My Digital Portfolio:

I have enjoyed creating my professional learning network these last few months. I started out this endeavor with creating a blog that I posted to weekly. It was a challenge at first but once I got past writers block it wasn't to bad. I enjoyed learning about new apps every week and then posting information about them. When you place your thoughts down on paper it helps you to understand the app that much more. Our professor also gave us interesting topics to write about. I would spend hours gathering my thoughts about a particular topic and locating just the right picture to go along with the topic. There was a lot of re-sizing of pictures and placing it in the right location with your material. The font color and size was also adjusted between sections to break up the blog. My blog is now linked to my new web site which was also a first for me. If you are not sure what to blog about try the following ideas:

• Communicate news, events, building projects, student achievements, staff accomplishments, and other information

• Tell great stories as a means to take control of your public relations

• Reflect on your learning, successes, and failures

• Develop a positive brand presence

• Share practical strategies and evidence that have resulted from change initiatives

• Provide insight on how specific technology tools can be successfully integrated to support/enhance student learning

Professional Twitter Account and LinkedIn

I have been following professionals in my field and classmates on Twitter. It is a great way to stay connected with current events affecting your intended profession. I try to share articles that may interest my classmates and may also assist them with their digital portfolio. I currently have 22 followers.   

LinkedIn is also a good way to stay connected with professionals in your field. I have updated my profile to include a picture, work experience, education, and volunteer work. I am going to try to continue to improve my account and also reach out to professionals in my field of study. 

Web Page on Weebly

I was pretty excited to create my first personal web page. I had some issues uploading my video introduction and my resume, but both issues were corrected. I was not able to upload my resume utilizing Word 2016 but the resume was finally uploaded into Weebly by using a prior version of word. The You Tube option works just fine but you cannot upload a HD video  or a file with a video without upgrading. I also utilized multiple pages for my web site:

1. Home Page - Snap shot of my current occupation, education and achievements, Cross Fit LLC, and my volunteer work. 
2. About Me Page - Links to my different accounts and a slide show. 
3. Resume Page - Letters of recommendation and contact form.
4. Project Page - Pixton business article, prezi, and my Finance Daily paper. 
5. Activities Page - Softball link, CYO schedule, and basketball training videos. 

Before I commit to Weebly as my Professional website I am going to check the capabilities of Wix. I am also thinking of creating a website for my coaching duties.

Some of the apps I enjoy using regularly are Flipboard, Evernote, and Paper.Li. The reason I enjoy Flipboard is because all my interests are caught under one magazine app. I utilize Evernote to make copies of business receipts quickly and easily. I created a Finance newspaper on Paper.Li to catch up on current events. I would like to thank my professor for introducing these apps to us and assisting us with our PLN.  

Makey Makey Meets Frogger

Makey Makey is a unique way to turn just about anything into a controller or key that tells your computer what to do. The kit consist of a USB cable, alligator clips, and a circuit board. Our group was able to play Frogger and Guitar Hero with some simple modifications. We struggled at first since the instructions were deliberately not given to us but we pressed on with trial and error. Our professor was placing us in a real world scenario where we could be placed in a group and instructed to come up with a solution to a problem. This happens in the business world every day. Our group utilized the below four items to get Frogger to move across the game:

1. Blue - Attached to foil - Forward

2. Gray - Attached to banana - Left    

3. Green - Attached to foil - Back

4. Red - Attached to play doh - Right

One participant in the group was the ground and she got Frogger across in 19 seconds. Our group was the first to accomplish the task given to us. The Makey Makey board requires no special tools and it was very easy to use.

Class Guest Robyn Hrivnatz from Microsoft

We had a interesting speaker from Microsoft Robyn Hrivnatz. She is the Marketing and Educator Programs Manager at the company. Her background is in education and computer science. She expressed that she misses the classroom at times. Some of the ways she stays connected on social media is by utilizing Linkedin, Skype, and Facebook. In business she mentioned you need to understand your competition. The following main points were made:

1. Connect to the customer

2. What is the customer asking for?

3. Instant communication to customers

4. Feedback

  Skype and OneNote are her favorite pieces of technology. She told us to search out to our peer community and professionals in our field in Linkedin. It should not look like a resume. You can build your own personality and your social profile should reflect your interest in the field you are applying for.

 What the Future Holds

The book the Connected Educator made some good points about the future of Education. New technologies that make it easy to connect and collaborate online are challenging traditional structures of many institutions. Connected learners today gain knowledge different than their parents did. Connected educators should not change the way they teach or lead but change the way they learn. Below are the four core components of Learning 2.0:

1. Knowledge - Utilize connected learning communities

2. Pedagogy - Empowering students to chase their passion 

3. Connections - PLNs

4. Capacity - An ongoing process through which to enhance the individual's or group's ability to identify and meet development challenges.  

