Write a resume promo blurb

Knowledgeable of web 2.0/social media programs and how to synthesize them into meaningful learning experiences that guides learners into meeting the goals. Proficient using web 2.0/social media to create an interactive learning environment that allow adult learners the flexibility to take control over their learning experience. Effectively and efficiently applied web 2.0/social media to different learning theories to create instruction based upon the needs of a variety of learners. Able to demonstrate the use and learning benefits of web 2.0/social media to learners with varies degrees of internet/ technology experience.  

Fun Group Project

I selected both of these video because they were produced by college students and they were inexpensive to create. They are funny and timely. Our class could easily use them as examples and with a little created writing produce an equally funny video. These videos are funny yet convey serious social and political messages about current issues, gun control and the increasing gap between the rich and poor. Using humor as a means of instruction might be effective. Learners are entertained while they learn.

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

Geotag photos

Rarely does any one person capture the full picture. Geotag and Photosynth offer methods to fill in the blanks. As an educational tools, learners will have the opportunity to example historical scenes, works of art, and scientific models, etch from all angles. Also, One of the problems with taking photos is that learners can get so wrapped up in trying to capture the moment that that they miss the significance of the event. As Photosynth software become popular, learners can take fewer photos and concentrate on the events, knowing others in the crowd are clicking away. EXIF data is probably useful for Photoshop experts, and collecting GPS data is also probably a useful and a desired feature. However, users should be able to easily turn off EXIF data that they deem violates their rights to privacy.     

Tie the Worlds Together

 

I saw Facebook posts about groups meeting at St Andrew's Catholic Church to make bag lunches for the homeless. This was nearby in Apex so I thought that this would be a great way to complete this assignment, do a good deed and have a reason to get up on Saturday morning.  After replying to a few posts and instant massaging to get more details, I decided to give it a try. I told my wife about going to church and she thought I was dying since I have not mentioned church since I was married in one 23 years ago. Although still  agnostic, I found this to be a great experience and plan to regularly participate in this program.

 

 

 

Individual Project

Most local law enforcement officers and educators did not need the recent N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission to point out that there is an increase in gang activity in our schools. I have worked in federal; local law enforcement as well as a teacher in a title one school. I have interviewed hundreds of at risk students, gang members and other criminal offenders. I have come to the conclusion that the solution to crime cannot be found in court rooms, jails or prisons. Judges, police officers and prison officials has less impact on crime than parents, principals, guidance counselors and teachers. If society is to be made safer, it will be the hands of dedicated educators and engaged parents redirecting students toward a brighter future. My project would be to create a blog where parents, educators and law enforcement official could brainstorm and share information and ideas to reduce gang membership. Members would join https://bubbl.us/ where they would brainstorm new ideas. They would be encouraged to blog and  post their ideas on other social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Ultimately, members would be encouraged to form community groups in the real world to address the problems of gangs in their neighborhoods.  

What license would YOU use

My great thing would be a video tutorial of how to determine and locate sex offenders in your community.  I would provide it as a purchased download, with the restriction that it could not be copies, distributed, sold or leased.  I would have a statement in which the purchaser had to hit “agreed’ to obtain the download.  The statement would include an agreed penalty (dollars) that the purchaser would be liable for if the restrictions were violated.  I would license the tutorial as a business venture and would expect a large market of parents.  If a particular geographical area was in the midst of high pedophile activity, I would unrestrict the license and allow community distribution.

There is an abundance of “cool” clips and information on the media site Youtube that have no restrictions. There are some clips on YouTube that have restrictions as the site allows a content holder to restrict viewers by various means (by state, country, domain etc.).   Alternatively, there are many clips on YouTube that are set for renting and are accompanied by user restrictions.  These providers are seeking economic gain and rightfully so.   Of the clips in which the providers set as unrestricted, one of my favorites is “dog eating peanut butter.”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ri5cszSKEg   The provider likely shared this document for pure entertainment purposes or in hopes of making the “most watched” list or even more so, making one of the network morning shows as did my favorite above.

