Catching Up With Old Friends

So after sharing with everyone on my social network that I was going down to Miami where I grew up, I  received a couple of invites to hang out with the friends I grew up with. At seeing these invitations and the thought of catching up with old friends I find myself so grateful for having these tools at my disposal. I am excited to be able to spend time with old friends and I don't think that if it wasn't for the use of Web 2.0 tools that I would be able to get in touch with them. After taking this class, I find myself feeling awe at thought of connecting with others so easily, does anybody else feel that way?

Week 6

Reflect on what you have learned in the class and how you will use it professionally as both a lifelong learner and an instructional systems professional (or whatever field you’re in)

I can honestly say that this is the first class in which what I learned was immediately put the practice. It definitely opened my eyes to just how much technology has changed and how Web 2.0 tools has provided for such an advancement in knowledge sharing and networking. I was also enlightened as to how these tools have revolutionized the way people interact and in a way, the world.

I previously mentioned that I was aspiring to be a Corporate Consultant one day and with what I learned I believe I will be able to assist businesses in developing or achieving goals that lead to success and improved performance. My belief is that the backbone of a corporation's success relies on communication and the training of it's employees. 

After learning about several tools throughout this semester I have come to the conclusion that a collaborative wiki is beneficial and essential for a corporation. I think it has become almost a necessity for large corporations. A collaborative wiki provides a reliable and effective tool for interaction and editing of corporate agendas as well as allows for uniform training of a corporation. Wikis also provide corporations with a great tool for knowledge management and sharing.

We learn new things every day and after being introduced to several Web 2.0 tools I believe that knowledge is the gift that keeps on giving, I have been learning something knew almost everyday. This class took me out of my shell of just being a lurker and got me active both online and off (have lost 20lbs so far!). I am truly grateful! I hope everyone had a similar experience.

Social Media and Moving

So as I was packing and cleaning up things at my apartment I realized that I would require some help so instead of calling my friends one by one, I posted on my facebook if I could get some help with exchange for free pizza and I had a couple of movers in an instant. Social media has made reaching out to others so much easier and has made networking so much better. I can't imagine how hard it was for previous generations to contact each other. I am grateful to be living in these great times.

Time Flies

After turning in my Produsage 2 assignment, I have been packing for my trip down to Miami and at the same time packing up and getting ready to move to a new apartment. It is surreal to think that 6 weeks have gone by so fast. I guess that's what is meant when people say time flies. I am still trying to think about what I will with this blog, if I should leave it up or shut it down? Any ideas?

Couch Surfing?

So I was looking at inexpensive travel options online and I came across this website that was advertised as a traveling community called CouchSurfing. I read a bit more into it and found that it has become quite popular and has been written about by the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, National Geographic and other reliable sources. I find it so interesting because it offers its members a social networking service with the perk of hospitality exchange. Members could organize camping trips and traveling adventures and meet with one another in their respective areas at no cost to each other, if they have a couch, you have a bed. This social networking site has got me really excited seeing as though I love meeting new people and love traveling. What do you think?

Online Communities got me Active

It has been about 2 months since I have joined my online weight-loss communities and  I am proud to say that I have lost 19 lbs and am enjoying it. The change has been so nice that I got some of my family members to join as well. I never really thought that an online community with their "e-tools" would help me lose weight, but I drank the kool-aid (I should say crystal light) and am reaping the benefits. I also just registered for the Tallahassee Marathon and am looking forward to running it on February 3,2013. I have found an online community that helps with the training for it. Life is Good!

Week 5 EJ Prompt

How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web? Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings? Why or why not?


I judge the value of expertise on the Web based on if the information I am receiving is coming from an established and reliable source. It is really hard for me to take anything that is posted online as truth (not that I am paranoid) but I do believe that knowledge gained from the internet should be taken with a grain of salt if it is coming from a self-proclaimed "expert". Something that stands out to me when judging the value of expertise when I find things online are previous articles posted on the subject and publications on reliable sources such as MSN, CNN, or other news sources. A short bio about the person also helps me in accepting the information as well as recommendations and reviews by others. When it comes to face to face settings, it really doesn't differ all that much, I still rely on reviews from others about the person. However, there is a human element that makes me feel at ease when a person is confident in what he/she is explaining to me and has the evidence to back it up such as previous work on the matter and if they are licensed in what they are teaching. 

