After completing another vanity search I was a bit disappointed I didn't find more of the work I've been doing in my first two graduate courses. If I had to knock my digital footprint somewhere it would be on the academic side. I hope that over the next year I can build up this area of my footprint so that it represents my graduate efforts. But, overall I'm quite satisfied with my presence on the web.
I used some new modifiers in my search to look for things that weren't part of my digital footprint and got a few surprises. One thing new I found was my old MySpace. I'm working to recover my username and password since it is so old. There were pictures on there that are over 15 years old!
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Our adventure exploring Protopages and Netvibes has been my least favorite of activities in this course. One could argue that I am the least familiar with the aggregated website tools we used, however, I feel like I will never use these two again. Nonetheless, I battled through.
I added all of the required components for my protopage, but I was extremely disappointed to learn my YouTube Channel, playlist and our class Wiki will not embed in a graphically pleasing manner without advanced knowledge of code. They appear as white boxes with only a link up top. This reminded of a time when I was trying to learn about Blendspace, a tool that seemed to have put a number of resources together in a single space for students to access. I looked it up and found that the name has changed a bit. It is now called TesTeach. Their site says, "These days, the ability to pull together your own learning content, free online resources as well as commercial content and blend it into one comprehensive lesson has become an essential skill for modern teaching." Even though this isn't the tool used this week, I believe is does align with what I think the heart of aggregated sites are. Blendspace is also drag and drop, a definite improvement on the two shared this week. Personally, I think widgets have to be graphically appealing if you want people, especially students, to use and interact with them. My adventure in aggregated pages this week left me disappointed, wanted more and thinking there's a better (or easier) way to curate this material. Since I already use a website for my teaching, I would probably be more apt to use embed codes to share information with students. A video from week 1 of our Web 2.0 course said the following about YouTube... "More video was uploaded to YouTube in the last 2 months than is ABC, NBC and CBS had been airing new content 24/7/365 since 1948.” That is 70 years of major networks' content crammed in to 2 months of uploading. Our YouTube Adventure this week challenged us to explore all of this content, and I'm thankful we were given a purpose to start with. Searching for videos on Twitter tools, Wikis and other Web 2.0 tools proved there is a definite niche for technology in education. Creating playlists to organize these videos makes sense and was a helpful way keep track of good videos. I've been working on playlists for use in Social Studies. Check these out... Just this week a co-worker and I began an online summer class called Prove You're a Rockstar that teaches educators how to create and use digital portfolios. Here's the first video in a playlist of 7. Last, but not least, I had to have a little fun with YouTube this week. I don't know that I have ever sat down with the intention of exploring YouTube, but it was pretty enjoyable. Usually, I find a video I'm looking for, like students using it as a search engine, and move on. I found gold when I stumbled upon FIFATV's channel. They have playlists for each World Cup soccer team. I highly recommend taking the time to sift through Twitter, not just to learn, but to have some fun too. Twitter adventure continuedAs I began putting my YouTube playlists together for the week, I discovered that Twitter posted every time I added a video to a playlist. I knew I had the option to post to Twitter when I uploaded my own video, but I think this became overwhelming. I don't even remember connecting my Twitter accounts with my YouTube channel, so I had to Google how to change that setting. I see the value in the instant sharing, but I don't think my PLN needed to know every time I added a video to a new playlist.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter does not come natural to me, even though I have spent the past two years being intentional about tweeting professionally. It's almost as if when school ends, my tweeting pauses and resumes back in August. So, tweeting this week about education wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I was quite surprised by the number of educators taking this course that weren't already using Twitter. I made the assumption that individuals pursuing a higher level of learning would probably already be using Twitter as a PLN (personal learning network). Regardless, those who shared they were new or struggling with tweeting did appear to be up front and open for tips on how to get started. I faced one challenge today where I saw a fellow classmates tweet I didn't agree with. I hesitated to reply, but the statement seemed so wrong to me that I couldn't let it go. I respectfully disagreed and gave my explanation as to why. When you're limited to 140/240 characters and all that connects you to another human being is a hashtag or follow, it's difficult to create a sense of community overnight. I genuinely hope my response didn't offend my fellow classmate. There are quite a few apps on my phone/iPad that can quickly share things to Twitter. The most common apps I have that work with Twitter are news related, like WFAA and ABC news, or photography related such as Boomerang and GIF Maker. But the most common app I probably use with Twitter is YouTube. I can't say I frequent many websites that are external of these things on the web. If I do, it is because I originally found the article on Facebook or Twitter itself. This is not to say I believe it is less powerful than maybe perceived. ANYTHING can virtually be shared in a click or two, and before you know it can go viral in a heartbeat. This proves to me that everyone has an audience, and when you are part of Twitter, you are given access to the world's platform. I think we, as educators, should leverage this technology in an attempt to fine tune our craft for the betterment of our students.
If you Google search "Tai Preuninger" you'll find an educator who is passionate about the world of Instructional Technology, with of course the typical Whitepages and background search services URLs. Over the past two years I have been very intentional about creating an online presence and digital footprint that represents an education professional who is looking to transform education. More specifically, you'll find my positive social media presence on Twitter and LinkedIn, my personal website used to share about the work I do, and links to the instructional websites I host for teachers in my district. I was surprised to see 129 video results, but when I think about how many I've put on Twitter and YouTube it makes perfect sense. The Image search made me smile a little bit because I was reminded of all kinds of fond memories - from my wedding day to a trip to Australia. I try to stay hyperaware of what is available online, for personal and professional reasons. It is extremely important for me to model what I preach to others when it comes to utilizing technology appropriately. |