One Journey Ends, Another Begins

My blogging experience began with my journey through Web 2.0 platforms. Over the last 12 weeks, I have been introduced and used many new Web 2.0 tools for educational purposes.

Some of the tools I tried include: Padlet, Diigo, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Google Earth Maps, and Reddit to name just a few.

Of the tools I tried, Padlet and Diigo are ones I hope to continue to use. I used Padlet to create a produsage project with the idea that information could be shared among staff at a large university. The idea is to have a constructive space for staff to share experiences or resources for administrative tasks. Kinda like best practices or advice on how to....

I also plan to use Diigo for my current research. I like how easy it is to add a link or document. The amount of times I come across a site and think to myself "I wish I could easily remember to save this, or this is a good site to use" happens so often. So instead of having a list of browser bookmarks, I can have an account in Diigo. I can also tag or annotate the reference!

Prior to the course, I had an Instagram account. I will continue to keep it. I like being able to see pictures from the people I follow. I have manged to keep that account more fun and less political or negative. It's a good escape from Facebook.

If traveling continues to be non-existent, then Google Earth will be come a new place to explore and learn about places to travel in the future. 

I am grateful for the new tools I have learned. I am also less scared about trying new platforms. I think the key for me is finding ones I like and maintaining a use of them. For example, I can see myself not using Diigo as much with the thought "I don't need to save that. I'll remember it!" NOT!

Until next time....

Almost to a split in the road

I have struggled for the past couple of days on what to write for this post. As the semester comes to an end, I plan to reflect, but not quite ready to write that final course reflection yet.

Needing encouragement and inspiration, I decided to read blog posts from my classmates. A few of them have wrapped up their thoughts on the semester and acknowledged the must needed rest. I am right there with them. I am looking forward to a social media and technology break. I've even requested staycation time from work! I hope to stay as far away from my computer as possible. :)

Stay tuned for my next blog post, reflecting on the last 12 weeks of Web 2.0 activity.

Social Network Identity

Today I was reading a few articles for a final assignment. The research article was on blogging and alter-egos. As I was reading, my mind began to wander into how social media platforms do allow for participants to create their own identity they wish the social world to see.

Then the rabbit holes of thought continued. Recently, my Facebook news feed has been showing a lot of Gossip Girl quizzes or BuzzFeed fact articles. Probably because I clicked on one article with Blake Lively. Anyways, back to my thought, See SQUIRREL!  Gossip Girl is a TV show that is based on a book around high school students and an anonymous source of inside information and drama. I did not watch the show when it originally aired, but know enough to have this random thought as I was reading the research article on alter-egos and identity.

What started my thought was the discussion of the six elements of of blog identity. Name, profiles, post content, voice, affiliations, and visual design. Some of the elements applied to the Gossip Girl premise. The name: a pseudonym, of the story teller. The content: gossip, scandal, and drama. Voice: kept viewers guessing as to who is Gossip Girl. Affiliations: given that the show followed New York socialites, the community was thought to be small.

I later realized, as I was researching information for this post, that Gossip Girl is based on book about a blogger, which was adapted for a TV series. Who knew! I almost feel I need to watch the show to compare the research of blogging identities to the intentions of the show.

I find making academic connections to hobbies or daily activities, or even TV Shows, rewarding in my educational career.

Power of Social Communities

During this course, I have come to understand the power and necessity of social networks and communities.

One community I am a member of is for my grad school program. It is comprised of only the cohort I belong. We created a Facebook group during our first semester to communicate with each other outside of Canvas. Since the program is entirely online and a few members are even overseas, a social networking platform was ideal to bring us all closer.

The past couple of weeks, I have relied heavily on my cohort for encouragement and ideas to keep going. As we all know, it has been a LONG summer and a few times the motivation has been lost to continue. This is where being part of a community is beneficial. Having conversations with other that understand your frustrations and can appreciate the success as much as you, is keeping me going.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I'm ready for an academic mental break. One more week!

Ready to Go Live!

A few days ago, I posted about a performance improvement strategy that involved the use of Padlet as a  collaborative sharing platform for university staff. After a few weeks of creating and discussing with various coworkers on what topics they would like to see discussed or shared, I am ready to go live!

As with any project, an evaluation of how it is operating will need to be conducted. But before we can evaluate, we need to share the word that the platform for knowledge sharing is available. My next step is to figure out how to share an unofficial university resource. I think my best bet is to reach out to my network of people to begin spreading the word.

I'm so excited to see how all the terms and tools we have learned this summer are coming together in a real world context.

International Social Media Use

This week my course is discussing the social media usage on an international level. When I first read the week's discussion topic, I began to think back to my personal travels and restrictions I had using social media.

China is the only country that I have visited with memorable social media restrictions. When I traveled back in 2013, I recall attempting to log into Facebook and being unsuccessful. I also struggled with accessing my email while traveling through China.

Traveling China was the beginning of my annual international trips, so the feeling of not being able to communicate with family back home was unnerving at the time. In the end, I gained a better appreciation for being unplugged.

On the flip side to social media restrictions while traveling, more recently when I traveled to Iceland, I remember using social media platforms to discover new places to visit and explore while in country.

It is interesting to consider and notice the varying countries censorship or restrictions to internet use. In the future, I will probably be more self aware while traveling.

