Journal #7

Personal Learning Networks, such as Edutopia, are such a great way for teachers to connect with one another and share their trials and tribulations, especially when it comes to integrating technology into the classroom. Edutopia has an entire section solely for "technology integration" that covers anything from social media, to learning math on an iPad, and even having students use film to learn a topic.
All of these are great ways to figure out how to get students engaged and more active participants in the classroom, whether it's physically or virtually.

For me, being that my profession deals with catering to those in higher education and more on a "high-level" as opposed to a one-on-one type of relationship, some of this is lost on me. It is interesting to see the strides teachers are making to bring their classroom into the 21^st century, but unfortunately, I cannot use these skills the same way. That being said though, I'll go ahead and contradict myself by noting that if students are getting acclimated to technology being in the classroom since elementary school, by the time they reach college, they expect that from their university. There's definitely the likelihood of a college not being on their application list if they are not up and running in the digital world.

While I don't deal with the social media side of the university, I do still need to be informed on certain design styles and how students are using social media so that my videos can reflect the "hip," "cool," and "totally rad" style they've come to appreciate. (That's the lingo kids are using these days right? It's da bomb!)

I think that is where sites like Digg can really come into play for my professional future. Not only have I been able to curate a list of tutorials to enhance my motion graphic skills when I have the free time, but also I am able to create a list of the latest design trends to stay up-to-date. I like to think I do stay fresh with my designs, but I think other designers will admit to this too, once you develop your own style, you sometimes get stuck in a rut and stick with it.

For the upcoming New Year, I plan to make a resolution that at least once a month I'll create a new design piece (motion graphic, poster, origami, who knows!) to reflect a certain design piece that was inspired by my Digg feed. I think not only will this help me stay current with my designs, but also help me from getting designer block. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut and keep churning out designs you just sorta like. It's important to be creating pieces that both challenge you and keep you passionate about trade.


(Oh and of course, I'm not sure how much Twitter will come to use in my professional world. I guess I could say with One Direction taking a hiatus, it'll free up some free time in not being involved in that community, but who am I kidding? There's always fan art and fanfiction to be read/written!)

Q. 1 | Will you keep using your PLN in the future? Or will you broaden your horizon?

I'll probably look for another site to interact with. One site I do frequent often (yet never post in) is Creative Cow. It's more applicable to my field of interest and has helped me learn more about After Effects. I've only really frequented the forums when trying to find a specific help topic, but they do have various tutorials and podcasts that would work for me.

Q. 2 |  Technology has changed rapidly in the past 20 years. How do you see the future of classrooms in regards to technology in the next 10/15 years?

I was eight years old when Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century came out and let me tell you, that is still probably one of my favourite Disney Channel Original Movies. That being said, the technology in those classroom (each student on a computer during lectures; tablet video chatting; online testing…) has all already happened. The only thing missing is virtual teachers, but we already have things like Lynda.com which, isn't that pretty much the same thing without the ability to ask questions? I could say that I can see all classrooms going online and students being able to go from kindergarten to PhD all from home, but I don't think that's the case. Technologically, yes it's possible, but you'd seriously be missing out on the necessary social skills. 

I think we're in an age of major change though. We're looking for that balance between technology and tradition. Students still need to be able to hold a pencil and write in cursive, but we don't necessarily need to have every test handwritten.  I can see technology being used as a tool for learning and not taking over a classroom. Technology is a means to learn, but not meant to be a replacement for learning.

Journal #6

GED 512 is a great class for people who need experience in the intimidating world of coding. It helps teaches you the basics of a webpage and how all these lines of code come together to create a place that lives online that anyone in the world can access. For me, I had this knowledge already. When I was an undergrad, I worked as the Lead Web Developer at ASI Marketing department and I briefly had a web developer job in the private sector before coming back to work at Cal Poly Pomona's MediaVision.

I know code. When I first started my job at ASI, my supervisor had me read the first three "A List Apart" books because I didn't have server access for about a month. I was constantly exposed to new information and saw the stages of CSS3 and HTML5 being introduced and tried to implement various elements and the concept of "mobile first." My coding skills got better and, although I had always been one of those "strange" graphic design majors who liked coding, I was getting excited about it. Eventually I graduated and seeing as only students could be employed at the position I was in, I had to move on and find a full-time job.

My career path took me away from web coding proper and into web design (as I helped design the college templates for Cal Poly Pomona's web redesign), but I am more prevalently involved with motion graphics. I've done some freelancing on the side to keep up my coding skills and because I'm never happy with my personal website, I keep changing it (although I haven't had time lately to resume fixing it up, so it's slight haphazardly arranged). But overall, I'm removed from the coding world.

Taking this class is a bit like riding a bike for the first time in years. You remember the basics, but the little tricks and techniques you had stored up are a bit fuzzy. It's been great being able to polish up on skills that may have gotten a bit rusty. One thing I found most rewarding in this course is the mention of SVG images and animations in the book. Ever since I've heard about SVGs and their power, I've wanted to create some sort of animated story website (because I totally have the spare time to do that…right?). Yeah… probably not. Anyways, although that's pretty far off in the future, I was able to implement a basic SVG image with clickable links in the mobile view of a freelance site I helped out with that I'm proud of. It's a start.

