Blog Post 7: Professional Learning Network

Every morning I'm greeted by two new sources of information in my inbox: An edutopia Community News Alert and Digg's Digg Deeper Daily Wrap (say that ten times fast). I subscribe to the following feeds on edutopia: Technology Integration, Game-Based Learning, and Media Literacy. This site proved useful last month when I used it to learn more about James Paul Gee, a researcher in the area of linguistics and literacy. and an author whose book we are reading in this quarter's GED 580 - Game Design for Educators. Although I have not contributed to any discussions or posted to any forums, I do appreciate the resources that are afforded here. I know it's only a mater of time until I join in on the conversation and get acclimated to this still-new environment.

My areas of interest are a bit broader on Digg. I have been using it to help with research on the topic of social media and education for yet another class - GED 690. My subscriptions to Digg not only cover education and educational technology, but current events and consumer technology.  It proves a convenient way to catch up on today's news (you mean it's not all about Cal Poly Pomona?). With time and practice, I see myself fine-tuning my subscriptions as my areas of interest broaden and evolve. That's the beauty of Web 2.0: It is tailor-made, immediate, relevant, and quite responsive.

Question 1
Some theorists have posited that learning does not happen within - from the inside out, but rather through social connections - from the outside in. What implications are there for social media and education?

Answer 1 
Social media serves as an ideal delivery method for today's students; students who consume vast quantities of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Their literacy with these modalities brings like-minded students together. Blogs, tweets, messages: ideas are distributed and shared, reflected on, and acted upon. This sharing, connecting, and further expansion of ideas is at the heart of social learning and education. What's the point in knowing something if you can't share it with someone else?

Question 2
The short video below depicts the evolution of a typical workspace over several decades. Notice the authors' correlation between the physical items and their idea of its Web 2.0 counterparts.  Is today's tech merely a repackaging of proven processes or is it more? 

Answer 2 
I believe we are at a crossroads of technology and intellectual development (for the time being, at least!). We have reached a point where the processing power of our technology can give our personal processing power a run for its money. Additionally, information which took months or even years to reach us, can be measured in mere seconds. There's a point in the video where the rolodex (the item on the right, in front of the globe) morphs into a LinkedIn icon. Of course people connected, shared, negotiated, and brokered deals before the days of LinkedIn. LinkedIn, and the assortment of icons depitcted have the capacity to shorten the time for those connections, negotiations, and deals to occur. I like to think of these tools as not necessarily improvements, but as an amplification or augmentation -  for both the good and the not-so-good. We're able to do what we've done in the past, except quicker, custom-tailored, and perhaps too, a bit more impersonally.

Journal 6: Looking Back. Looking Ahead.

As we enter into the home stretch of GED 512, I look back at our accomplishments with appreciation. The progress has been steady; each class and assignment building upon the previous lesson. Jennifer Robbins' "Learning Web Design" parallels our sessions nicely. I appreciate its clear and methodical approach; the step-by-step exercises, summaries, and end-of-chapter quizzes helping to reinforce the material.

One of my more rewarding moments in this class was the revelation of the synergy between structure and design in web development. Specifically, how HTML and CSS work together. I'm learning the importance of semantically marking up a document, then breathing life into it with CSS. It's like building a house. As soon as the walls, roof, windows, doors, etc. are built - the construction equivalent of HTML – a decorator is brought in to personalize it. Windows are treated, paint is applied, and eventually the place is furnished. CSS as interior decorator?

The challenges for me still, though, are plenty: Being mindful of the plethora of declarations, classes, and tags and when to best utilize them; all browsers are not created equal; what you see is seldom what you get; and the challenges of responsive design.  

One of the exercises that I found gratifying was the “Pimp My Shoes” online form exercise. I think it was due in large part to the interactive aspects and the immediate feedback once the form is submitted. Oh yeah, and it's pretty cool - in a geeky sorta way - to be able to click on the "HTML" button (next to the "Compose" on the upper left of this Blogger Post editor) and understand what's going on!

