Week Report & Reflection #7

Alright, in this week’s class we are working with Google Docs. Having a little bit of experience with this tool and  already critiquing it in our Great Tools discussion forum gave me a slight head start, however since that time I have grown even more infatuated with the tool. Google Docs is a smaller portion of a larger Google Drive, which includes Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets. Google Docs main concept starts off very similar to a Microsoft Word. The page layout and things you can do on the main page are common with Word. Which is a nice familiar place to start but then Google Docs keeps improving. To begin it is stored on the cloud so it is almost always available to you, even when you don’t have your original laptop that you started the document on. Secondly, it is accessed by more than one individual and can be used to collaborate with a group who are working to complete a common goal. Google Docs saves the process of sending information through email back and forth to each other which creates several different documents. 

Gillies, K. (CC) 2015.

It solves this problem by storing the information in one place, and allows multiple users to edit, submit, and collaborate towards the completion of any task. 

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6IHTEA 

With Google Docs I can share the document online with someone who is going to help me edit and we can work on it together saving time, and effort in the very important final process of any good paper.  When two people are collaborating on a paper, or working on a project, something like Google Docs is incredible. The more people included in the work, the more amazing this tool becomes. 

Three ways that I could see people benefiting from Google docs being implemented in the classroom, could be from greater interaction between not just students alone, but teachers, students, parents, or principals. Google Docs could simulate an online classroom when large groups are all logged in together. A second way that Google Drive could be used in the classroom would be through using Google Sheets, to produce instant feedback on grades, keeping students and parents up to date. The third and final way Google Drive could be implemented into the classroom would be to create presentations using this fantastic tool. 

In my RSS feed this week I came across Raleigh Werberger’s blog in Edutopia, where he spoke briefly about Google Docs, and his attempt to use them in his high school. He spoke about its share-ability, and the power of the post it note giving more credibility to using Google Docs in the classroom. 

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in previous blogs, adding these new tools to my PLE is becoming more and more difficult. This one is by far the most difficult. I feel that my PLE could revolve around Google Docs, as it can be used to create, collaborate, share, organize, and connect. Although I have always felt as though I have been a digital citizen when creating presentations, and completing projects, having to do so strictly online I feel as though my digital citizenship is finally becoming a two way street. Previously I have taken so much information from Google, and created a paper or created a project that would be handed in, or presented in a seminar.  Leaving my work online creates more information for other people to see which enhances my digital citizenship.  Leaving this positive digital footprint and increasing information instead of continuously taking information is new to me.  What I have gained this week, is the idea that being a digital citizen is a two way street. Not just acquiring, and manipulating, but also sharing.  

Weekly Report & Reflection #6

                                                                Evernote

http://i3advantage.com/blog/tag/digital-communication/

Last week I received an email from a friend who tried sending me a link to something on Evernote, knowing that this week we had to spend some time with Evernote, I signed up a week early to see what my friend was sending me. My friend attempted to forward me something that a friend had sent to him, to receive this I had to ask my friends friend permission to see the note, which I was not granted.  Although my very first experience with Evernote wasn’t very successful it did give me a chance to reflect on how Evernote worked. This kind of thing never bothers me because I like that my information is secure. By not being granted access to my very first Evernote I was actually happy to see how secure it was. 

Now that I've added so many tools, my PLE was becoming a little bit overwhelming. Luckily another tool was introduced this week.  After connecting Evernote and Twitter through Zapier and learning how it works I was extremely impressed. Zapier connects all of your important tools and makes them work together. While I am still mastering Evernote I have begun to notice how easy it is to save and store things online allowing me digital access to all the things I need. Having a reliable online bookmark that I can log into from any computer makes things so much easier, from not having to bring my laptop, to being able to do work while on vacation. All I need now is Wi-Fi and I’m able to have my work done and saved in hopefully a secure location that is only accessible to me and those I wish to share the information with.

