Weekly Report and Reflection Post #11

This week in class, we were given the opportunity to investigate various webcasting tools available via the internet.  After going through the various tools I found them extremely useful as you are able to create podcasts or screencasts. I believe these tools will be beneficial for educational purposes as you can look on the internet for various audio recordings of educational items at any time. An example would be when you missed a lecture at school. Often students may prefer hearing concepts being explained rather than reading about it. In instances where you miss a lecture you can go to the internet and find podcasts or screencasts available and hear similar content as you would if you went to the lecture. Knowing that tools such as these are available in the internet is great to know. In terms of creative tools such as Soundcloud or Jing, knowing about these tools and how to use them is important and can help me in building my knowledge. Often people are looking for ways to communicate their ideas onto the internet, and tools such as Soundcloud allow these users to do so.  You are able to record yourself and share your recording to the worldwide web.

In terms of adding webcasting tools into my PLE, I will defiantly do so. Webcasting tools would most likely be added to my creativity side. This is because webcasting tools allow you communicate information in a different format. Knowing various ways of communicating your ideas to the worldwide web is a great asset and webcasting tools provides just that. I can also argue adding webcasting tools as learning tool. As iterated above, I believe that knowing that podcasts or screencasts are available can be a great asset as you can reinforce your knowledge through these tools. Overall, webcasting tools are a great tool to know and I will most likely add these to my PLE.

In addition to webcasting tools, we were given the opportunity to CC license our blogs. One major thing that I learnt from our course is the right of ownership. Knowing and enforcing your right of ownership is important in today’s society as often many of your own content can be stolen without your consent. In addition, many people may use your content without proper credits given to you, the originator of the content. Having the ability of both copyrighting your material is important in protecting your content.

For this week in my Feedly, I found a really interesting article called “Yahoo’s ad revenue to drop 14 percent”.  I found this article really interesting because I was surprised that Yahoo is receiving less traction from advertisement companies. Growing up, Yahoo was always a giant in the internet where you can find anything from sports to your very own email. It’s amazing how such a giant is so much slower in innovating as its competitor Google was. Google has completely dominated the search engine and email parts of the internet. They even have added tools such as Google Drive which only further entices people to use the site.  Yahoo really needs to step up its game in order to come back to being a giant they once more.

Thanks for reading, see you next week.

CC License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Weekly Report & Reflection Post #10

This week in class we were given the opportunity to investigate different slideshow tools. The slideshow tool that I found particularly useful was Animoto. One part of the tool that I really liked about was its interface. Often times I find that many online tools’ interface to be challenging to use and often a deterrent from me using the tool again. This was not the case for Animoto. Animoto was simple to use. You can add photos, change slide timings, and best of all; it had a nice array of slideshow designs. The designs looked great and had different animations built in the design which is not something you can ordinarily find on Microsoft PowerPoint. Adding music was really easy and overall I found that creating a slideshow presentation was easy. In terms of using this tool for educational purposes, I am a bit hesitant to do so. I find that in most of my projects having text accompanied with an image is a good way to present a slide and with Animoto you are both restricted in text amount and I was not able to add an image to my text on the same slide. Due to this I would not use this tool for educational purposes. However, for personal use, such as making a nice video for photos I took during vacation, this is a great tool. In terms of slideshow tools, I believe that they are essential for educational purposes. For many of my courses, we are required to create slideshows for our presentations and having greater knowledge of more sophisticated slideshow tools such as Prezi will help my creativity. Most slideshow presentations are done through Microsoft Powerpoint, so by using other slideshow tools, it would help me both differentiate my slideshow from others, but also provide a more sophisticated slideshow. 

In terms of adding slideshow tools such as Animoto or Prezi to my PLE, they would defiantly go under my creativity side. As iterated above, these tools provide an opportunity for creating a more creative slideshow for my presentations. Tools such as Animoto and Prezi are what I have been looking for as I feel that you can only do so much in Microsoft PowerPoint to differentiate yourself from all the other slideshow presentations. I feel these tools both give me an edge in terms of showing the instructor my creativity and I look forward in using these tools in my future presentations.

