Weekly Report & Reflection Blog Post #4

Hello & welcome to week 4 fellow bloggers!

The task of this week for ADED 1P32 was to use the Diigo Tool. Diigo is a very helpful tool that makes learning online way easier. There are many uses for curation tools such as Diigo but the main one is so that individuals can use it for organizational purposes. I feel truly blessed to have been introduced to it in my first year of post secondary because I can use it to my advantage when it comes to keeping track of my favourite information sources in the future. Unlike the regular bookmarks that your web browser provides Diigo allows the user to highlight important information on the pages you've bookmarked as well as attach sticky notes. Just so you can have a visual idea of what I am talking about look here.

retrieved from: https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/logo256x256.png?w=256

I feel like I say this all the time but I truly do love to learn new things so being able to use Diigo to my own advantage with bookmarking WikiHow things is amazing. So instead of going through a great load of information on the internet curation helps narrow it down to the "good stuff". 

I would recommend Diigo to everyone who bookmarks websites.

Weekly Report & Reflection Blog Post #3

Hey fellow bloggers!
This week was a good one. We learned about RSS feeds and a new tool "Feedly". Feedly is a tool that according to the interests and likes you provide takes webpages that allow RSS feeds and picks out the articles/ stories that you would find interesting. It is constantly at work updating the articles to fit your needs. Unlike most social media apps where you have to use it for a while for it to know what interests you and what doesn't, Feedly knows from the start because it is tailored to you. Also with Firefox it was extremely easy to have all of your feeds at your finger tips.

retrieved from: http://www.wikihow.com/Sit

Tailoring your Feedly to your likes is important because it lets people have a sense of who you are. For instance I love to learn so i have WikiHow posts on my Feedly. This week one story that was tailored to me was"How to sit". This may seem like a weird topic to have tailored to you but i liked reading it because I now know I have been sitting improperly.

In regards to my PLE I think it is appropriate to add the Feedly and RSS feed logos because after being how useful they are I am going to make them apart of my internet routines. These two components also enhance my digital footprint in a positive way because I can use the tips and tricks i learn to enhance my social media accounts.

retrieved from: http://www.thinkbelle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Feedly-Logo-300x300.png

My Experience with RSS Feeds

The task of ADED 1P32 this week was to familiarize ourselves with RSS feeds using the web tool “Feedly” which lets us follow blogs and filter out the important posts that pertain to our interests. I’ve always noticed the little RSS feed logo on my Tumblr blog but I never paid any mind to it till this past week. Having a MacBook and using Safari for my everyday World Wide Web activities then having to use Firefox for this course is a challenge but I’m getting the hang of it.

Using “Feedly” my first experience with RSS feeds was a good and interesting one. I got to know important information about Brock having the Ontario women’s basketball championship trophy named after their very own assistant athletic director Chris Critelli. In high school I was very involved with the athletics so being able to have this on my RSS Feedly was pretty awesome. Also another story on my Feedly was an Edutopia RSS about an educator sharing how using a microphone while he teaches has improved student learning comprehension and behavior. I enjoyed reading this because I also agree. Being in university in lecture halls of 100+ people using a microphone is the only way to teach so that everyone understands.

Its crazy how much technology has evolved over the years to be able to do things like RSS feed. So much was done and learned in such a small time frame it amazes me. After using Feedly for this weeks assignment I think it is an essential tool that everyone should be familiar with because its time efficient and easy to use.

Week 2: My Personal Learning Environment (PLE)

Hello fellow bloggers! Another week, another post. 

Week 2’s session provided me the knowledge of 2 new concepts: PLE and PLN.  Going into week 2 I have never heard of a PLE or PLN before so learning about them through quizzes, articles and videos was very interesting and worthwhile. 
Just so that you fellow bloggers are up to par with my knowledge of what a PLE and PLN are I’ll share with you the meanings. A personal learning network (PLN) is a tool that uses social media and technology to collect, collaborate and create with connected colleagues anywhere at any time according to the edutopia. Using a PLN you can create a personal learning environment (PLE) which is a system that helps learners take control of and manage their own learning as defined by the free dictionary.

retrieved from  https://eltple.wikispaces.com/How+does+a+PLE+work%3F    

Week 2’s module has taught me that being a part of a PLN is key and your PLE can be used to better the PLN as a whole. Part of the learning activities this week was to view the ladder and determine where we are in regards to it. I’d say I am a considered a “conversationalist” only because I do own multiple social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram in which I update multiple times and if not that at least once a week. Creating this blog for this course even though I have a Tumblr blog account I hope to use this as much as I use Tumblr even after this course is over with.

