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As I reflect back over this week, I have gained a lot of knowledge on building a community to engage people in the learning process.  I was able to build a group on Facebook called No More Paycheck-2-Paycheck.  I conducted a survey through that group.  I created a new Youtube Channel called Wealth Builders Group.  However, I did not have enough time to develop and add content yet.  I also did not figure out how to add it to the sidebar of my blog.   I couldn't figure out how to incorporate Twitter to my sidebar or Facebook.  Therefore, it was somewhat of a frustrating week.  I am determined though  to figure them out and keep this blog going and growing.

In the readings for this week, I chose to read the article, "Lecturers’ Behaviors And Beliefs About The Use Of Social Media In Higher Education: A Study At Mahasarakham University In Thailand" by Thapanee Seechaliao.  In the article, he discussed the findings from research conducted about lecturers using social media. The article specifically stated, "In 2012, the Thai government launched the project “One Tablet PC Per Child” with the goal of improving education by addressing inequality and uneven standards of education quality."  I told my wife a couple of years ago, the day is soon approaching when all our kids will need for back to school is a tablet.  Their books will be online, all their assignments will be completed and submitted online, and their test will be taken online.  There will be no need for binders because you have Microsoft OneNote.  There will be no need for textbooks, as they will be online also. As I read the article, I realize that many of t

As the son of a teacher, and now the husband of a teacher, I found OER Commons to be a great resource for educators and instructional designers.   It was easy to search for information by grade level and subject. OER Commons also allows you to set up groups.  Some groups already exist on OER Commons, such as Hawaii Math Common Core, Designing Business Ethics Courses, and a few others.   Groups allow you to connect with other teachers and instructional designers. I also like the fact that OER Commons allows for Curation of different resources so a person can build a personal library of materials he or she can access readily. I am going to refer this site to my wife, and other teachers I know, as I believe it is a valuable resource.

The Hunt for Red October was a movie about a submarine from the Soviet Union that came close to the U.S.A. back in 1984.  When I think about submarine's I always think about the periscope. Merriam-Webster defines periscope as  a long tube that contains lenses and mirrors and that is used to look over or around something and especially by a person in a submarine to see above the surface of the water. Well a few years ago, Twitter developed a live streaming app called Periscope.  Periscope is great for connecting with people all across the world.   I remember we were having a youth worship service and I was streaming it on Periscope, and people from across the country and world were connecting.   One lady in particular asked for prayer as she was dealing with depression from the loss of her father.   Periscope in the context of Web 2.0 is a great tool because you can actually teach a lesson live and have people tune in and connect.  You can actually have people come b

As I look back over this week and the information we have studied, I have learned a lot about curation.  I particularly liked Storify as a curation site.  Although, as I have said before, I have not really been keen on curating in the past.  I now see the benefits it can have for a blogger or instructional designer. I have also gained a better knowledge and understanding of communities from the paper.  I see how different communities operate and interact. I can see how beneficial communities can be and how much knowledge and information can be gleened from the members of some communities. Overall, I have learned and grown a lot this week.

Museum have all types of different exhibits.  When I looked at the definition of the word curator I found the following: Curator:   a keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection. In this week's course work we discussed the concept of curation of bookmarks and tags in social media.  For my personal, and even professional, purposes I have not really had the need to curate bookmarks.   As I reviewed posts by classmates on the discussion and on their blogs, I realize the benefit to an instructional designer.  Curation allows you to quickly go back to a story or posts that may enhance the learning in a course you are developing.  Over time, an instructional designer may put together a collection of bookmarks and tags that instructinally would rival the artifacts of King Tut.  

I have recently started reading the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill.  Many times we don't think our thoughts have any value, because you can't package them and sale them at Walmart, or sale them on the internet.  The truth is your ideas are extremely valuable. I was first introduced to the concept of intellectual property in the ministry.  I was told that the revelation that God may give you in the scripture has value.  I have seen minister write best selling books, as well as sale many CDs of a sermon they preached on Sunday morning. Intellectual property goes much deeper than this, and idea for a new business concept, such as social media is worth billions.  The person with the idea may not have the resources or backing to make the idea a reality, but that doesn't mean the idea isn't valuable. Below I have included links to two Youtube videos about Intellectual Property. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDKxuTi2Cmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