Lessen the Workload with IFTTT Recipes

IFTTT Recipes is a free tool you may use to connect web services together. It stands for "If This Then That". Here are a few examples on how you may lessen your work load:

1.  Share your new blog posts to Twitter

2. Save your favorite tweets in an Evernote notebook

3. Add meeting minutes from Google Calendar to Evernote

4. Make an Evernote journal based on your Google Calendar 

 There are numerous recipes to choose from but if you cannot find one that fits your needs just create one. There are three simple steps to create one once you have established an account.

1. Click Create Recipe

2. Choose your trigger channel, what “If then” does

3. Choose your action channel, what “Then that” does

You should add an description and test it out. That is basically it.

 Best IFTTT Recipes for Saving Money

Here are some neat recipes that may save you money.

1. Track price drops to some of your favorite stores e.g. Best Buy or Home Depot

2. Utilized smart devises to save electricity

• Nest Thermostat

• Hue Light Bulb

• WeMo Switch

3. Round up rule: Round up purchase to the nearest dollar and place in savings

By making your home a little smarter you are only using electricity when you need it.

About Me Page

A great way for an individual to get to know you and relate to you is by having a good "About Me" page on your web site. You should answer the following questions when tweaking your page:

• Who am I? Less is better. Do not add too many details

• What can I do for you, the visitor? For potential customers explain your service.

• How can I be contacted? Add your social media buttons to your page

The above three items are key to creating a sound "About Me" page.

 

During our last session we discussed IFTTT Recipe, Paper.li, and different web site tools. Some of the web site tools discussed were Google Sites, Weebly, and WIX. It is best to try the different web site tools to see which one suits your needs best. Once you are comfortable with one of the tools you are ready to start working on your web site. You can utilized another helpful tool Paper.li to create a web presence with your very own on-line newspaper tailored to your and your followers interest.   

Social Networking Tools

The textbook "Untangling The Web" was a wealth of information for the following tools.

1. TodaysMeet can be used to create a chat room with your students. You should provide your students with clear guidelines so they discover how social tools can enhanced the learning process.

2. Skype can be used to connect your students to other educators, experts, or even other students. You can connect to other classrooms around the world.

3. Kidblog is safe and simple for your students. They can share their thoughts, creations, and opinions through their posts.

4. Edmodo is the first social network exclusively for schools. Teachers can create a digital class and are provided a code for their students so they may join the community. You can connect with people with common interest.

5. Twitter is referred to as a microblog. Individuals share their thoughts utilizing 140 characters or less. Once you post a message is up to individuals to decide if they would like to follow you or not.      

Enable Learning and Create Connections

The book The Connected Educator was a wealth of knowledge  for the following information. By utilizing technology you can enable learning and create connections to expand your Professional Learning Network (PLN). We are all overwhelmed by the amount of information we come across on the web. The following tools may be used for documenting and archiving learning:

1. Delicious

2. Diigo 

Delicious is a helpful site for bookmarking and tagging web sites. After searching articles that you may utilized or share you may copy and paste the URL onto Delicious by utilizing the "Add Book Mark" option. You may add a tag so that you can quickly find it at a later date. Diigo is like Delicious but you can make annotations on the web pages. You may highlight or add sticky notes to the article. There are three sections in Diigo:

1. My Library - Utilized for research. Book mark pages and highlight and add notes.

2. My Network -  You may create a PLN by following people of similar interests.   

3. My Groups - Share documents with your PLC or Global Community

Tool for Connecting and Building your PLN

1. Edublog - Allows educators to communicate to all stake holders--students, teachers, parents, or the community. You may provide current information to your group or bring up upcoming events or issues.  

2. RSS Reading - Brings new content to you rather than having to visit various web sites to check individually.

3. Google Reader - Is a Blog Reader that will allow you to subscribe to a RSS of a Blog you would like to follow.

Some Other Helpful Tools

1. Pod Casts - Video or audio files you may subscribe to just like a blog.

2. Podomatic - Is a free tool you may utilized to record, produce, and publish a web broadcast.

3. Twitter - Is a microblog you may utilized to follow people and create a PLN. You may send messages to your followers or people you are following by utilizing their Twitter handle.  

4. Wikis - Is a web age that allows groups to compile documents and information all in one place.

5. Wikispaces - Is a tool to utilized to create and manage a Wiki.

6. Google Documents -  Web Base document sharing tool. Unlike a Wiki which is a collaborative web page it takes the place of a software like Microsoft but it resides in the cloud.

