Wrap Up

Technology and Social Media 

To start off, I would like to say that overall, technology will always be an evolving thing that is in our lives and will be in many more generations to come. Technology and Social Media can be used in an efficient and effective manner if only used properly. As we grow older we grow wiser, so it is critical to build your Personal Learning Network (PLN). Some individuals do not even realize that before they graduate from college, their PLN has already been made up. Your digital footprint is made and is out there for the public and for the whole world to see. We must always be aware and cautious when it comes to posting anything on the media because once something is posted, it will never disappear. There is no way on stating that it will ever be taken away because it becomes permanent. 

Overall, the media can be used to show the important of what you make your life to be. This means, posting things that are positive feedback and giving great encouragement and not posting demeaning or hurtful things to others, helps to show the type of individual you are. It makes you look responsible and professional for when future employers decide to hire you. They are always watching. One single mistake used on the media can determine whether or not you get the job. Think responsibly when posting because you do not know who is on the other side watching you. Sounds scary, right? If you consider what I have told you so far I can guarantee you will be in good hands. 

To Get You Started

Taking a course about Exploring your digital portfolio really makes you sit and think about everything that goes on around the world in general with technology and makes you open your eyes to the benefits and non benefits of such things. Networking is definitely the most touched subject in most courses you would see. Although it does make it easier to connect with other individuals, it is difficult to keep up with everyone and everything.

Using two important books in this course Untangling the Web and The Connected Educator, goes more in depth about how to use specific tools that can be helpful for school, you career, and even just to keep yourself organized. They give great insight on what tools are appropriate, effective, efficient, timely, and not so expensive at the same time. Throughout the course, I was not only able to receive great feedback through the chapters in the books needed for the course, but that we were also provided guest speakers to talk about their PLN and what are the benefits of using such tools and medias to stay connected with other members related to your field of study and staying up to date with what is going on in that field as well.  One thing that I know for sure that is a helpful hint when getting information from a job, or finding someone related to your field of study and gathering information on what interests you to follow up with that contacted professional within 24 hours. This is called the 24 hour rule. With the help of Astronaut Abby, if you meet someone in your related field of study and you have their business card, keep in contact with them 24 hours after you have met. Simply by saying, "I'm glad to meet you, and I hope that we can keep in touch", this could show potential employers how interested and determined you are to be a part of their team!

Building Your PLN

One beneficial tool to use for developing your PLN is using Twitter or Linkedin. These are the most frequent and most recommended social medias to use to stay connected to those who share the same interests as you. Before this class, I was unaware of how Twitter has so much information and ways to communicate with certain professionals. It is a great tool to keep communication alive! I never thought that using social media in a way to connect with professionals in my field of study was even a thing at the time. As a Pre-Physical Therapy major, it helped me to stay up to date to what is going on in the health care profession. It makes me look into my profession more and more everyday. With Twitter, I started to find articles through Flipboard and/ or The New York Times and tweet about them so that other health professionals can see that their interests match mine. The whole Twitter experience with others re-tweeting you and favoring your tweets makes it more exciting to use because I know that I am connecting to these health professionals.  

Here is my Twitter Feed:
You can see how active I have become on Twitter

Tweets by @Surianom3

With the pleasure of having Robyn Hrivnatz, she gave great insight on using Linkedin. Using this website is a great way for future employers to get to notice you. Though when using Linkedin, Robyn stated that it should not look like a resume. Why? Because it is simply a summary of who you are. Build yourself a personality and show others, especially future employers, what you are interested in. It is also a great way on building your PLN. Within the website, it is their to show your professionalism with all of your accomplishments, education, and professional interests, publish your knowledge, apply for intended jobs in your field of study, hosts your letters of recommendations, as well as learning new things.

What I would take from this is to think responsibly and professionally when posting on social networks. I must say overall this class has taught me to become more aware of all technologies and special setting on any accounts that are needed. I have become more active in using Twitter, especially in what I have mentioned earlier, I have become closer and more engaged into what interests not only myself but to others as well. It has definitely been a learning experience and I know I will continue this further especially when it comes down to interning and eventually getting the job!

