Reflection of our class/blogging

Like others have mentioned I have felt behind this entire semester. I know that I am participating on a regular basis and attempting everything listed so I feel that it has been an educational experience but one that has stressed me out! I feel that maybe including these expectations in the syllabus would help instead of logging in and seeing a list of assignments due. Obviously this is a graduate course and it should challenge us so I do appreciate that I'm learning and have high expectations for myself and for the course. I'm just kicking myself in the butt for taking 3 classes this semester and working full time, plus doing Critter Magazine. Life is good but man am I stretched thin. I think 2 classes next semester will be more manageable!

I have really enjoyed getting to interact with all of these tools and creating a blog. I didn't feel a blog would be something I would use but it has definitely made posting to our discussions easier and I enjoy seeing everyone's different styles and layout. I may consider doing one after this class is over just because it is a good way to network using facebook and twitter as well! I love recipes, crafts and things on pinterest so it would be a cool way to share things and have it all in one place.

I have also really enjoyed getting to use the wordle app, I love collages and have always enjoyed seeing different words put together to give an image meaning. It was neat to just type in some ideas and with a few clicks it was cool and stylist.

The glossary idea was fantastic, if only I had a glossary for all the things I need to access regularly! I spend so much time searching for things online and going thru emails to find links. I was very confused at first and the only way I could figure out how to post my contributions was by putting my name on the tags section. I'm not sure if that is what everyone else did but it was the only way I could see what only I had contributed and not any other authors when we needed to post what we had done.

I am looking forward to creating a website and using all of these ideas on it. I might actually look like I know what I'm doing in the web community! This is my first ever web class I've taken and networking is a huge part of my life so I loved learning all the new ways to use technology and feel it will benefit me in my professional career.

Second Life Experience

I just realized I didn't blog about my SL experience. I was pretty confused at first when I logged in and my classmates had to guide me of how to get to where they were going to meet. One girl in our class had some funny stories about how she went into stores and all she could hear was people moaning, and had some creeper follow her around the whole time she was exploring.  I figured out quickly people are much bolder in a virtual world than in real life. After hearing her story I decided to play around with settings and when I right clicked one of my only options was to take my clothes off so I thought what they heck and did it. I tried to get back dressed before our meeting but I was a little confused (maybe I need $ to buy outfits?) so the entire time we met there is a good possibility my avatar was naked. I also thought the person that came into our class and typed "f*** that" 20x in a row was amusing. I guess people enjoy to argue on the program too. Overall I'm curious about the program but not something I would spend time on in my free time. I use openqwaq thru Apps IT program and I find it easier to navigate and more of an educational immersive world.

Diigo Library

My Diigo

I really like Diigo's website. It allows you to set up a toolbar on the web browser and anytime I find a website I liked I could right click and select "add to diigo tool bar". I wasn't sure if this is how other websites worked but it made it very user friendly and quick to store websites that I liked. 

I had to sign up for Diigo for a intro to digital education course and we created a group. In the group we can all share bookmarks we found that were helpful for our class, or some ideas to throw to discuss and share info. I have the worlds longest bookmark page on my mozilla toolbar I think this is definitely a website I will continue to use and I'm very glad I signed up for it!!

Wikipedia User Name

My Username

This experience was one that took me many hours, and I struggled through it. I haven't done a whole lot on wikipedia, and didn't realize how much goes into just basic edits. I was very proud of myself once I figured out how to do the table of contents and mastered the headings. For something that is so simple.. for those of us that aren't tech savvy it was a tough thing to work on for me. 

I found a few websites helpful and just by googling how to do some things I figured it out as I went. The tutorial on wikipedia was helpful, but overall I didn't understand a few things until I read about it on other websites or actual wiki help pages.. then I got it. I actually never mastered how to add a photo. I uploaded it but couldn't figure out how to add it to my user page. Maybe our classmates can walk me through it???

I did enjoy reading the 5 pillars and what Wiki is about. I was confused why I was blocked from the wikiversity page but it seems like they do stick to their ideas and want to keep a neutral domain.

 It seems like a quick tutorial with example pages with a sample would help the overall layout and for those of us that don't use computers very much. 

My Wiktionary! Experience

Well I had quite the interesting experience trying to use Wiktionary! I attempted to edit 2 terms and in the middle of the process I was blocked on the page. When I tried to figure out what was going on I found the reason I was blocked was because I was promoting myself. All I did on the profile was copy and paste my moodle profile info into my wiktionary profile so I guess this is a big no no on this site. I tried to appeal the block letting the admin know I'd delete what I had put and that I was using this site for a college class not still haven't had any luck. I've now emailed the administrator twice with no response so I've decided to move on and possibly create another account once I get this resolved. I tried to log in and create a new profile but it recognizes the computer and blocks me immediately. Such a frustrating thing, this is my first time ever being blocked from a site! 