With an ever-increasing diversity of platforms, technologies, media, and who-knows-what-else, it’s never a dull moment for the folks in web design and development!

Journal 5: The Bird is the Word

Twitter was only four years old when I joined on August 2010. A little searching on Wikipedia and taking note of the "joined by" line on my home page helped me figure that out. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I signed up and tweeted my first message: "this is my first tweet". It doesn't get much more creative than that, folks. I could now send and read up to 140 characters at a time. 

Wait, what? And the point in that is...? That first tweet was my last tweet too. With other social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook vying for my attention, I just never took to Twitter.  

I did experience a new-found respect for this service some years later. Southern California had just experienced a moderate quake. Some of the first sources of information came in through the Twittersphere. That struck me as significant. The fact that tweets are short and succinct, and quicker than most news channels (type and send versus setting up a studio and interrupting regularly scheduled programming), made me rethink the relevance of this medium. The make-up of tweets, according to a San Antonio-based research firm* are still a bit disconcerting, though. They divided them into these distinct categories:

• Pointless babble – 40%
• Conversational – 38%
• Pass-along value – 9%
• Self-promotion – 6%
• Spam – 4%
• News – 4%

*Twitter. (2015, October 27). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=687694965

Although the majority of tweets are reportedly just noise, schools are using social media to increase student engagement. Kids are already using Twitter outside of class. Why not bring it into the classroom (moderated and controlled, of course) and leverage this technology to aid in possibly increasing student outcome. As one instructor put it in the Twitter in the Classroom? YouTube video, "If you don't engage the kids, you might as well be talking to the wall." It's simply another means of communicating, and having it be something the student is already accustomed to may help entice them to engage in the process. 

At WesternU, the Information Technology team using something similar called "slack" https://slack.com/is. Resembling Twitter, Slack is primarily used in workplace settings. (Kind of what LinkedIn is to Facebook I suppose). You can have separate "channels" for different divisions or projects, and there is even an option to private message select colleagues.

In the end, I did keep my Twitter account (@joemarilo) active and managed to attain a whopping 6 followers: three being family members! I do follow about a dozen or so feeds and am getting better at understanding the difference between @s and #s. 

#noob #understanding #twitter

Twitter is not quite a decade old, but has gained such a global foothold that it appears to be here to stay, at least for the time being.

And besides, everybody knows that the bird is the word...

UPDATE 31OCT15: Would you kindly participate in my highly scientific poll found on the upper left hand side of this blog? Thank you! Also, I added a Twitter gadget just below that. Note that this free version allows for only one feed.

Journal 4: Final Project Plan

My final project will be a website intended for osteopathic medical students at Western University of Health Sciences. The site will introduce the student to vertebral dysfunction: Its causes, types, and motion patterns. I will incorporate animation and images to depict the various pathologies. Also, there will be a quiz to serve as a simple self-check.

• Site title - A Facet Model of Positional Somatic Dysfunction
• Developer - Joe Marilo in co-ordination with a subject matter expert within the NMM/OMM (neuromusculoskeletal medicine/osteopathic medicine) department.
• Rational or focus - This site will serve current WesternU medical students and function as a supplement to their courses in this topic. 

• Main features outline - The main feature of this site will be the inclusion of animation and a Flash-based self-quiz.

• Content - The site will contain approximately 7 pages. These pages will include a Home page, Introduction page, a Normal type page, a Non-Neutral type page, a Neutral type page, a Quiz page, and a Credits page. Each page will go in-depth for that particular topic and include graphics and/or animation as needed.

• Target audience - WesternU medical students

• Design considerations - This site will contain graphics depicting types of vertebral dysfunction, various animations, and a simple matching quiz created in Flash.

• Limiting factors - Potential technical factors that may limit the audience would be the inability to playback the videos and take the quiz due to browser plug-in incompatibilities. No foreseen audience factors as they will be students of WesternU knowledgeable in the field.

