www.quickanddirtytips.com
“Quick and Dirty Tips creates and distributes
digital content that offers short, actionable advice from friendly and informed
authorities that will help you succeed at work and in life.”
Carla McMillan
posted this website back in the early weeks of our class and I haven’t had much
time to look at it until this week and I have to say I really like it! I chose
this site because of the business and career tab that it features and the
information that is provided. There is a plethora of ideas and advice that will
be great for my business students. Just a few of the stories that I looked
through are: How to write a great resume, office etiquette, email etiquette,
public speaking, ways to succeed in sales, how to be the office newbie, and how
to prioritize. This is just a small sample of the information available in the
careers section. There are also sections on small business, legal,
communication, networking and public speaking.
I would definitely
incorporate this site into my classroom. Students could take to looking up two
or three items every week that interested them or that pertained to the topic
that was being studied and reporting about what they learned from each section.
I would also use it from the educator’s point of view and choose my own topics
from the site and use those topics for group work in the classroom.
www.blogspot.com
I believe it was David Dodd that chose the blog as an
emerging technology. Others might have also but David’s post is the one that I
remember seeing. A blog as we have all learned this last eight weeks is like
having our own personal chalkboards where we can post information that is
relevant to the work we are doing in class. When I first started this class I
can honestly say that I may have read a blog, but if I did, it certainly wasn’t
because I was looking for one. I have to say, that once I figured out why I was
having so much trouble with my blog and posting to it, (and I will never tell
because it is too stupid to even admit to), that I love the blog idea! I
actually can’t wait to have students of my own because I want to give them a
blog assignment. I think it is a creative way to speak about important topics in
class. I also want my students to create a page that reflects their ideas and
personalities. My idea for the use of a blog would be to have my students create
a business plan by sections (similar to the way we did our emerging technologies
grant proposal) and post their sections to their blog for review by their
colleagues. I would use it somewhat like a discussion board and ask my students
to comment on each other’s blogs with helpful ideas and constructive criticism.
In addition to the students using their blogs for business plans, I would use a
blog also to post helpful tips, ideas, links, resources, and class
announcements.
www.symbaloo.com
Symbaloo was introduced to us by Terri
Hock. Thank you Terri for giving me one more small glimmer of hope that I can
organize my online life! Symbaloo is a fancier more colorful version of
www.delicious.com. Symbaloo is a website that allows the user to make a
compilation of the websites they use the most or just websites that they have a
use for. It has a home page that consists of the user’s Webmix. “A webmix is a
compilation of tiles. Here you can search for webmixes created by others, or add
an empty webmix to start building one of your own.” In the center of the webmix
is a google search area. I chose this site because I love the way it is set up
and I believe it is a great way for the typically run-ragged college student to
organize their thoughts and information sources. The really nice part about this
site is that you can share your webmixes with other people. So, as an educator,
I could set up a webmix collage for my students with all of the relevant
websites they will want and/or need to use for class. I can also add pages to it
that are discovered throughout the semester. I think I would use Symbaloo in a
similar manner as I would use the blog but I would have my students use this
site a little more liberally than the blog site and allow them to use it for a
personal outlet also. By sharing their webmixes with each other, students could
get a glimpse of each other’s personalities and share their interests with each
other.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Digital Citizenship
Digital Citizenship
Tech Check is a resource
website that is intended to help educators integrate technology into their
classrooms. On the left hand side
of the website there is a long list of topics that educators can click on to
find numerous web links, activities, articles, quizzes, etc. The reason I chose this site was due to
the vast amount of information.
There are specific links for digital ethics, Internet basics &
safety, information literacy, and online tools. Within each of these topics there are several subtopics that
allow the educator to venture out to different helpful tools to enable them to
better teach their students about proper online use. For example, if you click on digital ethics, there you will
see links for netiquette, blog and wiki info, copyright, email etiquette,
activities and lessons for students, social networking and plagiarism. Each of these subtopics has links for
several different references that are suitable for all different age
groups.
I think it is important,
no matter what age group you are teaching, to make sure they have at least a
basic understanding of how the internet works and what kind of do’s and don’ts
apply in different areas like email, online shopping, social media, literary
references, etc. It is especially important in adult education because there is
a good chance that you may get an older student in your class that is possibly
information illiterate. If so, a
good place to start would be the link to 21st Century Learning
and/or Internet Basics & Safety.
Both of these links include the basics of the internet and how to
navigate and participate safely. I
would use both of these links in my class and have my students work through the
different subtopics gathering information. Another link that I thought would fun and informational is
under the Digital Ethics section.
