Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #3: RSS Feeds

     There are over 50 million web blogs on the internet today (Lefever, 2007). But how can you keep updated and informed with all your favourite blogs and websites in an efficient and organized way without feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Say goodbye to bookmarking websites and hello to Really Simple Syndication (RSS)!

     After creating my first RSS feed reader via www.feedly.com, I have come across several items of interest that I could potentially share through both educational and recreational blog posts. Many of these items fall under categories that interest me most including technology, health, and travel. For example, my favourite subscription would definitely be Tech Crunch’s website because of their reliable and reputable service they offer to technology geeks like me. So instead of accessing their website to keep informed on the developing technology stories, Tech Crunch comes directly to me in my Feedly. Unfortunately I seem to only blog for educational purposes mainly due to the fact I am more so a spectator than a creator in the online world according to Bernoff (2010). This being said, RSS feed readers are great tools to help create and maintain interesting blog posts in specified areas of interest for active bloggers. RSS feed readers offer these active bloggers a filtration and organization service for frequently updated online content. Therefore instead of going to find the information yourself, the information actually comes to you. Consider the analogy between video rental stores and Netflix to understand the convenience of this tool!

RSS feed readers are simply organization tools that help filter massive amounts of online information in one location (Educause, 2007). RSS feeds are compatible with various internet sources including blogs, new searches, and website searches (Richardson, 2005). For example, you can access the weather via RSS or even retrieve www.dictionary.com’s Word of the Day via RSS. Considering the amount of information available online is overwhelming, by subscribing to various websites and blogs RSS feed readers save time and retrieve information as soon as it is available or updated (Rowse, 2010). Wagner believes it is very important for students to understand and use RSS in order to efficiently explore and learn about other new tools in the new media environment (2007). We make up our own personal learning environments because we voluntary feel like doing it, it is never mandatory (Haskins, 2007). Growing up in the Digital Age as a digital native, learning about digital literacy has never come with formal instruction or training (Haskins, 2007). It is more about free exploration. RSS emphasizes this lack of formality by making learning a much more exciting process (Haskins, 2007). After starting to use my feed reader, I have discovered how to effectively find and learn information from the combination of personalized feeds I receive.

     Within Malan’s categories for creating a personal learning environment, RSS feed readers would fall under acting as an aggregator as it offers a service that tracks updated content from various online sources all in one destination. This saves time and effort from desperately trying to find or keep updated on favourite websites and blogs. In relation to Week 1’s current personal learning environment diagram, I can now add a new category, aggregate, that I was introduced to during this week’s learning activities. After discovering what RSS feed readers are and how they help digital learners, I realize my personal learning environment is a process that constantly unfolds and never ceases to amaze me (Haskins, 2007).

References

(Educause, 2007) http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7024.pdf

(Haskins, 2007) http://growchangelearn.blogspot.ca/2007/09/if-this-is-your-first-ple.html

(Lefever, 2007) http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

(Richardson, 2005) http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/RSSFAQ4.pdf

(Rowse, 2010) http://www.problogger.net/what-is-rss/

(Wagner, 2007) http://blog.infinitethinking.org/2007/04/it-really-is-really-simple-rss-for.html

My Experience with RSS Feeds

     After starting to “feed” my RSS reader, I came across the opportunity to subscribe to Tech Crunch, one of my favourite (and most reputable) online websites that provide information regarding the world’s most popular and fascinating technologies. While scrolling down the Tech Crunch feed on my Feedly, there was an item of interest that caught my eye and was recently posted as of 2 hours ago. In “Google’s Defamation Case in India Underscores Challenges in Ensuring Internet Freedom”, Pankaj Mishra (2014) reveals the several grey areas within the internet laws in India that could pose a detrimental effect to everyone, including the largest internet companies like Google and Facebook. The laws in India regarding internet use have been quite unclear for some time now. In 2009, India began to hold internet companies liable for all content on their site, including the offensive content. After the Information Technology Act in 2008 was put in place, India insisted on increased censorship within social media websites. They then asked websites to pre-screen user content prior to accepting it and removing anything defamatory or deemed objectionable in 2011. Since then, users have been booked continuously for internet offenses. Now a case has come into the hands of India’s Supreme Court and Google where the decision could potentially lead Google managers in India facing hefty fines or even behind bars. India’s laws on internet freedom are becoming ridiculous to the point where the tracking they insist on is “humanly impossible”. Do you think India has the right to demand control over the world’s leading search engine? 

