Digg and Evernote

This week in class we had our first APP Smackdown! Each student had to present a different app that related to his or her major. One of the apps I found very interesting was Digg. It is an app that shows articles, similar to an online newspaper. However, the articles are aimed specifically for the Internet audience. What’s cool about this app is when you like an article you can click the “DIGG” button. You can then save articles to later come back to. There is also a search button that allows you to pick an article based on a certain subject. It also is very helpful for tweeting articles straight to twitter.

In chapter 2 of the Connected Learner, Sheryl discusses how to develop a connected learning model. The connected learning community model has 3 approaches for professional development. It starts with Local community, Global network, and Bounded community. Professional learning communities take a team focus, while personal learning networks take an individual focus. Communities of practice take a systemic focus. Together, it takes all 3 to provide the do-it-yourself experience in today’s world. Connected learning communities are also good for nurturing innovation. This is because you are exposed to different cultures and ideas. Diversity is seen as a strength and therefore is very important.

In the article, “Using Effective Titles: An Evernote Tutorial”, Barbara explains how being a mother and working, along with living an everyday life with a child, it is very challenging. It was hard to stay organized, until she went digital. The only problem she still had was being able to find everything she posted online. She gives advice on how to title your notes so you are able to find everything when you need it. For short-term ideas/notes she suggests on including the topic, location, date or any other pertinent info. It doesn’t matter if you’re worried about the title being along, because in the end you will thank yourself when you’re looking for it. For long-term storage notes, she explains how you can write the main topic, and even include a date if it is a recurring note you will continue to edit. For current notes, she tends to put asterisks with the title. Depending how important the note is, you can add more or less asterisks. By naming your notes accurately, it will save time to search and sort all the notes and make it easier for you.

    Evernote is an app that helps you become organized. There are many features in the app that most people do not even realize are there. There is a presentation mode that is available for Evernote. It does cost $5 a month, but you can have a free 30 day trial to test it out. Evernote also allows you to use a free feature that you can email notes straight from your inbox. You will be given an email in your settings that ends with @evernote.com. You can even @notebook in the subject that will direct that message into the certain notebook! When you are looking for a note you can used an advanced search. It even understands when you type in "created:20140904" or "updated:20140904" and will easily help you find the note you are looking for. Another cool feature is that you can merge any notes together. There is another feature where you can turn on a two step verification code just so that no one else can sign into your account. Besides just taking notes, you can build a digital to do list. You can attach a picture to make it less boring and add notes and reminders. Another cool thing you can do is digitize your business card collection.
   On the APP, Evernote, there is a reminder feature. How Nick Provenzano does this, is by sharing specific notebooks with the students that join. The notes share assignments, homework, and notes. He lets his students know they can download Evernote on their phones. Once they do that, they can turn their notifications on so they receive these reminders. As a teacher and editor of the notebook, Nick can make his reminder, and set a date and time to notify his students. Nick likes to set the notification on for when the school day is over just as another simple reminder about their homework. Another simple thing he does is pass along quotes of encouragement. He is interested to see what else Evernote could offer him.

Digital Citizenship and Cameron Brenchley!

This week in class we went over digital baggage. We were shown a website called, READY OR NOT? . On this site, there is a sidebar where you can enter either a twitter or instagram account name. If the account is not private, it will show you the locations where pictures/tweets were taken/posted. What people don’t realize is when you sign in with your location, this is what allows these sites to follow a person. I never really thought something like this existed. It’s truly crazy how social media has changed the way we live. After seeing this website, I was relieved to see that all my accounts had been on private.

Chapter 1 in The Connected Educator explains how we connect with others by using technology. Because of technology, learning is just a few clicks away. We have the access to learn anywhere, anytime. We have also obtained this “DIY” way of learning, which pushes us to have a “learner first” attitude. We are truly in the day of age where we are more self reliant then we have ever been. Cooperative learning is when each person works individually, and then everyone comes together to share their own ideas. Collaboration is when you rely on another person's skills to connect as learners. Many people confuse the two, but they are not meant to be the same. This helps students connect and learn in the new technological era we are in today. Connected learners collaborate through the internet and social media. They then bring what they learn from online back to the classroom to share with their peers. To succeed as a connected learner, we learn to work with our environment and adapt to the changing world around us. It is also beneficial to have values that are flexible to the people around us.

Everyone today is consumed by social media. Nowadays, it is also very common that people do not think before they post. One thing people don’t realize is what they are sharing. Any little type of information, or privacy settings, that are overlooked can put you in a difficult situation. Identity theft is almost becoming as easy as just a few clicks away. The first thing we can do as social media users is to check our privacy, and make sure we are not sharing anything we shouldn’t be. We should remember that nothing can be erased for the internet. Another thing we don’t realize is how it can give us a bad rep. Posting anything that shows a change of character online, can influence friends, or even employers, to see a side they have maybe never seen of you. It is important we realize what should and should not be on our social sites. Another very important thing that has been happening now is cyberbullying. Some children can be very harsh. What is sad, is some kids do not even realize what they are doing. Many do this because media today has made it so easy to talk about this.