There is a jeopardy-like game that students can play and another section
called That’s Not Cool. Although
the content is a little high-schoolish for adults, the message is clearly
stated and important to learn no matter what age you are and would also be
helpful for parents of school age children.
From the USC Annenberg
School for Communication and Journalism, comes a group of professors,
researchers, research assistants, and interns that have put together a project
webpage called New Media Literacies: Learning in a participatory culture. The website includes resources for educators
to use in order to teach students about the online world. The link above is for a resource on the
website called Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital
World. Our Space is a collaboration
of The GoodPlay Project and Project New Media Literacies. This is an exert from
the introduction of the casebook:
“Our
Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school
students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new
media environments. Through role-playing activities and reflective exercises,
students are asked to consider the ethical responsibilities of other people,
and whether and how they behave ethically themselves online. These issues are
raised in relation to five core themes that are highly relevant online: identity, privacy, authorship and ownership, credibility,
and participation… Our
Space was co-developed by Project New Media Literacies (established at MIT and
now housed at University of Southern California Annenberg School for
Communications and Journalism) and The GoodPlay Project (Harvard Graduate
School of Education). The Our Space collaboration grew out of a shared interest
in fostering ethical thinking, and conduct, among young people when they
exercise their new media skills (New Media Literacies Research Group, 2013).”
Again, although this
website says it is geared towards high school students, I feel that it is just
as applicable to adult students.
In each section there is an overview of the section and learning
objectives stating what students should learn after completing each section.
Then it gives lesson instructions for the educator about how to teach each
section. They touch on a lot of great subjects and truthfully there were quite
a few things on there that I have never heard of or heard anyone speak
about. For example, I had no idea
what a “flamer” was. Come to find
out, a flamer is “a person who gets into arguments and, instead of having a
reasonable discussion, insults people or states his/her opinion in very blunt
or insensitive ways.” Really? I always just thought that was an idiot
or a jerk! Who knew they had an
official online title? Not
me! Needless to say, there are 474
pages of great information and I would greatly encourage my students and even
fellow educators to take a look at this casebook and see what kind of
information they can learn from it.
I have put the link in my delicious.com account for later review because
I know there are things in there that I need to learn.
New Media Literacies
Research Group (2013). Our space: Being a responsible citizen of the
digital world. Retrieved from http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/our-space-being-a-responsible-citizen-of-the-digital-world/
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Open and Distance Learning
The description from their
website states, “Academy Bridge has thousands of learning modules covering all
business subjects. The content
originates from leading business schools, universities, and corporations. Everyone can benefit from this free
on-line educational resource.”
The reason I chose this
site is because I was very impressed with the amount of information that is
provided and the number of subjects it covers. The information is relayed to the learner through video and
each video is equipped with a comment section below it where students can
engage in discussions about each topic.
There are also different levels of information. The site suggests that students start
with the 24 hour business school and then move to the next level. Here is the information from the site
on each level:
24h Business
School In 24 hours of viewing the Academy Bridge user
community can get all the information needed to begin their business education.
Most content items are 5 minutes long. All important business topics are
covered. When viewing the 24h Business School content, it is recommend that you
watch videos in the order they are presented. Bringing your cursor over
individual video titles allows you to see the content of that video (pop-up
box).
Read More >>
Read More >>
- See more at:
http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf
Academy Welcome to the Academy. A large share of Academy
content originates from the world’s leading business schools. The depth and
detail of content goes beyond just delivering quality information. The Academy
supports knowledge accumulation. Knowledge is the last step before achieving
mastery (Master Class). The Academy will require from you much more
perspiration in comparison to 24h Business School. “Success is 10 percent
inspiration and 90 percent perspiration” ~Thomas Edison (Thinkexist.com).
Read More >>
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf
‘Understanding business’ was the goal when designing
Master Class. Depth and detail are provided primarily in a lecture format.
Master Class content originates mostly from the world’s leading business
schools and Universities. Master Class course quality is enhanced through the
use of virtual textbooks. The majority of content in Master Class is in the
form of academic lectures, however, because we have not identified lecture
series for every topic you will occasionally be viewing a compilation of videos
within a section (Social issues).
Read More >>
Read More >>
- See more at:
http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf
The main driver of economic growth and jobs in our
world is the small business sector. Small Business Academy is a resource to
support small business growth and internationalization. The personal
development of current and future small business owners will benefit the world.
Read More >>
Read More >>
- See more at:
http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf
In each section there is
literally hundreds of videos that cover the following subjects: sustainability/responsibility,
innovation, marketing, economics, finance/accounting, organization/ethics,
leadership/management, entrepreneurship, international business, strategy,
technology, law, business history and biographies. Students can choose to view any section or all sections
depending on what they would like to focus on.