What the Future Holds

Conducting a Circuit

Have you ever been in class and was given something without direction and wondered how you were going to manage to make it work? Lucky for you, I have. We were set up in teams of 5 to 6 people and the only hint we received was to watch a short video about explaining an electrical circuit. It is an unbroken path along which an electrical current exists or is intended or able to flow. Electricity follows a path of least resistance or short circuits.

I was a little confused at first because we were given a kit and in the kit was a circuit board with several different colored wires inside of it. We were asked to bring few materials to class along with a laptop if possible. We were given direction to at least go onto the Frogger, which is a gaming website.

Why we were given the video, the circuit board with cables, materials such as:

• Aluminum foil
• Bananas 
• Card board
• Sliced celery
• Playdoh

and a laptop because we were expected to complete the circuit with these specific tools. We first connected our cables to several different objects such as a banana, aluminum foil, and playdoh. We needed to figure out how to get out objects to process through the frog on the computer. We first began to think that the banana was the way on getting the frog to move. It did, however it did not move in the way we had first expected it to. We began to connect specific wires to the banana and coordinating them to either moving front, back, left, and right and thought maybe moving the banana in those directions will help the frog move. Well, we were all too focused on the banana because it was just not working.


We began to experiment with the help of our professor on paper. What he had done to help us try and complete the circuit was that he drew 4 dots onto the paper with the lead pencil. With that you were able to connect one of the cables to the led. As a group we realized that we needed to connect the source with the cables to other sources with one of the cables being the ground state (or earth).
We then color coordinated the objects in specific directions with the blue cable attached to aluminum foil (front), the green cable attached to another piece of aluminum foil (back), the gray cable attached to the banana (left), the red cable attached to the playdoh (right), and lastly, the yellow cable was the ground (or earth). Our conclusion was that the yellow cable was the clicker in which when we hit those specific materials indicated which way the frog moved.

It was definitely a challenge at first, but the whole purpose of this exercise was team collaboration. Our professor gave us this exercise to see how we all work together on being able to complete the circuit and because in the real world we will have employers who want us to work as a team to come up with a solution to any given problem without given direction. It is up to us to be able to work together and get the job done. In life we are going to have to work for what we need to accomplish and with that said our team was able to conduct the game by completing the circuit together.

Marketing and Educator Programs

The other day we had a guest speaker and although she is not into my field of study she was able to give great insight into how the real world works. Robyn Hrivnatz works at Microsoft and had worked as a school teacher for 16 consecutive years where her focus was on the Primary curriculum for teachers in the United States.


She had given insight about how social media changed within a few years and how it began to play a huge role in her everyday life because she connected with those who were also interested in what she was interested in as well. Using social media is a source of understanding the audience and using it for professional reasons and getting advice in the moment of using it. She was able to use social media to connect to what was going on in the classroom via Facebook and Twitter. Understanding the audience is learning, and understanding the competition on these medias such as what is being launched, what is new, and current gives you a clear insight of that specific profession you are interested in. It is a place to connect with others. While working for Microsoft, there are several divisions to consider. There is always room for error so it is critical to have someone proof read anything being posted about Microsoft.

While using these medias anytime while posting, it is critical that they disclose that they work for Microsoft in case someone is following them that they want to make sure they are not disclosing anything inappropriate that could risk their job. Robyn had explained about using social media to gain respect and increase the fans especially with those who love Xbox. Those who begin to tweet about Xbox and tag Xbox via Twitter, they will acknowledge them and respond back to them.