Social Networking

Ning may be utilized to create a specialized social network for a few dollars a month. It is meant for those individuals who lack the skills and are unable to create their own web site. On Netvibes you can create and share a Dashboard with your PLC. Instantly access current information on your selected topics. It is also important to proactively build your digital footprint. Twitter and LinkedIn are a good place to start building your PLN. I've been steadily increasing my usage on both sites to grow my PLN. Your online reputation is very important. By creating a web page or blog, utilizing Twitter, Google, or LinkedIn, and sharing your insights goes a long way with managing your online reputation.

Amazing Augmented Reality Apps

ZooKazam

This app will let you bring animals, birds, invertebrates, reptiles, fish and even dinosaurs into the classroom.  All you need to do is print out the target and view the animal through the app. This educational app will give you common facts of the animal that may be shared with the students. The app also has a weather feature which lets you add rain or snow to your picture or video. On the ZooKazam web site they are two markers that you can print out. One marker has a grass background and the other one their logo. Both work just fine with the app. The dinosaurs were a big hit with the kids.

VR on your IPhone with Google Cardboard

Do you want to experience virtual reality with a device you already own?  Google cardboard may be your answer without spending $600 plus dollars for a VR headset. The ones entering the market are very expensive with the Oculus Rift  priced at $600 and the HTC Vive priced at $799. You can purchase the Google cardboard on Amazon with the prices ranging from $5.80 through $19.99. The Linkcool Google cardboard below is priced at $9.98. There are also some on the pricey range hitting $80 and $90 dollars. There are many options but you still can make your own and Google will provide the plans. There are also some sites that will provide the non-cardboard pieces in a bundle.

 

The cardboard is an affordable shell with specialized lenses and it utilizes your iPhone to do the heavy lifting. Depending on the viewer you purchase your phone will either slide or strap in. Once you stare into the lenses  the two images become a 3D image. The Cardboard apps use your phone’s gyroscope and accelerometer to let you freely look around the virtual world. You are able to view 360 degree videos and photo spheres. Google does not  make or sell Cardboard viewers, but it has given an official “Works with Google Cardboard” stamp to many manufacturers.

 

DAQRI Smart Helmet Brings AR to Heavy Industry

DSH makes augmented reality (AR) practical in the workplace for the first time. The face shield and helmet are both ANSI compliant. The helmet has a six generation Intel processor, multiple cameras (low, high resolution and infrared), four-microphone array, and a rugged industrial AR HUD. The following applications have been used for the DSM: 

1. Replace instruction manuals - Augmented instructions that adapts to the environment

2. Thermal Vision - Workers can visually scan for unsafe or out-of-tolerance thermal anomalies

3. Remote Expert - Using audio and telestration (drawing on HUD) expert can send information to novice worker

ShowMe App

This White Board app currently has 1.5 million teacher produced lessons. The app allows users to create, share, and search for lessons. ShowMe captures what users draw on the iPad screen and records their voice. The lessons are stored and can be shared with your students when the time comes. The platform can be used for any type of learning including, K-12, higher education, job training or hobbyist. The best lessons are elevated by voting which identifies best teachers and content creators. The best lessons may be placed on Web Sites adding to their visibility. 

During our last class session there were many mobile apps that were introduced. I have already touched on ZooKazam and Google cardboard. The following three apps were also discussed and I believe were the most interesting: 

1. Spacecraft 3D - The app works like ZooKazam where you point your ipad, iPhone, or ipod at a marker to create a 3D model. The app includes Curiosity, Hubble, and Cassini.  

2. Elements 4D - This is a impressive app. The app uses blocks that are inscribed with the symbols of 36 elements from the periodic table. You may download paper block for free. When you view the block through the app the block transform into a dynamic, dimensional, 4D representations of the element. If you place them close together and they’ll react!

3. Anatomy 4D - The app provides models of the human body as well as an interactive heart. You can peel back the layers on the body to see the different systems, such as the skeleton. I was very impressed with this app.     

 

   

Founder of the Mars Generation

Astronaut "Abby" & Some Useful Presentation Tools

Abigail Harrison was our class guest speaker last week and she made a very good impression with the class with her enthusiasm and determination. She aspires to one day become a scientist and a NASA astronaut. She would like to be on the first mission to Mars. I have no doubt that she will one day reach her goal. At only 18 years old Abigail has accomplished alot. She founded the Non-Profit, Mars Generation, on Twitter which will share the possibility of space travel with her generation and future ones. During her Video Conference she shared that she also utilizes Instagram and her web site to share information with her PLN (Professional Learning Network). She especially likes Instagram to reach the younger audience. A good percentage of them are on Instagram. 