 

 

Attempt to Embed your content in other locations

This was not difficult to complete.   It is easy to embed Html code into a Google blog. The HTML code was readily available in Soundcloud and Flickr. YouTube is a part of Google so embedding it in a Google blog was only a click.

 

Join SLED and attend one event

Initially, I assumed that Second Life was just a game with little educational value but I am beginning to understand how second Life works as I found Rutgers Island, Rutgers University where there is a virtual walking trail that provides instruction. Also there are many YouTube videos that provide instruction on how to use Second Life. I joined the mailing list at http://tinyurl.com/qfvv4 and did an educational tour of Williamsburg with the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. I can see how learners in second life can emerge themselves into the subject matter and learn by role playing. I also learned about Sloodle, a free and open source project which integrates the multi-user virtual environments of second life and created an account. Like Second Life, it is going to take some time to learn how to navigate the landscape and make use of all of its features to create instruction. With this generation of gamers, who spend half their lives playing xbox or play station, it well worth the effort for any educator to take the time to learn to how to create instruction in Second life.

 

Create and use a couchsurfing account

Here is my couchsurfing profile.

Like Facebook, Couchsurfers create  profiles to attract users of similar interests. Unlike facebook,  Couchsurfers are rated by other Couchsurfers . This was designed as a safety feature to weep out undesirable surfers.  Couchsurfers  can have their ids and addresses verified bythe website, another safety measure. This is intended to increase the likelihood of Couchsurfers  finding hosts. With over five million registers surfers in several different countries, Couchsurfing has grew since Casey Fenton, in1999, came up with the idea after travelling from Boston to Iceland and finding shelter with University of Iceland students whom he had previously emailed.

 

Still, In a more perfect world, Craigslist users should not have to be worried about being robbed by criminals who placed bogus online ads to lure them into traps, but there have been reported robberies and even homicides of Craigslist users. My gut feeling of inviting stranglers over to spend the night might be inviting trouble. Still, I am reluctant to be too critical of couchsurfing. Couchsurfing does provide a worthy public service by finding hosts for people who become homeless as a result of natural disasters, and I have friends who met their spouses online. These marriages seem to fare no better or worse than marriages of people who met in a traditional way.
Perhaps Couchsurfing will eventually have as much impact on the world as Facebook and Twitter had on the Arabs Spring. In this period of globalization, perhaps the kindness of strangers is what the world needs to further tear down the walls that divide us.  

INTRODUCTION VIDEO

 

 

 

One of the most important lessons that I learned in this class is that social media, web 2.0 and the web technology that follows has the potential of improving education opportunities in every school. Social media make it possible to put a quality, well qualified teacher in every classroom and home and thus improve opportunities in the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas.

 

Blogging Course Feedback/Self Reflection

This course really started off uncomfortable. I never felt comfortable making a video of myself. I always preferred to be the guy behind the camera. Initially, I did not understand the first assignment. Why was I being asked “what causes the seasons/temperature differences on earth thru the year?” What has this to do with social media? Late, I would learn the relevancy of the question as I read the Private Universe Theory. As the course progressed, I learned terms and concepts such as social bookmarking, and crowdsourcing. I discovered web 2.0 sites, like Wikiquotes and Wikivoyage, that I also never knew existed and gained an understanding of how these sites could be used to promote e-learning. I never blogged before this class and now I am thinking of creating new blogs. I have to admit that I never got a handle on Second Life. I read an email and logged on at the specified time but was unable to connect. I did not know whether to run or fly. This class required more work than I expected. Before the start of this class, I read reviews from former students and this class was supposed to be a breeze. While this class is not difficult, it is time consuming and far from being a breeze.

Over the past two years, I have been on light duty status, worker compensation. my goal is to obtain a certificate in distant education and use it to obtain employment in a community college in order to avoid sitting home on disability popping pain killers. While I can no longer shoot a weapon from the prone position or risk having to defense myself or other against an offender, I can still work. This class exposed me to a lot of unfamiliar information. After this class is over, I will review sites like Wilkiversity to learn more. More importantly, this class opened my eyes to some of the tools available to create instruction for today’s students and thus has helped me toward my achieving goal.
 