This week in Feedly, I found a really cool article called “Whybig brands are getting into the subscription-box model”. I found this article particularly cool as it is amazing on how far subscription box model has gotten. When I was younger, I always thought that purchasing a subscription based product was always a waste of money as you are literally buying something that a company thinks you will like. You have no idea what you are getting and I found that a real deterrent from buying. Finding out that this model is actually gaining traction is surprising, but I do look forward on what major brands can create from this model.

Thanks for reading and let’s see what next week has in store.

Photo 1: https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/animoto.png?w=400

Weekly Report & Reflection Post #9

This week in class, we got the opportunity to explore the tool VoiceThread. At first glance, the tool took some time to understand, but after going through it, I realized how great of a tool it is.  One functionality that I really appreciated from VoiceThread is the fact that you can add a verbal comment to your slideshows. I found this function really useful as I am always a believer that being told something is always better than reading something. For example, many of us read our textbooks before class and then go to class where the lecturer overviews the material and further clarifies it. I find going to class always makes things make more sense and I feel that VoiceThread gives users the similar experience.  I believe VoiceThread is a great tool for academic purposes. As iterated above it can help you reinforce your knowledge by providing a verbal component in your readings.  I also like the fact that you can add your own verbal comments, so if you revisit the material you can remember your train of thought more easily by rehearing your comment.

In terms of adding VoiceThread into my PLE, I would add it as a learning tool. As mentioned above, I believe that it helps you learn the material in a way that may help some users. I am a bit hesitant to add VoiceThread as I am more of a visual learner. I do believe that hearing something is better than reading, but for me visually drawing out the concept helps me a lot. This functionality of visual representing concepts is not a part of VoiceThread, hence the reason why I am a bit hesitant of adding it into my PLE. Overall, I do believe that VoiceThread does provide some benefits for me hence the reason why I will be adding it into my PLE.

This week in Feedly, I found am awesome article called “YouTube Stars will soon be able to win Emmy Awards”. I found this article really great as I am happy that YouTube Stars are finally getting more mainstream attention. YouTube has become such a huge source of entertainment for everyone, and why not give the recognition for those who create content within it? For me I really appreciate this website and I just can’t imagine without it.  It has provided me entertainment that I feel no other websites can provide and I am happy that YouTube stars will now have even more incentive to create better content.

I feel that every week in class I am becoming a greater digital citizen. Prior to starting this course, I was really uncertain about what it meant to be a digital citizen or even what were my digital rights and responsibilities. Tools such as VoiceThreads, Twitter, Feedly, etc., have not just made me more digitally aware, but also have provided me tools that I will defiantly use going forward. I am grateful for this course and I look forward to what the remaining weeks have in store.

Photo 1: http://www.educationalappstore.com/images/upload/mzl.luwfxucu.png

Technology Use Scenario

Technology Use Scenario 4: During word-processing class, Mr. McIntosh notices that Mary has both of her hands under the computer desk. As Mr. McIntosh comes around to her station Mary puts her hands back on the keyboard, but he notices that her cell phone is on her lap with a text on the screen. Mr. McIntosh asks Mary to stay after class, where she says that she was sending a text to her mother about picking her up after school. What does the teacher do? (Ribble, 2015).

In terms of the appropriateness of using technology in this scenario, I would say that the answer to this question is very dependent if Mr.McIntosh has stated that use of cell phones in class is allowed. Although this scenario does not explicitly state this, based on rules that I have faced during my tenure in school, I believe that the use of cellphone in this context was restricted by Mr.McIntosh. This can be further corroborated with the fact that Mary is hiding her cellphone from the teacher. In terms of the use of technology of this scenario being appropriate, I would defiantly say that it is not. During my tenure in school, I learnt that we should always focus on the work we are learning in class. This is an act of showing respect for what is being taught and respect towards the teacher. Using a cellphone during class both disrespects and acts as a deterrent from what is being taught. In today’s society more than 50% of students text during class even though they know it is ban. Many students use texting as a way to pass time. In this particular scenario, Mary is texting her mother in regards on what time she should be picked up. Although this is important, I believe that other alternatives that Mary could have taken to make the use of technology appropriate. For example, I believe Mary could have asked for a washroom break and called or text her mother then. I also believe Mary could have communicated with her mother before class about when to be picked up. I believe that unless it is a medical or family issue the use of cellphones should be prohibited in class. In conclusion the use of technology in this scenario is inappropriate. Above are my thoughts on scenario 4. I welcome others opinions on the manner. Please comment below and let the debate begin.