In the article, A simple acronym for encouraging digital citizenship, the acronym they tell us to use is “THINK”. Thinking before you post anything on any online source can really save you. The 5 things you should THINK about before you post anything is: Is it true, hurtful, illegal, necessary, or kind? The article tells us how digital citizenship has, “...something to do with the quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities.” While this is true, we can change patterns by just being aware of our surroundings. Acronyms are made to help. I know I used to make them all the time for tests so that I would easily remember what was being taught in a shortcut. Remembering THINK is very important before you post anything on the web. It can keep you out of trouble and help you before posting something that you might regret.

In, How to guide student-athletes on social media, the article explains how athletes are the same as any student. They live for social media, especially for their career fame. Likewise to their peer-students, a misleading post can also completely end or put their career in danger. Every University sets different standards for their athletes. Some make their students stay off social media for the season, or even for the entire time they attend the college. Others, let their students use it, and educate them on how they should be using their own personal social media accounts. The University of Colorado, Duke University, and Arizona State University are all Universities that are helping their athletes use social media in a way that will further pursue themselves into a successful career and better future.

This week we ended class by having a Google Hangout with Cameron Brenchley! I was looking forward to this since the moment the professor had told the class about it. Cameron used to work for the White House and actually operated the White House twitter account. He currently is the Vice President of Collaborative Communications Group. An interesting question he answered was how every day on his current job is different. He explained how one day he spent 3 hours working on a clients website, whereas the next day he was flying out to help someone else with a business plan. His current job is definitely a slower pace than the White House though. There was always a lot going on and it was very hectic there. Another thing I was very interested in was how he ran the State of the Union address on Snapchat and Twitter. Since I am a communications major, I really enjoyed hearing everything Cameron had to say.

Google Fun

Last week in class was a nice introduction to the course. We were taught how to embed links in our blogs, which I never had really done before. I can see how it is quite helpful to the blog readers. Another thing we went over was Google tools. Google docs were discussed, as well as Google Scholar. Google Scholar is a search engine that reminded me of our Stockton’s search engine. I remember freshman year I needed to use peer reviewed articles, as well as making sure my articles were reliable. To non-students and others who do not have access to a school search engine, google makes this available for them.

Charles Cooper explains in How I Said Goodbye to MS Word that although Microsoft Word has many more features than Google docs, he is now only a user of Google docs. Microsoft has won many awards for being the “best” and let’s face it, it probably will be for a very long time. Google docs started their experience in 2007. Microsoft most likely felt no competition at this point in time. However, just in the last year, Google docs released over 200 updates. What’s really awesome about Google docs is how it allows multiple people to edit the document at the same time. Although it does not have all the features Microsoft has, it still is user friendly and gets the job done quickly. Another bonus for Mac users is that it's free, so if you have a laptop you don’t need to purchase Microsoft. When Microsoft was asked how they felt about Google Docs they responded and seemed to not be phased. They claimed that Google is “generated by advertising”. Therefore, their main focus is not on business like Microsoft’s is. “9 in 10 Google Apps customers continue to use Office.”  Cooper believes that Microsoft now realizes that Google Docs is catching up to their level. Will Google soon take over Microsoft?

Another article I read was “How to use google hangout broadcasts to build your business.” Google hangouts can be used to record either a single person or several locations into one broadcasting screen. You can then upload the video to youtube and stream it worldwide. Google hangouts gives you multiple possibilities from holding a live broadcast, to sharing your screen with another viewer. It’s funny because I never really knew what google hangouts were until my sophomore year in college. Now, I can’t recall a time when my teachers weren’t using this amazing feature on Google+. 

Google hangouts are a great way to connect with coworkers, friends, or even plain strangers. Of course you could also just use it for your own private sake. They are super easy and user-friendly for all age groups. What some people do not realize is how it can help as a content marketer. This article, 12 Ways to Use Google Hangouts , explains twelve ways you can connect with others. The first one is to connect with your community. Many communities have a website, or blog, and by using Google hangouts they can all talk and get each others opinions on different community problems. Another way to use Google hangouts is to create online interviews for jobs/ blogs. You can also hold online critique sessions, hold meetings, and provide feedback to coworkers. For companies, you can provide support online rather than over the phone and even hold online launch parties! You can create online games and hold expert status by the type of hangouts you hold. Last, but not least, you can gain accountability, give presentations and hold virtual office hours.

Something interesting I found on twitter was a tweet by Alice Keeler that said “Research tip: Start with an image search”. It was an educational article how students should start their searches by using google images. Before they continue to learn about the topic, by having these visuals it will be more helpful to the given topic. I thought this was interesting because I have done that before. Not for everything, but many of the things I searched I have realized that I looked at images before I clicked on an actual website. I would definitely recommend this to students, and even older educators.