Upcoming Events

Abigail has been chosen to participate in Wellesley College’s 2016 scientific research expedition to Siberia’s Lake Baikal. She is one of twelve students selected for the trip.  Abigail posted, "I am excited to share my experiences online and hope to inspire many young future scientists along the way"! This is her second trip to Russia. Her mentor, Astronaut Luca Parmitano, invited her to attend his first launch to the International Space Station. This lead to her launching a world wide out reach program, and eventually, Mars Generation. She will also be speaking at the 2016 Humans to Mars Summit. This annual event is an Explore Mars premiere event. Congrats to Abigail.

Presentation Tools

Some of the presentation tools that were covered during our last session included:

• Office Mix - Interactive online lessons; share them with your students and colleagues in OneNote, on the web, or in your learning management system

• Sways - Create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more

• Emaze - Create 3-D walk through presentations

• Haiku Deck - Haiku Deck clears away the clutter, helping you focus on your key idea for your presentation 
• Prezi - Open, zoom-able canvas show

• PowToon - Create animated videos and presentations

• Pixton - Make a comic for your resentation

• Animato - Create professional video slide shows

Office Mix

Office Mix may be utilized for your online training requirements for your students or co-workers. It was utilized by Dr Rysaoy in her article for new hires. Some of the advantages that she went over are listed below:
  

• Slide recording – with or without audio from a microphone or video from your webcam. You can even advance slide animations while recording the slide.
• Screen recording –  include audio and even webcam video
• Quizzes / Polls - Office Mix records answers given 

The option to create quizzes on previously covered content is a plus. You may publish your lesson to Office 365 Video to share it. You also have the option to download and share it on a web site. 

 

Microsoft Sway

This is another product offered by Office 365. It can be utilized for creating presentations but maybe used for tutorials, topic introductions and interactive reports. The Sway presentation are backed up to a cloud and they can be easily shared in websites. Sway's interface utilizes a series of cards which may be filled with content. The user's narrative can be easily added, removed, edited, or reordered. The overall theme is chosen by the user and you are allowed some leeway but the built in design engine will decide how your Sway will look. Sways can be shared via the user's public gallery, social media, link or as a piece of embedded media. 

Prezi

Ned Potter 's article (LSE) gave a good over view of the basics of Prezi. Prezi is a zooming presentation tool which offers an alternative to PowerPoint. You start off with a blank canvas. You position objects such as text, images, embedded videos or graphics, anywhere you like on the canvas. You then plot a path between them in the order you specify, so Prezi zooms in on each object in turn, allowing you to deliver the presentation to the audience. During the presentation you may zoom out to view your whole presentation. This allows the audience to see where you are at, where you've been, and where you are going. Also, be careful to pace your Prezi to avoid motion sickness. Lastly, you should choose your visual theme early. Prezi is not like power point where every slide can be different.  

The Puzzel of Motivation

 

The recently viewed video by Career analyst Dan Pink examined the puzzle of motivation.
He stated a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think.
He started off with the candle problem which originated in the mid forties. It is a problem solving puzzle, where you have thumb tacks inside a box, matches, and a candle. There are two groups that are assigned to solve a problem. Their task is to attached the candle to the wall so it will not drip onto the table. The first group is told that they will be timed, so average times may be calculated. The second group is told that if they are in the top 25% , they will receive $5 and if they have the fastest time they will receive $20.  You would think that the group with the reward incentive would win  since they have the extra motivation of winning money. During that time period it was a good amount of money. What happened next may shock some people,  the group with the money incentive took three and a half minutes longer. Dan Pink explained that rewards do the complete opposite. It blocked creativity and dulled the thinking process. The assumption is that if you want people to work better and faster and you reward them, it does not work. Rewards narrow your focus but it does work well for simple problem solving.    


            If you repeat the same candle problem with the tacks outside the box the group with the incentive does very well. They have that narrow focus for simple problem solving. The problem is most tasks in our country today involves creative thinking. Many of your simple tasks are being outsource to other countries. There were similar studies completed at MIT, India, and the London School of Economics with similar results. At the London School of Economics there were studies conducted on paid for performance. They concluded that "Financial incentives can result in a negative impact in overall performance. Intrinsic motivation where you do things because they matter, they are interesting, or they are part of something important is what really matters. Extrinsic motivators work well with tasks that involved mechanical skills. But once the task called for even rudimentary cognitive skills the larger reward "led to poorer performance".