Why did Robyn transition from Education to working at Microsoft? Well, she double majored in Computer Science because there is limited technology in the classroom. She loves to learn as much information about it as she can because you can tap online about what you are interested in and it allows her to be able to work with other teachers and others in the classroom so others can see what it is like. She also mentioned a few of her favorite pieces of technology, which is Skype or google hangouts because you receive easy connections, it is simple and easy to get started. Onenote also struck out to her the most because she is able to receive true collaboration within different schedules. Robyn pointed out a great fact, that not everyone works the same throughout the day. So, using this tool helps the students receive instant feedback. They are able to get the information they need right away. There is no delay on waiting to get back to them. One thing that I know for sure that she loves and misses the classroom experience because within the classroom you are able to build relationships and bonds with the students. It does make a difference, however she is able to schedule visits in local schools to be able to meet with the students to get the classroom experiences whenever she can.



Overall, a few tips she gave us as far as social media is concerned is the balance between being professional and being yourself. Anything you put on their is public and permanent. You want to search for hashtags in your field and build conversations based off of them. You have to stay connected so others will notice you. Take risks and comment on posts that interest you. Linkedin is also a great way for future employers to get to notice you. Though when using Linkedin, it should not look like a resume. It is there to see a summary of who you are. Build yourself a personality and show what you are interested in.

The Connected Educator


With technology advancing every year, we are learning how to adapt to new changes. Social media will also be evolving through our times and generations to come. We will begin to have to medias similar to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Though things to consider while we are learning everyday, is to remember these medias are tools to stay connected. Finding people who share the same interests as you, exchanging ideas, sharing imaginations, insights, and opinions. Anything on the web has become a great learning resource when you use it for the right reasons of course. You can begin to add to the world's understanding and advocate for positive changes in the world. Learning is about attaching new knowledge to existing understandings. We can use these medias to chase our passions, empowering them to find our voices online and off, and creating a threat and stress free environment online as well. With all this you begin creating your personal learning network which would help you in the long run for future employers.

Social Networking Tools

Tools to Integrate for Social Media

Isn't it amazing how much technology has advanced throughout the years? 

Well get a hold of this. If this than that is a website that you can use to create recipes to send alerts through several social media links from your phone to the weather app, blogger and so much more that you wouldn't even imagine of. According to Taylor Pipes, it is a service that allows you to create powerful connections with one simple statement a.k.a. if this than that. She goes much in depth about how Evernote is integrated into this website. Though there are several others, if you happen to use Evernote, you will come to find out that you could link it to your twitter or gmail accounts.  As I used the website and tried to get myself familiarized with it and its functions, I was able to get my twitter account linked to my blogger account so that anytime I post or retweet, it sends a notification to my blogger account to embed my tweets. I think this is a very interesting tool to use. However, you do not have to use the two that I have used. In fact, you could link appliances to your android or apple device. Cool right? Well, it can send notifications for example on when the dryer machine is done drying the load onto your phone (if it is compatible that is). That blew my mind when I first found that out. Taylor Martin gave some insight to some recipes home owners should know, especially the dryer link! She brought up a great point. With technology advancing everyday, we not only will have the smart car, but a smart home as well. One that I thought stood out to me the most was if the weather condition changes to rain or snow than the color of the light bulbs will change a different color. Brilliant!



Anyway, Buffer is also another website where you could use this to schedule your tweets. It is more beneficial if you have tweet deck. It is a great tool for marketing because it gives you decant times and shows you when is the best time to start your tweeting experience. What I mean by this is that, it gives you the best opportunity to see who your twitter followers are mostly active and when is the best time to have your followers get their eyes on your tweet. I thought this could benefit not only marketing, but for all majors as well because you can use this to help with your personal learning network. Most of the features on this website are free, but if you prefer to upgrade and add different features there are additional charges that will apply.



Lastly, the last thing I would like to talk to you about as far as the media is called Paper.li. I really enjoy this website and actually prefer it for those who are trying to get their tweets eyed up. I say this because this website aggregates all sources and the content of the sources. According to Tim Lenahan you can establish some real authority in your area of expertise using this website tool. I began by simply typing in my intended major, then I began to fix the settings where it could link up to my twitter account. This helps me to post daily or weekly onto twitter, depending on the frequency I would like for it to post for me. This gives me all information about my major that is current and reliable information. It pulls the best tweets of the day and makes it into a newspaper format which is all automatic which I thought was a helpful tool to use. Lenahan also mentioned how it takes your links posted onto your social networks and bring them together into an organized online newspaper for you. Organization is key. So this is very helpful to show that you can be responsible and organized even on the media.