When it all comes together

One of the best aspects I have found to being in grad school is when the assignments align with my job. Recently, I was discussing with a colleague the frustration of how the central administrative offices do not network or link staff on campus with other staff experiencing or troubleshooting a similar problem. For example, I have recently been tasked with setting up an online webstore for my college to sell training materials. In order to sell items, there is a whole PCI compliance component I have been thrown into the deep end to learn. Now, given I work for a large university, I am not the first department interested in or currently selling materials online. So, why when I reach out to the central IT office do they not connect me with a department on campus that is already using a PCI compliant vendor?

Now, here is where my wheels started to turn for an assignment on produsage. Why not create a place where staff can share their resources and experiences. The idea is not to be formal university procedures, but rather a place where job aids, "tricks" for dealing with the central offices, and other relevant information can be shared among staff across campus.

I pitched my idea to my coworker, and she loved it! As I begin the assignment, I am hoping it will become useful for others and continue to grow.

Traveling through Social Media

I'm a world traveler. And the state of our world has abruptly ended for the foreseeable future any international and limited domestic travel. This reality causes me much anxiety as I use travel to escape from the daily grind and refresh. During most of my trips, I unplug and enjoy the adventure.

I've posted before on how social media was used early on in the pandemic to curve some of the need to travel. In the post I discussed how photo challenges became a thing.

A resource I recently came across (and thankful I did!) is Google Earth. Hosted by Google and the use of Geo tags, contributors can post videos of various locations. What caught my eye was a Safari module. One of my most memorable trips is to southern Africa and the multiple safaris I went on. The videos presented by Sir David Attenborough brought back memories of my experiences.

The concept behind Google Earth Education is fascinating to me. As a child, I would have loved to have this as a class assignment. As an educator, I wish I had known about this when I was in the classroom. I'm not sure university staff would have the same appreciation, nor am I sure how it is performance improving. But non the less, it is a great resource and filled my temporary need to explore something new.

Check out the Big Five Beasts of Africa. They are not what you may think ;-)

Blogging Break

Last week, I took a break from blogging. Ten weeks ago, blogging was a new concept for me and my course requires at least 3 blogs per week to earn an A in the class. And who doesn't strive the A. I was grateful the instructor allowed for a break. It was needed. Prior to the break, I was struggling to find topics to write about. I had every intention to spend the week not writing to think about topics for the coming weeks. My brain had other plans, like resting.

Social media can be exhausting! It is important for us to take breaks before the burn out is too much and you just quit. I read a couple of my classmates blogs before writing this post. A few were missing the blog posts of fellow classmates and mentioning the drive not to quit. To a point, I totally agree. However, at what point do you need step back and rest so your performance will improve?

I am glad I took a break because now I am refreshed and ready to finish the semester strong.

Social media, here I come...again. ;-)

Social Performance Improvement

After my last post on using Badges for employee incentives, I started to think about how or if social media was being used for performance improvement. Performance Improvement is a strong interest of mine. My research for my dissertation will be on performance improvement, so reading how social media is influencing or being used is interesting to me.

Turns out there are some Web 2.0 platforms to assist businesses in employee performance improvement.  I found a few web articles on social technologies used for performance improvement. In many cases the social technology improved productivity performance. In other cases, the use of social technologies provided quick and timely feedback for employees.

I am excited to know there are social tools available and look forward to learning more about the research on the use of social media for performance improvement.

A Social "Job Well Done!"

When the course first began and I realized it was going to be a lot on social media, I was hesitant and anxious as to how well this course would be for me. I'm not a social person by nature, prior to this class I had one Web 2.0 app, Facebook, I used infrequently. I have created accounts on Instagram and Twitter (probably some others too) in the past. Now that we are past the halfway point, I am glad to be apart of this course. I have learned a lot about the uses of Web 2.0 platforms for educational purposes. The way the content has been presented and the tools being options but not requirements has also provided some ease to the anxiety I was feeling about needing to use them all.

Of the tools we have been exposed to and use with the class, I found Badges to be the most useful for my line of work and professional interest. Badges provides users a since of competition and accomplishment. As a performance improvement designer, I am interested in ways to motivate employees. For my job, I think Badges will offer a unique and fun way to encourage employees to take trainings and further invest in their own professional development, while also being "rewarded." I mean, who doesn't like a sticker for a job well done?!

Don't Know? Google It!

How many times do you use Google? Once a day? Twice? Every hour?

Google is a life line for many. It provides us information at our fingertips in seconds.

For me personally, I use it multiple times a day. It is my confidence booster, when I'm doubting myself. It is my teacher when I want to learn something new.

Google is the gateway to connecting you to new Web 2.0 platforms. In many cases, when you search for something, inevitably there will be a search result that links to a Web 2.0 platform.

Late last night I was thinking about my next blog post and Google kept coming to mind for knowledge sharing. Granted I know it is not exactly the same as the knowledge sharing activities we are learning about in class, but Google at one point (and arguably still is) a platform for knowledge sharing.

In the beginning, Google's creators, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had a mission to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" in 1998. Today, Google searches help facilitate learning and connecting people to the knowledge they seek. On Google's story, they state "the relentless search for better answers continues to be at the core of everything we do."  This line speaks to me on a professional level. As a performance improvement designer, the search for better answers is also at the core of what I do. After reading that line, I thought about finding a job at Google!

Today, Google has many enterprises and though searches is still is most popular use, they have created Web 2.0 tools and platforms which aligns more with our class' definition of knowledge sharing.