VoiceThread

This week in class we were given the opportunity to investigate the tool Voicethread. At first glance, this tool was a bit confusing to use as the interface was not as user friendly as I hoped. However, after taking the time of learning and using the tool, I do see its merits and how it could be a beneficial academically and a tool to be added to my PLE. In terms of adding this tool to my PLE, I would add it as a learning tool. This tool is great to reinforce something you are learning. I am a little hesitant on adding this tool because I am more of a visual learner. I do see people loving this tool as sometimes hearing something being told rather than reading can be easier for someone, but for the case of me, I find visually seeing something better. In terms of using this tool for my academic work, as iterated above I do prefer visually seeing over hearing, however I do believe this tool would be great in terms of reinforcing information. I do believe hearing something is a lot better than reading about it and Voicethread does that. You can hear comments that others made, which can help you further enhance your knowledge. Overall, Voicethread is a great tool to use and although I did express some hesitation on adding it into my PLE, I do feel that using this tool as an reinforcement to your study material, will reward great benefits. 

Weekly Report & Reflection Post #8

In this week of class, we were asked to explore the tool of wiki. In the past, I have used wikis, more exclusively Wikipedia. I found Wikipedia a great tool to use for preliminary research and just a quick way to get to know something. I am aware that the information may not always be accurate as anyone can edit the information. Due to this I would not recommend Wikipedia or any wiki tool as trustworthy site for reliable information. Compared to other tools I have learnt such as Google docs or Evernote, I do like wikis, but due to the unreliability of information I would most likely not add this tool to my PLE.  I believe that the best use of certain wikis is for just general information. For example if you wanted to know some quick facts about something like who created the computer, you can search Wikipedia and get a general sense of the people involved and the time period. With that in mind, you should also be careful on the information you are reading as some of it may not be factual as anyone around the world can edit it.

In addition, this week in class we got to learn about becoming a digital citizen and the rights and responsibilities of living in a digital society. 3 rights that I found particular interesting were the right to privacy, the right to content ownership, and the right of free speech. See below for my mind map.

Bola, A. (CC) 2016.

 I found the right of privacy to be particularly important as everyone should have the fundamental right of privacy. We should be able to share information that we want to share to the worldwide web. In addition to this, people should respect that some individuals do not want particular information to be shared. The next right that I thought was important was the right to content ownership. We should have the right of ownership for work we created. Also, if anyone wants to use our work, we should also receive credits for it. The last right that I thought was important was the freedom of speech. We should have the right to say what we want on the web and to not be restricted.  For example if we wanted to talk about a controversial issue, we should be allowed to do so without anyone restricting. The ability to talk about our beliefs or anything that we wish to inform the web about is a right that should not be broken.

In this week on my Feedly Reader I found a really interesting article called “FAKE VOMIT SCANDALS ARE HAPPENING IN UBER RIDESACROSS AMERICA”. After reading this article, I just found it crazy on what people would do just to make extra cash. Like framing someone for an act they did not do is completely wrong and I hope Uber will terminate the driver. I know Uber does have an extensive hiring process such as background checks, phone interviews, etc., but I believe more needs to be done in the hiring process such as face to face interviews. I feel that Uber crimes are in the news every day and the fact that doing well in a phone interview and answering some questions gets you an Uber job is just not suffice. Tougher hiring process might mitigate crimes such as these from occurring.

That’s all for this week, see you guys next week.