I read the blogs of the students in this class. Most are far more familiar with social media. Perhaps, it is generational. My children grow up playing the Simms and probably would not have a problem with Second Life. Perhaps, it is the result of teaching in a title one school in Baltimore where most students lacked computers or access to the internet that I saw no need to learn social media sites to create instruction. Still, one of the most important lessons that I learned in this class is that social media, web 2.0 and the web technology that follows has the potential of improving education opportunities in even the most disadvantaged school districts by making it possible to put a quality, well qualified teacher in every classroom and home. More research should be conducted in the use of social media in underachieving school districts, solving the digital divide might make it as close as possible that no child is left behind.

 

Review Wikimedia

Wikiquote is great. There are quotes from John Locke to John Foster Dulles. Today’s undergraduate English composition students must love this site, it great for teachers too. Using quotes could be the attention getter in Robert Gagnes’ nine events of instruction. Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote No people on earth can be held, as a people, to be an enemy, for all humanity shares the common hunger for peace and fellowship and justice. ... No nation's security and well-being can be lastingly achieved in isolation but only in effective cooperation with fellow-nations. I think this is a great quote and sums up the dilemma in countries like North Korea and Iran. I would ask my students if they agree with Eisenhower and if so to ponder whether it is justifiable to punish the citizens of such nations with sanctions or war when the real enemy is their governments. Quotes can also be the ninth step, enhance retention and transfer in Gagnes’ nine events of instruction. At the end of instruction, a powerful relevant quote could be used to help students encode the material into long term memory as well as retrieve it at a later date. 

Wikivoyage offers a starting point where students can learn about regions around the world.  Travel topic range from car camping to visiting famous cemeteries. There are also star articles about different locations that have been competitively selected as the best the website offers. As with most other wiki sites, this is my first visit but I will not be my last. I learned that the Antarctica is driest continent on Earth, despite all the ice. The winter temperature at the South Pole can plummet to -80°C (-112°F).  There is a great deal to be learned from this site, and there is a need for wikivoyage and similar websites A recent poll revealed that nearly one-third of young Americans couldn’t locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi. Additionally, a poll of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 revealed that 6 in 10 couldn’t find Iraq.  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12591413/ns/us_news-education/t/young-americans-shaky-geographic-smarts/

 

Create Photo, Video, & Audio Sharing Accounts

Here is my Youtube profile , Flickr profile and SoundCloud profile

There is no doubt that YouTube and flicker can be great instructional and motivational tools as they offer learners the opportunity to learn while doing. YouTube and Flickr would also enhance the ability of instructors to implement contextual based instruction by creating videos and graphics that can explain the subject matter in the context of learner’s culture and social environment. Further, as learners create video and observe themselves, there is a chance that their metacognitive and communication skills could be improved as learners would be afforded the opportunity to take an objective and critical look at their performances. While  teaching , I never used YouTube or Flickr and, today, I probably would  never allow students to post video or graphics of themselves or their classmates.  There are also identity thieves and others criminals  who are working just as hard as instructors to update their online crafts.  

Although I think the emphasis today is on visual learning with the creation of videos and PowerPoint presentations, there are just as many audio learners who would benefit from programs like soundcloud . I have observed students who struggled in the traditional classrooms where there were no real attempt to create interesting and engaging audio learning stimulus. Yet, many of these same students could be overheard discussing the lyrics of popular songs, analyzing and articulating the authors’ open and hidden social, economic and political massages. If I knew that soundcloud or any audio sharing websites existed,  I would have ,certainly, asked my high school world history and US history students to use soundcloud  to research sounds from the Vietnam war or other historical  period to create sound collages and use theses collages to analyze the mood of the nation. I do not think history can completely be understood without addressing the affective domain. The roaring 20ty cannot be fully understood without listening to the upbeat jazz music and sounds of that period, Nor, can the great depression, that followed ,be fully understood without listening to the downbeat music and sounds of that era.

 

 

Social Bookmarking

Here is my delicious profile.

