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.

FCC Approves E-rate Modernization Along Partisan Lines

Interesting blog, and it has me torn on the issue.  Funding for improving technology in schools seems always a good thing, but on the other hand I think there are more significant gaps in education to address.



FCC Approves E-rate Modernization Along Partisan Lines

Social Media, an energy field created by all living things, that surrounds and penetrates living beings and binds the galaxy together.

So I came across a Facebook post regarding the inspiring story of Katie Goldman that got me really thinking about the power of Web 2.0.  If you are not familiar with the story you can read the full article here, but the gist is this.  Katie at 7 years-old was harassed and teased for being a girl who liked Star Wars, and her mother wrote about it in her blog.  Her story went viral when it was picked up by the 501st Legion, a network of Star Wars fans and cosplayers which tweeted support under #maytheforcebewithkatie and sent Star Wars swag to the little girl.  Two years later, the 501st rallied through social media yet again to assemble an authentic stormtrooper Halloween costume for the young fan.  Katie proudly wore it on numerous occasions.

The story could end there, but doesn't.  Two years later, the 501st contacted Katie about another young girl being bullied in a similar fashion.  Katie eagerly passed her prized costume to Allison, creating 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Stormtrooper Costume."  They 501st put the story out on Instagram, and added #HeartOfTheForce #BadGuysDoingGood #PayItForward to it.  

And the saga continues.  This past spring, the mother of a bullied boy in Florida sought out the support of the 501st Legion.  In addition to bullying, her son suffers from severe ADHD and she was looking for Star Wars-themed learning resources that would inspire the young fan.  The group rallied at a Books-A-Million in Lakeland to show support and gather resources for the young boy.  You can read the full story here. 

PLN Problems

I have been developing my PLN, looking for experts on intelligence organizations and intelligence analysis.  I have joined a group with this expertise on LinkedIn and I am starting to follow their discussions and read their articles.  However, I am struggling with directing activities towards my specific interests within the community.  I have not had any response to the discussions I have attempted to start, and most of the material I have found through lurking is not providing me with what I want to learn from the PLN.  Part of it I believe is because I am a newcomer and not an industry insider.  I am trying to connect with group members that I feel may offer useful information, but I am awaiting their response.  My biggest hope is that in ten days I will be attending an intelligence industry conference and I will be able to make some direct personal connections that I can then incorporate into my online PLN.  Until then, I will keep hammering away at it.

Fingers crossed!

FERPA Fears and Social Media

In response to the week's discussion on FERPA guidelines and social media, I went looking and found this blog article Is Your Use of Social Media FERPA Compliant? (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu "Is Your Use of Social Media FERPA Compliant?" by Perry Drake.  This is a really informative article, and provides answers to a number of questions regarding this issue.  The author uses a number of examples and cites case law as well to drive home the points he is making.  The primary point is that digital media is not specifically covered by FERPA.  Amidst all the insights Drake supplies, he distills his advice to these two points: 

1. "When using Twitter, Facebook, or other social platforms, never reveal information about students that might indicate their grades, course enrollments, class schedules, and so on. Doing so could be noted as a FERPA violation if called out by the student.
2. We must realize what is and is not subject to "inspect and review" regarding our actions with others and students. Any document or communication (digital or not) that is considered an educational record for purposes of FERPA is subject to the "inspect and review" privilege by the student." (Retrieved 7/5/2014 from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/your-use-social-media-ferpa-compliant)

 For more, follow the link above to the article.

Giving the More Complicated a Try....

I really got excited about Meemoo.  I have had ideas for a number of GIFs and simple apps in the past, and I thought that if I took some time to play with it I would have another great tool at my disposal.  The intro video had me thoroughly hooked, and conceptually it is brilliant.  However, the current stage it is at is too advanced for the casual novice to pick up in a few hours.  The introductory tutorial does not provide enough instruction, it is not as intuitive as other programs I have used, and there are no help menus.  I am not being negative, only realistic.  You need to have some experience with writing code and doing this kind of work "the hard way" in order to quickly understand, appreciate and utilize what it offers.  Otherwise, you will need to invest some serious time.  I do not have the time to get the hang of this right now, but I will return to it in the future.  I do want to be able to use it!

Things Not Turning Out as Expected

This was one of those weeks where you end up in unexpected places.  And that I wasn't going the where I expected.  I also found that someplace I'd been had more to offer than I realized.

Early this week, I saw a lot of interest in Edmodo.  A few of my peers were highly enthused about the tool, a couple lauding it as superior to Blackboard.  So I spent time there as a student and a teacher.  I like the simplicity of the service, but I found it too basic.  As much as I have complained about Blackboard as an instructor, I have never had trouble with it as a student.  And while the interface can be cumbersome on both sides of this online classroom, the wealth of resources and tools it provides make it far superior to Edmodo.  I can see it of great utility for secondary education, but college educators need more than it has to offer--at least in my humble opinion.

What surprised me was Fakebook. It seemed too simplistic and gimmicky to be useful to me as an instructor.  However, after touring it for awhile I found a couple of ideas for class assignments percolating to the surface.  My only disappointment is that you can only create single pages.  I would like to be able to link pages together, so that you can really exploit interrelationships between public figures.  This would make it very powerful and quite useful to me.

Google Maps is a tool with which I was already familiar, and I frequently use Google Earth, a companion product.  What was surprised me was the fact that Google had made their Maps engine a collaborative tool.  I knew that users could contribute content to Google Earth Community, but the shareable personal maps was new to me.  This inspired new ideas for other assignments that leveraged this collaboration.  It also had me take a look at other features from Google Maps Engine, the one I found most interesting was that it was capable of supporting app creation and mobility enabled content.  This is yet another tool I really want to spend some time exploring.

I Am Not Alone Shouting (Posting) in the Dark!

I was perusing my features in Blogger and found the stats tab that tallies my page views.  I was happy to learn that although I was only getting a few comments on every other blog, I was getting a lot of traffic on it!  355 in the past month is not bad at all, and is really encouraging.  This is nice feedback to have.

I also found it interesting that you can examine where your page views are originating by looking at Traffic Sources.   I thought that this would be fairly useful, particularly if you want to consider making changes to your blog service.

Then I stumbled on the really neat service they provide.  They provide stats on your audience in terms of browsers used, operating systems, and country.  I found it interesting that I was getting views from Russia, France, and Ukraine, and I was wondering how many of my fellow students are studying from abroad?  Or were these chance encounters?  In any case, I like seeing that my work is going global!