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/27/googles-defamation-case-in-india-underscores-challenges-in-ensuring-internet-freedom/

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #2: My Current PLE

When it comes to "social technographics" I fall under the spectator, joiner, and conversationalist sections of Bernoff’s ladder when participating in the online world (2010). Like 70% of the study who are considered spectators, I enjoy reading and watching online content more than creating and publishing it (Bernoff, 2010). But the way you participate online drastically affects your personal learning environment (PLE).

My current PLE was never critically analyzed prior to this course. After reading and watching the assigned resources, I decided to create my PLE based on Malan’s categorizes which are aggregate, organize, collaborate, connect, and create (2010). My PLE focuses on 3 main categories: organize, connect, and create. I tend to use (and sometimes even depend on) my Samsung Galaxy’s calendar and to-do list to effectively organize my life, both for educational and personal purposes. Using these built-in task management smartphone applications help me plan and organize my busy schedule while reminding me of important upcoming events such as when assignments are due or exams are to be written.  Connecting with others is another main category I use to create an effective PLE. I connect with others and therefore learn through various social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on a daily basis. I use these social media tools to share and collect information about others and the world itself. Additional web tools I use to connect with others include e-mail, forums, and blogs; however these tools are usually only used for academic purposes. The last category I use to strengthen my PLE would be creating content online. By creating content, I can share my knowledge with others and receive critical feedback. I use several different tools to create various types of content. These tools include blog websites, Windows Office (Word, PowerPoint, etc.), YouTube, Adobe Premier, Adobe Photoshop, and more. These specific tools assist me in creating blog posts, digital documents, videos, photos, and other content, to share with the online world. The other 2 categories that Malan encourages to use in order to create an effective PLE are aggregate and collaborate however, I have yet to use these techniques to further my learning but plan to by the end of this course.

When beginning to create a more effective PLE consider 4 elements: personal, learning, environment, and habits. In 5-10 years from now, I want to be an educated and hardworking citizen who is a successful entrepreneur who travels worldwide. I wish to be confident, productive, and efficient in my technological skills considering these skills are critical for success in today’s new media environment we live in.  Right now I would like to be more educated and less procrastinating while finding a healthy balance between my educational and personal life. In order to get to where I wish to be, I need to learn and/or improve many skills and attitudes. This includes becoming more motivated, finding the right environments to network within, and effectively utilizing new media to help me grow. To meet these learning needs I must work on changing my environment. By changing my environment, I may be introduced to the skills and knowledge to get where I wish to be. But what if I may not need to “change” the environment but instead simply create new environments that provide better opportunities to learn and grow? Good habits needs to be created such as seeking opportunities to network, while bad ones needs to be broken like minimizing distractions such as cell phones when doing my school work. 

After creating my current PLE and the WordCloud of Post #1, I realize I still have a lot to learn in the new media environment. I am happy with how far I have come in my digital learning considering how ubiquitous digital learning has become in the educational system in North America but believe there is always room for improvement (Attwell, 2007). I would like to further enhance my PLE by incorporating Malan’s aggregate and collaborate categories into my environment. Although I may not know how to do so just yet, I am confident that after this course I will have the necessary experience and tools to easily integrate these 2 categories into my future PLE.

Worboys, J.  (CC) 2014.

Worboys, J.  (CC) 2014.

References

Attwell, G. (2007). The Personal Learning Environments: The future of eLearning? Retrieved from http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media11561.pdf

Bernoff, J. (2010). Social Technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder. Retrieved from http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html

Malan, A. (2010). Growing your Personal Learning Environment. Retrieved from http://prezi.com/-xhpuupxgjin/growing-your-personal-learning-environment/

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #1: Digital Footprints

     Living in the Information Age, there is little choice in regards to if I “want” a digital footprint; I simply have to have one. Just like other digital natives, I come from a generation where participating in the online world and leaving tracks of my online activity are just a normal part of everyday life that can sometimes be overlooked. As long as I maintain a positive digital footprint, I do not mind having one.

