First I learned about Hongkiat.com which goes over etiquette from reviewing “Angela’s blog” (http://angelalovesschool.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/digital-citizenship/). “This site gives tips on etiquette when using Face book” (Hongkiat.com, 2012). I believe this is a good resource to use as students are using more and more social media sites to communicate. Now, when you start using Face book as a part of your lesson plans it is even more important give resources to help students ethically use social media sites such as Face book. My rationale for selecting this site is that I believe that the tips would be helpful to all students in regards to networking on social media sites although this site is specific to Face book. I would use this site as a tool to help students learn about etiquette when using social media sites and the second way would be to share this site with my colleagues as a resource.
URL: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/facebook-etiquette/

Next, I learned about “Digital Citzenshiped.com from reviewing Mona’s blog” (http://mdmcdanie11.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/digital-citizenship/). Within this site educators can use the resources to help students learn about ethical practices while using online resources. I selected this site because the site is design to help educate the educator to give effective lessons on how to be safe and ethical users-digital citizens. One of the ways I would use this site would be to teach students how to be digital citizenships when using online resources, whether it is for academic, personal, and or professional use. I would share this site with my colleague as well as a second way that I would use the site professionally.
URL: http://digitalcitizenshiped.com/Default.aspx.

Last, I learned about “Commonsensemedia.org from reviewing Dietrea’s blog” (http://blaqgem76.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/citizens-of-a-digital-world/). Within this site educators can use the resources to teach students and parents about “digital literacy and citizenship” and “professional development for educators” (Commonsensemedia.org, 2012). I selected this site because I like that the site offers professional development along with educating students and parents. The first way I would use this site would be to learn about the professional development classes as this would keep me update and literate about digital citizenship. The second way that I would use this site would be to educate my students about digital citizenship.
URL: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum

References
Commonsensemedia.org. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/professional-development

Digital Citizenship and Creative Content. (n.d.). Digital citizenship and creative content, a teacher’s guide. in program overview. Retrieved from http://digitalcitizenshiped.com/Default.aspx.

Poh, M. (2012). Essential face book etiquette: 10 dos and don’ts. Retrieved from
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/facebook-etiquette/

iSafe is the first digital site that I found that promotes digital citizenship. iSafe promotes “e-Safety education that is designed to provide schools and school districts with comprehensive curriculum materials and learning platforms” (iSafe, 2013). iSafe tools “equip students with the critical thinking and decision-making skills they need to be safe, responsible and technologically proficient cyber citizens in today’s global society and economy” (iSafe, 2003). What is nice about this resource is that the school, parents, and students are involved in promoting and enforcing digital citizenship.

URL: http://isafe.org/wp/

I selected the iSafe site because it is important for parents and teacher to work together to help our students understand digital technology and help students be safe online. Online is not enemy for students. What makes online the enemy is when you have users that do not use digital citizenship “REP’s” (Riddle, n.d.) so this puts our students and even adult users in danger or in situations that could be deemed unethical.

The first way that I would use this site within my professional would be to share the resources with my adult students and encourage them to find out what is in a place within their children’s school district to promote ditigal citizenship. The second way I would use this would be if I taught K-12 grades I would recommend this site as a resource to teach students about digital citizenship.
.

Media Smarts is the second digital citizenship site that I found. Media Smarts believes “Our vision is that children and youth have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens” (Media Smarts, n.d,). Media Smarts covers digital and media literacy. There are resources for teachers to use within their classroom to promote literacy for digital and media critical thinking for students to make wise decisions while online. There are several issues that are in today’s media and digital world topics that are covered. For example the topics range from “internet and mobile, video games, body image, violence, cyber security, and cyber bullying” and there are many more topics (Media Smarts, n.d,).

I selected this site because it would be helpful for students to be aware of issues that they face or someone that they know could face one of these issues while being online. I would also recommend this site to my adult learners as a resource to learn about the issues and help make decisions while online with their children and you never know this may be helpful to the adult learner as well. The second way I would use this would be if I taught K-12 grades I would recommend this site as a resource to teach students about digital citizenship and literacy.

URL: http://mediasmarts.ca/

References

iSafe. (2013). Retrieved from http://isafe.org/wp/

Media Smarts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/

Ribble, M. (n.d.). Nine elements: Nine themes of digital citizenship. Retrieved May 30,

2012, from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html

Open education technology is not a new term to me; however I have never used this technology. I could remember about a year ago one of my students mentioned that they were taking courses from MIT. I thought if you are doing that why are you in this degree program right now. Of course I did not say this to the student. After looking into open education I found that I could possibly be interested in using one of these resources in the future.

