Feb. 12, 2011 - Emerging Social Networking

            About a year and a half ago, I decided to create a Facebook account, because I needed to be informed on some events that would be taking place with work. I talked to my daughter about it, but her response was that, “Facebook is for old people.” Needless to say, she is now 17 years old and spends more time on her Facebook than she ever did on her MySpace page.
            Facebook, originally created for college students, has become so popular that it is one of the most popular social networking sites world-wide. In 2008, Hitwise, a leading intelligence service monitoring anonymously millions of United Stated Internet users announced the top 5 social Networking websites visited. They were MySpace, Facebook, MyYearbook, Bebo, and BlackPlanet. MySpace was most definitely King of social networking at 73.82% of the population using the site. Facebook was a far second place with 14.3% of the population visiting the site.
            However, Hitwise produced new reports for 2010. It is amazing how far Facebook popularity has sky-rocketed. It had not surpassed MySpace entirely, but age groups have emerged in both. Hitwise compiled data and discovered that two-thirds of all online adults today have visited a social networking site in the last 30 days, up from 53% in 2008 and 20% in 2007. Social networks have most thoroughly penetrated the young adult market, as nearly 9-in-10 online 18-to 34-year-olds visit such sites today. But even older Americans are tapping into social networks, with 41% of online adults age 50 and older making monthly visits to sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Graphs of this data can be found on their website, http://www.experian.com/assets/marketing-services/reports/simmons-2010-social-networking-report.pdf.
            Hitwise also took information that they acquired about adults that visited Facebook.com in the last 30 days of April of 2010. The rise of social networking tracks closely with that of Facebook. Therefore, as of April 26, 2010, 46% of the U.S. online adult population reported having visited Facebook in the past 30 days.

Feb. 11, 2011 - How are Wikis being used in higher education?

            A Wiki is a web page that anybody can edit. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work."^[1] "Wiki" (pronounced [ˈwiti] or [ˈviti]) is a Hawaiian word for "fast".^[2] Colleges, as well as professional development course, have adopted wikis for teaching students and teachers. Educators are changing their ways of teaching and using wikis for students to create collaborative projects, for brainstorming, to observe debates, creating digital stories, multimedia presentations, and electronic portfolios. For more personal use, teachers are creating their wikis to make meeting notes, develop agendas, post journal articles, and editing textbooks.

            For students that have grown-up using the social networking site MySpace, they seem to adapt to creating Wikis and Blogs much easier than my own experience, which is creating from scratch. There are several tools on the world-wide-web for someone to develop their wiki page. Many tools can be found on www.editme.com and www.swiki.com. Wikis can also contain sounds, movies, and pictures.

            Although wikis were created with the intent of anyone being able to post facts and important information, it also has its problems. The two biggest problems are that anyone can post false information and that pages can be deleted by anyone. However, the Citizendium, http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Main_Page, was created to prevent erasing and post false facts. Citizendium, a "citizens' compendium of everything", is an open wiki project dedicated to creating a free, comprehensive, and reliable repository of structured knowledge. Their community is built on the principles of trust and respect; contributors, or "citizens", work under their own real names, and all are expected to behave professionally and responsibly. Additionally, experts are invited to play a gentle role in overseeing the structuring of knowledge. ^[3]

References:

1.    Cunningham, Ward (2002-06-27). What is a Wiki, WikiWikiWeb, http://www.wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki. Retrieved 2011-02-11.

2.    "Hawaiian Words; Hawaiian to English". mauimapp.com. http://www.mauimapp.com/moolelo/hwnwdshw.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-19.

3.    Citizendium: The Citizens’ Compendium (2011-02-11), CZ:About, http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:About. Retrieved 2011-02-11.

Feb. 9, 2011 - CREATING A BLOG

       Have you ever created a blog? What are the best blog sites? Where do I begin? Well, I never created a blog until now. So, I went on a search to find a free blog and to learn how to make one. However, after spending four hours figuring out how to put one together, I came to a road block. I could not add some information unless I upgraded my membership. So, I was back searching for a site.
       I referred to my "Computers Education for Teachers" textbook. I read that http://www.blogger.com/ was free and a good suggestion for students. I then did a search on http://www.youtube.com/ for tutorials. These were extremely helpful. Here are just a few tutorials I watched.

Getting started:



Page Layout:



How to start Blogging:



       I was able to develop my own post and ideas after viewing these videos. I plan to increase my knowledge about blogging and use this site more often to communicate with classmates and instructors.
       Today's school systems put many blocks on their servers, which prevent students from blogging with other students. One safe site for students that offers human monitoring as one of their security measures is Gaggle.net. Unfortunately, this is not a free site. School systems have to purchase accounts for each student. One of the best things about this site is that teachers can also monitor the students blog for participation. I have an account with Gaggle and plan on using it with my students for future assignments.

Feb. 8, 2011 - How are Digital Cameras being used to Educate our Children?

       It is not uncommon to find a digital camera as part of a teacher’s inventory. Today’s evolution of technology has enabled us to incorporate cameras into our core curriculum. It is not only the ability to take pictures of special events, but to document processes of development. A good example of this would be to have science students take pictures as a plant grows, crystals form, fungus grows, etc. The photos can later be put into a slide show or power point to remind the students of a process by reusing them as visual aid in conjunction with their written recordings. Later , students may use these visuals for a science project or to give a classroom presentation.
       Digital cameras now record video, which allow students and teachers to create a podcast, movies, and lessons. Scavenger Hunts can make learning fun for students. What are other lessons can teachers use the digital camera to educate our students?

Feb. 4, 2011- Hey! I have created my first Blog and want to know what you think.

Help me develop my page, by posting something on it. I am practicing this for two classes. One class is an elearning class for Professional Development and the other is for a Master's class at AUM. Thank you for your help!

Brandi