     Having a positive digital footprint means being conscious of what I post online and making mindful decisions about my settings and my privacy (Ainslie, 2009). By following certain netiquette rules, I maintain a positive digital footprint of myself. I use the same standards of behavior in both the virtual and real world and only post what I want others to see (Shea, 2011). For example, I am not going to upload pictures from a party on Linked In because that specific social networking platform is for professional purposes only. I must be aware of what I am posting and where exactly it is being posted in order to keep a footprint that is not damaging to my image because I am the only one with the power to control the online messages of myself (Barseghian, 2011).

     Being a digital citizen, there is some basic knowledge that is required to keep a positive digital dossier. Someone unaware of netiquette rules or safety/privacy concerns while participating online could potentially become at risk. The Digital Age has introduced the online society to several different dangers including predators and phishing that have become increasingly present in the virtual world. This underlines a need to be knowledgeable and aware of the dangers that the internet brings in order to stay safe online.

     I have only learned the basics of both digital learning and digital citizenship. I have been a digital learner since high school as I participated in various online courses since. I understand the rules and standards of learning online and I have mastered my personal time management skills in order to successfully complete all of my online courses. However, there is an overwhelming amount of information regarding digital citizenship that I still need to learn. Being a digital native can sometimes lead to naivety considering I never ask questions or critically think about my digital participation but instead just do it as if it is second nature to me.

     After completing the Secondary Digital Driver’s License Exam, I was satisfied with my results as I got 17/20 (Ribble, 2011). Prior to taking the test, I estimated I would do very well and after totaling my mark I was not surprised at all with my results. Since I grew up in the Digital Age, I have a good sense of the basics of digital citizenship. Although I may know the basics, I am aware I do not know much more beyond that. Considering I got 3 of the questions wrong, the areas I am going to focus on for improvement during the new few weeks fall under the following elements: digital etiquette, digital commerce, and digital literacy. 

     After exploring digital footprints and digital citizenship, I have clearly noted (above) several different connections with the course resources and my explorations.

Brodsky, Melissa. (2012). Safety: Protecting your digital footprint. Retrieved 

     from http://www.digitalfamilysummit.com/2012/safety-protecting-your-digital-footprint/

References 

Ainslie, D. (2009). http://djainslietech.com/2009/12/19/digital-footprint/

Barseghian, T. (2011). http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/08/six-reasons-why-kids-should-know-how-to-blog/

Ribble, M. (2011). http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=2cee66e6-4e01-4a79-be91-1a8368ce2b8c%40sessionmgr198&hid=116&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=cat00778a&AN=bu.b2633060

Shea, V. (2011). http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Introducing myself.

Hey there!

     My name is Jamie and I am a second year Sport Management student at Brock University. I suppose you would like to know a little bit more about me before the course starts. I am 20 years old and grew up in Hamilton. I love my family and pets (1 dog and 3 cats). I enjoy staying active and travelling to various places. So far in my life, I have made it to Vancouver, Quebec, New York, Florida, Las Vegas, Cuba, and Mexico. I am applying to study abroad in Germany next fall so I am looking forward to that travelling experience! I do not watch a lot of television nor do I participate in virtual environments as much as the rest of my generation. I am not addicted to Facebook nor do I obsess with what the internet has to offer. Instead, I like to communicate in person with my real friends and loving family because there is nothing that beats in-person communication nowadays! I don't like horror films or rainy days or rather anything that is negative or depressing to me. I am a very energetic and positive person who tries to live life to its fullest. I have many goals (both short-term and long-term) that keep me motivated and dedicated. Some of my goals include travelling more, completing my undergrad with honors, and staying happy.

     The purpose of this blog is strictly for academia reasons. This blog will act as a platform where I post my weekly reports and reflections as well as anything else that may be required from the instructor (eg. various assignments). I will be using "Session numbers" in my blog post titles to make it easier for anyone to navigate throughout my educational blog. I hope you all enjoy my posts and feel free to follow my blog and comment/share my posts!

     This course "Learning in Digital Contexts" is going to be very rewarding to both digital natives and immigrants. Although I am confident to say I have great computer skills, I believe there is always room for improvement. I hope this course offers a range of opportunities to find effective digital tools to assist me throughout my academic career and personal life. After finding the tools that fit my specific needs, I plan to learn how to utilize them effectively and get the most out of them. I hope this course enhances and brings value to my technological skills while providing me with different resources I need to succeed in my life.