Pamela's Blog

I was working hard this week cranking out blog post, reading articles and trying new things and spending hours on Pinterest then started working on my participation log and it looked as if I had not done anything.   How do I account for all of those hours spent looking and playing with tools, trying to find the right ones to use for my Prousage paper?  How do I account for the articles read related to student learning and social media?  Then...find something to post to Twitter, which may seem mindless to some but not me.  Before I take a picture I consider the background, what I am trying to focus on, all of those things matter (may not matter to you but it does to me). And I take terrible pictures, despite the photography class I paid for. I guess I am saying that we are close to the end and this is a light post.  Remember classmates there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

If you don't know by now, I a huge fan of infographics.  They give you the opportunity to take a whole lot of information and put it in one place that is easy to read.  Sort of like a poster session.  I like poster sessions.  Many times this information can tell a story that graphically that is more profound than the verbal or print telling. OER is also something that has had my interest for the past few years.  Working in higher ed, I have seen the struggles of students and if there is something that we can do about it, then we should.  The problem with OER is that it takes "out of the box" thinkers and some educators don't want to leave the confines of their box.  It is safe and warm and allows me to collect a paycheck.   But, I understand their dilemma and their need for support.  I was a kindergarten teacher.  If anyone remembers their kindergarten teacher or knows a kindergarten teacher, you know that they are the MacGyvers of the education world. 

This class has reminded me of the great teacher I used to be (sarcasm).  I was an early adopter.  I jumped on Edmodo when it launched.  I created online tests for my students with the four big greyish off-white computers we had in the classroom.  I had a Mimio when they were first introduced.  I like to think of myself as a "game-changer".  Keeping up with tech, though can be overwhelming. I found myself wanting to try everything that was out there, kinda reminds me of the first time I walked into the public library as a school librarian.  Overwhelmingly, Awesome!  You have to step back though and evaluate.  You have to think about what your objectives are for the tools and most of all, how the students will respond to whatever you are using.  Here is an article that may help you get started by Dr. Jason Rhode.  Steps for Choosing the Best Technology Tools for Your Teaching

After reading Dr. Dennen's chapter   Networked knowledge activities, for the upcoming book I classified my family.  It's funny how a person's journey through social media can create a classification. I am glad to have read this chapter because it made me think of a few things about how we interact with one another, not just my family but also my social network. Collect & Curate-  I am a collector and a s a librarian, I am a curator.Regardless of how organized I like to see myself, I collect web pages and pins like a boss.  I like to think of myself as a minimalist, however my interest are so all over the place that I actually created folders for my bookmarks and was trying to figure out if I could put folders in my folders.  The problem with justifying those folders, categorizing them and remembering what it is in them.  (In walks Pinterest... stage left).  Pinterest is the collection life raft that helps me not only know what I am cooking for dinner, but categorizes

The social media experiment in this class has kind of taken my life for a loop.  If you read my initial post you will know that I have limited my social media use for personal reasons.  I don't like the pressure of following and posting.  I am the chair of a social media committee, believe it or not and I see my job as purely organizational.  My little team and I have created a social media calendar schedule posts using Buffer.  I am down the rabbit hole.  I knew this would happen as soon as I opened myself up and it did.  I have wasted countless hours this week on social media and can't put that on my participation log.  Now that my husband sees me on Instagram he feels the need to "send" me memes and posts.  People like a post or pic and I get the notification for that so I have to view it.  Those of you who are in control out there can say, "turn your notifications off" but think about how many times you posted something and wanted to see how many peopl

I was brought from my slumber by a trip to the bathroom and my Bella letting me know she wanted out of her crate (to get in our bed) at 3:12 am.  As she nestled in next to my husband, I couldn't think of anything but this blog post that I needed to write.  Yes, Dr. Dennen your class invaded my sleep once again. Lying in bed trying to close my eyes tight and regulating my breathing (in hopes to return to a VERY good night's sleep) I ended  up thinking.  So instead of tossing an turning for the next few hours, I ended up here. My mind was on a conversation that I had yesterday and the list of educational apps that I had looked at earlier for this week.  Two different instances but on point. They both boil down to access.  Access that is voluntarily and access that is involuntarily. My youngest son will be traveling to London next week for soccer.  Unfortunately, I don't get to travel with him (because someone has to pay for his budding soccer career).  The coach to

