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.

Reflecting

I have sat down several times today to write something for the blog. I got nothing! Thought about it for the last few days too. I’m in a blogging rut. 

Usually I get inspiration form course readings or finding a social media relation from my everyday life. This week I struggled with finding my blog topics. Perhaps I just needed a break. I’m looking forward to the coming week and hoping there is more inspiration to be found! 

The Daily Scoop

I'm going to be really honest here. I do not watch the news or routinely check news outlets. It frustrates me! I get more anxious and upset by it. I honestly cannot tell you the last time I watched news on TV.

Many of my friends are political enthusiasts and watch or read news articles daily. I am usually not current until I receive their updates. I should mention I have a variety of friends with varying political views. So I do feel I get a well rounded perspective when I hear their updates and perspectives.

How does this relate to social media? I'm sure you guessed. My Facebook newsfeed is my source of current events. I leave it to my friends and acquaintances to provide updates. Let me also say, I do not solely rely on their interpretation of a news report or article! If the headline or comment interests me enough, I will perform my own research to better understand the post. By having friends of varying political views or interests, I am able to learn a lot about what is going on in the world. I can then form my own opinion on matters. It might not be the best method and some may criticize, but this helps me live my life without being upset and frustrated about things out of my control. My overall mental health is better. I am respectful of my friends views and opinions. I do not get upset if I happen to disagree with their perspective, rather I take it as an opportunity to understand them better.

I think we should all seek to appreciate the differences each of us bring to the world.