 Building  Blocks

There were three building blocks that he referred to:

1. Autonomy - The urge to direct our own life's.
2. Mastery - The desire to get better and better with something that matters.
3. Purpose - The yearning to do something good for something larger than ourselves.

Autonomy is what he spoke about in this session. Below are a few examples from different businesses:

1. FEDEX Days - Australian software company tell their engineers to go and work on whatever they want for 24 hours. Many solutions have come to light with this approach.
2.  20% Time - Google allows their workers to work on something they care about. Half the new products in a typical year are created at this time e.g. Google News, Gmail.
3. ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) - 20 companies in North America operate like this.

• No fix work schedule
• Just get your job done
• Meetings are optional

Results from the above examples:

• Productivity goes up
• Worker engagement goes up
• Turnover goes down

Guest Speaker Adam Taylor

Adam Taylor has a passion for Science and Technology. He is a high school Science teacher  who started  #scistuchat a Twitter chat with High School students & Scientists. You can follow him on Twitter under the handle @2footgiraffe. The U.S. Dept. of Energy and renowned scientists have participated with his projects on Twitter. He mentioned to not worry about how many followers you have on Twitter that it will come in time when building your PLN. Once you select a professional in your field check to see who they are following and follow those individuals also. Also retweet articles that you find interesting. The owner will appreciate it.



During our class session we also watched a video on Kansas students who solved a water crises for a school in Kenya. Their water lines had burst and the water was contaminated with their sewage. The teachers from the two schools had connected through Skype. The grade students in Kansas immediately started working on a solution to the water problem. Their solution for the crises was Life Straw filters. They immediately started emailing the company. A company spokesman connected with them through Skype and told them that once they raised $2,000 dollars that they will immediately send 4 filters to the school in Kenya. This was terrific news!   

Artistic Tools

The book "Untangling The Web" will give you the paint, microphone, and special effects to empower your student's ideas. Try these sites:

1. Big Huge Labs - Edit Photos and Images

2. iPiccy - Photo editing regardless of OS.

3. Sumu Paint - Full feature drawing application.

4. Ujam - Create, edit and remix music.

5. WeVideo - Upload video to the web and edit it on line in a rich editor.         

Note Taking and Content Curation

 

In our Digital Portfolio class session last week we discussed "Note Taking" and "Content Curation". Flip Board and Evernote were two apps that we discussed that caught my interest.  Flipboard is an easily downloadable app that gives you all you need to take your favorite content collected from the web and transform it into your very own personally styled magazine.  I can catch up on current events and items that interest me very easily.  My interests are very diverse so I believe this app will assist me stay connected.  I recently read an article about Instagram that caught my interest on Flip Board, "7 Proven Tips to Launch Your Business on Instagram".  I placed the link on Evernote another app that we discussed for future reference. Some of the helpful capabilities of Evernote are listed below: 

1. Organize your work place (Create Notes and Notebooks)
2. Work with other employees (Chats)
3. Keep productive anywhere
4. Scan documents from your phone to a PDF File

I was able to create my first note on Symbalooede another app we discussed. This app assist people in staying organized by saving all their important links.  They are easily available to you anywhere.  Another neat feature of Evernote is you are able to scan a business card with your phone and add it to your contacts list and save it as a note. If you link Evernote note to your LinkedIn account you are able to receive this feature for 12 months without having to upgrade.

 

Simplified Evernote Guide

If Evernote has caught your interest I have linked some interesting tutorials that may assist you get started:

1. Evernote for Windows

2. Evernote for IPAD

3. Sharing notes and collaborating using Evernote

Flipboard App Gets 34,000 New Topics For Deep Personalization

According to a article on WSJD version 3 adds more than 34,000 new topics (such as cute animals, parenting, and adventure travel) that users can follow to create in-app magazines tailored to their interests.  My interest run a diverse spectrum from technology, e-media, Personal Finance to Logistics Management so to quickly scan through articles on a central location I believe is a plus to time management.  There are 5 main icons on the top bar: 

1. Home - Cover Stories (Personal Magazines)

2. Following (People & Orgs)

3. Search

4. Notifications (What's been shared with you)

5. Account (Tweak Settings) 

There is also a Explore link to possible new magazine additions for your collection.  I particularly like the feature where you "Flip" an article to read later or you may share it with someone.  There are more than 10 million user-generated magazines on Flipboard, but the company is adding a new one of its own. The “Daily Edition” and will be sent to users each morning filled with stories curated by staffers. It’ll include world, business, tech, sports stories, opinion columns, a photo and video of the day and a “parting GIF.”

