Summer Review

I cannot believe how far I have come this summer. I never felt that I had any problems with online technologies. Through the last 20 years, I have used Internet resources for learning and social activities. I know I was a low-level consumer, but I was comfortable with that. I engaged the resources that interested me, used the tools that were required, and did not worry about the high-speed sexy stuff that "techno-geeks" were raving about. I never needed the latest device, and certainly was never concerned about the latest trends. For example, I never expected to have a Twitter account. I never wanted it, and thought I had no use for it. To my mind, it was a distraction, a social media toy, like many of the other social media tools available. This summer has completely changed my opinion. I amazed at the wealth of useful applications each tool has to offer. As I glance at other blogs, I see this sentiment echoed again and again. There is a lot out there. We have covered a lot of it this summer. And there remains a whole lot more to explore. The two most important lessons I will take from this summer are this. Do not dismiss out of hand, but approach each new thing with an open mind. Be willing to experiment and try new things, and seek out the guidance of the more experienced whenever you need it. You may find something exceptional that will bridge a gap you did not even realize existed. The other lesson is to start where you find yourself, and take what you need along the way. The way to keep from becoming overwhelmed is to concentrate on what you find most interesting and most useful. You do not need to use everything anymore than you need to know everything. Do a personal needs assessment, then address those needs specifically. I know as I go forth, I will not use half of what I tried out this summer. But I also know that those few tools that I do use will be wonderful, engaging, and effective. And that makes all the difference.

Building a LinkedIn Group

Part of my Performance Support Project was developing a LinkedIn Group to form a community of practice.  Having only a little experience with using these Groups and none about creating them, I searched for tips and ideas to help me with the project.  I found this slideshare useful in designing the Group, 10 Tips for Launching a LinkedIn Group. Also, this article from Cindy King, Six Ways to Grow a LinkedIn Group,  pulls together the recommendations of several experts, and I found it useful for ideas about developing community membership.

10 Tips to Launching a LinkedIn Group from LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

NSF Funding for Educators

I found this article about an NSF program to fund and support innovative teaching initiatives. The focus is on STEM programming, and it's designed to promote broader adoption of successful new methods and tools. The article is here.  https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140723143226-95015-getting-lean-in-education-by-getting-out-of-the-classroom

PLN Explosion

I admittedly had concerns about my PLN a week ago.  I was getting discouraged by inactivity in LinkedIn and not really learning about things that interested me.  This past week put an end to my fears.  Part of it was the online discussion I initiated with one of my groups on LinkedIn finally took off with a flurry of activity, allowing me to develop some new online contacts along with new ideas.  the other was my trip to Erie, PA.

I attended the tenth annual conference for IAFIE  last week, and had the most enjoyable and productive experience.  I met a lot of great people, learned about a lot of different things, made some wonderful contacts, and developed some great opportunities for the future.  I left there truly inspired, which is what a good conference should do.

During the course of the conference, I added two new groups to my PLN on LinkedIn, as well as gaining a number of new contacts to other professionals in this field.  By the second day, we were sharing and tweeting articles and blogs during the sessions.  Of particular interest to me was I met a professional that was developing an online app for teaching intelligence and another who was using virtual worlds for the same, and both were interested in collaborating in the future.  Exciting stuff!

What was particularly wonderful about this experience was physically meeting the people I was networking with online.  This personalized the relationship, and makes me more comfortable with making requests of them in the future. I really look forward to utilizing this new network, and hop what I have recently learned will help me to maintain it.

Visual Resumes

I used Visualize.me to make a graphic representation of my resume. Here is the link to it http://vizualize.me/mafeulner#.U8grUhnD_qD

I was surprised at how drab my resume appeared and began thinking of ways to make a better image. Then it dawned on me! We make these dull and uninspired lists of our achievements, failing to recognize the image of ourselves we are creating. Even if I never use this tool to market myself, I will be using it to adjust my resume to paint a prettier picture!

Ultimate Twitter Guide

This article from Edudemic is great. The Teacher's Guide to Twitter is a long article filled with tips that covers everything from basic tips to how to use it with students.  They provide a list of Twitter do's and don'ts, a guide to educational hashtags, and over a 100 tips and tools for networking, establishing authority, searching Twitter, organizational tools, and connecting with students.

I have to admit, I have violated a few of the Twitter guidelines they provide.

A Wikipedia Confessional

As a scholar and educator in higher education, I naturally eschew the use of Wikipedia as a source.  I discourage students from citing it in research papers, or any other web-based sources, and push them to seek out scholarly sources.  I explain that peer-review is the key to producing credible scholarly work, and that other publications simply do not have the rigor necessary to use as primary source material.  And I also note that the credibility of those posting information in Wikipedia is as questionable as their true identities.

But I have to confess....

I use Wikipedia.

A lot.

However, I'll argue that I know how to use it.  I know how to turn a critical eye on what I find there.  I know to research further anything I find questionable or would like to use in something I am preparing.  And I never quote the cite.

I treat Wikipedia for what it is.  It is a reference tool.  Scholars would not cite Encyclopedia Britannica in a paper, but they would use it to check what the capital of Uganda is.  I pop into Wikipedia regularly to check on the dates of events, get the full name of public figures, get rough demographic figures on a region, and a host of other questions.  And I see nothing wrong with this, because when I get to the point were I want to cite something I learned about in Wikipedia, I will be looking for the original source material to cite.