 

Until now, I never knew social bookmarking was available. I can see why it would be useful to have a place to store links that can be accessed from any computer with internet service. Learners at work or always from regular used computers could easily located websites previously booked marked. Usually I just email myself links to websites of interest. Although I might be behind the time and there might be a better way to accomplish this task, I still think this is a valuable tool.    

Understanding Wikipedia and Wikimedia

Here is my profile

 

 

I would encourage any learner to use Wikipedia as a starting point and I think that it is alright if the information has some flaws. Investigating, discovering and correcting flaws can be a great learning method and can be motivating as learners gain a sense of self worth correcting others. I never used Wikipedia or any wiki before this class. However, as this class continues and afterward, I will revisit the help menus to learn more about editing, linking and adding content. If I ever find myself teaching high school to adult students again, I definite will use this as an instructional tool for I believe adults learn better when they are allowed to construct their own knowledge in a flexible collaborative environment.

  

wiktionary

Profile:     http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/User:Stafford3

1. Class definition:

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

:

A format for encoding a picture pixel by pixel, designed for transferring images on the Internet, not for professional-quality print graphics.

Updated definition:

PNG is a raster graphic file format. A raster graphic file format is a dot matrix data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color (bitmap) that supports lossless data compression (class of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data) PNG was created as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) -- a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987

2. Class definition:

Web Mashup : This is when websites are “opened up” to allow access the information in them. This then enables information from several different sites to be combined for creative effect. Updated definition: A mashup, in web development, is a web page, or web application, that uses and combines data, presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new services. The term implies easy, fast integration, frequently using open application programming interfaces (API) and data sources to produce enriched results that were not necessarily the original reason for producing the raw source data. The main characteristics of a mashup are combination, visualization, and aggregation. It is important to make existing data more useful, for personal and professional use. To be able to permanently access the data of other services, mashups are generally client applications or hosted online. In the past years, more and more Web applications have published APIs that enable software developers to easily integrate data and functions instead of building them by themselves. Mashups can be considered to have an active role in the evolution of social software and Web 2.0. Mashup composition tools are usually simple enough to be used by end-users. They generally do not require programming skills and rather support visual wiring of GUI widgets, services and components together. Therefore, these tools contribute to a new vision of the Web, where users are able to contribute.

3. Class definition:

e-book : A book published in digital form.

Updated definition:



An electronic book (variously, e-book, ebook, digital book, or even e-edition) is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines the e-book as "an electronic version of a printed book, but e-books can and do exist without any printed equivalent. E-books are usually read on dedicated e-book readers or tablets using e-reader applications. Personal computers, many mobile phones, and nearly all smart phones can also be used to read e-books.

Web 2.0 and Social Media --Wordle

WHO I AM

To Fedsys:

Dear Sir:

I am attaching a resume for your preview for the instructional technology position in Afghanistan. As you can see by my resume, I am a graduate of the federal law enforcement training center, Georgia with advanced firearms training at the federal facility in New Mexico.  I have additional firearms and self-defense training with the state of New Jersey and  the state of North Carolina. Also notice that I have several years of teaching experience in Baltimore City Public School System as well as Baltimore Community College. I earned a Master’s of Science degree in instructional and curriculum development.

Currently, I am working on completing a graduate certificate in web-based distance learning. I have completed several graduate courses in which the focus was on working with web 2.0 tools and learning how to use them as instructional tools. Web 2.0 tools can be used to construct a virtual community where your employees can interact, share their ideas and experiences. This interaction will allow your law enforcemt advisors to learn from each others experiences in their efforts to develop more efficient and effective methods of training Afghan police and police forces around the world.

 

WHO I'll Be 

Web 2.0 Logo

I used flaming text to create this logo because it is completely free for personal and academic use. Logos can be animated and the code is provided so the users can embedded logos into their personal websites. There are plenty of options are provided and the site is easy to use.

Explain web 2.0 to your grandmother

Web 2.0 is an internet dynamic platform that that allows users to be consumers of information and well as creators of information. Web 2.0 is the futile landscape where virtual communities can form and strive. We travel around this landscape on keyboards to construct knowledge by interacting with others near and far. Collaborating using web 2.0 tools, such as blog or video sharing tools, is revolutionizing the field of education and training. Perhaps, Web 2.0 is the engine of social changes as knowledge can no longer confined or blocked by national borders.

