag #etec527 to communicate with classmates and our professor on Twitter throughout our course. This seemed simple enough. I also searched the hashtag for our class. I was able to connect with our classmates as well as our professor, using easy 140-character text communications on the topic of using and working on Twitter.

Through my research, Twitter could be an excellent platform for education in numerous ways. First, Twitter is relatively intuitive to use as a software application. This mobile application is a social networking platform that allows users to explore information of interest and/or in common with other users. Hashtags are used in this and other social media platforms by creating a word or phrase after the number symbol to assist others in connecting with shared topics of interest. Finally, unlike closed communications with email, Twitter can be used as an open communication source where users can converse globally with other users of like pursuits and activities.

Using Twitter, educators can develop and maintain personal and professional networks with educators from around the world who teach the same subjects, for example. They can share ideas, accomplishments, research, questions, and other communications here. This connection is new because educators and students can connect with others with similar interests in educational pursuits. In addition, Twitter can be an outstanding professional development tool for educators. They can be associated with other professional development opportunities from around the state they live and work in or worldwide. Finally, using Twitter in classrooms can be beneficial as students take greater ownership of their classwork when they have an audience.

Twitter has advantages in academia, with teachers and students building a professional profile where they can gain recognition from other educators and students in the Twitter world, network together, exchange teaching and learning ideas, and share their successes. In addition, Twitter uses your academic profile within other academic communities and communications outside of these communities. Furthermore, through peer-to-peer networking in the Twitter world, teachers and students can broaden their social circles, interact with other industry professionals, and discover ideas, trends, and even social topics of interest.

Reflection

Twitter can be used for funding opportunities, dissemination of research information, promoting and spreading research findings, public engagement, open communication with the public, networking, and keeping up with news events and discussions relevant to our academic environment. I will overcome my hesitations and intimidations and use Twitter more to become comfortable and optimize my educational advantages moving forward. 

W1: Initial Vanity Search

Vanity Search

This week our class was asked to do a vanity search via the internet. This search aimed to understand what we discover online from our name searches. We may need to assist students with comprehending the importance of being aware of their digital footprints. This is a bit nerve-wracking to ponder because, before this assignment, I had never completed such a search.

To begin, I logged into the computer and then to the internet, Google specifically. In the search field, I typed my name in quotes, “Ami Stovall,” as directed initially by our professor. The search results came back with a majority of sites that I was directly affiliated with through personal or work-related sites such as linked-in, Facebook, old academic work sites, my eportfolio account from years ago, several of our work campus sites that I have worked on committees where we presented something, and the reference of the information from the committee work was left online, sites where my colleagues and friends had posted their updated resumes, where I was listed as a reference, dignity.com where I had posted for people I knew through the years who had passed away. I created a post through the funeral home's website. Even car dealership sites and doctors’ office sites where I had submitted reviews through the years were listed in my search. I was not surprised by the list as a tech-savvy person, but I was shocked to find the sites where I had made reviews in that search list from my name. I rarely do reviews, but my thoughts are valid, and I used them as constructive criticism or praising the service or company for how they engaged me as a customer.

Next, I tried my search without quotes around my name. Because my name is “Ami,” there were many results with any word that had “Ami” in the spelling of the word. Also, I did notice the search mentioned above results with my name and directly related to me personally in this manner. Furthermore, I found additional search results within this search that were directly related to me personally, like YouTube, ratemyprofessor.com, Pinterest, Yahoo’s Flickr, and the ShowMe app, which were not located in the original search. Additionally, of interest was that when I reviewed the images tab, the only categories were animals and obituaries; where some of the images were those that I had uploaded to my Yahoo Flickr account or my Pinterest account of my animals and the others were not mine, but of users’ pages that either included my first name or my last name, but none of them were directly related to my family or me.

I searched with my name as “amistovall,” with no space between my first and last name. Again, my search pulled up my linked-in, Pinterest, YouTube, Yahoo, Flickr, ShowMe, Facebook, legacy.com, and my high school alum pages, to name some common social sites for people. These were common sites that I also use (most of them anyway), and the information published in my name at this time, as I reviewed, was all relevant and posted by me intentionally, so I was not surprised. It is important to note that I was born and grew up when phones were not mobile but connected to the wall. All my primary education was completed before the age of computers, but I did learn to type in school using manual typewriters. So, by the time and era of mobile phones, the internet, and social media accounts, I was an adult and cautious when sharing personal information with anyone.

Then, I searched using a different internet browser, Microsoft Bing. As with my original search, I used the same search criteria as the searches mentioned earlier that I completed using Google. These search results included all the same results I received and discussed above, but they also had some results that needed to be provided by Google search results. So, the results provided some sites with my name that were me and was affiliated with me, including my Google blogger site, my Twitter account, Foliotek, Zillow sites, and a few others, but nothing that would adversely surprise me since I was an adult already before social media, the internet, and other such public avenues of learning about a person and other than specific work, school, and some limited and reserve personal information, I try to be very mindful of what I post online and where I do post them.

Reflection

Only today, I had never done a vanity search online or thought about doing a vanity search online. This was an eye-opening experience, even though I probably still needed to explore the depths of my overall digital footprint fully. The reason that I did not go very deep into my vanity search is that I have limited knowledge of searching techniques online. However, I am successful with my daily searches and navigation online.