Weekly Video

Video

My 2nd video is a little introduction to my home and house tour. Excuse the mess we are very busy people and have had some high speed winds lately. I still get very nervous talking and filming but I am getting the hang of narrating. I think animals and people are more entertaining than me just sitting and talking so I will plan on doing more videos that have action.

I tried to not look away from the camera as much but I think I still say "um" alot and sound pretty nasally from being sick. Feel free to give me pointers to filming with my iphone I have a very shaky hand and crappy editing software to use!

WikiPedia

I REALLY enjoyed getting to edit something on Wikipedia this was a first time for me! Especially since I was editing info about the little town we live in that I've come to love so much. If anyone looked up Sugar Grove NC they wouldn't realize how great of a place it is to live and vacation.  The idea of a group being able to edit something is very cool. The only thing I couldn't figure out was how to add pictures any suggestion???

I love collaborating with others especially if they put good quality work into something!

Before Edits:

After Edits:

Logo

Wordle Exercise

Who I am 
Who I'll Be 

Resume:

I am very interested in the Web 2.0 position you listed on non-profit.org.. I have taken courses in Grant Writing and Proposals, Research Methods, Video Production, Marketing Strategy and Applications, Web and Social Networking, and Digital Technologies in Education. My future graduate courses are focused on promoting Non-Profits and ways to seek grants in the electronic age. I am experienced with Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Publisher. I am an excellent communicator and love to promote businesses on the web as well as design ads. I am articulate, detail oriented and becoming more familiar with web 2.0 tools to share, network, collaborate and incorporate digital technologies in the workplace. Thank you for your consideration for the position.  

This exercise was really fun for me. I love collages and to see how words laid out can bring different meanings. I'm so glad we were introduced to wordle I look forward to sharing it with friends and using it for  other projects! 

Explaining Web 2.0 to my mom

Hi Mom, remember that computer Meghann bought you? If you get it hooked up to a good internet connection there are so many neat things you can do with it. Remember I told you about the site called Facebook that you can catch up with old friends that you went to high school with? People also post pictures of their grandchildren on Facebook and can talk about recipes and crafts.

There is also a thing called youtube that shows funny videos and you can learn how to do just about anything. I learned how to knit watching youtube, I can also look up great old tv shows or plays that you would like.

There is also something called google docs that is just like a typewriter (and similar to note pad you have learned how to use on the computer). Google docs stands for google documents, if I am helping you with your business you could type up a lease for a tenant and then I could log in and edit it and add to it. It is a really great sharing tool and allows for people to work on the same document at the same time.

I really wish we could teach you how to use a few of these things availalbe on the internet. It sure is a shame that we bought you a computer and it rarely gets turned on!


Our Class’s Agreed on Definition
Web 2.0 is the term used to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web. More simply, Web 2.0 refers to web-based applications/programs that serve as tools to enhance the web experience for users. Enhanced features typically include the ability for users to virtually interact with other users. Common Web 2.0 features offer the ability to: collaborate, network and share content and information in a virtual community. The purpose of these tools are to globally connect users in a virtual reality.
Examples of Web 2.0 include tools such as: wikis, blogs, forums, video sharing, web apps, etc.
Popular Web 2.0 examples: PBWorks (wiki); WordPress (blog); ProBoard (forums); Youtube (video sharing); Google Docs (web apps) Edmodo (forums: multi-uses) Epals (e-mail)
From an educational standpoint Web 2.0 can be very helpful for the classroom. There are multiple presentation tools like Prezi and Slideshare, video integration tools like Animoto and Gizmoz, Mobile Phone and Ipad Apps, community tools like Edmodo, GoogleDocs, WikiSpaces and ThinkQuest to name a few that can be introduced in the classroom. Web 2.0 makes uploading, sharing and collaborating in the classroom much easier than previous educational tools.

Impromp2.0

Web 2.0 is a way that people can create blogs and other sources of information and share them. I know that facebook and twitter are social networking tools and there are a lot of educational tools available using web 2.0. I am not that familiar with web 2.0 still but I know that it is a way that people can collaborate on work, talk to people in other countries and use all kinds of internet tools that are much more advanced than what used to be available.

Google Image Labeler

I really enjoyed the video we watched! It made me think about all the ways I use google images. Since I print Critter Magazine I "borrow" images from google all the time (as long as they don't have a water mark). Once I thought about it I realized that I started to get the hang of what to look for in certain images to find the appropriate pictures for what I was trying to accomplish. For example: When I'm designing an ad we have 0 budget to purchase photos so we scour google to find images that will work for ads for a customer, once I find one that is 300 dpi and then try it out in the ad then see what our sponsor thinks. I also use images for pictures of animals and for stories that display what the story is about when I have nothing to use. 

The link I was trying to click on to play the google image game won't work so I tried out the ESP game. It is actually really fun and there is a sense of excitement when my partner and I would come up with the same word. I found I did better with certain partners than others. 

I really enjoyed the lecture and how this guy has gotten people to work for him for free by just playing a game. I went back and edited my tags to better match my interestes. I added non-profit, ASU, mountains, technology and Critter Magazine.