On Wordle I created my very first word cloud from an autobiography. Using Wordle and having it highlight and bold certain words was very fulfilling and being able to share it with all of you makes it all worth the while. I clicked the randomize button a couple of times until i came across this layout and set of highlighted words and knew this was the one I wanted to post with all of you. My favourite thing about my word cloud is the fact that "health" and "healthy" are bolded and apparent because they are really important to me. 

Aidoo, A. (CC) 2016.

In order to get to where I want to be I will have to learn to not procrastinate, improve on my time management skills and improve on my verbal communication. Wanting to get a career in the health care field is going to require a lot of work and specific skills including the ones listed already so working on them will get me closer to my goals. Also maybe changing up my environment to better suit my learning style will help like going to the library to study rather than studying in my room where I can be distracted easily.

Using Gliffy, I created the mind-map shown below of my own PLE. If I was to analyze my PLE I would conclude that I use my socializing and sharing information part more than any other via social media apps. If I would have to improve on my PLE I would say the section i should be using more is books and the library. Even though the internet now has E-books going to the library for research and such is still a good idea. After creating and thoroughly viewing my PLE, i hope to keep expanding it and improving on the components that are already there as the weeks in this course go on. 

Aidoo, A. (CC) 2016.

Until next week bloggers!

Digital Dossier

As defined on webopedia a digital footprint is “…is the word used to describe the trail, traces or "footprints" that people leave online.”

In today’s day and age the internet world offers so much for us to create positive digital footprints but also gives us the temptations of contributing some negative footprints in our life’s journey. Most young adults my age are not really concerned about what they put online because they feel as if over the years they have learned the rights and wrongs of the World Wide Web. Posting pictures from a house party may seem like a positive footprint because it shows that you were enjoying yourself and living life to the fullest however in the long run it can hinder your chances of getting your dream job because it shows unprofessionalism in the eyes of an employer.

image retrieved from: http://picterest.info/V2FpbddQ-digital-footprint-definition/

Before watching the YouTube video “Youth and Media- Digital Dossier” I was like everyone other young adult thinking I have matured enough to know what to and not to post online but in reality there are still some things that I have yet to learn. After reviewing the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship (textbook, pp.15-44) and exploring the Netiquette Site I have learned that in high school when a friend would tell me to go view someone’s nasty tweet to a peer I was negatively adding to my digital footprint because that twitter page is now saved in my browser history and I was a bystander to cyber bullying which is inappropriate technology use according to the nine elements. This also violates Rule #2: adhere to the same standards of behaviour online that you follow in real life. However, posting pictures on Facebook of family gatherings is positively adding to my digital footprint because family members that weren’t able to attend for whatever reason can view the album and get a taste of what the event was like in their absence. 

Part of week one’s module was to complete the Digital Driver’s License exam about technology and how it should be used in classrooms to help the learning process. I had scored a perfect score of 20 out of 20. After completing this exam I feel that I am a good digital citizen and there is definitely room for learning and improvement however I am on the right track. Over all I believe that I do want a digital footprint because in the future having a positive digital footprint will help me get a job when employers see suitable information about me online. Also it can give me the opportunity to brand myself in an amazing way.

image retrieved from: http://stmb4.wikispaces.com/Digital+Citizenship

Introducing, Me

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Anne-Marie Aidoo. I come from a family of 7 that consists of my parents, 3 sisters and a brother. Growing up my siblings were really into computers, taking photos and the Internet so I grew up pretty well rounded when it came to social media. They ensured Internet safety by explaining the rights and wrongs of the social media world. For example, not to post my current location and to always be careful with what I post. I typically post about the things I enjoy like spending time with family and friends, doing local volunteer work, baking, cooking and learning new things each day.

 I am originally from Brampton, Ontario but currently reside in St. Catharine’s, Ontario for school. I am in my first year of the 3-Year Bachelor of Arts (Pass) program in Community Health at Brock University. When I first started looking for post secondary programs during my last year of high school, Brock was my first choice because their program was exactly what I was looking to get into career wise. I am into health promotion and sharing my knowledge of how people can live healthy lives and spread healthy habits with others. I expect this program to be able to nurture my enthusiasm for health and get a career in the health field.

Being enrolled in this Adult Education course, I aim to be able to learn different ways of using the World Wide Web since the world is becoming more technological. I’m hoping this course will help me get to where I want to be personally and professionally such as using the Internet in a mature, respectful and responsible way to benefit others as well as myself. I am also interested in seeing how my current digital footprint and how it is going to change compared to when this course is finished and I have learned more.