Grandmother

Web 2.0 is like when you and your sister Betty get together and gossip. You tell a story, Betty adds to the story and your nosy neighbor comes over and disagrees with you both.  Finally, you all put your stories together and come up with an official truth. Web 2.0 is like that but it includes millions of people like your sister and nosy neighbor talking on the computer.  They share stories, tell lies, argue over who is right and somewhere in all this is the truth.  Grandmother think of web 2.0 as a T.V that you can talk too and you are talking junk about the Red Socks but remember other people with T.Vs can  hear you screaming and they also have the ability to call the Yankees out.

Web 2.0 is just a people all across the world gossiping.

Impromp2.0

Web 2.0 is an interactive format that allows learners to contribute as well as consume information. Web 2.0 is dynamic and offers a wider prospective than traditional methods in that users can hyperlink to many different points of view.  In essence, web 2.0 is a community of minds around the world .  

Crowdsourcing & Human Computation

If Google were a nonprofit organization motivated to serve the common good, I would not have a problem with them using games that takes advantage of individual vanity, pride or some other unfulfilled  psychological need to exploit labor out of the unsuspecting. There is no doubt that Google provides a public service to people across the globe, but one must keep in mind that Google primary goal is not to provide millions with email accounts, messaging services, etch but to make a profit. It is great that Google found a way to make what would ordinarily be boring and weary tasks fun and exciting but they are still tasks. There are those who labor at these tasks for over 20 unpaid hours per week. If one discovered a way to make flipping burgers fun and exciting and opened up a restaurant, would one be justified in pocketing all the profit simply because the workers enjoy flipping burgers? The federal and state labor departments would not think so. We are in a period of time where laws have not caught up with technology. Crowdsourcing might one day find its way into the lexicon of America Jurisprudence   

Although Google is stealing labor, technology is still being advanced. Exploiting these workers will make searching the web for information more efficient and effective. The field of artificial intelligence might even be advanced. Still, these achievements could still occur without the exploitation. Crowdsourcing can be good and allow mans’ to revel in altruistic pursues. Working for a nonprofit organization playing a similar game as ESP is not exploit if the profit of ones' labor was used to fund cancer, aids, etch research.  

Private Universe

Socrates knew centuries ago that teaching involved guiding learners though their misconceptions. By methodically exploring and dispelling misconceptions, Socrates was able to help learners’ modify their defective mental modes. With social media, a modern day Socrates’ influence would extend far beyond Athens.

It is far easier to hold onto concepts that one has already worked to encode into long term memory than to go to the process of modifying or encoding new mental modes into long term memory. If I were not a ship captain or planning a long trip, in the middle ages, it would have been far easier to just believe that the earth was flat than to try to grasp the concept of living on a sphere. Social media makes it difficult to hold onto misconception because ones beliefs are constantly being challenged. The same concepts are stated over and over by different persons, some in more complexity or simplicity than others. The concepts can be examined in text, video or audio and more often than not linked for further explanation.  We all live in our own private universe, but it is a universe that being invaded by social media.

   

Wesch - Thinking Differently, Doing Differently

Web 2.0 and Social Media-- Blog

Video 1

MEANING:

Text used to be linear, static and passive. Today digital text is multi-dimensional, dynamic, and active. Using digital text, learners can independently construct their own understanding of the world by linking to a variety of competing opinions.  Learners are more freely able to randomly access instruction. Learners can go back and forth selecting parts of the instruction that is relevant or needed and skip parts of the instruction already mastered.  Instruction is individualized. The individual has the freedom to choose what he needed to know to achieve his goal. Learners are no longer prisoners of instructors’ biases who consciously or subconsciously select text books that are in alliance with their own political and socioeconomic viewpoint.  Digital text, especially hypertext, affords learners a method to seek clarification of complex ideas by linking to several different sites where the ideas might be expressed better. In essence, learners are now in control of their own learning experience.

