A Quick 6 Weeks!

I can’t believe this course is already over- time flies! When I was looking at all the possible courses I could take, I was really excited about this course. Mainly, I needed some insight on all the different Web2.0 tools out there. The information I have gained is very useful to my current position, but it is also helpful to my personal education goals. I really feel like I have entered a world I just didn’t realize was there- like Narnia.

My PLN grew exponentially the past 6 weeks and I found a focus for it as well, eLearning. I think the two tools I utilized the most are SlideShare and Scoop.it. I plan to continue growing my PLN because the information I can obtain is way more than I could just using a Google search.

What tools have you found to be of the greatest use to you?

Students and Facebook

We use Facebook to reach out to our student population and remind them of free services we offer. For the workshops we offer we ask students to reserve their seat in the session by following a link from our Facebook page. The link goes to a 3rd party site called SlyReply. Students provide their name and their email address so we know how many to expect.

I have noticed some of the students become upset when I tell them they can reserve their seat through our Facebook page. They might not have a Facebook or they do not want us to have access to their Facebook world. I have to reassure that they do not even need to have a Facebook account to click on the link. They don’t have to sign in to use access the page. However, some still do not like the idea. Now I tend to provide the link directly to the third party site so students do not feel like we are forcing them to follow us.

What would be a better way link the sign-up for students to see and access?

BYOD

Most of us are aware of the booming presence of personal devices- everywhere. Where I work we rent out laptops and iPads. For the first time, last spring,  we saw a major dip in the amount of people checking out these items. More and more students have access to their own devices. If they only have a smartphone then they sit at one of our desktops to work.

When we have meetings at work everyone tends to pull up information from their phones. BYOD is becoming more and more common. They are convenient and allow for better organization. I also have mine set to alert me to new work emails while at work. I move from different stations throughout the day so this keeps me connected.

Has your workplace adopted the BYOD?

Check out the article below

Why Mobile Learning Is The Future Of Workplace Learning (Infographic) from Upside Learning

The New Classwork Platform

http://www.classkick.com/students/ 

I came across Classkick and am very intrigued by the possibilities of the software. Essentially the program allows for virtual homework space by using an iPad. A teacher can upload worksheets, for example, for the students to work on. If the student needs help they can request the teacher to help or request help from other classmates all within the app. Teachers and students could be across the country and as long as they were working on the assignment at the same time they could help each other out. I am continually amazed by the future of the classroom. We have come a long way since I was in school and thought technology was so futuristic then. I can see this being a very useful program for keeping students on track and organized. The app can also keep teachers organized as well and cut down on paper being printed and stored.

I'll Pay For the Apple With My Apple

Apple is creating “Apple Bank” which, from my understanding, will allow users to make wireless payments from their phone to whomever has the ability to receive payment from- being a person to person paying app. I don’t know a lot about it, but it seems like google wallet and paypal, but they are putting a patent on it so I don’t know what is different about their app.I am sure we are moving more towards the wireless paying feature especially from our phones so we don’t have to carry our cards.

I have heard rumors that Apple will use the payment history of the app to market towards the individual. I imagine my information is already being used without my knowledge of it. However, hearing that such an app would dig into your payment history to personalize marketing is (a) great plan for them and (b) a plan I don’t really like. I am not an Apple user, but if they get the ball rolling then it will just be the norm. Facebook already knows what I google search for and market towards those searches. How do you all feel about it?

Got a Question- I mean Quora?

Quora seems to be the new age Yahoo Answers with specific topics streamed for you. People make an account and then click several interests. The next step is setting categories you are an expert at, or at least the categories you believe you are an expert in. I posted a simple question- waiting to see if anyone responds. The questions I have been reading are…… interesting. Usually with Yahoo Answers I only come across questions people, who are wondering the same thing as I, post and thus I do not find their question odd. However, on Quora you see many questions you would have never asked before. The top question on my homepage is “How can I be as great as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson?” with various answers from humorous to serious. I came across one that was very angry towards snobby teens. I feel like many of the questions are about venting and finding people to collaborate with them. All in all it is an interesting site to browse and you never know what someone might ask.

Visual Directions

Have you ever wondered how you could make a video or make a screenshot of what you are working on? This would be helpful for training videos in many different circumstances. I know it would be a useful program for training videos at my work. The program I was introduced to, through my other summer class, is called Jing.! I haven’t used the program yet, but I did watch a video made by the program. It was so simple and really helped direct us students to where we needed to go. I plan to utilize the software for my current work. How else could someone utilize Jing?
https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html