Talk, Text, and Learn Together

In Untangling The Web, Todays Meet is a tool used to help teachers create a private channel that can be used as a collaborative means for discussing and documenting classroom interactions. It is simple, yet quick and efficient tool to use for connecting to other individuals. With Skype, you can do video calls, message, and send a voice chat for communication. It was known to be one of the earliest video chat technology to gain mass adoption and is now a service that millions of individuals use to connect with other individuals on a daily basis. I used to have a skype account, I say used to because I have not really sought the time to sit in front of a video chat all day. However, it is a great way for not only long distant calls for classes and businesses, but could be used for personal uses and see family members from across the country. There are several other types of tools that are useful in this manner. With Kidblog, it is a simple tool to help share thoughts, creations, and opinions with the world through a series of posts published in reverse chronological order. It is not only a blogging tool designed for in class use, but used for allowing teachers establish a safe space for students to share online that can be moderated to your personal level of comfort in accordance with the mandates of the schools district or state at that manner. Lastly, Edmodo is one of the first social networks designed exclusively for schools, which I found pretty interesting. It has simply developed a uniquely focused social suite of tools for educators. Which as you can see here is a great tool for all of you Education Majors.

Staying Connected

Using Tools to Support Connected Learning:

Having social media, google accounts, or any other account of importance is important. Why? Because, you are given tools. One tool to keep in mind is keeping all of your usernames and passwords the same so that it is easy for you to use and easier for you to remember. 

Expressed in The Connected Educator, there are several tools online that are used for keeping track of whatever you have found on the internet. 

As we all know there are so many new things in the world online that we have yet to discover even exists. I say this because as we grow in a digital age, so many people all over the world are either blogging, creating websites, and using social bookmarking, that are rapidly growing that not a single person can go through all of it in a 24 hour time span. Social bookmarking, or tagging, is a very helpful tool to help you keep your websites and information valuable to you, organized. Delicious ad Diigo are other helpful bookmarking and tagging sites of interests through photos, videos, and blogs you post.You can access your bookmarking wherever you go, share it with others, compile ideal lists, organize lists, save ones that are of interest to you, have a wishlist, subscribe to your favorites, and even build a network. This is what its all about! Staying connected and building your PLN (Personal Learning Network), especially if you are student, or simply seeking for specific job opportunities. It is a great way to start. 

While building your Network it is important to consider you reputation. What I mean by this is that you are always being watched ( i.e employers) on whatever it is that you are doing on the web. So be the brand you want to see. Using tools such as Blogger, Edublog, Podomatics, Twitter, Wikispaces, Ning, and so many more are tools online to help build and nurture your PLN. These tools are used for reading, networking, and collaborating with other educators throughout the world.

My Personal Learning Network

Throughout my time of using twitter and building my PLN, has opened my eyes to what is truly out there in the world and how amazing it feels to be connected with individuals with interests similar to mine. I never thought that using social media in a way to connect with professionals in my field of study was even a thing. I am a Pre-Physical Therapy major and in doing so, helped me to stay up to date to what is going on in the health care profession. It makes me look into my profession more and more everyday. I begin to find articles through Flipbaord or The New York Times and I know other professionals would find interested in viewing them. I tweet about it then, I begin to see those who take interest of my tweets and favorite it and sometimes even retweet it. That feeling gets me excited because it makes me feel like I am doing something right enough to get their attention and notice me. Sometimes I would even go through my twitter feed and find articles, tweets, comments and favorites that professionals have made and I begin to retweet or quote tweet them. This plays a role in my PLN because when they see me reaching out to them, they see that I am also interested in what is being posted and what is of interest in my field of study. You can view an example of what I talked about here.