Pinteresting....

So I decided to check out Pinterest and needless to say it was visual candy! I had never seen so many pictures of delicious cupcakes as well as hundreds of tasty entrees (probably things I shouldn't be eating while on weightwatchers). As I continued exploring I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the things being "pinned" on the site were done so by a predominantly female audience.  My girlfriend walked in on me exploring Pinterest and, well she laughed. I knew she had a pinterest but never really paid any attention to what it actually was, she said pinterest was good for "wedding planning, recipes and home decorations". When she said that, all of the images that were laid before me actually made a lot more sense. I was interested in the demographics of pinterest and found that 80% of the users were female. Why do you think there is such a discrepancy?

Liking LinkedIn

So this week I checked out LinkedIn at Dr. Dennen's suggestion and I found that it was really quite interesting and beneficial to growing you professional network. After browsing around the website I even decided to create an account, however I have not been able to fully edit my profile. Upon logging in I found that there were so many different tools and I even had some "invitations" to connect with friends as the week progressed. I believe that LinkedIn is really great in the way it provided a social media tool almost exclusively for the professional sector as an alternative to using Facebook for business. When I noticed people would use facebook as a way to expand their professional network I couldn't help but ask "do you really want your professional network colliding with your personal life?" LinkedIn provided an answer to my question. Now, I believe it is about time for me to start expanding my LinkedIn network seeing as though I am aspiring to be a young professional. After reading this list of reasons for getting a LinkedIn , I am excited to edit my profile.

Authorship, Copyright, and Open Access

How do issues such as authorship, copyright and open access impact your desire, ability and willingness to engage in produsage, both personally and professionally? 

Growing up, the internet had always been there for me to use in my life and reflecting on this question I don't believe any of these issues ever crossed my mind. Reflecting on this question however I do understand where these issues may cause concern. Professionally, these issues have never been a concern for me seeing as though I've mostly been a consumer of the internet, although it would make me hesitant to post an idea I have for a business online, only to find out that someone else took my idea and made it their own. In other words, I wouldn't post my ideas online until I've made them my own and could make sure I have the rights to them. Personally, these issues really don't bother me because I mostly post things about my life, my adventures, my friends and family. I am the sole author of my life and it is up to my discretion what I choose to share with others. Frankly, the open access part of the internet is part of what makes it great however, it does kind of make me paranoid. But, when I do get paranoid I remember that I am still in control of what I share with others and with whom I share it. It all goes back to discretion (I feel as if this should be a topic spoken about more within the world of Web 2.0).  

Hyperlink Problems....Oy Vey (Read the Fineprint!)

Last week upon turning in my Formal Learning Produsage assignment I felt quite unnerved as it was my first assignment doing a lesson plan and using tools that I had just learned recently learned about. Dr. Dennen did provide me with reassurance in regards to the assignment as well as several of my classmates. However, upon reading over the thoughtful input by one of my classmates today on the class discussion board I was made aware that the link I had posted on Diigo for my prototype Prezi presentation was not working. I immediately went into panic mode and checked to see it for myself and with no fail...the link failed. I was embarrassed and concerned so I decided to go on my prezi account and saving it again and clicked on "start online presentation" and shared the link again. To no avail the link failed again after checking it. I then went on to look for my presentation as an anonymous user, found it, and clicked on the share button which then gave me a link that actually worked. I have never been so frustrated with a computer as I was today. I further researched the problem that I had and found that the link which is provided by prezi when you click on start online presentation has fineprint on the bottom that basically states that url "expires" after 10 minutes. No wonder the prototype link I posted didn't work. I guess this was a lesson learned the hard way...always read the fine print.

So...Spreading Out My Blogs Didn't Happen

My laptop gave me difficulties again this week. As a result I had to wait for the weekend to come to the library on campus and blog. I am thinking of taking my laptop to Best Buy's famous "geek squad" to get it looked at. On another note, I still can't believe this semester has gone by so quickly. I have also constantly been trying to check out my grade for the formal learning produsage assignment. I hope I did well. This may sound silly but I feel as if weekday blogging requires some sort of discipline much like a work out schedule.

