Information Overload

Have you guys seen this video yet?



I just love how this class is making me think so much more deeply about the technology and resources right at our fingertips.

Happy blogging! :)

This Week's Assignment

Guys, I finally found my communities!

I know I'm late here, but I've been feeling really conflicted about this class lately.

Even though I'm still technically sitting on my couch with my laptop, I've been feeling anxious about putting myself "out there" on the internet. I am a really private person, and I tend to feel like my thoughts are best kept to myself, lest people judge and/or misunderstand me. I realize that it is something I have to get over in order to succeed in this class, and throughout life.

To that end, I would like to share that I've had a hard time finding communities to delve into this week. I looked at the communities I'm involved in with Google+ and Twitter, and even though I don't LJ anymore, I looked through pages and pages of LiveJournal communities, and nothing seemed quite right.

Then, as if by magic (okay, more like algorithms), there was a suggestion on Facebook for a community that I am quite interested in being a member of.

For some, this is a contentious topic, but it is one that I feel strongly about, and am interested to hear others' voices on. That is, being childfree.

So, I've found my two communities (one Facebook, one LiveJournal), and I'm eager to find out what it's like to be a contributing member, rather than just a lurker.  :)

How has it been finding your communities?

#Twitter

Twitter is the subject of the week.

I avoided it before this class, because, honestly, it always seemed like a narcissistic waste of time. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't occasionally curious about what I was missing out on, but the feeling was never so compelling as to get me to actually set up an account.

But then within the span of two weeks I find myself managing not only my personal account, but also one for my job. Now that I'm in charge of 2 different Twitter accounts, I can see its usefulness. Connecting with others in short snippets, to put it broadly.

My favorite thing about Twitter is that, unlike Facebook, there is no filter discerning whose updates I see and whose I don't. The fact that it's all in headlines is great, and since I mostly follow organizations and public figures, it's easier to stay current on the topics and news I'm most interested in. I love how easy it is to skim the feed and see what's going on everywhere. Coincidentally, I have a good friend who's never been much for Facebook, but has always been a tweeter, and now we have another way to keep in touch.
All in all, I have to say I'm actually quite fond of that little blue bird now.

...........

(source)

Regarding Twitter in the classroom, I recently witnessed my boyfriend go through a class that had a 2-week Twitter experiment. The class was Social History of the United States, and for 2 weeks, the students re-enacted historical figures and their speeches in the classroom, while the rest of the class live-tweeted the speeches.

I can tell you from my boyfriend's perspective that he thought the Twitter experiment was "weird." For one, live-tweeting during a speech means that the tweeter is not fully paying attention, and probably missing something important. Another thing was the incongruence between embracing historical contexts (they were encouraged to dress up and engage in other activities meant to set the historical environment) and actively use cell phones in class. It seems to have taken away from the authenticity of the experience.

I think that this was not the most effective way to use Twitter in the classroom, as I have read some of your articles about elementary children solving math problems,  and other creative, more effective methods.
So it seems to me that it's not something that works in every teaching situation, but has a lot of potential.

I'd love to hear your comments

:)

PS: Follow me

Google+

Everyone has heard of Google+, right? Google's version of a social network.

Essentially, if you have a Gmail account, you have a Google+ account ready and waiting to be used. For some reason, it hasn't picked up as quickly as some of the others, and some even say it's dying.

I've been exploring and utilizing and connecting all many of the networks and tools available to me, and I have to say, I like Google+ a lot, and I think it has a lot of potential.

I think that the interface is more about sharing news, info, & interests with others, compared to more narcissistic purposes of Facebook (not offense to Facebook users, I update mine pretty often).
Several of the infographics I've come across imply that Google+ is more for the scholarly-minded, and that there is high ratio of male users to female users.

I think Google+ is a good alternative to Facebook if you're the kind of person who often finds people's status updates annoying, and prefers to skims down the news feed for links to interesting articles.

Google+ is definitely going to be a staple of my Personal Learning Network from now on.

Photo credit

If you're interested, here's a whole Pinterest board of Google+ infographics.

What do you think of Google+?

Bloglovin

As I mentioned, I've been reading blogs for a long time now, probably since high school (c. 2002-06), when LiveJournal was "in".

Anyways, over the years I've started and stopped following many blogs, and Bloglovin is my Reader of choice. It is mobile-friendly, and is useful for grouping and sorting, if you follow several blogs. For example, mine are grouped into categories by subject (e.g., food blogs, science and education blogs, and art blogs). Click the link below to check it out.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin ;-)

First Post

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the internet.

I'm a lurker by nature, so this blog will be an interesting challenge for me, but I'm really looking forward to learning about and experiencing the web in new ways.

 Cheers,
Camille