Overall, you want to make sure that whatever is being posted online by you, is POSITIVE.

Your digital footprint is made and is a collection of all activities and behaviors that are recorded while you interact in online spaces. 

Organizational, Beneficial, & AR Apps for Your Phone

Great Organizational Apps for your Mobile Device 

There are so many  individuals throughout the world using millions of apps world wide on their mobile devices. As we continue to learn and discover new things we become amazed by how far technology has increased in over the years. 

For Android users there is the Google Play Store or for iPhone users, there is the Apple store. Some applications differ between devices, however for the most part they are the same. One aspect in which could make it a little more difficult to have is that Android could have the free version, where as Apple could have a pay for it version, but for the majority, they are free. I have learned in an App Smackdown from one of my classes are the numerous amounts of amazing apps that I never even knew existed. Things I never thought that could ever be made of or even thought of. 

There are some apps that are helpful as far as being easy and being organized. SuperNotes and Talkboard were two that I thought were very interesting to talk about. They are both similar in a way to keep yourself organized with notes and information that is important to know, yet for both you could record your notes and it will be saved onto these apps immediately. I have not yet tried them out, but from what was displayed in my class on how to use it, seemed quick and easy to use. You could set reminders with a time that is needed for specific due dates, etc. If you are looking for an app that is simple enough to get the point across, I would use SuperNotes. However, if you want a little more in depth to what you want in your app Talkboard is the way to go. I say this because Talkboard, you can add audio, pictures, colors, share ideas with others, take notes, express ideas, and invite people to see your notes. 

Another great app that I would also like to mention in keeping you organized is Werdsmith. With this app, you can set reminders on when to write. Writing starts with an idea, with that idea you have to have consistency in your writing. This app also creates a link for everyone to view. It is an easy way to have work online. This app is free and comes with 14 ideas and projects you could present, however if you want to upgrade there is an additional charge. Even though this app has a limit, it doesn't limit you too much.

Need an App to Help you Find a Job in your Field of Study?

Glassdoor is a great app that you can search a local job in your area and field of study! This app can help you to find potential employers. With this, you could see all of the job postings available, what to apply for, and when to apply for it. This is a great app to help you to find the best job possible for you. One reason I really enjoy this app, is that you are able to the reviews on the job, check out about finding an internship somewhere, where they hold interviews and what they will be asking of you. This tells you exactly what that employer is looking for without you having to figure it out yourself. It gives you great tips of what to expect and the benefits of working there. With that, it also lets you know the salaries and National average of what that position holds. I defineitly feel that this is a great app for you to seek out potential employers. Check it out!

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a great way for students and individuals to learn and see things from a different point of view. Brad Waid explains in depth of what Augmented Reality is and what it does to benefit our learning experiences. As he put it, "it takes the world that is right in front of us and enhances it." It is a fairly new piece of technology that is on the continuum of being developed as tools to use in a productive manner in our lives. They become a beneficial part in our lives. Augmented Reality Apps have hit a billion dollars within 2015 through 2016, and are continuing to grow as major tech companies are trying to secure a place in this nascent market, as Andrew Meola put it. Creating a successful app can be a true success and maintaining it could be a little difficult, yet these apps are continuing to make a big boom in the market and will continue to grow as the years progress further. These apps for sure keep individuals entertained as well as educated in a digital world. 

Augmented Reality Science Apps

In my class there were several different unique applications that had blown me away, especicially when it connected to my field of study, Health Science. One that had really stood out to me was the Anatomy 4D app. I am a Pre-Physical Therapy major and I have a huge passion for the human anatomy of the body. With this app you can simply print any image given to you on the Target Library provided inside of the app. Once you have this, you place it on a flat surface and hover your phone over it as if were taking a picture of it. Once done so, your phone will have scanned the image and make it come to life in a 4D experience great for all Medical Professions. You can turn off different functions of the body on the app to view them all. You could see the organs, skeleton, muscles, and systems of the human body. 