This week we discussed the concept of crowdsourcing.  We have all heard the saying, "two heads are better than one."  Crowdsourcing takes this idea to the next level.  Crowdsourcing is allowing companies to benefit from the ideas and creative concepts of people from all over the globe, not just those within the company.  In addition to crowdsourcing, with the development of cloud computing, now companies can have multiple people contribute to a single project in one place and benefit to produce a far better product.  Crowdsourcing can also spur even new ideas because the contribution of one person, can ignite a new idea in someone else.  I was able to find a very good infographic that explains the differences and benefits of crowdsourcing vs. outsourcing. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AZFWyKWRUAFs__lyP6qkmleaf-1P6OKaPRH2ST49wchFgsD_Egysw14/

As I look back over this week and what I have learned, I realized that I have been creating PLNs from my mid-20's in different areas of my life.  I have a PLN for ministry, business, and fitness.   In addition to PLNs, I also learned about PLEs and self-regulated learning.  I also realized that tweenaged boys are not self-regulated, they are "Daddy motivated".   I also learned that I am not a huge fan of Reddit, but we will see over the coming weeks.  I am also not big on Snapchat either.  But despite my personal opinions, I do see the value of them and how learning can come from using these social media sites and the interaction through them. 

I was thinking about self-regulated learning, and it made me think about my sons.  I enrolled both of my boys (ages 10 & 12) in courses through Florida Virtual School for the summer.  I did for two reasons.  First, I want to keep their minds sharp during the summer months.  Second, they are trying to get high school and middle school credits done so they can participate in dual enrollment during high school.  I gave them a game plan that if they submitted 2 - 3 assignments each day (Monday - Thursday) they would complete the entire course in June.   Needless to say, we are in July and neither has completed the first semester in their course.  Each day I text them their assignments.  They have NO motivation, outside of me being on them to get the work done.  Although the course are designed to be completed over 32-36 wks, students can move has fast as they want.  However, my boys have zero ability to "self-regulate". Not sure I will do this next summer. Hindsigh

Most teachers would routinely greet their class with this phrase.  Many of our most influential teachers are not those we had in school, but they are the people we interact with on a regular basis.  We all (whether done intentionally or not) set up Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) .  We all have certain people with whom we enjoy conversating and interacting with because of the knowledge we gain from the conversation.  We have people who are always opening our eyes to some new information, or a least some information we didn't know prior to having the conversation. If you are like me, I have PLNs for different areas in my life.  I have PLNs for work, for ministry, for business, for working out, etc.  You are not limited to one PLN, but I would suggest having a PLN for every area of your life you wish to improve is some way. If you are the smartest, most successful person in your group, then you need a group.

As I am writing this blog post, I can help but think that I need a life preserver right now.  I have been part of the social media world through Facebook since about 2007.  However, I did NOT know there were soooooo many social media sites out there. As part of this class, Dr. Dennen gave us six sites to explore this week.  Now admittedly, I am part of three of the six already.  One, Snapchat, I was trying to stay off because that is where my kids are, and honestly I haven't really grasped the concept.  I guess I am too old.  I honestly have NEVER heard of Nuzzle though. I honestly feel like I am drowning in social media sites right now, and this is only week 2.

This week has been quite eye-opening for me.  First, I have learned what Web 2.0 really means which is totally different than what I had in mind when I registered for this course.  Being a techy, I wanted something with technology and develop course with a new software.  However, now I am somewhat intrigued to see what all we will cover in this course. Let's just say I am curiously excited. Let's see where this rabbit hole goes...

As I was reading the article this week on Understanding the functional building blocks of social media, I never really thought about the fact that social media platforms had building blocks.  When I think of building blocks, it took me back to my childhood and playing with Legos.   I was never really a huge Lego fan, but I did play with them from time to time. This article really caused me to think about the different social media platforms I regularly engage in, and all of them have most of the seven building blocks.  I most frequently use Facebook and it has all seven building blocks, which include Presence, Sharing, Relationships, Identity, Conversations, Reputation, and Groups.  However, I also use Instagram a lot, and this one (unless there is something I don't know about) does not have the Groups building block.  You can connect with and follow others, but it does not have the group aspect. This poses the question, is the group building block essential to social media?

As part of #EME6414, we are required to research different social media sites, and one of the sites I began researching Pinterest.  Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing social media sites on the internet.  As of January 2017, Pinterest has over 150 million users.  Millenials are using Pinterest about as often as Instagram. I like the information you can find on Pinterest, and it was very helpful during my Technology and Design course with Dr. Jeong.  However, I have not really gotten into Pinterest as 70 million other Americans.  Although I have used it for recipes, and my wife uses it for ideas for her classroom, Pinterest has not really captured my attention.  I don't know if it because I am a "Gen-Xer", but Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have me right now. Are YOU a Pinhead though?