EDTECH 543

Week 1: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

September 1, 2013

This is my blog for the Fall Semester 2013 for EdTech 543:Social Network Learning.

What are my initial reactions about joining these social networks for use in the course? My initial reactions were that although I work in the high tech industry I am way behind in using social media. I admit I never heard of Diigo, but I am anxious to learn more about it as it appears to be a multi-faceted tool.

What is my experience in using social media for my own professional development? As I mentioned earlier, I don't have a lot of experience with social media except for Facebook.  As for professional development, I am in touch with people, in my industry, that I worked with in past jobs. We all keep in touch and share job opportunities and technology tips.

What is my experience in using social media as an instructional strategy in your learning environment? My experience using social media in a learning environment is very limited. I am not a teacher, but do training from time to time via VoIP in the US and India.

What are my expectations for this course? I have large expectations for this course. There is so much to learn and experience first-hand and I am anxious to learn it all (as well as practice it). I am positive I will use what I learn in my everyday and professional life. It is refreshing to learn something new!


Week 3: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

September 16, 2013
 

 

Creative Expression - an understanding of Communities of Practice, Connectivism, and Personal Learning Networks.

After doing my research for the first part of this module I took some time to deeply reflect on my personal understandings of these concepts before I ventured out and created my creative interpretation. I feel strongly that connectivism, including strong and open communication, is the infrastructure to the development of Communities of Practice and Personal Learning Networks.

In fact, according to Bruggen and Sloep, "our understanding, of the skills at the center of networking involve an ability to identify and understand other people’s work in relation to one’s own, and to assess the value of the connection with these others for potential future work." Therefore demonstrating the need for connections.

Also, Etienne Wegner mentions in her article Communities of Practice and social learning systems: the career of a concept, "that networks seems more adapted to a world where learning needs and connections are becoming increasingly fluid; when the internet sends its tentacles across the globe, the notion of community seems almost quaint." I have experienced this first-hand with my CoP here in the states and in India. I simply did not know that this was happening. It is all coming to together now.

 

Finally, Kop and Hill delve into the understanding of personal networks in a posting that sum up connectivism for me and my understanding: "According to connectivism, knowledge is distributed across an information network and can be stored in a variety of digital formats. "

This was a great assignment and I learned so much about practices I have in place and can now improve upon. 

KGodfrey Module 2 Slide Show

Week 4: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

September 19, 2013

 

Digital Footprint

My thoughts on living in a world with digital footprints:

When I really think about digital footprints I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I realize some people don't care or realize the impact digital activities have on you personally. I am as private as possible and am always mindful of my digital footprint and digital impressions. Good or bad, the footprint is there for all to see. Be careful is my advice to anyone!

What I discovered about my own digital footprint:

I am a somewhat private person and therefore am extremely aware of my digital footprint. I limit my Facebook posts, watch my language, careful about posting. I am aware of what can happen if you have a negative digital footprint. As a manager I Google the name of potential employees (and search on Facebook) to see what is out there. Names can be similar so unless I am positive I take what I read with a grain of salt.

I found my digital footprint which is minimal and general in nature. I did find a list of all the cities I have lived in, my maiden name (and there was no Internet when I got married), and my husband and mother-in-law's name. I Googled my name and it came up with some horse show videos on YouTube and a presentation I gave at an STC conference a few years back.

 Module 5: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

October 21, 2013

Module 5: Attending Webinars, Tweet Chats, and Online Communities

We attend webinars where I work for technical writing training as well as customer-focused training (HP and Microsoft). My company actually presents many webinars about localization and translation of all types of documents and products. The one webinar that impressed me was the one on Flipped Learning. I love that idea and I had never heard of it before. Flipped Learning has the student, for example, watch a video for homework and then come into the classroom the next day and do activities surrounding the video content. I am going to talk to our training department about helping me implement this in my new hire and ongoing training programs.

The Twitter chats are quite new for me as I had not joined Twitter until I took this class. Some of them had a lot of conversation going (had to use pause a lot) and some are stagnant. The faster ones were harder to follow and see the resources that were being shared. I do plan to look for more chats in the future because it is a great and easy way to share information. However, I will be sure to find and join only those few that reflect my needs.