Open Course Ware-OCW through Utah State University has a great program that is using open education technology. This format of “web based education is free and open, and does not provide university credit” (Ocw.usu.edu, 2008). There are a variety of courses to select from. Although, the student would not earn university credit the student can take away quality learning experiences from this type of learning environment.
URL
http://ocw.usu.edu/

Connexions Project allows for “authors, instructors, and learners to come together and share educational material and anyone may view or contribute” (Cnx.org, n.d.). Connexions project uses mobile technology so all participants can use the resource on the go anytime and anywhere.
URL
http://cnx.org/

I selected Open Course Ware and Connexions Projects because educators and students get to come together and share in the learning experience from two perspectives. First, the students that are unable to afford the cost of the university are able to take courses and still learn. Second, the educators get the opportunity to reach students they may not usually reach because of the student’s circumstances.

Each one of these resources I suggest to students in the classes that I teach as an opportunity to learn beyond my classroom. I would encourage students to review these resources for professional development opportunities and also if they are thinking of expanding their knowledge in particular field. The open education technology offers students and professionals the opportunity to learn without a price tag commitment. This does not mean the students or professionals will not get a degree. But it could mean students will be ready for rigorous course work in the future. Professionals possibly could be more prepared for required credentials in fields that require certifications, “professional development”, and continue education units (ceu) for their jobs (Perraton, 2010).

References
Connexions Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://cnx.org/aboutus/

Open course ware. (2008). Retrieved from http://ocw.usu.edu/help/help_text#q1

Perraton, H. (2010). Teacher education: The role of open and distance learning.

Retrieved from http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/pub_TeacherEd_Role_ODL.pdf

I believe in employing different methods to encourage, collaborate, engage, and facilitate a successful learning environment. Among different methods that can be used to support my beliefs are games, simulations, and virtual environments.

Gamestar Mechanic- is community base game where students can come together and learn “the principles of game design and systems thinking in a highly engaging environment” (Gamestar Mechanic, n.d.)

url: http://gamestarmechanic.com/

The rationale behind selecting Gamestar Mechanic would be the fact that students are getting involved in the learning process from hands on approach. Because education has become available to students online at any given time they select to study it is important for the game to have a social interaction aspect and Gamestar Mechanic has this. “The difference in many of today’s educational games is that they are online and social, allowing children to interact and collaborate to achieve common goals” (Olsen, 2009).

1. One of the ways that I would use Gamestar Mechanic would be to have assignment where students create a crossword puzzle on the website that focuses on interviewing. Or any other subjects matter for that week and then share the puzzles with their peers. Creating the puzzle helps learners to interact with one another and learn about the interviewing in different way besides reading from the book and share prior experiences. “Develop deep relations with the knowledge that’s there” (Laureate, 2012).

2. Another idea would be to set-up a game that simulations networking where students have to create the scenario and then pick a partner to answer the questions that were created or complete the appropriate networking responses.

Epistemic Games- this game “helps players learn to think like professionals” by using simulations (Epistemic Games, 2013).

url: http://edgaps.org/gaps/

The rationale behind selecting this type of game is that I teach a career planning course and I think that this would a game that could help students professionally.

1. I would use this game for group projects to simulate future work environments for students.

2. I could also use this game as way to keep students connected while not in class as epistemic games has a feature to use Twitter. Students can share their progress and update each other on Twitter feeds.

When looking back from when I was in school and playing games that were focused on vocabulary, math, and or science those games were engaging to me. I believe that I retained just as much information if not more because the learning was presented differently verses writing the vocabulary words five times each or writing the multiplication table. “To solve meaningful problems getting information as memorizing facts is no longer a part of our current process” (Edutopia, 2009).

References

Edutopia (Producer). (2009)). Big thinkers: Sasha Barab on new-media engagement [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video

Epistemic Games. (2013). Epistemic Games. Retrieved from
http://edgaps.org/gaps/about/

Gamestar Mechanic. (n.d.). Gamestar mechanic. Retrieved from
http://gamestarmechanic.com/faq/page/1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012b). Learning through games. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Olsen, S. (2009). Educational video games mix cool with purpose. Retrieved from

Educational Technologies- Mobile Learning

Smart phones are everywhere you turn from the youngest of users to the oldest of users.  Smart phones have changed the way we see and use cell phones.  Two decades ago, I never would have thought I would use a smart phone to review discussion boards, check emails, and or grades.  Now, this is only a small view of what smart phones can do for the student.   Fast-forwarding to today the smart phone can go pass your wildest imagination for the classroom.

Smart phones and education have made a nice pairing for example Blackboard mobile is a popular app that can be used to check assignments, discussion board postings and so on.  Smart phones have the ability to give the learner access to school 24/7 whenever and wherever if this option is selected.  Smart phones take learning in a hold different direction for example every time you use your smart phone you are informally learning and this is a beautiful thing.  