Weekday Blogging is Tough

So, Dr. Dennen gave our class a challenge to be more active and spread out our blogs, tweets, etc. throughout the week. I realized though, that this is kind of tough seeing as though there are so many other things I feel I should be doing throughout the week instead of sitting down on a computer. I actually admire people who could sit down and write down their thoughts on a computer, unlike me who sometimes just sits down watching the little typing line blink on the page until I get inspired to write about something. This upcoming week I'll try to spread out my blogs throughout the week as opposed to just doing it on the weekend. I can't believe we're halfway done with this class.

Collaborative Wiki in Corporate Consulting

What uses might a collaborative wiki or blog have in your chosen (current or desired) work environment? How would they support learning and/or performance? What would be the design and implementation challenges if management tried to do this? What would be the design and implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort?

My ultimate goal is to be a Corporate Consultant. Corporate consulting is a professional service designed to assist businesses in developing or achieving goals that lead to success and improved performance. My belief is that the backbone of a corporation's success relies on communication and the training of it's employees. In regards to the benefits of a collaborative wiki and a corporation, I think it has become almost a necessity for large corporations. Especially, corporations that require a collaborative element at its cores, such as corporations with several different sites throughout a country or international corporations with various different sites throughout the world. A collaborative wiki provides a reliable and effective tool for interaction and editing of corporate agendas as well as allows for uniform training of a corporation. Wikis also provide corporations with a great tool for knowledge management. As with all new technology, learning how to use the wiki platform for a corporation would be a critical challenge and that is where human resources with corporate training come in to improve the performance of the corporation. The implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort within a large corporation would be first and foremost the challenge of getting others to use the wiki and seamlessly working the wiki into the corporation's goals.  

Believe Because it works!

So after a week of following and contributing to my weightloss/fitness communities I weighed myself and found that I lost 3 pounds this past week and feel great about it. It's really neat realizing that there are other people out there just like me trying to achieve the same goals that I am. WeightWatchers has helped me track what I eat and introduced me to several tasty, healthier options and allowed me to create something similiar to that of a Facebook profile on the site. Also, with myfitnesspal I've been able to learn and apply several fitness tips that fit right into my everyday life. I never thought that an online class titled Web 2.0 would help me become a more active person. Life is Good!

Tragedy and Web 2.0

(Warning: the video could be disturbing to some)
So this morning when I woke up I checked my phone which has a live feed of update statuses from my friends on FaceBook and I was reading several about "prayers and condolences" being sent out to the "victims" in Colorado. Needless to say, I was concerned and confused so I looked more into it and was reading the different conversations people were having on FaceBook about it and the different links people were posting to get more information on it, as well as Camera Phone footage of the incident (posted above) that was uploaded from the scene on YouTube (Citizen Journalism). It saddened me to read the details of this tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families as they confront the loss of family, friends, and neighbors, and I believe that we must stand together with them in the challenging hours and days to come. I also believe that Web 2.0 Communities are a great way of reaching out to those affected.

Web 2.0 Technologies makes the Internet come Alive

   This class has been one of the neatest experiences I've ever had Academically. I love the format and I love how it makes me feel engaged with the learning. Perhaps something I really like about the course so far is that not only is what I am learning beneficial for my professional life but it also benefits my personal life as well. I have been thinking and I have come to realize that a blog is a very neat way  to share your thoughts, experiences, and daily adventures with the world. Blogging provides a very real human element to the internet, just like other social networking websites do.
   It has been entertaining to read and follow my classmates blogs and tweets as well as interact with them. Although this is an online class, I feel as if I've had more interaction with my classmates in EME6414 than I've had in some of my other on campus classes. It's only been two weeks and my eyes have been opened to the incredible things that we are able to do today and they are practically free. This course has definitely made the Internet come alive for me and I am excited to continue to learn about different tools and to begin produsing on other platforms besides facebook or blogger.

"Produsage?", Dr. Bruns responds "Let me explain..."