In addition to the
educational videos, the site also has two more sections called my development
and food for thought.
My Development is the ‘coach’ for all Academy Bridge
community members. Self-improvement and the realization of each community
member’s dreams is the ultimate goal. However, My Development also recognizes
everyone’s duty to support the development of others.
Read More >>
Read More >>
- See more at:
http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.heO70HSS.dpuf
All Academy Bridge community members can benefit
from ‘out of the box thinking’. Food for Thought provides the mental stimulus
to look beyond a problem or challenge and discover new meaning. Food for
Thought also reminds us of our obligations to others.
Read More >>
Read More >>
- See more at:
http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.heO70HSS.dpuf
This site has literally
covered all aspects of the business world. As an educator, I would definitely use this site as an
enhancement to the subject matter I am using in class. The videos can be used to help students
get a deeper understanding of the business world that may not be covered in
textbooks. Also, I would have my
students use the my development and food for thought sections to explore topics
that they may have never thought related to the business world but actually
do. These videos would be a great
addition to the classroom and could easily be used to for group discussions or
journal entries.
This link actually connects
to a blog written by Christopher Pappas.
The reason I chose it is because Christopher has written this particular
blog about free educational technologies for teachers. I liked it because he has listed 8
different links that connect to www.eLearningindustry.com.
These links include guides for teachers and how they can effectively use Twitter,
Facebook, Pinterest, gamification, keeping students safe online, Flipped
Classroom, blogs and Wiki. The
guides are very helpful and show teachers how they can use each of these ideas
in their classroom.
Considering that I plan to teach
online courses, I think these guides will be a great addition to my
classroom. My grant project focus
has been on gamification, so I would definitely use the gamification guide to
help come up with different gaming ideas for my students. In addition, I would like to
incorporate the use of Twitter and Facebook as means of enhancing the distance
learning aspect of my classroom. The
Twitter guide alone includes 15 different ways to use Twitter in the classroom
as well as 17 videos on how teachers can use Twitter. These 8 links
along with the various other tools on elearningindustry.com have great
potential for helping teachers enhance adult learning.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Virtual Environments for Learning
“Gazillionaire is a cross between business
strategy and Wall Street in wonderland. It's a wild game of buying low
& selling high. You'll run your own company, trade exotic goods, get
rich, and expand your empire.” I chose this game because it is a fun
way for business students to learn the basic business skills needed to
buy and sell commodities. Players create a company, buy a vehicle and
then stock their vehicle with the products that they buy. Then they
research different planets and find out where their products will sell
the best based on the availability of that product on different
planets. Then they fly to each planets to sell their products. The
demand of the product on the planet determines the price that it will
sell for. It is a simple case of supply and demand.
I like this game because it is able to be played
alone or with multiple players. Students can practice their business
skill alone or they can play it with fellow students in the classroom.
The business building skills that can be learned would be a great
advantage to beginning business students that are looking to advance
their knowledge of base level business practices. I would definitely
use this game in the classroom and would have my students journal their
progress each time they participated in the game.
“Business Tycoon Online (BTO) is one of the
most favorable browser games from Asia. It reached 1 million concurrent
online players in Asia and became famous among all the MMO browser
games. Player who starts from scratch will act as an entrepreneur to
fight in Liberty City. Through hard work, he will constantly expand his
business territory and raise social status until he becomes a prominent
socialite.” I chose this game because of the detail that it displays to
the player as they set up their own business. Once they choose the
type of business they want to run, they get to go to a particular
section of town and decide where they want their business to be
located. The player is able to look at other businesses in the area and
see where they think their business will do best.
This game stood out to me because there is a
history behind the game. The designers actually wrote a background for
the game so the player feels like they are delving into a real life
story. I also liked the game because it enables the player to pick the
gender of their player. I think it shows positive encouragement to
young female entrepreneurs. It encourages females to learn the world of
business which I feel is very important. Many young females lack the
confidence needed to jump into the business world and I feel like
Business Tycoon would be a great addition to my classroom. The student
not only gets to pick their business but they also get to pick their own
secretary and employees. Each secretary has their own profile and they
each come with their own attributes that can help their “boss” better
develop their company. Each potential employee also has their own
profile and the player can pick what type of employee they wish to have
work for their company. I think this game would be a wonderful addition
to the classroom because it strongly resembles real like business and
the students get to emulate real business owner. It would be a perfect
game for mid to advanced level business students.
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