With that, said educators can use this informal learning to take connected to their learners via “twitter for instance feedback” (Dunn, 2012).  “Students now have the ability to do research on a topic within the class” from the internet that is provided on their smart phones (Inside Halton.com, 2012).  No more waiting to class is over to go to the library or making time to even go to the library.  

The first way that I would incorporate smart phones would be to encourage organizational skills and suggest applications that could be helpful to learners for example, the apps for the school and Evernote.  Second, I would incorporate smart phones to help learners share their information on an agreed social networking site such as Delicious to share information about the course.  My rationale behind selecting smart phones is simple almost everyone has one and the technology is user friendly.

Tablets and or iPads in education have made learning and completing assignments much easier verses not having these devices at all.  With tablets and ipads learners have the ability to take their work with them anywhere and download apps that can make their school lives easier.  I selected both of these devices because of their portability and the resources that these two devices can hold are unimaginable. “Tablets are especially suited for today’s fast-paced, modern learning environments and tablet versions of textbooks, with interactive and visual tools for teachers” (Mobiledia.com, 2013).  I would use either of these devices in the classroom for electronic library database use.  Secondly, using apps that can be download onto tablets or iPads to help with locating information on the physical campus by using one of the gps apps that are free and readily available.

References
Dunn, J., (2012). The 60-second guide to smartphones in education. Retrieved from,
http://edudemic.com/2012/08/the-60-second-guide-to-smartphones-in-education/

Dykes, T., (2012) Smartphones as educational tools in the classroom. Retrieved from

http://www.insidehalton.com/iphone/opinion/article/1520592–smartphones-as-educational-tools-in-the-classroom

Rock, M. , (2013). The future of education: tablets vs. textbooks. Retrieved from

http://m.mobiledia.com/news/136174.html

Social networking is a wonderful tool that “can change the way the learner looks at education” (Smith, 2013).
Delicious is the first social networking site that I found to have the following features “store, organize, and share links” (Delicious, 2013). As an educator, I have the ability to set-up of area on Delicious so that learners can come together and share information with their peers and view course information or other relevant information for the class to view. Delicious is a form of RSS that “lets reads and connect with what others write; now we can read and connect with what others read as well” (Richardson, 2010).
Facebook is the second networking site that can give the benefits of collaborating, socializing with peers and professionals, built communication skills, and learn about the technology. A nice feature of Facebook and the classroom is that discussions can take place between learners and the educators. “Facebook can be used to “facilitate a discussion group” another benefit is that most learners are “familiar and comfortable” with Facebook (Walsh, 2010). From what I remember about Facebook, it was a way to stay in contact with friends and family. However, today Facebook has the resource and technology to enhance the learning experience.

References
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Smith, F. (2013). How to use social-networking technology for learning. Retrieved from,
http://www.edutopia.org/how-use-social-networking-technology
Walsh, K. (2010). Facebook as an instructional technology tool. Retrieved from,
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/08/facebook-as-an-instructional-technology-tool/

There are several different applications and multimedia resources available to adult educators today to help with facilitating learning and engage learners within our classes. The first application that I would use to help enhance the learning environment would be Google docs. I have prior knowledge of this application and I have found the application to be resourceful. Google docs would help me to bring learners together outside of the classroom so that they are able to collaborate on group assignments. Having a collaborative tool application as a best practice would also help me introduce learning communities for my learners. I teach a career planning course and working on different areas of your career can be a challenge. Learners can use Google docs to start a circle for their specific career field and make connections to help them network, goal setting, and other important steps they need to take to enhance their career and learning within the class. Google docs is also known as Google drive as this is where all of the features are available for use. Google docs can be used after the class as well so the learners take a technology resource with them to help to continue with their learning and development.
The url for Google drive which is Google docs is https://www.google.com/intl/en_US/drive/start/index.html this link can give you an overall view and features of the application.

The second application is Edmodo, now this application I do not have experience with; however, this application would be great as a collaborative tool as well. Edmodo has similar feature to Google drive, but this tool is design for the educator. For example, Edmodo focuses on the classroom and helping “teachers make their classroom a community” (Edmodo, 2013). Some of the features for Edmodo are “shared content, discuss lessons, form communities, and media presentations” (Edmodo, 2013). There are plenty of other useful features within this application. I think everyone could find something that would help with their own set of best practices when facilitating their courses. I selected this application tool because the features of this application can help within my teaching practices. For example, I would be able to have my own professional community within this application. Other educators would be able to share their best practices, as I would be able to. With all of the technology that we have today I think that is important to have a professional community that educators can use as a resource and Edmodo allows this benefit along with the tools to facilitate a successful learning experience for learners. The url for Edmodo is http://about.edmodo.com/ .