 

CNN has sold its news reader app, Zite, to Flipboard

According to an article on CNN Money, Flipboard  teamed up with CNN to launch custom magazines for CNN shows anchored by Fareed Zakaria, Jake Tapper, and John King. The deal was  valued as high as $60 million over time, taking into account future advertising revenue, said a source familiar with the deal.  I believe this was a win for both entities.  The company would be able capitalize on Zite's personalization technology, which enabled the app to deliver results based on the user's interests and social networks.  "By bringing the Zite team and technology to Flipboard, we  delivered an even more personalized experience to every Flipboard reader," Flipboard CEO Mike McCue said.
 

 

 

 

 

 


Connected Learning Communities

In the book, "Connected Educator", the Three Pronged Approach to effective professional development was discussed in depth.

• Professional Learning Community - Face to Face structure

• Focus is student achievement

• Personal Learning Community - Individual, Face to Face, or on-line structure

• Focus is Personal Growth (PLN)

• Communities of Practice - Collective, Face to face, and on-line structure

• Systemic Improvement

Social learning through community networks and groups will help you reach your professional goals. Some of the other important topics discussed were diversity in the group (Very Important); transparency is often difficult but a powerful learning strategy; using a common language is also important when building a common purpose.

Guest speaker Cameron Brenchley

Our guest speaker this week was Cameron Brenchley, Vice President at Collaborative Communications Group.  Cameron works to develop and lead communication strategies that stand out in our crowded media landscape while helping clients navigate political and policy considerations.  Cameron received his masters in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.  During our session, he recommended Linked In to our class as a way to stay connected to professionals in your field of interest.  I have since created my own account and will utilized it to follow individuals. His accomplishments in the field of Digital Strategy is very impressive. Cameron was the U.S. Department of Education’s first ever Director of Digital Strategy and implemented the Department’s first strategic digital plan. The above link will take you to a summary in Linked In. I asked Cameron to suggest ways a small business like mine (Cross Fit 47) can get their name out there utilizing e-media. Below are his suggestions:

1. Maximize search engine
2. Create a Web Page (In work)
3. Professional Twitter Account (Feeds)
4. Linked In (Prefers Linked in over Twitter)
5. E-Mail News Letter (Make sure it is useful Information)

•  Know your audience

We had a interesting discussion about the tool, Ready or Not.  It is a tool that lets you enter any Twitter or Instagram username and see every place that user has been and what they’ve tweeted while there.  It also includes a chart that shows how frequently users are at certain locations at certain times of the day. It is a little scary that this information is readily available for anyone to access.  Teaching Privacy want to alert people to the dangers they might not realize exist. “Most people,” he said, “do not know that if you tweet something this location data is actually publicly available.” We also had a interesting discussion on Geo-tagging photos. Presently it needs to be turned by you for most services and the data is only accessible via a service’s API. My group also had a interesting discussion on the Pros and cons of Instagram for Professional use. Here are the Pros and Cons we discussed as a group:




PROS

1. Good marketing opportunities
2. If customers are tagging or geotagging you, or your business, it will bring more attention to you
3. It is similar to Twitter where you can create a PLN with professionals in your intended field
4. Hashtags will connect any keyword searches to your images
5. Coaching Opportunities
6. Most people in the world use it
7. Cost Affective

CONS

1. If you set locations on Instagram, other people can see where you took your photo and can find where you are in an instant
2. Customers have the ability to link your personal account to your professional if you aren’t careful
3. Not very helpful if you don’t have images to go along with your content
4. Limited in some ways, usually have to use email for any professional matters
5. Having open privacy settings can lead to spam or abusive followers
6. Cannot put clickable URL’s

Ways Face Book Owns You

If a stranger approached you asking for your name, age, phone number, names of family and friends, and interests, with the intent of sharing that information to more strangers, you'd probably be hesitant to readily give up that information. Yet that's essentially what users do when they create their Facebook profiles.  You are entrusting Facebook to keep your information private, but your information is not owned by you. Facebook also has a policy in place that allows it to use your information to advertise to your friends. The agreement gives Facebook permission "to use your name and profile picture in connection with a brand you may like. These ads would appear on the profiles of friends' pages, but not strangers. Users also receive no compensation for their participation. You have the option to op out if you choose to.  In a Wall Street Journal article, Facebook also allows marketers "to target ads at users based on the email address and phone number they list on their profiles, or based on their surfing habits on other sites."

 How to successfully use Snapchat for your career

If you’re looking for a job or building your personal brand and want to figure out how to make Snapchat work for you, here are four suggestions to get you started:

1. Seek Out Potential Employers

Locate  companies utilizing the platform. Pay attention to the content they’re posting and how they’re engaging with followers.  You may be able to incorporate examples of how an organization is using the platform in your cover letter or interview, positioning you as a social media-savvy candidate.

2. Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Your Life

Focus on showcasing the skills and expertise you want to be known for. For example, if you’re looking for a job as an event planner, you could use the “stories” feature to create a tale documenting how you’re preparing for an upcoming event. This will be a heck of alot more interesting that writing a few lines about it in an email.

3. Turn Your Resume into a “Story”

This advice won’t work for every job you apply to. You’ve got to really know your audience before you ditch the old paper application in favor of a creative hire-me campaign, but it’s worth considering depending on the company and position. To get a better idea of what I’m talking about, check out a Snapchat resume example created by Elski Felson.

4. Follow Media Feeds

 Think of what organizations and companies can help you on your career path, and begin building your Snapchat stream. Check out the “Discover” section on the social media platform to get started. From a long list of media organizations (posting full articles, videos, and photos) under this heading, you can choose which ones interest you and begin following.

 

 

 

  
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Advantages of a Professional Learning Network

My name is Jose L Garcia.  I 'm a Senior Business Major at Stockton University.  I have a Associates Degree in Logistics through the Community College of the Air Force.  I work full time with the NJANG as a Training and Deployment Manager.  I maintain over 75 employees training records.  I am also a business partner in a Cross Fit Box in Vineland.  You can look us up on Facebook or Wodify under "The Body Shop / Cross Fit 47".  In my spare time, I coach my daughter's  basketball team for CYO.

The Social Media book by Mike Gusler, "Discover the Magic of Social Media Marketing", is a subject that I am interested in as a business owner. The author went from a total newbie, to building a successful business with some coaching. The business created a very successful contact list. The formula provided a way to get free traffic to your site and gives you the ability to grow your own email list.

Some of  the advantages of utilizing a PLN (Professional Learning Network) are locating people with whom to grow ideas (The Connected Educator, pg 92). You can find ideas and information that you can bring back to your community. You could also create one user name, locate a mentor, and follow individuals associated with your mentor. A healthy community will have a clear purpose and meet its members needs.

When utilizing  Twitter PLN you could engage, educate and report. You could also connect and establish relationships with other professionals in your field.  Connect faster with a browser like Tweet Deck. You can place different people on different lists for faster viewing.

When your Twitter list grows to a couple hundred people you should utilized the lists function in Twitter. If you select your profile icon drop down menu in the top right navigation bar or by going to your profile page and clicking on lists. Enter the name of your list, and than, select private or public and save. To add or remove people select the gear icon drop down menu on user's profile and select add or remove from lists. A pop up will appear displaying your created lists. Check the list you would like to add the user to, or uncheck the list you like to remove the user from. I have added three lists to assist me to stay organized:  Finance, Logistics, and GEN 2243 (Explore Your Digital Portfolio).

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is a great way to connect to your community. The options are numerous. Below are some examples: 

1. You can complete video interviews. 
2. On line coaching - Resumes
3. Offer online critique sessions
4. Business Meeting
5. Customer Support for your product or service
6. Host online launch parties
7. Live classes
8. Brain storm with your business partners
9. Virtual office hours

You can share your ideas with other professionals in your field. You can also link your Blog to Google plus. When you link your blog you should select the title in the body of the blog and copy that URL. By copying that URL the reader goes straight to your blog location instead of scrolling down to it.

You can also utilize Google Hangout Broadcast to build your business. You are able to stream to YouTube within minutes of the completion of your broadcast.


When you own a business every dollar counts. Google docs is a free option over MS Word.  It does not have all the bells and whistles of Word but like I mentioned it is free. You will need to determine if you require all those extra features on Word. 
 

After reading the article, "A (Very) Brief History of Artificial Intelligence", I went searching for a current event article related to AI and Finance. I found one in Twitter called "Why US tech giants are buying British AI start-ups", which caught my attention. US giants such as Apple and Microsoft are flocking to the UK to buy AI start ups as Britain establishes itself as the go to place for the technology. Below are some of the main points from the article. 

Spending Spree

1. Microsoft acquired Swiftkey (2016 London Based), an AI start up that makes a predictive keyboard for smartphones for $250 million.
2. Google acquired DeepMind (2014) which has recently demonstrated its ability to master the ancient Chinese game of Go for $582 million.
3. Amazon bought Evi Tech (2012 Cambridge) which produces a Siri-like product which users can talk to and ask questions.
4. Apple acquired an start-up called Emotient which has developed technology that can detect emotions.