OPINION:

Digital text can link video, audio and graphic files that expand the depth of understanding but more important, digital text has the potential to link minds to minds. Ideas proffered have the potential of standing on their own merits without being prejudged due to the race, sex, sexual orientation, etch of the originators. Digital text might do in a few years what thousands of years of social evolution has failed to do-link humanity to humanity. A six grade kid in the southward of Newark might discover that he is not unlike a six grader in Beijing, China or Russia, for education can no longer be confined within the walls of a loud underfunded classroom nor does it ends with the ringing of a school bell. While there will always be a need for classrooms, gone are days when what comes out of instructors’ mouths is the gossip according to the local board of education. Instructors can no longer assume what they say will not be instantly goggled and challenged by learners. In the past, instructors were education commanders who took control and guided learners to the official version of the truth. In the future, instructors will serve as facilitators who set the stage and unleash learners to discover their own truths.

Video 2

Meaning

While we have the technology, it is not being used to its fullest potential. There is no need for students to be sitting in that classroom at a specific date and time scheduled months in advance by school administrators. With the current technology, students could optimize instruction by individually selecting a date and time in which they are in the right frame of mind to receive instruction. Instruction no longer has to be spoon fed to students in a series of sessions that does not allow them to pause and rewind at their whim. Instead of sitting in uncomfortable chairs in crowded classrooms, Students now have the option to lie in bed or chose any spot of their likings and receive instruction on their laptops or even cellular phone.

Opinion:

Virtual classrooms are also cheaper to maintain than traditional ones. Research has shown Virtual classrooms to be just as effective. Web 2.0 offers a mean that allow  talented instructors to reach a wider group of learners than possible in traditional classrooms. The interactivity and the flexibility of web 2.0 and future technology will eventually move the bulk of instruction out of classrooms and into homes and offices where learners will be readily access the information at optimal times. Children in low socioeconomic school districts will no longer be held captive in low performing neighborhood schools. Web 2.0 and future technology will make it possible for quality teachers to be in every classroom as well as in every living room. Technology is the hope for the future.   

link to COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY THEORY

Position

Charter school teacher needed with web 2.0/Social Media experience

 

He or she must be able to teach in the classroom as well as online using the latest in instruction technology and pedagogical methodology.   He/ she must be able to use web 2.0/Social Media to create contextual and interactive instruction that is complies with local, state and federal guidelines.  He/she must be able to keep pace with new and developing changes in web 2.0/Social Media and appropriately incorporate these changes in the classroom and/or online.

 

Objectives

I was a Baltimore school teacher for several years. I taught in one of the poorest areas of the city. With a recent back injury, I am thinking about teaching again. I will always seek to teacher in a title one school so my objectives are as follow:

·         Learn how to use Web 2.0 and social media to develop instruction that is interactive and engaging.

·          Learn the history of Web 2.0 and social media and how they are evolving as instructional tools. 

·          Learn how Web 2.0 and social media might be used to take advantage of students’ different learning modalities.

·         Learn how Web 2.0 and social media as a motivational tool

 

Standing at the gravesite of one of this nation greatest educators, Booker T. Washington-- the founder of Tuskegee University.  

 

 

Web 2.0 and Social Media-- Blog

I am excited about this class because I enjoy producing videos and publishing them on the web, and I enjoyed watching the introduction videos posted by fellow students. I have a busy life and the slow pace of the class is fine. The world has changed so much in the last couple of decades; more people meet their mates in social media forums than in traditional ones. Social media contributed to the Arab spring, and continues to be used as a political tool around the world to give voices to those seeking their inalienable right to be free.

There is no denying the potential use of Web 2.0 and Social Media in developing effective instruction. In The Republic, Plato concludes that what people call truths are merely shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them. They negotiate meanings to these shadows and call their negotiated meanings truths.  If knowledge is negotiated social constructs, the effective use Web 2.0 and Social Media has the potential issue in a new era in human understanding by expanding learning communities, providing more diverse input. So as this class progress, I look forward to learning the technology and how to effective use Web 2.0 and Social Media to facilitate instruction.