I did not know about online communities until this module as well, but it makes perfect sense. People sharing resources, asking like questions, and sharing information. These are much easier to follow and read and use than Twitter chats, IMHO.

Please click on the appropriate link below to view the webinars I attended, the Twitter chats I participated in and the online communities I joined (and participated in).

Comments are welcome!

Kara Godfrey webinars

Kara Godfrey Twitter chats

Kara Godfrey online communities

 

 Module 5: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

October 27, 2013
 

Here is my PLE graphic that I created using Visio. My reflection will follow shortly:

 

Kara's PLE

What did I learn about myself when creating my PLE? I learned that I should immediately explore expanding my social networks beyond what I currently use. I have to admit I had never used Twitter before taking this class and I find it a great social and educational networking tool that is easy to use. Which ones to add? I have always wanted to try Skype.

How does my PLE compare to my peers? My PLE is lean, as I mentioned before, but reviewing my peers' PLEs has wet my social networking appetite for more. I feel that I am not using the tools to gather the information and resources both personally and professionally. My diagram shows that I use my social networks for both work, personally, and for school purposes. The interrelationships are not always overlapping, but for the most part they do. That is most likely a result of me having so little social media experience, which I plan to expand. After this assignment, I feel like I am seriously missing out!

Comparative Analysis

Jesse: Jesse grouped her social networks similarly to my PLE. However, it appears that Jesse is much more networked in social media than I am (at this point). She has Picasso and Skype, which I have never used before and we share the use of Facebook and Twitter. Jesse's PLE has inspired me to explore more social networks that may be a good fit for me. Good job, Jesse!

Staci: Stacy used icons rather than logos or names of social networks which is hard for me to follow only because I am not familiar with them. However, I did recognize the few that I use. Her use of the world graphic in the center demonstrates the reach of her PLE -worldwide. I plan to add a similar graphic to my PLE when I update it as I manage writers in the US and India and have friends living worldwide. Good job, Staci!

Greg: Greg's diagram is clearly represented by easily identifiable icons and logos. We have many of the same social networks such as LinkedIn and Scoop.it. The one social network that I want to explore is Lynda.com. I have only used this as a learning tool (watching educational videos) and would be interested in learning more. Good job, Greg!

Nona: You can tell that Nona's PLE is the life blood of social networking. Nona's PLE is very creative and fun to review. It is easy to follow and contains a lot of social networks (a lot more than mine). Her diagram not only shows her social networks but it also explains how she uses them to enrich her life, work, and school. However, being a newbie to social media, I did recognize some of the icons. I will contact Nona offline and ask for some guidance. I really want to expand my social networks and I hope my peers can help. Great job, Nona!

Angela: Angela's PLE clearly represents her active usage of social networking. She did a great job representing her individual uses in a general sense. Makes me ponder the fact that perhaps adding more detail to my PLE would make it easier to understand how I use it and where I should consider expanding.

After reviewing my peers' PLE diagrams I have a lot of work to do! I have learned that I need to expand and explore increasing my social network for all areas of my life. I have been missing out on so much information, resources, classes, networking, and new ideas. This assignment taught me to go out of much comfort zone and learn and share!

Week 6: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

November 4, 2013

Key Learning Ideas from Researching Social Media Networking

I went into this module thinking I would have a bit of trouble locating real research data and findings on using social media in learning - both in the schools and in the corporate environment. I a good number of case studies and projects from which I learned:

·         Before presenting to the stakeholders do your homework, which will take more time and effort than you can initially estimate.

·         Communicate with all involved with incorporating social media including the learners, teachers/instructors, the legal department, IT, and parents to name a few. This is time-consuming,  but necessary for success.

·         Divide the effort into smaller chunks.

·         Use both inside and outside evaluators long the way and at identified milestones.

·         Never consider using social media in learning a static event. The use and implementation of social will evolve with new applications and student interests.

·         From what I learned in my evaluation of the research, Facebook is widely accepted by most learners and may be a good place to start. YouTube appears to be second in popularity.

