Pamela's Blog

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 challe...

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 tryi...

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 co...

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 bein...

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...

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 experie...

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 o...