Of course this will be added to my ever growing PLE, but the problem is where will it fit in? As I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs the lines between gathering, sharing, collaborating, and organizing are becoming more and more blurred, as many of these fantastic web 2.0 tools don’t fit into just one specific category.

This week while searching my Feedly account I came across two amazing articles the first by Beth Holland in her blog in Edutopia, which discussed a few of the new websites I've had the pleasure of working with. Evernote, Feedly, Pinterest, and Diigo were all discussed in the following blog. http://www.edutopia.org//blog/building-your-tech-ecosystem-beth-holland In this blog Beth describes building your PLE, or as she calls it an Edtech Ecosystem and other interesting thoughts such as when to use Diigo over Pinterest, and why we need both Drive and Evernote.

                          Photo Credit: RICHARD WELLS http://www.edutopia.org//blog/building-your-tech-ecosystem-beth-holland

The second article that I found in my Feedly this week is by the self proclaimed Educational Technology Guy, who has created an Evernote Tips and Tricks Series. On the corresponding webpage David Andrade discusses the ability that Evernote has to scan a business card and then add it to a contact list. The webpage discusses examples of using Evernote as a teacher, student, and admin. As well as many other extremely useful links all associated with Evernote. I definitely recommend the second link as you can find all the tips and tricks you need to know about Evernote. 

Week Report & Reflection #5

This week I have became more accustom to using Feedly and Diigo, which are both incredible ways for me to access a ton of knowledge in an efficient manner. Adding more tools to my quickly growing arsenal, we were able to add one this week that many of my fellow students and myself are already accustomed to. So, this week we got into Twitter. 

 

Twitter Logo. (2012) Retrieved from https://g.twimg.com/Twitter_logo_blue.png

 As we probably all knew in advance Twitter is an online social network/messaging forum, which allows people worldwide to connect instantly on similar topics. This web 2.0 tool is created by us for us. The content in twitter is largely people’s thoughts, and feelings about any subject. There are so many amazing things about twitter:

- Easy and free to sign up, easy to use.

- Comments that are short and sweet (140 characters).

- Ability to search for likeminded individuals/tweets through hashtags

- Twitter recommends people for you based on people you are already following

These are the main reasons why Twitter is my favourite tool used so far in ADED 1P32.

Getting back on Twitter for me, was extremely easy to do across both my laptop and cellphone, one of my favourite things about twitter is how easy it is for me to keep two accounts active at one time.  The click of a button allows me to switch from my scholarly twitter back to my more social account.  My work account, and my play account. My personal learning network, and my personal network.  In my exploration of Twitter I quickly realized that many people have the same type of accounts. In my previous experience with Twitter I have mostly came across the social accounts, with jokes, photos of food, inappropriate comments (poor digital etiquette) which may be the reason why I don’t use Twitter on a daily basis. Through this exploration of Twitter however, I have come to find a much more educated group creating a more successful personal learning network. With like minded people who are committed to leaving behind a better digital footprint, who know what it means to be a good digital citizen. 

Twitter will be useful in educational activities not only because as the Twitter Handbook for Teachers states you can leverage your PLN with hastags, but also because it allows me to get up to the second notifications of people are looking to contact me. This will be useful when completing the next sessions group assignments. As most people constantly have their cellphones within reach Twitter is just an instant messaging system that allows me to contact my group members instantly. This means if anyone finds something relating to a topic of research it can be utilized instantly by all members of the group allowing us to build knowledge quickly and efficiently. 

Reconnecting with Twitter and modifying it to achieve academic learning has already changed my PLE. In the future with the more followers that I can accumulate it will only become a better tool in my collection. The final question this week was what are you learning about becoming a digital citizen?  I have come to realize that by surrounding myself with better people (a better PLN) in the digital world, similar to our daily lives, creates a better environment fostering better results.

This week I have found this relevant webpage from my feedly, which is all about the trust that we need to have while using new technology. I was very interested in this webpage because it talks about how we all need to trust technology to create a better learning environment, while getting more tech into the classroom.