   The concept of "produsage" is a lot clearer to me now after reading Dr. Axel Burns article on the concept of "produsage as a model of describing today's emerging user-led content creation environments." Something that was fascinating for me was the realization, as I read the article, that "user-led content creation" is all around us now. As I was looking at the news there were live twitter updates being posted on the bottom, as I saw SportsCenter there were twitter and facebook updates up as well. The reality that "citizen journalism" has impacted the "political processes in the United States.....and many other countries around the world" is jaw dropping. As I hear my roommates playing their online video games from their room, all of a sudden that noise was the noise of produsage (a bit too poetic? maybe).
   In all honesty, though I don't see a world anywhere in the near future that will disregard produsage. Those who do and those companies that do are and will be taken off the grid, not forcibly, but of their own doing for not reinventing themselves. I no longer believe that a "paradigm shift" to produsage is a matter of "if" or "should", but a matter of "when". It is not a scary shift, but one that definitely will change and is currently changing the way the world interacts, and it shouldn't be avoided unless you'd like to be similiar to a person with a beeper (pager) in this era of smartphones.

I've been Produsing?

   To be honest I have never heard of the term "produsage" and I thought it was typo, but as I've come to learn, it is a very real term as it pertains to Web 2.0 technologies. From what I understand, a produser is someone who both produces and consumes information from the Web. I have come to realize that I have been produsing somewhat being a Facebook user. Through my daily updates and photo uploads on Facebook I've been producing content while at the same time consuming my friends daily updates and viewing their photos, making me a "produser", producing and consuming every day. I believe that Facebook users are a good simple example of produsers. 

   This class however has been broadening my "produsing" tools by exposing me to new technologies which allow me to consume even more content as well as produce. I do believe that embracing the shift from just an online consumer to produser will benefit me as I move into my professional life, and will help me stay engaged and connected to the larger interconnected world. 

Prezi > PowerPoint

   So, yesterday I checked out Prezi and needless to say, I was amazed by it. On its website I saw its "marketing" video and loved how they presented themselves. Prezi is selling itself as a sleek, modern, user friendly alternative to the traditional PowerPoint presentation, and in my opinion they are doing a heck of a job. What I love about a Prezi presentation is that it presents a subject in such an engaging way, a way that in my opinion is very similar to how we think. My thoughts are usually all over the place, from different memories, interactions, and what I have learned and sometimes they even just come out of nowhere, but in the grand scheme of things it makes sense to me. It is in this, that I feel Prezi has the upper hand on PowerPoint. PowerPoint presentations are way too rigid in structure and are too linear, making a lecture feel a lot like a....lecture. Prezi Presentations are nonlinear and provide you with the opportunity to present a subject and all its different aspects and show its inter-connectivity as you zoom out.
  The Zoom feature is really neat in the way it allows you to focus on a certain aspect of your presentation or focus on the overall aspect of your presentation. Another neat feature of Prezi is that you're able to covert or "prezify" your old PowerPoint presentations. I think Prezi is representative of our generation and our steering away from hierarchical organization to a networked organization. Maybe that's a stretch, but who knows, I'll probably make a Prezi about it so you could understand my thinking.

My thoughts on Digital Immigrants

   "Reconsidering digital Immigrants?" To be honest, when I first read the title I was really confused as to what the article was about and where it was going, but nevertheless I dove into the Jenkins' article. I was only a couple of sentences into the article when the phrase "digital natives" appeared. I felt completely out of the loop in regards to these terms. After reading Mark Prensky's description of the concepts, it was clear for me to distinguish that there was a difference between my generation which he described as "digital natives" and my parents' generation who could be considered "digital immigrants". As I read Presnky's concept of a "digital immigrant accent" I laughed a little, but it was intriguing nonetheless. However intriguing it was, I do agree with Jenkins' statement that they "are some pretty out of date assumptions about immigrants" and the potential dangers of highlighting these stereotypes "in the midst of a national debate about immigration."

   I couldn't agree more with Jenkins' when he stated that "we should recognize what digital immigrants bring with them from the old world...is still valuable in the new", instead of emphasizing their shortcomings. I do believe that one of the dangers that is brought about through our use of Prensky's concept is the the false/dangerous notion that "young people are better off" without the guidance from previous generous generations. Maybe I have an old man's soul in a young man's body, but I do believe that our future lies in not repeating mistakes from the past, and if society adopts this...well, I guess we're already living it to an extent.

   Reading Jenkin's blog was food for thought in the sense that it got me thinking about how often my mom would call me when I first set up her desktop computer just to help her turn it off, go online, log in to her email, etc. It felt as if I had to explain everything to her dozens of times, when for me it was second nature. As time has gone by, she has gotten better (she still doesn't know how to use a scanner) but she has actually given me some advice that I think is very pertinent to our youth today and yet the youth doesn't listen. She told me "don't post pictures or comments that you wouldn't want your future boss or your loved ones to see", yet I could think of countless of pictures that some of my friends have posted that I know would get them questioned by their parents and employers.