The talent that is born out of the U.K.'s top universities Oxford and Cambridge is one reason behind the success according to the article. The founders of Swiftkey were ex-students at Cambridge and DeepMind's acquisitions, Dark Blue Labs and Vision Factory were from Oxford University. I didn't realize there was a acquisition battle going on in the U.K. for AI start ups. The US giants all want the next big thing. 

Guest speaker Cameron Brenchley

Our guest speaker this week was Cameron Brenchley, Vice President at Collaborative Communications Group.  Cameron works to develop and lead communication strategies that stand out in our crowded media landscape while helping clients navigate political and policy considerations.  Cameron received his masters in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.  During our session, he recommended Linked In to our class as a way to stay connected to professionals in your field of interest.  I have since created my own account and will utilized it to follow individuals. His accomplishments in the field of Digital Strategy is very impressive. Cameron was the U.S. Department of Education’s first ever Director of Digital Strategy and implemented the Department’s first strategic digital plan. The above link will take you to a summary in Linked In. I asked Cameron to suggest ways a small business like mine (Cross Fit 47) can get their name out there utilizing e-media. Below are his suggestions:

1. Maximize search engine
2. Create a Web Page (In work)
3. Professional Twitter Account (Feeds)
4. Linked In (Prefers Linked in over Twitter)
5. E-Mail News Letter (Make sure it is useful Information)

•  Know your audience

We had a interesting discussion about the tool, Ready or Not.  It is a tool that lets you enter any Twitter or Instagram username and see every place that user has been and what they’ve tweeted while there.  It also includes a chart that shows how frequently users are at certain locations at certain times of the day. It is a little scary that this information is readily available for anyone to access.  Teaching Privacy want to alert people to the dangers they might not realize exist. “Most people,” he said, “do not know that if you tweet something this location data is actually publicly available.” We also had a interesting discussion on Geo-tagging photos. Presently it needs to be turned by you for most services and the data is only accessible via a service’s API. My group also had a interesting discussion on the Pros and cons of Instagram for Professional use. Here are the Pros and Cons we discussed as a group:




PROS

1. Good marketing opportunities
2. If customers are tagging or geotagging you, or your business, it will bring more attention to you
3. It is similar to Twitter where you can create a PLN with professionals in your intended field
4. Hashtags will connect any keyword searches to your images
5. Coaching Opportunities
6. Most people in the world use it
7. Cost Affective

CONS

1. If you set locations on Instagram, other people can see where you took your photo and can find where you are in an instant
2. Customers have the ability to link your personal account to your professional if you aren’t careful
3. Not very helpful if you don’t have images to go along with your content
4. Limited in some ways, usually have to use email for any professional matters
5. Having open privacy settings can lead to spam or abusive followers
6. Cannot put clickable URL’s

Ways Face Book Owns You

If a stranger approached you asking for your name, age, phone number, names of family and friends, and interests, with the intent of sharing that information to more strangers, you'd probably be hesitant to readily give up that information. Yet that's essentially what users do when they create their Facebook profiles.  You are entrusting Facebook to keep your information private, but your information is not owned by you. Facebook also has a policy in place that allows it to use your information to advertise to your friends. The agreement gives Facebook permission "to use your name and profile picture in connection with a brand you may like. These ads would appear on the profiles of friends' pages, but not strangers. Users also receive no compensation for their participation. You have the option to op out if you choose to.  In a Wall Street Journal article, Facebook also allows marketers "to target ads at users based on the email address and phone number they list on their profiles, or based on their surfing habits on other sites."

 How to successfully use Snapchat for your career

If you’re looking for a job or building your personal brand and want to figure out how to make Snapchat work for you, here are four suggestions to get you started:

1. Seek Out Potential Employers

Locate  companies utilizing the platform. Pay attention to the content they’re posting and how they’re engaging with followers.  You may be able to incorporate examples of how an organization is using the platform in your cover letter or interview, positioning you as a social media-savvy candidate.

2. Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Your Life

Focus on showcasing the skills and expertise you want to be known for. For example, if you’re looking for a job as an event planner, you could use the “stories” feature to create a tale documenting how you’re preparing for an upcoming event. This will be a heck of alot more interesting that writing a few lines about it in an email.

3. Turn Your Resume into a “Story”

This advice won’t work for every job you apply to. You’ve got to really know your audience before you ditch the old paper application in favor of a creative hire-me campaign, but it’s worth considering depending on the company and position. To get a better idea of what I’m talking about, check out a Snapchat resume example created by Elski Felson.

4. Follow Media Feeds

 Think of what organizations and companies can help you on your career path, and begin building your Snapchat stream. Check out the “Discover” section on the social media platform to get started. From a long list of media organizations (posting full articles, videos, and photos) under this heading, you can choose which ones interest you and begin following.