I have also learned of several other apps that not only were presented by my Professor, but explained again by Danny Nicholson. There are few other related apps that could be used in science. Elements 4D, Zookazam, and NASA's Spacecraft 3D. These are very similar to the Anatomy 4D app. You could see whatever is set infront of you brought to life. Elements 4D is pretty interesting if you are into Chemistry. There are blocks that have the Periodic Table of Elements on it, and when you hover over these blocks with your phone you could see the element inside of the block. An example that was shown in class was the Water and Oxygen together. Now we all know that water and oxygen makes water and when you put these two blocks side by side, you can see the water inside of the blocks. Pretty neat right?

If your are into habitats, Zookazam is the app for you. When the target is viewed through the app, the animal you want to have appear will be shown in lively fashion. You could see me holding a Giraffe in class, here. Lastly, if you are into Spacecraft, NASA's Spacecraft 3D is for you, as you could see the whole solar system as well as Earth.

It was an overall great experience having this apps to refer to, especially for educational references in the future. I recommend at least checking them out, you could find one that best suites your interests!

Presentations & Astronaut Abby

Use PowerPoint and are just tired of the same old features? Lucky for you there are plenty of upgraded forms of presentations to use for school or even in your presentation at your businesses. Here are 4 helpful tools that could help create a unique presentation.

1. Office Mix

PowerPoint has an updated feature to use called Office Mix, which is an add on for PowerPoint slides. You can easily download it free and sign up. What this feature includes is a new tab called "Mix". You can insert different things with this interesting feature such as voice input, do presentation on the web, embed audio. The table of context holds all of your slides which makes it that much better than the normal PowerPoint.

                                                                      2. Sway

Another interesting presentation cite is called Sway. Yes, it is also free and is web based as well. It is by Microsoft and what is so neat about Sway is that you can drag and drop anything into your presentation via pictures, videos, voice, music, etc. Mark Kaelin, explains how you can use this feature in so little time. Sway could also give you suggestions for what you are looking for. It combines all the tools needed so that it is easy to use. It is very intuitive. You are able to create a website within minutes of using it. He brings up a good point about having Office 365. If you have this, then you have Sway. Also, because we are living in such a high tech society, we are learning that we will be able to communicate with other workers through this digital technology.

                                                                      3. Haiku Deck

The third presentation tool you could use, that I enjoyed also is Haiku Deck. This is a presentation where you should not exceed no more than 5 bullet points on each slide. This really gets your presentation skills up to par because it is mostly picture based. You are the presentation. No one wants to read off the presentation the same thing you are explaining to them because that is defeating the purpose of a presentation. You want the audience to focus on you not so much on the presentation. Here is a link to my first Haiku Deck presentation about what I plan to do on spring break. 

                                                                      4. GoAnimate

Lastly, I would like to talk to you about GoAnimate. I have to say I just used this one for the first time to actually create a commercial for my class. It was a little confusing at first, but once I started to mess with it's features a lot more I began to get really creative with it and have a lot of fun with it as well. Here is a link to my first commercial. Check it out! This is a great website that really gets to show your creativity skills. I say this because there are not many words, it is mostly picture based similarly to Haiku Deck. However, it is animated! Therefore, if you want to add wording you would have to insert a text box for it. You are the presentation. It is also free and you can put a time limit on there. That way you know if you have a Professor who requires you to present in 5-7 minutes, this helps you do just that. 

Rachael Moore goes more in depth about GoAnimate. It is a fun way to turn your story into an animated video. They use so many templates, designs, colors, texts, fonts, characters, music and even languages. There is so much built into this website that are great to have. As I have posted my video onto my twitter account for others to see, you can send it to any of your social media accounts. It is a great tool to use for school, especially to help engage the interaction of the students and teachers. Plus it is school safe. There is nothing on this website that brings any form of negativity in education or bad influences to users which also makes it a fun and exciting experience to have. I definitely recommend this website if you ever want to create a commercial or even use as a presentation for your class or business!