·         Don't try to use too many social media applications as it is difficult to evaluate the successes and where modification need to be made.

·         Never give up!

Social media learning is here to stay and to do it the right way, you must have patience and keep the lines of communication open with all involved.

Here is the link to my Scoopit Curation:

 Kara Godfrey's Scoop - Social Networking in Education and Corporations



Week 7: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning

November 10, 2013

Introduction and purpose

These policies and best practices are for anyone who spends time online and using social media for the company. Social media policies and best practices are listed below:

1.      Become familiar with social media software, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube before attempting to use it in the workplace. (First use it in your personal life and get some practical practice.)

2.      Use Social Media to execute and follow the company mission. The company IT department is set up to receive and review all messages send from your office equipment.

3.      Protect employee and customer privacy.

4.      Respect copyrights and trademarks.

5.      Be responsible for what you post and the technology you use. Be mindful of internet security, adware, and malware at all times.

6.      Do not disclose any information that is proprietary or confidential. Add a disclaimer in your messages.

7.      Your posting should express your point of view, not the point of view of the company.

8.      The company reserves the right to remove any posts that are not relevant to the topic of discussion.

9.      Be nice, have fun and connect, however be mindful of the company’s brand while you build connections.

10.  If you choose to participate in social media while at work consider the account property of the company (just like your hardware or phone). This does not apply to your personal accounts or equipment that you use outside of the workplace.

Feedback Strategies

After researching what was effective for other corporations I have come up with a few feedback vehicles.

Intranet Blog – this blog will contain all of the approved policies (via HR) and will allow employees, managers, and contractors to provide on-the-fly feedback. HR will assign a team to read the posts and reply accordingly in a timely manner (such as bi-monthly).

Manager’s Meetings – Managers will add the feedback to their weekly status meetings with their teams. Then, the managers can escalate major issues or help resolve the ones they can on their own. The face-to-face open discussion adds value to the blog.

References

Bondreau (2009-2013) Social media governance, empowerment with accountability. Retrieved from http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

Heathfield, Susan (2013) Blogging and social media policy sample. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/policysamplesb/a/blogging_policy.htm

 Module 8: Edtech 543 Social Network Learning
December 9, 2013

Edtech 543 Final Reflection:

Wow! It's hard to believe the semester is wrapping up so quickly! Time flies when there is so much to learn. I am reluctant to admit that before I took this class I was social media shy. Yes, I used Facebook and Instagram, but nothing else to speak of. I was scared to put myself out there and add to my digital footprint, which I always thought was negative. Nope, it's not always negative if you manage it well.

The assignment finding our digital footprint demonstrated that I had one and it was all positive because I was so cautious (too cautious) in my social media usage. Learning to use Twitter and creating a Tweetdeck really helped me learn how powerful Twitter is. The Tweetdeck helped me organize my Tweets (and I have shared this with friend and co-workers). I now use Twitter personally and for professional development. It's so easy and fun!

One of my favorite modules was curation. I chose to use Scoopit! and had a lot of fun. Scoopit! is easy to use and I spent more time than I needed to because I got lost in looking and finding more resources. By changing my keywords  I could find 100s of related resources.

The module about creating visuals to represent my PLE was at first causing me a bit of stress. I did not know what type of visuals to use until I let my hair down and started looking at the logos of the social media I use personally and professionally (most new to me). When I grouped the social media, I realized that I can use more of it professionally since my team is spread apart from the US to India.

How do I plan to apply social media professionally? I plan to establish a closed Facebook page for my team so the writers/editors/illustrators can communicate in almost real-time. The team members in India have questions they can submit while we are asleep and we can answer them in the morning our time when they are asleep. I will also use Twitter in a similar manner with a hash tag of #LionIPG (IPG is the division on HP we do work for).

In short, this class has opened my eyes widely to the power of social media and how to actually use it to my benefit both personally and professionally. For sure, this is one of the best and most practical classes I have taken while in this master's program. I am happy I enrolled and learned so much in just a few months time.

I believe that my blog reflections are sincere and very unique to my experiences and what I have learned. I have given a lot of thought to each and every blog post so I give myself a 75 out of 75.

Happy learning!!