The multimedia resources that I use currently while facilitating courses online are a whiteboard and Power Points for presentations. Through the school that I teach at, we use Abode tools to facilitate live chat sessions and give presentations via Power Point. The multimedia resource that I researched to compare is CoSketch is a resource that allows for you to share information on a whiteboard. A feature of CoSketch is “simple sharing” of ideas or information (CoSketch, unknown). Other features that are nice that I could use within my teaching practices would the “embedded feature for forums, blogs, and websites” (Educational technology, 2012) as this is not available to me in the resource, I currently use. I selected CoSketch because it is easy to use by the learner and educator not to mention it is a free resource. Learners could also find this helpful when brainstorming for assignments as well as educators would find it useful for explaining assignments and giving examples.
The url for CoSketch is http://www.cosketch.com/

Second multimedia resource I would like to use is Skype in the classroom. I know this maybe a bit surprising but from what I learned, educators and learners can benefit from this resource. For example, a “learning community, discovery, language skills, and cultural exchange” are some of the benefits of using Skype in the classroom (Skype, 2013). I selected the multimedia tool because for online educators and learners building a support team to help facilitate learning is important. Another reason for selecting Skype would be that leaners and educators could build a rapport and connection with a face beyond words on a screen and have that “audio content” as a resource, Author Will Richardson quotes “Personally, I think there is a huge potential for using Skype this way in the classroom” (Richardson, p. 119, 2010). To incorporate Skype into my professional practices I would use the feature of cultural exchange “to help learners see new ways of seeing the world” (Skype, 2013) and build language skills as this would be helpful for ESL learners.
The url for Skype https://education.skype.com/about

References
CoSketch. (unknown). CoSketch. Retrieved from, http://www.cosketch.com/
Educational technology. (2012) Educational technology and mobile learning. CoSketch. Retrieved from, http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2011/02/cosketch-teachers-virtual-online.html
Edmodo. (2013). Edmodo. Retrieved from, http://about.edmodo.com/
Edmodo. (2013). Edmodo features. Retrieved from, http://www.edmodo.com/features
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Skype. (2013). About Skype in the classroom. Retrieved from, https://education.skype.com/about

Technology you cannot live with it and you cannot live without it currently. Well, if you really tried to live without it you could. Some of the first experiences with the shift in technology I remember were automated customer service lines, and texting on a number pad and having to press the number a few times to get to the letter you want. Technology is a wonderful thing, however if you do not know how to use it or if you were not knowledgeable in some way, you are completely lost when you get on board.

Needless, to say once you are on board you are hooked for example if you had a Blackberry this may have been your first experience of having your work life at your fingertips. On the other hand, how about being able to record your favorite shows and watch other shows all at the same time? More importantly, being able to do your homework at 3’olock in the morning when the house is quiet. Also, this could be when you have or had an aha moment for the assignment that you just could not focus on until the day of.

Technology has made it easier for the working adult to return to school. Technology is making it easier for adult educators to engage their learners. With that cloud computing and mobile applications are helping to bridge the convenience of online classes and having all the resources you need at your fingertips. Now, the key is learning to use this technology and implementing this technology into our best practices to further enhance the learning for our students.

The first emerging technology that I would like to share is “cloud computing” this technology is a “web-based tools that allows instructors and students to collaborate online” (Edudemic, 2012). Within a previous class, I have experience a small view of cloud computing while working in a group. Our group used Google docs to share individual contributions and have group chats to discuss the assignments. Within this setting, we were able to interact a bit more verses just the normal posting to discussion boards. I first learned about Google docs from my daughter as her personal finance class using this resource for group projects. I selected cloud computing because the features are very helpful in building engagement, interaction, and learning how to work together in a virtual environment. I can introduce this technology within a course that I teach to help learners collaborate on assignments and or come together to work in a small study group to get that additional help they may need. Cloud computing also allows students to create a small community if they wanted to outside of the classroom that can aid in the engagement

The second emerging technology would be “mobile applications” that you can use on your smartphone, ipad, and ereader (Edudemic, 2012). Mobile applications allow students to have access to their class via mobile Blackboard. Other resources that are helpful to students would be Evernote. With Evernote you “can store all resources research for an assignment or keep your documents all in one place for organization and or easy access when needed” (Evernote, 2013). I selected mobile applications as an emerging technology because students will not be restricted to where they can access their data or when they can access their classroom. Mobile applications allow students to have access at all times to their courses or resources needed to have success in their class. I would introduce using mobile applications as way to stay connected with your courses on the go and suggest organization tips that can be used on the go with mobile applications.

References:

Emerging technologies. 2012. Emerging technologies. Retrieved from http://edudemic.com/2012/12/6-emerging-technologies-in-education/

Edudemic. 2012. Mobile apps. Retrieved from http://edudemic.com/2012/10/most-used-mobile-apps-education/

Evernote. 2012. Retrieved from http://evernote.com/