Overall, there are several different forms of presentations to use for school or business uses. Jordana Pepper explains other presentations that would help to consider in the future are Powtoon, Prezi, Keynote, Prezentit, and SlideRocket.

Powtoon is good for those who are into comics and want to make a presentation that is comical. Similarly to Animoto, where you could create characters and use it to create a story to introduce yourself as learner. Plus you can add short animated clips to your presentation as well. Prezi, as explained before is pretty interesting in a way where it adds movement to your presentation. However, it is not recommended if you you get sick easily on a roller coaster as it deals with a lot of motion. Keynote is limited to what it can be accessed on  such as being used for only Mac users however, it is just as easy to use similarly to PowerPoint. Prezentit is similar to Prezi, without the motion. Yet, as simple as it is if you want great transitioning slides it is a great presentation tool for that alone. Lastly, Pepper talks about SlideRocket which seems interesting to me where unlike the others she had mentioned are free, this one is not. However, if you want a good quality based presentation it is a definitely great choice. 

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Astronaut Abby

I would like to talk to you about this amazing young woman venturing off to the Mars Generation which is a non profit organization, Astronaut Abby. She was a guest speaker in my class and has definitely brought great inspiration to not only myself but to everyone in the classroom. I say this because she is still a student just as she is an aspiration.  When she first started to talk about becoming an astronaut to her parents, at 5 years old, she thought that she was just a kid saying things that would sound a little out of range for us to think literally of. Yet, her mother was always there or her and had always gotten the support she needed in any case. As Abby grew older and become more educated about the galaxies and planets, it turned out that this is really what she wanted to do for a living and she was given continual support. Although she have had several other activities at hand to be a part of she was never alone. What I mean by this is that the support system Abby was given throughout her life, brought her to where she is at today. Her favorite quote, which I must say is also my favorite as well, is "If it is important to you, you will make time for it." 

Throughout this short visit, a few students had asked Abby questions so that we could learn more about her. One student had asked, "What type of Social Media was most beneficial to you?" and "What advice would you have using Social Media to develop your career?" She simply mentioned how social media impacts your life in a different way and Twitter had to have been one of the most useful sources. Check out her profile here. You are able to stay connected to professionals in a technical way. The most important thing is to realize what would be the most useful tool in determining how you want to find potential employers. She brought up an important aspect about social media that we should all take into consideration for and that is watching what you post if you various media accounts open. This could determine whether or not you get the job. 

Lastly, she left off with some powerful advice that I would love to also share with you and that is the 24 hour rule. If you meet someone in your related field of study and you have their business card-keep in contact with them 24 hours after you have met. Simply by saying " I'm glad to meet you, and I hope that we can keep in touch." This could show potential employers how interested and determined you are to be a part of their team!

Science & Our Everyday Lives

Staying Connected

Ever have a passion for something and not knowing where it would lead you in life? Well, having a live chat with Adam Taylor, created a twitter chat with Health Science students and scientists. He first discovered twitter back in 2009, where he was excited to start an online chat with scientists at home from outside of the classroom. Who would have ever thought? 

How he came about doing so, was by simply searching individuals in his own field of study. This happened to be science and there are a vast array of scientists all over the globe. Well, how do we get in contact with them? Simple. You can simply go onto Nature Magazine every week, find articles that are of interest for you or using Twitter lists; which Taylor claimed to be highly used and beneficial. Here are few tips to help you get started. From there, you can see people who are of interest to you, and who they are following, as well as, who they have re-tweeted and who is re-tweeting them. I guess the real question would be, "how to get them to stay connected?" one student had asked. Well, there is always something going on, it is an organized chaos, as Taylor may put it. You can simply go to google, search for example Physical Therapists on Twitter. You can check to see how often they tweet. More importantly it is about the connections you make with them, NOT about how many followers you have. 