I was first introduced to developing your own Google Maps when trying to convince my son not to move to Los Angeles.  I sent him a link to Los Angeles Gangs   (which is quite informative) as a joke, but was fascinated by the ability to create my own personal or family map.   Fast forward two years. In 2015,I joined the Transitions to College Committee, a part of  ALA, a national organization, to work on a project. The focus was to connect public, school and academic librarians locally. Our intention is to help all students connect to the library or a librarian, regardless of  where they are located.  We created a Google Form to collect information, and members of the committee would take turns placing "pins" on the map related to the type of library represented.  This map has been active for quite a few years and I have made quite a few library friends across the country because of it.   Very easy to use and embed, Google Maps has created a tool that can not only keep

I recently took the long drive to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to pick up my son from soccer camp.  It was just me and Bella, my Yorkie, which meant we sang Prince songs, and Hamilton- The Musical, listened to Serial Killers  and Let's Talk About Myth, Baby! (my recent podcast addictions.   I read a sign that gave reference to training for a career in some type of industry, I can't remember which one and it made me question, how would we use social media or networking to reach the adult learner that is not a college student? There are industries out there that are getting instructional designers to develop training for their employees but what happens after the employee has completed the training modules?  Aside from having to get certifications updated periodically, what happens next?  I am curious as to the types of social networks have been put in place, or need to be put into place, to ensure that these learners are continuously being engaged, encouraged and challenged.  I unfortu

Back in February, I attended an OER (Open Educational Resources) Summit in Destin, Florida.  The statistics was shocking to say the least at what students will (or will not) do for a college education.  The six year graduation rate was on the rise and Florida decided to create Performance Metrics to study (and in my own words, punish) schools that had higher graduation rates and excessive credit hours.  Sometimes, we don't fully understand the problem.  Students gave testimony that they would sometimes do things like; look at the course list and compare the price of the book.  If there were two books that cost more than $150, they would take an elective (because they needed to make sure they had full time status) so they could get their financial aid.  This leads to excessive credit hours. Or, the student wouldn't buy the book and end up making a less than desirable grade causing them to take it again.  These are young people out in the world trying to juggle school and be

I joined LinkedIn a few years ago, reluctantly.  Initially, I thought of it as a job searching place instead of a professional social networking site.   I admit, I was afraid that my employers would think that I was unhappy and want another job. I was reluctant because it forced me to put my professional self out there and that wasn’t something that I was used to.  I found that LinkedIn offers so much more than just job hunting.  Aside from a place to connect to other professionals in the field, LinkedIn also gives resume building tips and professional development.  Lynda.com (which you have access to through FSU) offers courses to help you learn new skills or build upon what you already know. The “Official LinkedIn Blog” offers a plethora of topics that a reader can explore.   In a world where social networking gives potential employers so much information (good and bad) about you, LinkedIn offers a professional platform in conjunction with your cv or resume.

I have had my share of beautiful beach photos and my kids doing crazy things on social media, but the article Information Sharing on Social Media Sites ( Osatuyi, 2013) took me back woke me up a little.   Last summer while in Chicago at the American Library Association Annual Conference, I attended a session related to #BlackLivesMatter.  In this session a group of librarians and friends, described how they attempted to document the #BlackLivesMatter moment. I say moment because that is what it started as… a moment .  Osatuyi describes a primary source as information that is original in its format and #BlackLivesMatter started as a hashtag. It became so much bigger than its humble beginnings. What started as a Facebook post to bring people together became a social movement.  This group of librarians began researching the use of the hashtag, the times and places it was used, as well as,other hashtags that accompanied it. A social movement was being born and it start