Wireframe

Sitemap

Journal 3: The Case for Social Media in Schools

In her article, The Case for Social Media in Schools, Sarah Kessler, features writer for the website Mashable, introduces the reader to Elizabeth Delmatoff. Delmatoff is a seventh grade teacher who has successfully implemented social media in her classroom. This comes at a time when critics argue that children need to be protected from the dangers attributed to social media. On the contrary, Delmatoff was able to bring an about-face to her school's declining statistics by creating a "Facebook-like forum" that evolved into a "social media component for almost every subject."

Delmatoff offers six reasons why more schools should accept rather than reject the use of social media in the classroom:

1. Social media is not going away
2. When kids are engaged, they learn better
3. Safe Social Media Tools Are Available — And They’re Free
4. Replace Online Procrastination with Social Education
5. Social Media Encourages Collaboration Instead of Cliques
6. Cell phones aren't the enemy

In the not-to-distant past, schools banned access to the Internet. Nowadays, classrooms have wireless access points! Delmatoff states that social media, like the Internet, is here to stay. "Don't fight a losing battle," she adds. Social media creates the opportunity to motivate students which, in turn, helps them to become better learners. As for the critics who worry about student safety, Delmatoff suggests social media tools that offer control and oversight at no cost. Additionally, Delmatoff's social media forum drew students away from Facebook and MySpace where they would be "talking trash," and directed them to more productive work. Social media in the classroom prepares the student for collaboration in the workplace, Delmatoff explains. And lastly, rather than ban student cell phones like some schools do, Delmatoff uses the technology to reach out to students. For instance, she uses texting to curb absenteeism.

Should social media be banned from schools or should it be used as part of their curriculum? Student safety has been a concern since before the advent of social media or the internet. Some critics view social media as a potential risk to students' well-being, I agree with Delmatoff and see it as an opportunity to introduce yet another modality into an instructor's skill set; taking advantage of properties unique to social media.

Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The Case For Social Media in Schools. Retrieved October 20, 2015, from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/

Journal 2: Join an Affinity Group and Share your Digg Stream

On Affinity Groups

The affinity group I have joined is Edutopia. I stumbled across them after viewing a compelling video on video games and learning. The video had the Edutopia watermark running throughout the piece. Curious, I went to their site and had a look around. After a short while, I felt I had an affinity to this group and joined...see what I did there?

You may view my profile on Edutopia here. It's the same rigmarole that is on the About Me of this blog. Nevertheless, check out Edutopia when you have a moment. I am subscribed to the following topics: "Technology Integration," "Game-Based Learning," and "Media Literacy." I'm looking forward to delving further, and collaborating with the Edutopia community.

Oh, Edutopia has the backing of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Bonus points: see if you can find all the Ewoks hidden throughout.

On Digg
WARNING: too much digging may lead to information overload. Have aspirin on hand.

I have been familiar with RSS, using Yahoo! as my reader. A quick side trip on wikipedia indicates that RSS (or a form of it) dates back to 1995.  I've only heard of Digg and never actually used it. I appreciate it's clean, intuitive design. It's easy enough to organize your tailor-made feeds information into folders. 

To have information come to me rather than vice-versa is an extremely convenient approach. We are consumers of vast amounts of information, the extent of which never-before-seen by previous generations. This is where it may get a little tricky. Have you ever signed up for a bunch of magazines or catalogs, and then later regret it as your mailbox bursts at the seams? With Digg, however, it is as easy to unsubscribe to a feed as it is to subscribe. 

I would never actually write that I dig digg. That would be too easy. So I won't. 

Question 1
Describe advantages to joining an affinity group? Can you think of any disadvantages? 

Answer 1
Reaching out and connecting with like-minded individuals may be helpful not only to one's personal life, but to their professional lives as well. Affinity group members have the potential in providing the support and resource we need at the time. It is also an opportunity for us to offer our services and reciprocate. As with anyone, being mindful and respectful goes a long way.