Taylor continues to reach out to a different kind of scientists every week. Scientists are always talking about different options. However, the importance of a PLN is amazing because you never know where it can lead you in life. 

Being an Educator

As we continue to grow we begin to realize that problem solving is in our everyday lives. Why I mention this is because Teachers are continuing to impact children all around the world. In Kenya, children and others suffered because a pipe water broke. There was no way to clean it from all of that bacteria. However, a school here in our States, children of only 11-12 year old's, helped to build filters for those individuals and children just like them to have clean and sanitized water. 

We live our lives without realizing how much of the world out there truly suffers. We take our lives for granted and 8 children had died because of unsanitized water.  When we come together we can accomplish so much more than some people would expect. Rita Pierson, gave a powerful speech about how important it is that kids need a champion in their lives. So many children who grow up in poverty, or have been negatively influenced tend to be the students that drop out of school. As a teacher, it is about the human connection. All learning is understanding relationships and most of us learn from our parents and teachers. Kids do not want to learn from people they do not like. 

Pierson, took a group of students that were in her class room of low academic achievement and stressed that they are a somebody in this world. That Herself and these group of students were brought together for a reason. People are cruel and as an Educator, it is important to show that we are made of something. She had brought these kids to high academic achievement and made them feel that they are a somebody and will be an even stronger somebody when they leave to higher education. Teaching and learning should bring to joy to students and use their ability to take risks. Which in life that is what it is all about. It may be tough but it is certainly not impossible. 

Living a Life that is Truly Awesome

Have you ever gone a day wondering how you got here or why you are even here? I'm sure several of you have. However, Neil Pasricha, gave such an empowering speech about the importance of life and how easily we can take life for granted. His speech brought tears in my eyes because life is truly great, whether we think at times that it's not, it just is. He talked about his life and how we hear different things in the world news that changes our lives. He started a website and talked about how 50 thousand blogs are viewed a day and so he began to make his own blogs. As they progressed further millions and billions of people began to view his blogs. Then one day he received a phone call and was awarded a Webb award, then a year later published his first book called The Book of Awesome. Pasricha talked about 3 important A's to leave off with in life: Attitude, Awareness, and Authenticity.
In life things unfortunately will not always go as planned, it is a roller coaster ride. You could be the happiest person, yet someone you love could end up with cancer. Having a positive attitude no matter what happens in life, choosing to move one is a a courageous step in life. Having awareness in the world as Pasricha would say, is about embracing your inner three year old. Authenticity is simply being yourself and being okay with it. When looking for that potential job, you want to show them who you are, not someone you are not. You then begin to put yourself in positions that you simply love, if you don't already love what you're going for in life; you may begin to love it that much more and won't be one of those people who complain about how they have to go to work the next day. You are you and no one can take that away from you. In life you have to be true to yourself first and foremost in order for others to be true to you as well. 

Life Behind PowerPoint

In our lives we have used several different forms of presentations whether it be poster boards, show and tell, or PowerPoint's. However as we continue to grow and learn as young educators, we learn different forms of presentations that could be beneficial to use in several different business setting. Most of us have heard about Prezi, which is pretty much an updated version of power point that actually gives the audience something exciting to look at. You can change many features, though if you are one who gets sick on roller coaster rides, Prezi is not for you, but don't be discouraged because Slideshare is a social hub that allows you to upload and share your presentations with educators around the globe. This is useful especially if you have created a Linkedin profile or have a Facebook. The reason for this is because in Untangling the Web, it says it helps you to discover content that your colleagues have liked, viewed, and posted. 

Another helpful and useful tool you can use is Poll Everywhere. This is a tool useful for mobile devices, being in a digital age. You can ask a question and students can respond through text messaging. Check out it's webpage for more features about this tool. Another tool that may seem similar to Instagram, as you can share photos and videos online with the ability to comment on them, is a tool known as Voice Thread's. However, instead of being used for personal references it is proved to be highly intuitive to both teachers and students which could help for those Education majors out there.