   Discretion is a skill that is lost among "digital natives" and it is something "digital immigrants" could and should teach us. It might be just personal opinion, but I truly do believe people have forgotten what truly is important and worth sharing.  Tweeting to the world "I just had the coldest, most delicious pepsi" vs. tweeting "I just had a baby". Now this is a drastic example, but "digital natives" regurgitate their whole lives online, without any discretion and we are witnessing the negative consequences "cyber bullying, leaked nude cellphone camera shots, no privacy, and much more." I do believe that there is a lot to be learned from previous generations to enhance the achievements that are possible with these new tools.

      

Clay made my day!

   So after a strenuous week of work I had decided that I was going to do my readings and relax on Sunday. So, I grabbed my cup of coffee, laid back on my couch, and began to read the first four chapters of Clay Shirky's book "Here Comes Everybody". As soon as I began reading I couldn't put the book down. The book is written in such an engaging way, that it made me think of Dr. Dennen's analogy of the book as a "color commentary, to suck you in" and it did. "When we change the way we communicate, we change society" (Shirky 7). That sentence has been ringing in my ears the whole day, as I have reflected on how much bearing that statement holds in regards to our present day world and the effect Web 2.0 technologies have had on it in just the past couple of years.
   "Our electronic networks are enabling novel forms of collective action, enabling the creation of collaborative groups that are larger and more distributed than at any other time in history" (Shirky 48). This means that we are living in great historic times of change and innovation in the make up of our society and as to how our society communicates and accomplishes tasks. I don't know if I had drank too much coffee but as I continued to read I got the jitters at the thought of just how much information and power is found on the internet and the reality that it is virtually available to everyone and anyone.
   The realization that "once a user connects to the internet, he has access to a platform that is at one global and free" (Shirky 77) was thrilling and inspiring at the same time. Relatively unimportant events become important events with enough of a following on the internet, which is pretty incredible to say the least. Reading the first four chapters of this book definitely sparked more curiosity for the remainder of this course and in the class readings.

Never thought I would be writing a blog...

   Well, this marks a "first" for me. I never thought I would be writing a blog, let alone participating in blogs. Not because I had a personal vendetta against them, but simply because I was truly never really interested or cared to. I had heard of people "blogging" and that term would just simply make me laugh, but now...well I'm blogging, go figure.

    Today I created this blog and posted to our class page on twitter. To be honest, I never thought I'd be getting a particpation grade for tweeting and playing around on the internet, that is pretty neat. This made me wonder if other colleges weree using Twitter and I definitely felt as if I was out of the loop when I researched it. There is a ranking of the top 100 colleges that use twitter as an official way of reaching out to students, which in retrospect makes a lot of sense for colleges to use it seeing as though their constitutents our young and most likely all have twitter accounts.

   I am still learning how to post on my blog and I'll playing arond with this, but I'm already learning. What's next you ask? Opening up a "Diijo" account, I have no idead what it is, but I guess once I start playing around with it I'll "blog" about it here.

Until next post!

My experience with Web 2.0 technologies

     I'd like to say my first experience with Web 2.0 technologies came back when Myspace was relevant, when I was a freshman in high school. I remember thinking how cool it was and didn't think that something could top it. About three and a half years later I was part of the mass exodus from myspace to facebook, by the end of my senior year in highschool. I had realized that in order to stay socially relevant, you needed to have a facebook account. Facebook became a necessary tool during my undergraduate career as I used it to network with friends and as a means to create events for community service projects. It wasn't until two years ago in my Junior year of undergrad that a friend of mine created a twitter account for me. Twitter has progressively been making more and more sense to me, however I still prefer to use facebook.

    I wouldn't consider myself much of a leader in this realm, but wouldn't rule myself as a follower. I've always been interested in new ways of communicating with others andin the ways technology is making the world such a smaller place. Perhaps a "very curious" follower. Something I hope to get out this class, is to gain more of an understanding on how this concept of Web 2.0, influences people in the way they learn, socialize, and work. And how companies are using these technologies to reach out to consumers and in their training process.