Question 2
Staying up-to-date in one's current field is essential, especially for those utilizing technology. The quantity of information can be overwhelming. How can you sort the information from the noise and still be on your game?

Answer 2
Staying organized is the key. We all have a variety of interests. Subscribing to all of them will result in a surge of information. Create folders by main topics. Nest folders within folders for any subtopics. And arrange the information accordingly. Learning does not occur during information overload.

Journal 1: Chapter 1-3 Reflection

Robbins, J. (2012). Learning web design: A beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics (4th ed., pp. 3-46). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly. 

The first three chapters of Robbins’ Learning Web Design, A Beginner’s Guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Web Graphics is foundational in nature and introduces the reader to the Web; how it came to be; and what makes it tick. The first chapter is appropriately titled “Where Do I Start?” For a beginner, answering that question is a daunting task. Robbins guides us through the maze of acronyms, definitions, and a host of job responsibilities as she demystifies the process. 

Subsequent chapters cover the workings of the Web; the relationship of the Internet to the Web; a dissection of a Web page, and an explanation of how it all works. Finally, she touches on key topics crucial to the sustainability of the Web and its custodians. These concerns include: developing for the ever-expanding number of web enabled devices, addressing accessibility needs, and touching on concepts such as web standards and site performance.

Back in the mid-70s, my cousin was taking courses in computer science. On his desk sat a bulky pale blue appliance with a built-in black and white monochrome monitor and keyboard. A cable ran from it to another boxy-looking device. This one was smaller and had two cups that held a telephone handset securely in place. This was a modem, he explained. It allowed him to connect to a distant mainframe. Interesting, I though, not sure what all it meant. My brush with the Internet was brief; a novelty and nothing more.

Twenty years later, a workmate in charge of our MIS (Management Information Systems) department asked me if I wanted to "surf" the Web. I’d been hearing of this Web stuff and noticing cryptic (“http://www…”) lettering appearing on billboards and such. So my introduction to the Web consisted of surfing (more like wading) around a site called "Yahoo!" What an excitable company what with their explanation mark and all. Over the years, our MIS department evolved into Information Technology. We have grown from one employee to more than seventy individuals each equipped with specific skill sets and duties. 

In the interim, my awareness and respect for the power of distributed information grew, and I was (and continue to be) truly impressed. 

All of this may be moot, however, when we inevitably surf to the end of the Internet! 

Until then, <happy> </coding>! 

Question 1

As web developers, how do we mitigate the inevitable obsolescence of a page or a site? For example, Flash was once the plug-in of choice. Today, it is being replaced by other methods. 

Answer 1
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine allows visitors to see how Web sites have evolved over the years...and in turn, how we have evolved; our tastes, our perception of what's "cutting edge" (animated GIFs anyone?), etc... We can say with great certainty that the Web, and the technology behind it, will continue to evolve. As such, we must accept that our designs have a shelf life and that they too will eventually expire. By remaining up-to-date in our field, we position ourselves closer to that curve. The other option, of course, would be to dust off our Magic Eight Ball and ask the oracle within!

Question 2
Do you believe it is important to incorporate accessible technologies into your content development practices? Why or why not?

Answer 2
It is important to incorporate accessible technologies into content development for at least two reasons: it is the right thing to do, and it is encouraged by state and local governments. In the not-too-distant past, too few curb cuts (dropped curbs at intersections), ramps or other barrier-free accommodations existed. Incorporating accessible design and technologies into Web development is akin to those curb cuts. By building environments, real or virtual, designers allow the greatest access regardless of age and ability. I received my first pair of prescription glasses last year. They are so ubiquitous and common, that I do not think twice about them. But they are, by definition, an assistive technology. As Web developers, we must continue to be diligent in designing content that is accessible…to the point where they too are ubiquitous and common. 

Photo Credits:
Acoustic Coupler By User Lorax on en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAcoustic_coupler_20041015_175456_1.jpg
Error Page Lyckans smed: "Gruvlig hämnd" (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2015.