This week’s readings gave me something to think about.  Its a pipe dream. The thing about pipe dreams though is that we all have them and sometimes if shared other’s can help tweak it to make it into something that may actually be worth trying. The connected learning article made me think about my student’s responses to the question that I posed on Monday about social media and their academic life.  The answers were actually split three ways. Many admitted to having problems with social media because it prevents them from devoting time to getting work done (I found this same distraction myself this week, unfortunately), another group stated that they use social media to make professional and educational connections while another group (about 3) don’t use social media during the semester because it is too much of a distraction. They all use GroupMe though, because many of their advisors and some professors use GroupMe to communicate about assignments and changes that may be m

You may have noticed by now that I am a control freak (except when it comes to eating for some reason).  Anyway, after viewing the PLN Spark video I was able to identify myself.  I was a teacher at one time and I am familiar with PLCs ,(Professional Learning Communities)which some of you have pointed out, but how do they compare?  I think the purpose of a PLC is to get a group together that may have something in common , usually teaching.  In a sense they are thrown together to accomplish some goal. PLNs are more organic.  They are grown by the participants and cultivated by how active you decide to be.  The article, " What are Personal Learning Networks ?" by Shift Learning does a pretty good job of describing the differences between PLNs, PLEs and CoPs. Yep, that's a lot of letters thrown around but to distinguish between all of the different networks, communities and environments. They are not the same and their functions allow for various experiences.  For exam

The way our community status has changed over the past seventy years can be astonishing.  There was a time when we knew our neighbors well and would borrow things from them and attend their backyard parties with potato salad and green bean casserole.  I lived in a “little boxes” neighborhood and honestly, when my husband and I were home shopping that is what we were looking for; a place to raise our kids with sidewalks for bicycle rides, other children playing, bliss.  We would ride around neighborhoods and judge them by whether or not the people walking waved or not. It was silly, we were in our early twenties. We based our decisions on what others of our generation had done. The remarkable thing is, our relationships with our neighbors is not as tight-knit as we expected, they are nice but no backyard party invites.  Many of our kids friends live in other neighborhoods so we had to drive them to other parts of the city. People do wave and smile when they are on the sidewalk,just

For those of you who don't know, I am a librarian. Love this career choice because it gives me access to the future leaders of tomorrow. With my social media anxiety from the weekend, I have decided that the perfect combination of coffee, green tea and teaching a class has me grounded. Coffee to get me up, green tea to bring me down and throw in an information literacy class first thing in the morning and you have me going.  I decided to pose this question to my class this morning. What impact does social media have on your academic life? There were twenty three students in this undergraduate class and I wanted to get their opinions on how social media impacts them academically. This is a group of undergraduate students at various stages in their academic careers and they are all under the age of 23.   I posed my question.  Walked away.  Taught my lesson.  A few things to know about what I do.  I am a reference librarian who teaches students how to locate r

I was a reluctant Facebook adopter around 2009. A professor had our class create accounts to introduce us to this growing world of what is now called social media. My first posts probably consisted of a book I was reading or a picture of a flower, who knows. I have gone from having more than 1000 friends to less than 100 (currently). Basically, if I don't know you personally and haven't communicated with you in at least a year we are not friends. I also at some point sent out a Facebook post that read, "real friends here. If you want to stay friends with me then please respond to this post. Don't just like it, respond." My husband was unfriended for about two months before he noticed that we weren't friends anymore. I never said a word. We are caught up in a world that is training us to rely on the "likes", "retweets", and number of followers that has caused to become slaves to our devices. For my sanity, I can't comply...ful

Hello...and Welcome... This is blog post number one. Always the hardest and always the last. I am attempting to greet you with my baby Bella in my arms (before you say awww, she's a 31/2 pound Yorkie that refuses to be put down). I have blogged before and just lost the time to keep up with it. I decided to purge myself of being social and go on a "social media" diet. This is the only diet that I can stick to and ...BAM! back at it again. My introvert self is going to have to communicate with my extrovert self and hopefully they will produce something great. So, hello...and welcome... we will see where this adventure leads.