Intro & Summaries of Personal Learning Networks

Hello everyone! My name is Danielle Carrai and I’m currently a Junior at Stockton University. My major is Communications, with a concentration in Media Production, and minor in Digital Literacy and Multimedia Design. Ever since I was young, I have always dreamed of working on the set of Saturday Night Live. I grew up watching it with my Dad basically every saturday night. I have always been a big fan of technology and social media which is why I absolutely love my major. When I graduate, I want to be working every day knowing that I love what I’m doing. I am also Historian of my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, so I run all of our social media accounts, along with taking pictures and making recruitment and philanthropy videos.

Chapter 6 in The Connected Educator educates us on how to start our personal learning network. One thing that I actually thought was interesting was how it stated that you should use one consistent username on all your social networks. I never really thought of that before because I probably have about 4 different ones that I use. The first thing I would like to do is change them all to the same so that I can claim my online identity. It then reminds us that growing a PLN will take time, determination and effort. Deciding who to follow is the next step. You should want the people in your network to be related to what your interests/values include. It is a good idea to check out other blogs that are “well-respected” to get an idea of who to follow and how to start setting up your network. Another thing I found intriguing was twitter lists. By using lists, twitter will actually only show you these tweets from the people listed on the list. Therefore, if you are a teacher and add teachers to the list then you can keep updated with what is going on in the education world.

Before you start to follow someone it is a good idea to see if they are legit. You can research someone online or even use common sense for certain accounts. When you begin following others, many are not sure how many followers that they should have. Dunbar’s Number, 2011, states that you cannot hold a social relationship with more than 150 people. On the other hand, Sheryl believes that the more followers you have, the better. I believe this is a matter of an opinion to the person creating their own social media. I personally believe that in order to become more knowledgeable in my field that it would be beneficial for me to follow as many people that I am interested in.

The goal to design your connected community network is to be able to give the busy people, like educators, the right amount of stuff to not be too busy in order to read it. Sheryl tells us that in order to shift from a classroom environment to a community one, “you must see yourself as a learner first and a teacher second”. You should talk to your community and ask questions. Then use their thoughts to give the people what they want. David Lee states that the community makes their own roles based on the way they participate and explains these roles as: Linking, Lurking, Learning, Leading. For example if you are someone that already learns and leads, they should try to bring in the linking and lurking people to action. The chapter ends with teaching us some tips that will help evolve our community. You should start with picking someone to lead. This leader should be someone very involved that wants to take part in binding your community. The leader should be strong, but also willing to listen to their community members and be open to new ideas.This will intentionally build trust, which Sheryl also mentions. We should be designing the community with extreme thought into everything. If you show the community how much you care, they will be interested to listen.

The first article I read was Get Twitter Followers because it really stood out to me. I never really realized until I read this article how true it is that you see hashtags everywhere now. Majority of shows show hashtags on the screen in certain scenes to allow everyone to tweet about what their thinking. To begin your twitter account, you should upload a picture so that people know who you are. In order to obtain followers, you should be tweeting at least once a day; where it is really suggested to be tweeting 8-10 times a day. You should also be following people who will follow you back. For example, a famous actor will not follow you back. However, someone highly trained in a certain field will possibly give you a follow back. Since I am a Media Production major, I will be following people in that field. When you follow someone you can relate to, it will be easier to retweet and respond to their tweets! This will help growing your twitter account. Making lists, and being added to a list is another way to expand your followers. It will keep you updated on something you might have missed being tweeted. The article ends with reminding us that you have to start somewhere. No one should be discouraged that they do not have a lot of followers at first.

According to 10 Blogging blunders to avoid there are statistics that show companies websites that include blogs receive 55% more visitors and 57% have acquired customers from blogging. The article starts with telling us how bad grammar and spelling will keep your readers from not coming back. We all know how boring it is to just keep reading word after word. Breaking up tweets with pictures is a great way to intrigue your reader and keep their attention. Another way to obtain readers is making sure your blog comes off presentable. When you use something from an article, never forget to give them the credit. If someone used your work you would want the credit, therefore you should do the same in return. You should definitely use social media to share your blog. A blog will not just gain readers from someone writing articles, it needs the advertisement for others to see.  Another thing you shouldn’t do is ignore people's comments. The point of a blog is for readers to follow it. Therefore, they should be your number 1 priority. Lastly, you should always remember to never forget about your blog. You have readers and followers so don’t let them down!

Lastly, I read Utilizing Twitter Lists. I clicked on this article because, before reading Chapter 6 of the book, I really did not know twitter lists existed. Bill made sense when he said that following more than 200 followers is hard. You usually end up passing tweets and losing yourself within so many tweets. Setting up lists is definitely a great way to not pass all those unseen tweets. You can add certain people into different lists and when you open up that list it will show you tweets from only those people. This is an easier, more efficient way of seeing what you want to see on twitter. Something I didn’t know is that you can actually follow people on others lists. For example, I can click on someone's list and I can follow that exact list and all the people in it. Which is also very time efficient. The only downside to this is that it will not allow you to do this on a smartphone, so you will have to find a computer to do it on.