Last day

All my work has been handed in and I am very glad I had this course. I have some new tools to play with and use, along with some new outlooks on collaboration.

Awesome class see you in the Fall!

Final response

Reflect on what you have learned in the class and how you will use it professionally as both a lifelong learner and an instructional systems professional (or whatever field you’re in).


I thought that Web 2.0 was just a bunch of tools before this class. I always wondered why anyone would care to post their on mundane nonsense all over the web. I have musician friends who post practice session, and teacher friends who keep blogs. I think that I may have underestimated the value and the role of what can come of these acts. I am actually quite impressed by the way knowledge can be shared, and how many people are interested and interesting on many forums. It is the interactivity and the end results that make it something I will use this year and beyond. Often times in formal learning we are so focused on the test that we do not delve into personal interests and going beyond what is required. Web 2.0 interactions and tools make creativity and going beyond fun, interesting and useful. I plan on experimenting with my high school students to see how these tools work from a practical facilitator point of view, and am sure they will be a large part of my future IS work. It is not just a collection of tools, it is a philosophy and could be a large evolutionary step to the way we share, create and manage information in our world. 

Technology (web 2.0) in education

Here is a little article from the New York Times regarding the use of technology in the classroom.
It is weird that they miss the whole point of Web 2.0. They first of all classify the kids off like farm animals as the statisticians like to do white, black, poor and not so poor. They also talk in cursory about Math drills and how students can use technology in a perfunctory.

It miss the whole collaborative aspects, the exploration of one's own interests to enhance learning and the potentially meaningful integration of such tools into curriculum. It is not a cut and dry tool, it is an environment and an educational experience.

Interesting NYT, but think ya missed the point ;)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/education/study-gauges-value-of-technology-in-schools.html?_r=0

Tweet away the sadness

I was listening to what? NPR as usual, because that is my favorite thing in the car or at a desk to mildly distract my from what I'm supposed to be doing. If they had stock I would buy some, instead I just give them my credit card number to keep my conscience clean.

Anyway there was an interesting story about how a journalist whose mother was dying, he's an NPR regular on the network. He tweeted in real time about the experience of being by her side, basically waiting for her to pass.

I know I text as a nervous twitch when real life is a bit uncomfortable, know I text my boyfriend and sister a lot more when I am under stress or in a stressful situation. "At a job interview. Argh hate waiting." "Boss just yelled at me OMG" Those texts are private however, well I hope they are ;) because I've been hearing a good deal about the gvt monitoring our phones lol

In any event I was thinking how twitter or a blog can feel cathartic like writing a journal. You don't see the people who are, you don't ever have to look them in the eye. They do however leave comments which is kind of like your journal answering back to you, but its not because they are real people. I knew an undergrad a few years ago who posted a play by play or an affair she had with a married man. She was offended that his wife found the blog, and claimed it was an intrusion of her privacy for the wife to read it. There were assumed nicknames, but it was a public blog for all to see. It is not a journal and it is NOT private. Are some people confused about that?

I just wonder about the role of privacy and how our views of it are changing the more our every thought can be published. It would not seem strange to read about that man's dying mother in a memoir, but somehow the play by play on Twitter feels intrusive to me. It seems to have helped him cope with a sad event, I don't mean to be judgmental, there is nothing necessarily wrong with it. Its just that I wonder where the personal line is and how t is being redefined by these tools?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/07/30/206987575/Scott-Simon-On-Sharing-His-Mothers-Final-Moments-On-Twitter 

Personal is personal

http://www.today.com/news/tv-reporter-fired-over-blog-didnt-think-it-would-come-6C10791942

Here is a story about a woman who was fired from her reporting job over her personal blog. I really think there will be more clearly deined laws about this in the future. It is freedom of speech to have an opinion and be  ahuman outside of one's job. Unless you are saying something a la Paula Deen about longing for the good old slave days, people should just be allowed to be themselves.

It is an odd intersection of the personal and private on the web. If half the silly jokes I make with my friends were published I am sure no one would hire me ;)
FYI this is why my real FB and other personal web personas have my puppy as my profile pic and an assumed name! lol

Discount Degree

Here is the link to a segment I saw on the news.

 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50151769n

It talks about the fact that Georgia Tech is offering an online Master Degree in Computer Science for only $7,000. Wow and its about time. This service and this price point could open up the opportunity advanced degrees to a huge new audience.

Affordability of higher education is a huge issue for many people in our country (undergrad and grad)  As a teacher I know that I had to wait for years to get tuition reimbursement and at one class at a time I would be 40 before I got my Masters, if it were not for loans. 
Older teachers tell me how cheap their Masters (and undergrad) was years ago and that it almost is not worth it from a financial standpoint today. Though I think it is absolutely necessary from a pedagogical point of view.
I think that more education is necessary for many of us in a changing world, we need to keep up and if we are going to well in our professions advanced degrees are often a necessity.

Yeah Georia tech and I hope others will follow suit- good schools that are not in it for the profit ;)

Graphics overload?

Normally I avoid websites, web tools with over bearing graphics and what seems like too much info.
If it was not for homework purposes I never would have checked out this mash up madness, crazy feeds.

However, after a few days of exploration, I am finding they are not as offensive as I formerly believed. The brain adjusts and I am finding lots of actually useful and interesting info out there :) I think learnist may become part of my regular lesson planning brainstorming process for the year.

Surprised!