Q.1 | How do you wish to use your knowledge from this course moving forward?

I want to fix up my personal site…again. Part of my issue is dealing with how I wish to present myself as a brand (designer, author, fangirl?). Everything is a bit disjointed and so nothing seems to stick. I know when IT migrates their webpages to Cascade, I'll be in charge of redesigning MediaVision page. And then maybe one day, after my first book is out whilst living comfortably off of it's royalties, I'll be able to sit and create an interactive story website, much like what Pottermore was intended to be… she said wistfully, dreams of the future sparkling in her eyes…

Q.2 | What's the best way to stay up-to-date with the constantly evolving web? 

Practice! There are so many sites out there (TeamTreeHouse, Lynda, CSS Tricks, Code Academy, A List Apart…) that can help teach you the changes to HTML5 and CSS3 as they are happening. You cannot expect to leave this course or even the EMM program and think you've learned everything there is to know for web design. The very first time I had ever coded was back in junior high with Neopets and Myspace. To say that code has changed since then is an understatement. You have to stay involved in the community at least a teeny bit to keep up. Technology is ever changing and you've gotta stay with it.

Journal #5

Reporter, D. (2012, June 6).
Twitter's blue bird 'Larry' gets a haircut in logo makeover.
Retrieved November 1, 2015.

 Oh the Twittersvere. The only place where people can express themselves in 140 characters or less to people who may or may not care.

Okay, that may be a tad bit dramatic. Especially seeing as I use Twitter on a daily basis, for 100% non-educational purposes. I mean, how else am I supposed to know what Niall Horan is doing now that One Direction is taking a year off touring? (He posted on his Instagram that he was currently hungover and watching Marley and Me, in case you were wondering.) Or what messages two stuffed rainbow gay bears are sending to the "Larrie" Fandom? (You don't want to know; it'll consume your soul.)

But I digress. 

I have been on Twitter going on seven years. Yes, that's a crazy long time and I've basically only ever used it to keep up-to-date with the fandoms I'm involved in. The thought of using Twitter for educational purposes really puzzled me at first. I mean, back in my day we had to use dial-up internet…

But then I read through the PowerPoint and I could actually see how it could be useful. When students are having fun, they have a tendency to learn better. If having them pretend to be Huckleberry Finn and tweet out various things to better understand the book, then why not?

I remember back in high school my government teacher had us watch 60 Minutes every Sunday and write a short report about it for extra credit. I can definitely see a teacher using the same tactic, but with Twitter. Watch the news over the weekend and tweet out about anything interesting, something that may pique your interest, which could then fuel discussions for the following Monday. It's a great way to create discussion topics and find real-time posts.

Another aspect the PowerPoint brought up was keeping parents informed on what's going on in class. How many times do you recall (or have your kids) come home and you've had to answer the "so what'd you do at school today" question? When you're in elementary school, this was probably easier to answer or you just showed your parents your homework for that evening, but once you entered that awkward middle school era and the "too cool for you" high school time, you may have been one of those kids that just grunted and shrugged. With teacher's tweeting out to parent's what's going on, they're able to stay engaged.

I've been laughing for the last 10 minutes,
dominos and pizza hut fighting over Louis tomlinson
pic.twitter.com/dzrme1s4mP. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 1, 2015.

Twitter is such a versatile platform. It is incredibly effective for marketing, especially in subtle ways, and I think it definitely can be used in schools to engage students in ways that'll help them learn.

Q. 1 | What are some things to be cautious of whilst integrating Twitter into the classroom?

I think one big thing that any teacher should be aware of before integrating any Internet activity into their classroom and that is Internet safety. Students should have private accounts that do not geolocate them. Maybe I'm paranoid, but sometimes kids do not realise how easy it is to find someone in real life by something they post on the Internet. 

Another thing would be that students should not get too comfortable with Internet lingo. Of course while using Twitter you're limited in your character count, so you may have to use an 'r' instead of an "are," but students still need to be able to write proper essays. The degradation of grammar and writing would be detrimental to society. 

The other issue with Twitter is that sometimes users do not realise how much impact their words have in real life. There have been numerous cases of people being fired from their jobs because of what they post online. Cyberbullying is an issue in today's society that has caused too many suicides in teens and young adults. Words have power, especially when it's online.

Q. 2 | If a teacher says, feel free to Tweet me your questions outside of class, are they opening Pandora's box?

Students are always welcome to visit teacher's after class if they have questions. Assuming the teacher enjoys their job, normally they would be more than happy to help. But now adding in social media aspects, does this cause a bigger issue? Students can be procrastinators and wait until 10pm the night before to do homework. If they have a question then and tweet their teacher, but don't get an answer right away, are the students going to blame the teacher? Obviously there should be time limits clearly set, just like if someone were to email a teacher and not expect a reply back immediately. But with Twitter, there tends to be a more instantaneous response expectancy. If teachers plan to use Twitter outside the classroom, boundaries should be made clear up front.